Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[FirewifeJess]

So...anyone willing to collect some fertile eggs from your flock between now and Tues/Wed and keep them out of the fridge for me? Would love some barred rocks! Or sex links!

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

What would be the best amount of minutes to "snuggle" with my chicks so they are human friendly? Right now, I'm only picking them up for about 30 seconds at most, dipping their beaks in water as a reminder to where it's at and what it is, and setting them down, or letting them jump off my hand to strengthen their legs.

 

[FirewifeJess]

What would be the best amount of minutes to "snuggle" with my chicks so they are human friendly? Right now, I'm only picking them up for about 30 seconds at most, dipping their beaks in water as a reminder to where it's at and what it is, and setting them down, or letting them jump off my hand to strengthen their legs.

I think as long as they see you for a good amount of time daily, and you're interacting with them with treats and small pats on their backs, for now you're fine. If someone becomes skittish, I'd pick them up and wander around for several minutes to encourage them to snuggle and like me, unless they struggle a lot and then I'd do it less and give them more of a chance to get used to me first. Keep your hands in the brooder a lot, and talk to them a TON. Aren't they fun?!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

What would be the best amount of minutes to "snuggle" with my chicks so they are human friendly? Right now, I'm only picking them up for about 30 seconds at most, dipping their beaks in water as a reminder to where it's at and what it is, and setting them down, or letting them jump off my hand to strengthen their legs.

As long as they will let you, they will eventually relax when they understand you are not going to hurt them. I started out about that same time length, I am up to about 15 minutes per chick now. I just have a towel on my lap in case they poo.

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

I think as long as they see you for a good amount of time daily, and you're interacting with them with treats and small pats on their backs, for now you're fine. If someone becomes skittish, I'd pick them up and wander around for several minutes to encourage them to snuggle and like me, unless they struggle a lot and then I'd do it less and give them more of a chance to get used to me first. Keep your hands in the brooder a lot, and talk to them a TON. Aren't they fun?!

I just love them. The Cochins are the friendliest (one just sits there and let's me pet it), and the MG and one of the Cochins spar, being typical roo's. They are super tiny, like the size of one of those old Morgan Silver Dollars, since they are Bantams. I'm planning on taking pictures of them every day for the next 3 months just to see their growth.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:

We left about 9:30 ish and the line was about a block and a half long!!!! Holly Cow, so glad we did not have to stand in that and I know DH is too. What time did you get there?

We were there about 11am. We're members so we just got to walk in. I've never seen lines like that there.

 

[Hinotori]

So...anyone willing to collect some fertile eggs from your flock between now and Tues/Wed and keep them out of the fridge for me? Would love some barred rocks! Or sex links!

We had eggs for dinner the other night. Apparently the boys aren't doing a very good job of fertilizing. I found one large fowl egg that was fertile out of the many I used. They need to watch the silkie apparently. HE knows what he's doing.

 

[Greg Richardson]

Railroad Ties (Enumclaw)

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Several big railroad ties. See photo. You must move. Easy access from driveway to loading. Please contact me by email to make arrangements for pick up.

Thank you.

• Location: Enumclaw

 

[Chicken Rustler]

I feel the need to know what to do when the time comes to cull a hen. I signed up for a class through the seattle farm co-op, they will be processing 6 birds with 10 'students' watching/participating. Will I regret this???? The thought of watching this really makes me sad/gives me the creeps, etc. but I don't feel like I'm being a responsible chicken owner by not knowing what to do when the time comes. I don't want to eat any of my birds, honestly, I'm just sort of concerned about having an injured/ill bird and I don't want to see them suffer..I guess I could always bribe a local chicken person to come over and do the deed

Anyway, am I going to regret watching 6 chickens be killed and processed? I have pet cats and I don't feel like I need to know how to kill them, ya know? But they can be taken to an emergency vet and they aren't at risk of being attacked by a raccoon (they're indoor cats). Can chickens be taken to an emergency vet to be euthanized? It would probably cost a fortune. There should be an at home euthanasia kit for pet chicken owners. Chloroform, then an injection of some kind. Something easy and not bloody.

Everybody has different outlooks. You must find what is right FOR YOU and that is what you do. For me I don't cull slackers etc. I take them to auction. Then with what I get there I can (depending on how the sale went) go buy 1-3 birds already to go in freezer. See for me it is all about $$ and I can't taste the difference between $1. $5. $10. bill. Here is just an example today I took some B RIR roosterz to sale $5. and $10 each (btw these were hatched from stock I previously had). I also took 9 B Am they went for $2. $4. each. just imagine what LF could bring. I have seen $ 12 - $15 per LF hen. I am not about to mess with processing to get one meal per bird when I can sell and be done and get 2-3 meals. This is just my idea. Doesn't make it right for others just what I do ! ! ! !

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Just out my back door/basement to the left is the front of the coop; the door has plenty of ventilation, and no it's not done with the trim. There's also a vent up high on the front and back of the coop under the eves, which you can see in this pic:

Here's the inside left of the coop. Nest boxes straight back; they only use the one on the right. Roost about my waist high, about 1' above the pop door which is open full time; yes, I hung that bag of shavings on a nail in the rafters to spare my DH having to store it in the basement.

Ok here's the inside right of the coop; there IS another "pop door" on that side which we covered with hardware cloth to keep as a floor level window for more ventilation; for the winter, it's closed with a piece of wood as there was quite a drafty breeze blowing underneath the roosts when it was open. The light plus is in the ceiling

Here are the nest boxes from the outside. I raised the flat lid up and that encouraged them to actually use the boxes; now they love it in there, but I don't feel it's dark enough. Also, the corner piece on each side needs to be made more secure, right now any predator could squeeze in there.

Here's the run and coop next to each other; notice DH put a rain gutter on the run side of the coop so that rain didn't run off into the run, woohoo! There's sand in the run and I need to find a good way to remove poop from there about once a week. Thinking a wide tang rake with hardware cloth over it, to use like a huge cat litter scoop?

And this is the inside of the run from the door on the end; there's a roost on the front of the run that they all use, 40lb feeder hanging towards the coop, a waterer on a block, and a rabbit hutch that they also all use to lay eggs in; that will turn into our broody house if Lucy, who is STILL in the nest box since this morning all huddled and ruffled up feathers and purring at me when I open it since this morning, goes broody

So everyone...what do you think? What can I do better? How can this all improve?

Mooove it all my house and paint barnred!!! looks great kiddo !!