Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[itsren]

Wow, I'm way behind - again.

The GOOD: I found my camera after MONTHS of it missing.

It was in a cubby hole that I never use in my van. Also, Fred Meyer has winter wear marked down and 60% off lowest marked price, so I was able to replace my everyday wear coat fairly inexpensively.

The BAD: Went to get allergy shots this morning and was told I needed to get rid of my Down coat ASAP. My feather allergy is spiking - he said I'm over-exposed to something in that vial. The only thing in that vial that I knew I was around a lot was feathers and dust. Bummer. The coat I have to get rid of is a fairly new, beautiful Calvin Klein coat that I just loved. Oh well. Such is life. We talked about the chickens, too - and he said no worries, they're outside, it's not like they're inside or that I would hold them.

He clearly doesn't know the relationship between me and my chickens. It looks like my shoulder buddy is about to be retrained. Not sure how she's going to like that.

The INDIFFERENT: Auction day tomorrow. Bye, bye Blackie and his little "brothers". I guess I could be sad, but after my appointment this morning, I'm just feeling blase about it. Reducing the number of feathers I'm around might be a good thing. It is what it is. I'm sure this will hit me later on, but right now, I just feel numb about it all.

So... now that I have my camera back, I'm going to get the battery charged and take pictures of the boys that I think are boys. I'll post them later this evening. Would appreciate help getting a "yay" or "nay" on who's a boy and who's a girl.

 

[RonB]

Yeah I know I'll get a white egg...but hopefully I'll get a white egg almost every day of the year! That right there makes the white egg worth it

Jess
I wouldn't listen to anyone that wears a "Pink" hanky over their face

You will love your Cal. white & speckled Sussex... I have 27 girls and my favorite are # 1 RIR, tied for # 2 are my Cal. white and my speckled Sussex . The Cal. white wants to come in the house all the time and the Sussex follows me around the yard talking up a storm.
My customers like the variety of Brown, White, Green and soon to be Blue (thanks to Tamara

) eggs

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Wow, I'm way behind - again.

The GOOD: I found my camera after MONTHS of it missing.

It was in a cubby hole that I never use in my van. Also, Fred Meyer has winter wear marked down and 60% off lowest marked price, so I was able to replace my everyday wear coat fairly inexpensively.

The BAD: Went to get allergy shots this morning and was told I needed to get rid of my Down coat ASAP. My feather allergy is spiking - he said I'm over-exposed to something in that vial. The only thing in that vial that I knew I was around a lot was feathers and dust. Bummer. The coat I have to get rid of is a fairly new, beautiful Calvin Klein coat that I just loved. Oh well. Such is life. We talked about the chickens, too - and he said no worries, they're outside, it's not like they're inside or that I would hold them.

He clearly doesn't know the relationship between me and my chickens. It looks like my shoulder buddy is about to be retrained. Not sure how she's going to like that.

The INDIFFERENT: Auction day tomorrow. Bye, bye Blackie and his little "brothers". I guess I could be sad, but after my appointment this morning, I'm just feeling blase about it. Reducing the number of feathers I'm around might be a good thing. It is what it is. I'm sure this will hit me later on, but right now, I just feel numb about it all.

So... now that I have my camera back, I'm going to get the battery charged and take pictures of the boys that I think are boys. I'll post them later this evening. Would appreciate help getting a "yay" or "nay" on who's a boy and who's a girl.

Take pics of them all, please. It helps others see the difference in them. I can't do down anything either. Something about goose down I am allergic to. But not chicken down, weird.

 

[mikeyb]

Quote: We are in agreement.
Actually, I have looked into heritage line of RIR. I don't see very many that breed the Heritage RIR, of course they may not be listed on the internet for whatever reason and have given up that idea and yet the breed needs to be restored.
Perhaps I'll turn my attention to English Orps and a cross between my Blue Roo and "hatchery" RIR. Who knows what might hatch? (yes pun intended)

 

[itsren]

Just got home from my DW's company Holiday party, yes it was after the holidays. Totally stuffed myself. And they do a "White Elephant" exchange, I got an Angry Birds game. Like you really use a catapult and shoot the birds into the block formations you have to build. Totally cool gag gift. I gots a long day of coop building if the weather stays dry tomorrow. Gonna double up on the Zyrtec to help with the outdoor allergy issue

.

That's our weekend plan, too. Fun times. Wish it was done.

 

[RonB]

I've not read anything, anywhere about the RIR being bred this way. Of course I've not read everything that has ever been written about this bird and I am not saying hatchery birds could be shown as they do not meet the specs of the show bird.
If you have any reputable links to the cross breeding I would like to read the info.
The claim on here about Heritage blood lines vs "hatchery" stock being so much better doesn't hold up unless you are talking "show quality".
I have gotten the impression from some posters that only a "breeder" can give you healthy stock and a more then a slight snobbery attitude. Now before everybody jumps on this old man I mean no disrespect to anyone and to all breeders I say well done, breeds need to be safe guarded. That said, most private chicken owners have eggs/pets as their reason for having the critters in the first place.

I also know there is no way to verify blood lines of chickens from any breeder, you have to rely on their integrity and your knowledge of the breed.
PS, I have 6 RIR from a hatchery, none have flobby combs and none have white on their earlobe. However, 2 have a few gold feathers on their wings and only one has the deep mahogny color and only one is broadbreasted. That these birds are not show quality has little to do with why I bought them in the first place.

Mikey
I've pretty much had only hatchery birds with a few exceptions. I bought a Mottled Java from a well know breeder here in Wash. and it died at about 8 months old. I've been Very happy with my hatchery birds. And I do Show them

anybody that comes over I show them my birds

 

[itsren]

Take pics of them all, please. It helps others see the difference in them. I can't do down anything either. Something about goose down I am allergic to. But not chicken down, weird.

I'm allergic to "feathers" - I don't know if it is goose, or chicken. They didn't say. But, considering I'm reacting pretty badly again - I'm guessing it could be chicken. Or, it could be that coat - I don't know. Yesterday, when I was sanding all those little popsicle sticks into wooden knives for Cub Scouts, I broke out in hives all over my neck and arms. I don't know what caused that, either - but I had played with the babies a little bit in the midst of it. So, it might have been the chicks. But, it also could have been something to do with the dust. I wasn't too smart with it - I sanded them without wearing a respirator.

 

[itsren]

Mikey
I've pretty much had only hatchery birds with a few exceptions. I bought a Mottled Java from a well know breeder here in Wash. and it died at about 8 months old. I've been Very happy with my hatchery birds. And I do Show them

anybody that comes over I show them my birds

I love it! And I love my hatchery birds!

I don't think I would want to show birds anyway. Seems like too much work, and stress on the chickens. I'd rather just enjoy watching them play in my yard and be happy as can be.

 

[itsren]

Yeah I know I'll get a white egg...but hopefully I'll get a white egg almost every day of the year! That right there makes the white egg worth it

And, it'll teach your children that chickens lay white eggs, too. LOL! Heaven forbid they should think eggs are always brown or green.

 

[itsren]

Speed showers suck. We had that happen once, the cold water dip tube completely disintegrated. It was a manufacture recall thankfully.

We had that exact thing happen - the disintegrated tube came out through the shower. We were getting hit with tiny pieces of plastic. Unfortunately, ours disintegrated a couple of months after the recall ended. We had to buy a new water heater on our own dime. DH bought a nice one, though, and a bigger one - and did a better job on installation than whoever installed the prior one. So, other than costing us more money, it ended well enough.