Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CarolynF]

My Mary must have Barnevelder in her background, because last winter she wandered around in the snow!

I'm just kidding about that. I have no idea what her background is like. I got her from the Unwanted sector at Del's eight years ago. She's a sweetheart, very chatty and likes to be hugged. She's got random tiny flecks of black in her tail that have no particular shape or pattern. She's medium sized and lays a cream-colored egg that is almost as big as my BR and BSL eggs. When she was laying (stopped just last year!) she'd have a tendency to get eggbound every now and then, so we'd bring her in the house and submerge her bottom in a pan of very warm water for twenty minutes. It worked every time. She'd often just lay her egg in the yard because she didn't want to bother sitting in a nest box. Here's a picture from about eight years ago.

She's very pretty. I could handle having a friendly, pretty girl like that. And she looks really soft, too.

 

[mikeyb]

OT; java... ok, from what I see on the various web sites this is affecting only java 7. There is a new update out but I have no idea what it is suppose to be.
There has been talk that java was going to update java 6 to java 7. I checked this computer and I'm still running java 6. I declined the offer to update and will do so until they get a fix in place.

If you have doubts about what your running, hit the start key and at the bottom of the list type in the search box java. That should take you to the java info screen. You should have the update notification box checked to notify you b4 updating. This will give you control over updating or not.

I hope this helps. I'm no expert with a computer so if anyone else has info maybe they will offer some advice.

 

[mikeyb]

another use for eggs!

Perfect French ToastIngredients
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Juice of 1 medium orange, (about 1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cognac, (optional)
1 tablespoon sugar
Zest of 1 lemon, (about 1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
6 slices bread, such as brioche, sliced 1-inch thick, preferably day-old
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Pure maple syrup, (optional)

 

[FirewifeJess]

Mmmm....I miss French Toast! I haven't had it since we went GF/DF/SF. There's NO GF bread worth making into French Toast, and I don't like any of the alternative types of milk, so yeah...kinda bummed about that.

I'm a bit disappointed with my coop setup now. I'm getting ammonia. My girls don't EVER stir up the litter. Maybe I need to give it one last chance without the waterer in there. I think it leaked majorly because I can't see how the litter is so wet unless the waterer leaked. Guess I'm in for another full coop cleanout. I still need to get roofing materials onto the next box and somehow rain-proof the hinge lid; when it pours I get water in the nest boxes a little bit. *sigh* so much I need to do, so little help from DH Boo

 

[mikeyb]

Mmmm....I miss French Toast! I haven't had it since we went GF/DF/SF. There's NO GF bread worth making into French Toast, and I don't like any of the alternative types of milk, so yeah...kinda bummed about that.

I'm a bit disappointed with my coop setup now. I'm getting ammonia. My girls don't EVER stir up the litter. Maybe I need to give it one last chance without the waterer in there. I think it leaked majorly because I can't see how the litter is so wet unless the waterer leaked. Guess I'm in for another full coop cleanout. I still need to get roofing materials onto the next box and somehow rain-proof the hinge lid; when it pours I get water in the nest boxes a little bit. *sigh* so much I need to do, so little help from DH Boo

Perhaps you need more ventilation?
Water proof the hinge lid. I assume the lid hinge is on top and the out side. Take an old inner-tube for a bike and cut a piece longer then the hinge side of the lid. Then split the tube lenghtwise and staple the split tube over the hinge edge. Caulk the top edge with some silicon and you should be fine. No inner tube (try a bike shop) or lawn mower repair/supply.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I'm having a hoot with the Fermented Feed mentioned a few days ago. You'd think it was meal worms the way my girls go after it! I don't know if they eat any less of their pellets, but they sure gobble down the fermented version. Some time I should weigh their feed morning and night just to find out how much they actually eat. But I'm too busy right now.

Work continues on enlarging their pen, especially this weekend when we might be having some dry days. We got a pickup load of sand today.... $7.50 for a half yard at Hard Rock Inc in Poulsbo. I like that! Tomorrow we'll be working to get the wire up, then the doors moved. The girls have been very curious about what's happening and take every possible chance to help move dirt! It's pretty funny to watch their reaction when the landscape of their pen and run changes. Silly girls.

Nighty Nite All. Hope your weekend is good!

When I started the 6 chicks on it 5 days ago, they were eating 2 cups of it a day, now they are down to a little over 1 cup a day. I love the conversion rate. And they are like a shark feeding frenzy when I put a full bowl in. The big kids are starting to eat more of it, especially when their dry food runs out. They are getting 2 large dog food bowls a day(about 5-6 cups worth for 9 birds)

Mmmm....I miss French Toast! I haven't had it since we went GF/DF/SF. There's NO GF bread worth making into French Toast, and I don't like any of the alternative types of milk, so yeah...kinda bummed about that.

I'm a bit disappointed with my coop setup now. I'm getting ammonia. My girls don't EVER stir up the litter. Maybe I need to give it one last chance without the waterer in there. I think it leaked majorly because I can't see how the litter is so wet unless the waterer leaked. Guess I'm in for another full coop cleanout. I still need to get roofing materials onto the next box and somehow rain-proof the hinge lid; when it pours I get water in the nest boxes a little bit. *sigh* so much I need to do, so little help from DH Boo

You can get some roof flashing and attach it about 2" above the hinges and caulk along the top of the flashing where it meets the coop wall. That will direct the rain water away from the hinges and the small gap of the lid. And it does sound like you have water being spilled out into the litter. I would remove the water from the coop, I know it is nice not having it freeze, but I hate the smell worse.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I got the temporary run done today so the big kids can "free range" in it when I am sleeping during the day. It is about 220sf. But it was cold working on it. It never got above freezing here today.

Update on Peep, she is back outside and doing great. Just had grass blocking her digestive tract. EVOO+Molasses did the trick. Made for some stinky poo though.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll look for the roof flashing or the bike tire tube soooooooon. It's just hard getting out when we only have 1 car and DH is the breadwinner. He's always gone with it! Right now he's out of town since yesterday morning, and tonight he'll come back into town and drive straight to work until Monday morning. Nothing like being housebound for 3 full days with no options for leaving.

I do think I have enough ventilation in the coop, in fact it was actually drafty so I had to close one of the "windows" for the winter. Now it's not drafty and when standing at roost level I don't smell ammonia, but when I stirred up the litter this afternoon it was dark brown (damp looking) and smelled of ammonia. Bummer. I'll get a heated waterer tomorrow after a friend buys William's crib from us; just needed the proper funds first. Then I can head down to Reber Ranch and look for one on Monday morning. Thinking about adding lighting to the chicken run too, so that when the light comes on in the coop they also have light where the food and water is as well. Maybe that will help them have more access to it.

 

[FirewifeJess]

I got the temporary run done today so the big kids can "free range" in it when I am sleeping during the day. It is about 220sf. But it was cold working on it. It never got above freezing here today.

Update on Peep, she is back outside and doing great. Just had grass blocking her digestive tract. EVOO+Molasses did the trick. Made for some stinky poo though.

Pics!! I wanna see your run. Glad Peep is feeling better today.

 

[RaZ]

I'm a bit disappointed with my coop setup now. I'm getting ammonia. My girls don't EVER stir up the litter. Maybe I need to give it one last chance without the waterer in there. I think it leaked majorly because I can't see how the litter is so wet unless the waterer leaked. Guess I'm in for another full coop cleanout. I still need to get roofing materials onto the next box and somehow rain-proof the hinge lid; when it pours I get water in the nest boxes a little bit. *sigh* so much I need to do, so little help from DH Boo

Can you provide some details and/or pictures? I think something is amiss if you are getting an ammonia smell.