Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Lunch at Spiffy's-$15, Gas for the drive-$35, Getting to meet a bunch of BYC'ers-Priceless

Thanks for the meet up today, I had a great time meeting CR's DW & DD, mikeyb, Sarahkatie, Nikki99 & DH, and Cloverleaf Farm. Had a great tour of CR's place and got to meet the famous Fudge and Silkiebator. Looking forward to meeting more of ya at the Monroe and PNPA shows.

 

[itsren]

So... I think I missed the answer to my BOSS questions. How much should you give them? and how? I'm still trying to integrate better feeding & watering methods into my coop. Please chime in: Do you have more than one feeder? One with feed & one with scratch/etc? What about oyster shells & grits? How do you all incorporate that? I've been thinking, if I have a feeder with feed & grains, a feeder with scratch & BOSS, and some smaller feeders of grit & oyster shells. Does that sound about right?

Also, who uses poultry nipples for their waterers? Does anyone use bedding pellets? And that PDZ (??) stuff, is that like granules or pellets or what does it look like? I was kinda thinking of mixing some of my lavender and herbs in with it to make the coop smell pretty.

Will someone take me chicken shopping!? I have NO idea what I am doing!!!!

Everyone has their own way, and I'm sure your way will be fine.

Can't tell you about BOSS, I've never used it. I plan to pick some up soon and try it.

This is what I do. It may not be the right way, but it is my way...

In the summer, when the ground was dry, I just threw the grit and oyster shells on the ground. It worked great. In the wet weather the dirt is wet and kind of gross, so now I have a small bowl attached to the run that has oyster shells, and a small bowl that has grit.

I rarely give them scratch. My 3 big girls tend to not eat feed - they prefer grass and bugs, so I want them eating feed over scratch. I only give them meal worms when I'm trying to get them back into the run. Works like a charm. As soon as I shake the bag, they come flying (well, Drama comes waddling) and happily go in.

I use poultry nipples - both in the coop and in the brooder. LOVE, love, love them! Can't say enough good things about them.

Feeders are expensive, buy only what you need. Right now I'm integrating older chicks into the coop, so I have a feeder with Layer feed, and I borrowed a feeder and have non-medicated chick feed in it. Both are in the run. Everyone eats both - but it is non-medicated, so I think we're good. Normally, I only have 1 feeder in the coop with Layer feed with my tiny flock. Get the number of feeders you need to feed the size of flock you have - make sure everyone gets to eat - even the lowest on the pecking order.

In the brooder I use medicated feed. I don't want the big girls into the medicated stuff, so it stays in the brooder.

Left over table scraps are treats - but not very often right now as we have recently caught 3 rats near the coop and we're trying to get that under control.

I use pine shavings in the coop. The floor of the run is dirt - but I scrape the run clean every single day. I use a hoe and a cat scoop to scrape it. If I didn't clean it daily, I would use something on the floor of the run. I don't want the extra expense, and I'm totally fine with scraping every day. My coop and run rarely has any smell.

I have never used PDZ, pellets, granules - not even sure what that is.

I don't use lavender because I'm allergic to it. I have thrown home-grown herbs in the coop during the summer, but only because I grew it. I'm too cheap to buy a bag of it. The bagged stuff has lavender in it anyway. Poop is cat-scooped daily in my coop and it has a pine-shaving odor. I don't see the need for smelly stuff.

I keep a fly trap bag with YELLOW plastic top near the coop. Works GREAT. I don't recommend the one with a black plastic top - the flies don't go in the black one. I have no idea why Coastal switched to the black one. Lowes carries the yellow one.

You'll find your own way. Keeping chickens is pretty easy.

 

[Nikki99]

Not sure if I posted this pic on this thread or not Feral hen and 3 cockerels and a pullet on Oahu

They are so cute!! Awww.

I am new to this forum, as well as to having chickens. I inherited "the girls" from my daughter and have managed to keep them alive so far! I have 3 buff orpingtons that have given me about a dozen eggs in the last 2 weeks. I would like to try using them to help with composting as I read in an article elsewhere on the site. That will also be new to me. I have been container gardening but will be expanding to a standard garden this year and figured it would be good to incorporate natural stuff in. Cynthia

Welcome!!! I'm starting my first in the ground garden this spring too, I can't wait!

[COLOR=0000CD]Sooooo, I have a LF Cochin mix that has a Prolapse [/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]! I have not yet decided if I want to try and fix it or if I want to just put her out of her misery.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD]She has had this for about 2 or so weeks but I don't really handle my girls and so I did not realize that this is what was wrong with her. I did notice that she was basicly pooping on herself (butt fluff has white poo stuck to it.) but could not catch her to figure it out. Finally I caught her yesterday and flipped her upside down to check out her rump.There it was, a little bit of pink blob sticking out just a bit. Because she has not been feeling well plus a bit of poo, her tail feathers are hanging down, which is a good thing, that way the other chickens do not see the PINK sticking out. If they did they would peck at it until it bled and would make things a lot worse.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD]What to do, what to do!?[/COLOR]

Sorry too hear about your girl, good luck with whatever you decide. *Hugs*

A great meet up. It was nice to meet all who came in person and I'm sorry that some of you missed it. Perhaps next time! Wow did we yak and yuk it up. I had a great time. Then we went up to CR spread and got the "tour". He's got quite a spread. When we came out of Spiffy's, it was blue skies and sunshine with fluffy white clouds, a glorious day in the Great Northwest. Did I tell you about their Club Sandwhich?. Wow this is a blast from the past. This is no wimpy, skinny sandwhich. This is the real McCoy. It's huge, humongous even. AND VERY good. More then a meal, but I toughed it out and ate the whole thing. (burp) T'was a really, really good day. Thanks to everyone who came.

It was nice getting to meet you finally!!!

It was great meeting everyone and seeing CR and his DW again. We had a very nice time. Thanks for coming everyone! MikeyB you ain't kiddin! Those sandwiches were pretty good sized and so good!! And the pie...omg the pie!! Yum!

Jerk must be getting very close to laying. She's not squatting, but she's so red!

That's Jerk? WOW. She is beautiful! What is she? I've seen lots of beautiful chickens, but she is absolutely stunning.

X's 2! Gorgeous!

Lunch at Spiffy's-$15, Gas for the drive-$35, Getting to meet a bunch of BYC'ers-Priceless Thanks for the meet up today, I had a great time meeting CR's DW & DD, mikeyb, Sarahkatie, Nikki99 & DH, and Cloverleaf Farm. Had a great tour of CR's place and got to meet the famous Fudge and Silkiebator. Looking forward to meeting more of ya at the Monroe and PNPA shows.

It was great meeting you as well!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Ok mikeyb, here is this weeks 5 pics from Hawaii trip

Hanauma Bay

Me, Kelli, Al at sundown on Waikiki Beach

Turtle seen from fishing dock

Waikiki

Kelli and me snorkeling

 

[LaughingFeather]

Oh, you look like you had a great time. I am envious.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: I have seen amazing results from him.

 

[Mumsy]

Ok mikeyb, here is this weeks 5 pics from Hawaii trip

Hanauma Bay

Me, Kelli, Al at sundown on Waikiki Beach

Turtle seen from fishing dock

Waikiki

Kelli and me snorkeling

Awww...What great vacation pictures. Looks like you all had a fun time.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I told mikeyb I could do 5 pics a week except for the summer months. I took hundreds, so I have lots to keep y'all going for a while.

 

[Rainwolf]

Ok so there is no way in the world I can catch up with 850 pages of postings.

I'm still alive and working hard trying to get things in order for spring.
I will be at the meeting tomorrow at Ikea i think it is...
Anyone have some heritage barred rock, dominique, rir, buckeye hatching eggs? I have a request and need to hatch some in the next batch if possible.

I am currently hatching some bantam Favorelles salmon and salmon blues.
Building my new porch/deck
trying to clean up yard
working on BBQ patio area
still have to work on greenhouse, aquaponics, garden, retaining wall, etc so not much time to visit here.

pm me if you need me and I try to answer. I did notice that I was not getting some of the msg's but I think that is fixed so if I did not answer something please let me know.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

OK so I am WAAAAY behind I been on the run most of the day.
THANK YOU SO MUCH to (in no particular order but ladies first) Nikki99, Sarahkatie. Cloverleaf Farm, Mr. Nikki99, Mikey, and turtlepowertrav. For the wonderful meet up. WE now hold a couple BYC records.

1) biggest ever (to date) south end meet up.
2) First ever south end meet up.
3) Largest display of PINK, guns (on somebody's shirt

) and maybe largest display of pink guns

too.
4) Largest group to tour CR's coops and survive.
Thanks all who came I had a great time.