Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote: Hey Mike:
I have not been on in ages. Just thought I would stop by and visit and saw your post. Not sure if you are looking for typey for showing or just a roo....but I have a 100% English Orp Roo - black - who is not as typey as I would like and would rehome him for free. I will be coming over in March for the Monroe show if you are interested. If not all is well.

Zgoat: I am looking for a nice typey orp roo. Are they 75% or 100% English? I know your real name and for the life of me can't think of it right this second, sorry. I do have some other feelers out there for a roo but I want to make sure and get the requests out there.

eta: You may want to PM me since I am hardly on here...just don't get the time.

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

One of my layers was killed early this morning- We heard them squawking and ran outside. Something was chasing them, (we couldn't see what) but by the time we got out there it had killed one. Does anyone have an idea of what this could be? The other girls are fine, but with the death of Flo and my other Bantam, plus my LF, I'm down to 7 girls which is not good for my chicken math.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote: If you want you can friend me on the Book that has a Face in front of it(not supposed to use the actual site name on BYC, against the rules, but I think you know where I am talking about), my name is Travis Lacey.

Quote: If I were you, I would keep the teens in the tractor for at least 3 more weeks(they will then be around 16 weeks, right?), then start introducing them into the big girls flock. Hopefully Blackie won't have started crowing yet.

WOW! I feel human today! I've now been sick 11 days and haven't left the house in over 2 weeks. Ridiculous. I feel like I've had the life sucked out of me! DH is home again from work today, he's miserable, but at least his is only a cough/cold, not the flu. He went out and got us some alka seltzer cold and cough and it really helped us both! Good thing. I was ready to go on a shoothing spree through the NyQuil factory since that junk doesn't work for anything!!! We *always* buy it, only to realize how it does NOTHING for us when we're sick. Gah! Lesson learned: buy Alka Seltzer from now on.

I'm realizing how nice it was to have a poop shelf to scoop, now that it's been removed and we changed things around in there. There's a LOT of poop on the floor of the coop now; gonna have to change the litter quite frequently. Boo. At least I got to keep all my girls though! They're so happy with their new lower roosts. Plenty of room for all of them, with room for a few more!

You should think about doing Deep Litter Method, it creates a better coop environment. You only clean out the litter 2-4 times a year. I do this. I start out with about 4" of litter, then every couple of weeks I add about an inch of new litter and rake it around or throw some treat in and let the chickens stir it for me. I remove all litter and start over every 3 months. It rarely smells in my coop, unless outside humidity is high for several days. I also throw in some DE every other week too, about half a pound or so.

I'm in the market for a bigger feeder. Does anyone close to me have one you're not using? I'm currently using an 11lb plastic feeder but I like the look of the galvanized ones more. Thinking 40lbs would be a good size for my dozen. That would put me filling it completely with a bag of Nutrena (a whole bag!) every 2 weeks or so. Is that way too long for food to sit in the feeder, or as long as it's covered will it be OK? Guess I could get the 30lb feeder instead. WDYT?

Google DIY chicken feeder. I built one of the wood auto feeders(mine holds about 30#) and am going to be making a PVC one soon. Inexpensive and fairly easy to build.

One of my layers was killed early this morning- We heard them squawking and ran outside. Something was chasing them, (we couldn't see what) but by the time we got out there it had killed one. Does anyone have an idea of what this could be? The other girls are fine, but with the death of Flo and my other Bantam, plus my LF, I'm down to 7 girls which is not good for my chicken math.

Sounds like you may have a serious weasel/mink problem. Keep them secure in the coop/run and get a live trap to catch them.

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

Sounds like you may have a serious weasel/mink problem. Keep them secure in the coop/run and get a live trap to catch them.

I live in (pretty much) the middle of surburbia. Do they still come around? I'm surrounded by houses on all sides, however we have a huge yard with a small creek, pond, and mini forest. Here's what's left of Rhodie:

 

[Mumsy]

One of my layers was killed early this morning- We heard them squawking and ran outside. Something was chasing them, (we couldn't see what) but by the time we got out there it had killed one. Does anyone have an idea of what this could be? The other girls are fine, but with the death of Flo and my other Bantam, plus my LF, I'm down to 7 girls which is not good for my chicken math.

Weasels are so small they can enter a hole the size of a mouse. They are predators of rats, rabbits, and mice, but if those populations are gone they will find the next easiest meal. Once they know the address, they will return again and again. Often when they kill birds in coops, you will find bite marks behind the head in the neck. They like the blood and the small organs like the heart and liver best. If they have a den and kits nearby they want to drag carcasses back to the den/burrow or bury them in a cache. When you live trap use fresh chicken liver, hearts, and gizzard as bait. In Washington State they are considered a fur bearing animal and there are strict limits when you can trap them. With a live catch trap you can take them to the wilds and release. Make sure you take them far enough away.
I have heard barn cats are good at catching weasels. Not just rats and mice.

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

I have 2 different coops~ 1 for my LF, another for my Bantams. This happened early this morning when they were free ranging. There is nothing left of the bird except for a few feathers.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote:
Banty, with a mini forest nearby, yes you probably have a weasel/mink issue, also maybe a hawk too. My cats kill the mink in my forest. You need to make your coop/run predator proof, inspect and secure anything bigger than a 1/2" hole. Also, and I know this will sound weird, but collect your urine and pour it around the perimeter of your coop/run. Female urine has hormones in it that deter a lot of predators, including coyotes. I have suggested this to Farmin Momma too. Good luck

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I have 2 different coops~ 1 for my LF, another for my Bantams. This happened early this morning when they were free ranging. There is nothing left of the bird except for a few feathers.

I would only free range supervised for the rest of winter. Hawks/eagles are going after chickens. Serious drop in mice, rat, rabbit populations this year. That lick you last posted looks like a bird of prey attack. I have had to change to supervised free ranging, my birds don't like it, but they are alive and protected

 

[JennS]

We're finally back home after a marathon 19 day trip visiting relatives in Texas. It would have been nice and relaxing if we hadn't had a 2 year old, but as it was it was pretty good. Nice to see family, especially family we may never get to see again. Getting older sucks.

I'm slowly catching up on household chores. We came home to a filthy, smelly house and spent our first night back vacuuming, picking up, and doing laundry. Just what I enjoy after 7 hours of travel on too little sleep!!! But although the house's condition left a lot to be desired, our house/pet sitter took pretty good care of the critters. We lost the smallest white silkie chick, but all the others look good. I went out back this morning to care for the hatchery "chicks", and someone swapped them out for hens! My girls are growing up.

They even sound like hens. No more peeps, they all cluck. I spent a while out there talking with them and I think they remember me, but they are quite skittish. The SS, Masala, would brave the patio and get about 10 feet from the pen, but the littlest thing would make her zoom back to the pen, wings flapping. Butter, the SF, spooks very easily and doesn't like going anywhere without Masala. Jerk is still the most confident, but I can't tell if she is top hen or not. She still remembers me and stood on the stump in her pen to talk with me. I wish it was warm and dry, I would have found a comfy spot to sit and spent a while out in the yard with them.

Here are my girls, almost grown up!


Jerk is so pretty!


Butter is getting her beard. I hope it fills out more.


Masala is still a little rough looking, but her color is coming in nicely. She is probably the boldest one out of the coop, and a glutton for mealworms.


Jennifer

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

I would only free range supervised for the rest of winter. Hawks/eagles are going after chickens. Serious drop in mice, rat, rabbit populations this year. That lick you last posted looks like a bird of prey attack. I have had to change to supervised free ranging, my birds don't like it, but they are alive and protected

Banty, with a mini forest nearby, yes you probably have a weasel/mink issue, also maybe a hawk too. My cats kill the mink in my forest. You need to make your coop/run predator proof, inspect and secure anything bigger than a 1/2" hole. Also, and I know this will sound weird, but collect your urine and pour it around the perimeter of your coop/run. Female urine has hormones in it that deter a lot of predators, including coyotes. I have suggested this to Farmin Momma too. Good luck

I do have a cat~ He shows no intrest in chickens, and even protects them. When I was gathering eggs, he was sniffing around like he smealt something different. The girls have been confined to the run now until we have a better idea as to what it was.