Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[BantyChickenLuv]

Hi  hope everybody is ok.  I have kind of crawled in a shell for a bit. I am now so far behind that the history will just have to be a mystery.

In skimming a bit I have noticed some talk about bantam's.  It seems that some are of the opinion ALL bantams lay tiny eggs. THIS IS NOT  CORRECT..  There are Bantam breeds that lay very nice size eggs for the size of bird. I had  B RIR and currently have B Faverolles  both of these lay eggs that will match some of my smaller LF eggs. Yes there are B that just lay tiny eggs but not all of them do. Also if you look at the feed to food conversion. The B who do lay larger eggs will win over LF. See Bantam require less space, and eat less food. I kind of find find Silkies a little cute in all their  fluffyness. But they are high maint (like women). When my Silkie is laying She will ALWAYS lay 4 skip a day lay 4 skip 1 and she is the best incubator around. 

Very true. My PR Bantam and Wyandotte Bantam lay eggs the size of my Delaware LF's egg.

 

[KMHunter]

I get you.  And I totally understand.I was giving you a hard time.  They are high maintainance and just for fun. I definitely wouldn't get them if I just wanted layers, although they lay pretty regularly, the eggs are small. I used to think they were ugly too, I am not sure when or how that changed.  I am about having fun, not just layers anymore, so they suit me fine. I do think they serve one purpose though....good broodies! I have on right now sitting on 5 eggs that I am not sure are even fertile yet!

I agree on the high maintenance and they are not for everyone but for anyone living off grid or worried about hatching eggs through prolonged power outages, Silkies are worth their weight in gold as reliable broodies. You can pretty much count on a Silkie hen to lay 12 to 15 eggs and then brood. Can't say that about a lot of other breeds. It's been bred out of them by the big commercial hatcheries. Most big layers are laying machines then blow out their oviduct in two years. You have to keep replacing them continually to keep your production up. Those big commercial hatcheries are counting on that. I like heritage breeds that are kept true to the standard whether Bantam or Large Fowl. . Silkies as a heritage pure breed have survived quite a long time. Chickens are like any thing else. To each his or her own.  

I am hoping to use the broodiness advantage as much as possible. I have one that started laying and 3-4 weeks later went broody and is now sitting on 5 eggs that I am not sure are fertile yet. Will candle tomorrow and see.

 

[Mumsy]

I am hoping to use the broodiness advantage as much as possible. I have one that started laying and 3-4 weeks later went broody and is now sitting on 5 eggs that I am not sure are fertile yet. Will candle tomorrow and see.

Those Silkie eggs I got from you at the show just went into lock down and I'm crossing my fingers that I will be able to put my incubator and hatch-er into storage in the foreseeable future.

I once had a Silkie broody hen hatch out six Call duck eggs for me. She was a great mamma to those little quacks but she sure went into a tizzy when they would swim off into a puddle or water dish. Fretting until they came out to cuddle under her fluffy butt again. I have had Silkies hatch out everything from Jersey Giant chicks, ducks, and everything in between. Many times if two or more are brooding at the same time, I will remove the chicks and put them into a brooder together and the Silkie hen can then go back into laying mode. Some mature Silkie hens can handle about six large eggs.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

i has a sad this morning- something is wrong with Blossom, and I fear it is that Dearie, who is twice her weight, dropped down on her from a high perch and broke her pelvis. Trying to figure out how to house her separately for a bit and having 100% lack of success.

Phooey.

Also sleep deprived and in need of feeding the last of my hay and rebuilding the hay table so there is 100% no chance of water infiltrating under the bale.

(And also trying, in my modification of the physical environment, to figure out a way to get a Christmas tree into the house past my husband's apparent resistance to that whole concept, along with the idea of having empty horizontal surfaces anywhere, although I've finally broken him of using the actual BED to store clean socks and underwear.)

ETA: and today my whiny post triplicates, how very fun that isn't!

ETA, again, argh, no, it's quadruplicated! This is weird!

 

[SadieSue]

L to R: Paint, Porcelain, Light Partridge, Dark Blue. DW's chicks

Cute! I never did get the paint I was hoping for, but I love all the colors! What a nice surprise you conjured for your DW!

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
Ok~ thank you for the advice! The only reason I want the RIR is because I've heard they are good layers AND I want a red chicken to name Rosie I certainly don't want to risk getting anything aggressive. My hens are all sweeties.

I'm having trouble finding an olive egger. Where do people buy pullets/young hens? I've only bought on Craigslist. Does a hen need to be laying to know if it is an olive egger?

Chickielady used to have Olive Eggers, not sure if she still has any or not. Wa4-HPoultryMom raises olive eggers, but may not be hatching until spring. She was working on some different colored olive eggers, lemon cuckoo maybe?

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:

Ok~ thank you for the advice! The only reason I want the RIR is because I've heard they are good layers AND I want a red chicken to name Rosie I certainly don't want to risk getting anything aggressive. My hens are all sweeties.

I'm having trouble finding an olive egger. Where do people buy pullets/young hens? I've only bought on Craigslist. Does a hen need to be laying to know if it is an olive egger?

Chickielady used to have Olive Eggers, not sure if she still has any or not. Wa4-HPoultryMom raises olive eggers, but may not be hatching until spring. She was working on some different colored olive eggers, lemon cuckoo maybe?

I *might* consider getting rid of my OE from Tamara/Wa4-HPoultryMom. She's almost 8mo old and lays a dark green egg 5-6 days a week. PM me if you're interested. I just don't want my girls unhappy over the winter so I'm thinking of letting a few go, but it's hard to choose!!

 

[hallerlake]

I just got through chasing my girls in from their first outing free ranging. It took two of us. NO ONE wanted to go in. It was so cute. They found dry dirt under the deck and wallowed like a bunch of pigs. Pure bliss. I took pics. Will look and see if any are worth posting. So fun.

Next time do it shortly before sunset. They'll put them selves inside.

 

[RonB]

Luke and Leia are not amused!

Hey C.R. LOOK !!!! Coyote BAIT

Hinotori How much do ya want for the pair ??

 

[hallerlake]

i has a sad this morning- something is wrong with Blossom, and I fear it is that Dearie, who is twice her weight, dropped down on her from a high perch and broke her pelvis. Trying to figure out how to house her separately for a bit and having 100% lack of success.

Phooey.

Also sleep deprived and in need of feeding the last of my hay and rebuilding the hay table so there is 100% no chance of water infiltrating under the bale.

(And also trying, in my modification of the physical environment, to figure out a way to get a Christmas tree into the house past my husband's apparent resistance to that whole concept, along with the idea of having empty horizontal surfaces anywhere, although I've finally broken him of using the actual BED to store clean socks and underwear.)

ETA: and today my whiny post triplicates, how very fun that isn't!

ETA, again, argh, no, it's quadruplicated! This is weird!

You've seen my house. There's no room for a tree inside. I found two and three foot artificial trees at Joanne's for 60% off. I brought home a heavily flocked one, Attached a star to the top, and strung lots of red beaded garland around it. It's out on the porch table by the front door. I put the same stars and garland on my little Coprosma topiaries on either side of the steps. Did you see the beaded snowflakes I made last year? I hung some of them on the light fixture in the dining room with a holiday centerpeice underneath. I have a holly arrangement on the little table on the porch, too. I find a bunch of smaller decorations easier to manage than a tree.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.479876252055931.104697.100001006823424&type=3