Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[TacomaFarms]

Yay! I received my Asparagus crowns today! And my trees are all planted, lawns mowed, & I even cleared out the new chicken coop area!

 

[mikeyb]

Orange pies! XD The yolks made them so pretty and orange-y.

Well done and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Orange pies! XD The yolks made them so pretty and orange-y.

Wow those look tasty. Happy Birthday!

 

[nikki1]

I LOVE Graham Hay Market!! I got a great assortment from them last Friday. I will be going back in a couple of weeks to get another batch. Now I understand what you all meant by Chicken Math.

I was there today to get shavings (and play with chickies). They had California grays, anconas, New Hampshire reds, RIR's, BO's blue langshans, anconas, barred rocks, assorted bantams, dark brahmas, golden laced wyandottes, black australorps, white austras, and a couple more I can't remember. They stock chicks until August, and they post their orders for the whole summer ahead of time, so you can plan your shopping. They always have a good selection of the common varieties, and every week they have a few oddballs. As an added bonus, the family who owns the place is VERY knowledgeable, which is a nice change from Del's

That's my commercial for the day. I always like to put in a good word for Graham Hay Market. They're good people.

--Nikki

 

[Lutefisk]

Chaebird, no fair! You're sharing the recipe right?

 

[ducklingsweety]

hi peeps i love this site and i cant wait to find out more cool stuff! does anyone know some good coop designs we have a portable one but don't like how it leaves big spots of poop in our yard WE WANT TO UPGRADE!!!

 

[nikki1]

hi peeps i love this site and i cant wait to find out more cool stuff! does anyone know some good coop designs we have a portable one but don't like how it leaves big spots of poop in our yard WE WANT TO UPGRADE!!!

You can go to the coops part of this website and be absolutely overwhelmed by the number of coops people have on display. If you have questions about what plans to go with, go to the "coop design and maintenance" section of the forum. Last winter/spring when we were building, I more or less lived there. I'm sure your fellow Washingtonians have good ideas/pictures to share. Here's my coop!




If I had it to do over again, I'd have made the run bigger, but The Girls have a half acre fenced yard to free range in, so I'm only disappointed in that when the weather is really bad.

Features I've been glad I included are the "egg hatches" (the little doors that open into the nest boxes), and the super-sized door that makes interior access easy. We also put vinyl flooring down inside the coop to make cleaning less of a chore.

We used LOTS of recycled materials...peoples' scrap lumber, paint and knobs from the Habitat for Humanity Restore store, vinyl floor remnant from a flooring shop...the list goes on and on. That oversized door I like so much used to be a coworker's back door. She'd tried to give it away at a garage sale with no takers, but when I saw it amidst her scrap lumber I snapped it up!

I'm babbling, so I'll stop now. Have fun coop hunting, and thank you for giving me an opportunity to show off!

--Nikki

 

[mikeyb]

Quote: Very nice coop Nikki, very nice.

 

[lilfarmmomma]

I was there today to get shavings (and play with chickies). They had California grays, anconas, New Hampshire reds, RIR's, BO's blue langshans, anconas, barred rocks, assorted bantams, dark brahmas, golden laced wyandottes, black australorps, white austras, and a couple more I can't remember. They stock chicks until August, and they post their orders for the whole summer ahead of time, so you can plan your shopping. They always have a good selection of the common varieties, and every week they have a few oddballs. As an added bonus, the family who owns the place is VERY knowledgeable, which is a nice change from Del's

That's my commercial for the day. I always like to put in a good word for Graham Hay Market. They're good people.

--Nikki

I have shopped there for years and recommend them to everybody I know. They treat their customers like friends and to me, that is important. I went in to get my planting potatoes today and of course, had to swing by the chicks. I looked in the assorted bantam tub and there was a FRIZZLE!! I am thinking Frizzle Cochin? Super cute and of course couldn't pass it up. I hope it turns out to be a girl. That's the risk with that tub, they are straight run. A little over a week ago, they had a LF Cochin pullet, which I promptly snatched up and I also got a Golden Laced Polish out of the assorted tub.

Their chicks are a tiny bit more than Del's, but they also seemed to be hardier, I didn't even lose one out of 11 and they had just gotten them in that day.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

My barred rock is laying again and one of my ee's started laying. I had 2 silkie broody's. But after a month of them trying to hatch eggs. I moved them into an area that I made to put the broodys so they won't be disturbed. They decided they weren't broody any more. Then I had another broody hen so moved her to the broody area. She did not like it. She wanted the next box that is with all the others. So Will let her alone. And hopefully these won't be rolled to much which is what was happening with the others. I know they are fertile as I have some growing in the incubator.

Did you move them at night in the dark? That seems to be the only way I have been able to move them and have them accept the nest.