Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[FlyRobinFly]

Yes it is easy, but I am out of bleed stop powder, and until I get some more, I waite, and when I waite, I forget what I am waiting for...LOL easily distracted these days with all the construction & holidaze.....I have seen people use both golden seal powder and red pepper powder as bleed stop powders....so that is always posible, but I still would rather get bleed stop...

Corn starch works if you don't have the styptic powder or pencil.

 

[JennS]

Quote:
Hmm, do you think I should make a low shelf under the main roost for the silkies? I'm going to build a tray under the roost to catch the poop, so it shouldn't get pooped on.

Jennifer

 

[CarolynF]

We bought quite a few rolls of the PVC fencing from HD, it is green & has 1/2" squares, and comes in 2 and 3 foot widths................then I zip tied it to the bottom of the feild fencing, so as to contain chicks, but keep predators out.
This PVC fencing has no wire in it, and it THICK and very sturdy.



Hope ya can see how we attached the PVC fencing right to the feild fencing...so far not many chicks escaped, and no predator issues at all.

Do you think a raccoon could/would bite thru the pvc? Do you think it would be strong enough to keep out predators if the field fencing weren't there with it?

 

[Hinotori]

Rats will chew through it. I use that around my small runs to keep chicks in.

 

[CarolynF]

So I am getting ready to place an order for chicks with Meyer Hatchery. I am just trying to decide how to do it.
In order to get the lowest shipping charge possible with them I need to order 25 chicks which is only $21 and some change for shipping. If I order all the breeds I want now I wont get them until March and will only get 25 chicks. Or I can order 2 breeds now that I want, get 25 of them, then order the other 2 or 3 breeds that I want in Feb and get them in March. Would have to pay another $21 for shipping, would have to add in a few more cheaper breeds to make it to the 25 chicks with out having to pay over $200 for 25 chicks. The black and splash Marans are almost $10 each.
My two thoughts are I want them NOW, just because I am impatient and because I would like them to start laying in the summer. What do ya'll think?
I am leaning twords ordering at the two seperate times cause I would get more chicks that way.

Have you thought about getting them locally? Other than the marans you didn't say which breeds you'd like. There is a well liked small breeder in Port Orchard that does several varieties. If you're interested she's at http://www.raincreekpottery.com/Pages/Chicks.aspx

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
I can't wait until you get your new home built and completed though. Just imagine the room you'll have for some of your crafts, your painting, and a little breathing space for you and DH! One of these days, with some advance notice we'll come by and visit when we're staying at our place at Ocean Shores.

 

[SadieSue]

So I am getting ready to place an order for chicks with Meyer Hatchery. I am just trying to decide how to do it.
In order to get the lowest shipping charge possible with them I need to order 25 chicks which is only $21 and some change for shipping. If I order all the breeds I want now I wont get them until March and will only get 25 chicks. Or I can order 2 breeds now that I want, get 25 of them, then order the other 2 or 3 breeds that I want in Feb and get them in March. Would have to pay another $21 for shipping, would have to add in a few more cheaper breeds to make it to the 25 chicks with out having to pay over $200 for 25 chicks. The black and splash Marans are almost $10 each.
My two thoughts are I want them NOW, just because I am impatient and because I would like them to start laying in the summer. What do ya'll think?
I am leaning twords ordering at the two seperate times cause I would get more chicks that way.

Well yeah! You choose whatever option gets you the most chicks! Every chicken addict knows that...

 

[Slinglings]

Quote: I don't have 'little' kids and they don't really go in the back yard much during the school year. They have a busier schedule than I do

They have their own area in the yard if they did want to go out, but when it's wet they really don't go outside at home. They have plenty of outdoor time elsewhere though.

Maybe I should just get 4 more in the early spring, see how that goes, and I would fence off the patio. That is the only place the mess bothers me, it gets hosed off weekly.

When you say I could be forced to get rid of them, do you mean just the 'extras', or 'all' of them?

The extras.
That isn't such a bad punishment..are there any fines or anything? I have an old neighbor (about 8 blocks away) who has had chickens for 11 years and has always had 12, I think he was only supposed to have 6 at first (he has a large lot). He's never had a problem with neighbors complaining.

 

[Nikki99]

Quote:

I removed the spurs on a rooster today. it was suprisingly easy and no blood really and the rooster didn't even squirm. I though it was going to be hard and/or icky but it wasn't! Watched a youtube vidoe and went out and did it. One skill down, about 100 more to go!

It's amazing what you can find on youtube! May have to do AI on some of my silkies and possibly my Favs, if trimming butt fluff doesn't help! You can find how to vids on that! Unbelievable!

That is awesome!! I didn't know you could do that....hmmm, your giving me ideas for my pain in the butt OEB roo.

Just be aware that you are only taking off the hard outer covering, and it will grow back. Just like your nails do. So it's not a permantent thing.

Good to know.

Thanks.

Quote:
Hinotori, glad you dodged this bullet!! It's not fun...pain in the booty! I do pretty well, usually, if I avoid gluten, which is tricky b/c it's in EVERYTHING!! I'm also not supposed to have rice, corn or soy and the less sugar the better because I'm also severely hypoglycemic. It's awesome! Ha. Ha. Ha.
Sometimes I sacrifice and don't eat how I'm supposed to and 9 out of 10 times, I pay for it later. It's hard for me to stay strict with what I eat though b/c sometimes, even when I avoid everything I'm supposed to avoid, I still end up sick. Sometimes I kinda feel like hey, if I'm gonna feel like crap later anyway, I may as well eat something that tastes good!
My "diet" is a huge reason why we decided to get our own chickens, eggs are gf!!! Lol
My mom also has Hashimotos so it makes sense that I would as well, and it's also very likely that 1 or both of my kids will end up with it too. It's more commonly found in women and more often then not, makes it's true presence known shortly after giving birth to your first child. However, I've been suffering from this disease since I was 17, but wasn't properly diagnosed until I was about 27. For 10 years I was being treated for hypothyroid....I'm 5'4" and weigh 115lbs, I don't, nor have I ever had a hypothyroid!
I don't really know how rare it is, but I do know that it's one of the most misdiagnosed diseases out there. Something like 80-90% of women diagnosed with hypo or hyper thyroid disease, actually have Hashimotos. Most Dr.'s don't know much about this A.I. disease so they tend to go more towards treating it the same as they would treat hypo or hyper thyroids, which is not the correct way to treat this disease at all.
A very strict diet is about the only defense against Hashi's. You have to find out (through lots and lots and lots of testing) what your "triggers" are and avoid them like the plague. My #1 trigger is gluten.
If not treated properly, Hashimotos can lead to many other auto immune diseases.

CL, sorry you have so many health issues that you have to deal with. I struggle with the few that I have, I can't imagine having as many different issues as you have listed. I have a friend with Celiac Disease and it's horrible. I haven't heard of the others you mentioned though. Ugh, there's so many of them out there it's hard to keep up!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

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..

Quote:

Quote: I don't have 'little' kids and they don't really go in the back yard much during the school year. They have a busier schedule than I do

They have their own area in the yard if they did want to go out, but when it's wet they really don't go outside at home. They have plenty of outdoor time elsewhere though.

Maybe I should just get 4 more in the early spring, see how that goes, and I would fence off the patio. That is the only place the mess bothers me, it gets hosed off weekly.

When you say I could be forced to get rid of them, do you mean just the 'extras', or 'all' of them?

The extras.
That isn't such a bad punishment..are there any fines or anything? I have an old neighbor (about 8 blocks away) who has had chickens for 11 years and has always had 12, I think he was only supposed to have 6 at first (he has a large lot). He's never had a problem with neighbors complaining.

At least here in Oregon, you get a warning to remove extra birds AFTER someone complains. Second offense is small fine. Third is large fine. And then after that they can remove ALL birds I believe.

And in the words of Tickle from Moonshiners on Discovery, "It's only illegal if you get caught". Of course this guy is quite a few sandwiches shy of a picnic, but funny.

I would bribe the neighbors with egg though, food always helps smooth things over.