Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Slinglings]

Quote: They do allow 8 now. I have 4 now, and will for sure get 4 more in spring, but I would actually like 6 or 7 more.

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
Oh I don't know. Could I suppose. I'm suspicious of everything becoming a rat haven these days. I suppose there would be ways to try and prevent it. You'd also have to put garden fencing around it so your girls didn't assume you'd grown a lovely buffet just for them. I just think they're cool. I've seen photos where folks have designed beautiful gardens making patterns from their bales.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Yes I an gonna be in so much trouble soon too. See right now I only have 10 LF hens, Fudge, Silkiebator, 3 12 week Cukoo Moran (one of which is gonna crow so he's gotta go) 4 12 week EE and 4 Bantam Fav. PLUS 26 eggs in the bator and 12 that I think are being surrogated .

see what lots of room on 13 acres can cause?? CHICKEN MATH !!!!!

 

[itsren]

Quote:
I agree with Jess. My poop scooping time has doubled with the addition of the wee ones. And, we know it will go up even more as soon as the eggs hatch. I do scoop poop every single day - sometimes twice a day - to keep my yard kid-friendly, and to keep the smell non-existent. I did have issues with my neighbors at first. It was pretty bad - but I think relationships have been mended and they have commented more than once that they are surprised they don't see or hear my birds.

All the poop goes into closed garbage cans until I can find the time to bury it in the garden beds. So far, so good. For the most part, until you see the coop, or unless you hear them, you can't tell I have birds in my back yard at all. Cleaning the chick's poop up is much harder than cleaning the big girls poop because the chick's poop is so tiny. Honestly, I can't wait until they start pooping bigger poops to make the job easier.

Jessica's yard is huge. It's easier for me to scoop poop because the area my chickens free-range in is much, much smaller. It just takes a few strides back and forth across my yard, and I'm done. Finding all the poop in a yard the size of Jessica's would be very difficult.

Being that you are in Seattle, I would guess that you have a smaller yard???? Cleaning would probably be quicker for you, than it would for someone with a larger yard. Hope that helps.

I sit on 10,000 sq. feet - but most of that land is my front yard and a rather large side yard that the chickens rarely go on (unless they're in the chicken tractor).

 

[itsren]

Yes I an gonna be in so much trouble soon too. See right now I only have 10 LF hens, Fudge, Silkiebator, 3 12 week Cukoo Moran (one of which is gonna crow so he's gotta go) 4 12 week EE and 4 Bantam Fav. PLUS 26 eggs in the bator and 12 that I think are being surrogated .

see what lots of room on 13 acres can cause?? CHICKEN MATH !!!!!

11 - not 12! LOL! We need to get a black hen out of it.

Unless, of course, Blackie can turn himself into a girl, then you'd get all 12. Maybe he is a girl, and I'm just thinking boy. I don't know. The more I learn about chickens, the more I realize I don't know.

 

[RonB]

This is actually to everybody ESPECIALLY newer peeps. Please keep in mind that not all birds get a long well so one should really do yer home work before mixing too many breeds in the same housing.

I think the answer to EVERY Question is " Depends on the bird " NOT the Breed

I have 14 different breeds, A total of 27 chickens, ages 8 months to 3 yrs. They get along OK for Females

There is a pecking order but everybody knows their place in line EXCEPT my DW

She keeps saying shes #1 and I have to keep saying NO Dear you are # 4 I'm # 1, #2 is Gracie (RIR) #3 is Wilma ( Cal. white) then you dear

Back to the chickens. they all free range together, some just stay away from others, at night on the roost sometimes there is a little bickering BUT they all find a place to sleep

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: They do allow 8 now. I have 4 now, and will for sure get 4 more in spring, but I would actually like 6 or 7 more.
Favs are pretty timid and don't mix well with an already established mixed flock. But if you raise 4-6 babies together and add them all together it may work. Most mixed breed flocks are fine if raised together. I only ran into problems when I tried to add to my flock. Them I started to realize how different breeds can be great or a problem. I have gotten rid of a few because they terrorized the new ones.

 

[itsren]

Quote:
Oh I don't know. Could I suppose. I'm suspicious of everything becoming a rat haven these days. I suppose there would be ways to try and prevent it. You'd also have to put garden fencing around it so your girls didn't assume you'd grown a lovely buffet just for them. I just think they're cool. I've seen photos where folks have designed beautiful gardens making patterns from their bales.

Me, too! Every night, I go out with a big flashlight and survey the closed up chicken run and look through the coop just to make sure no rats managed to get in there before we closed it. As far as I know, rats can't squeeze through 1/4" hardware cloth - so, hopefully, they won't get in after the gate is closed. I'm really glad now, that we went over the top with our build and dug the dirt down and poured a concrete floor beneath the run, then filled it back in with dirt.

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: It's on my list also on my list are

copper black Marans, for egg color,
barred rock,
gold lace wyandotte
welsummer,
black sex link
a blue/green egg layer
olive egg layer
and there are many others I like..

It's too many. I would gladly get rid of the buff orp. She is as old as my white leg horn and red sex link, who have been laying since Sept, and she hasn't laid a single egg. And she's skittish.
I think that other than the favs the list you have will be ok to integrate with your current flock. But if you add 6 to the original 4, the numbers will work in your favor for integration. Even better if you get rid of one, it shakes up the pecking order.

 

[SadieSue]

I'm not sure if this is one of the questions that can be asked but may not be answered but it doesn't hurt to ask---how many people are keeping more chickens than they are legally supposed to? I want more and more hens, and technically I can only have 4 more, however, there are at least 6 more breeds that I would like. I am in Seattle and have a fairly average size, small back yard. They have access to the whole yard and only sleep in the coop. I would need a larger, nicer coop.

How much trouble can you get in? Do the neighbors have to complain before anything happens? What are the consequences?

I would also like to ask for advice about what breeds I should get, but not sure if I should ask here or in another forum.

Nothing will happen until early spring, at the earliest, so I'm just planning right now..

I'm an outlaw. I live on 1/4 acre and our regulations state 12 birds per acre which would leave me being able to legally have 4 chickens. I'm currently at 12 LF layers, and 5 silkies outside. Then we have our "house pets" which is currently 7 Seramas, but I'm going to list one of my roos on Craigslist because he's an ***** annoyance, and has attacked me several times when I'm changing their food and water. So, a total of... oh yikes, 24 chickens...

My neighbors have been very nice about the chickens. I share eggs with them (when I have them), and rehome or sell any cockerels as soon as they start to crow. I try to respect my neighbors and so far they have treated us in the same manner.

It's very, very hard to have such strict limits in the city when there are so many pretty chickens to be had!