Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Chicken Rustler]

The outdoor run of our chicken coop is finally complete and we will be letting the chickens outside this Saturday. I plan to have my husband open up the door for them each morning @ 7am and I will go out there each night by 9pm and make sure they all get back inside and close the door up. Anyone have any tips or suggestions for keeping my ladies happy & healthy

I would put a small light in the coop the first few nights. This will help get them into going in. See they will "normally" go to the lighter area. Then after they are in turn out the light. after a couple nights they should have the hang of it so stop the light. It is best to let them go to bed with the sun rather than a sudden lights out..

 

[TerrorBird]

Quote:
You haven't met my d'Anvers! They came from the breeder in Centralia. I got them at around 2 months old, but they only warmed up a little bit. When I bring in new birds, they love to terrorize them. They did that with my LF girls last year, but the victims are now the aggressors on occasion. Those Belgians really didn't think that through very well. They love to bully the squirrels around when they're allowed to free-range. I do have one girl who happens to be the sweetest little thing. I got her from Farmin Momma last year. She's nice and friendly. The other day, she wandered up behind one of my Australorps and started picking at her tail feathers. Pengin looked a little confused because she couldn't see tiny Marmalade. She just sat there as Marmalade tugged on her behind. It was adorable. Here's a terrible picture of Marmalade.

I love her gold coloring. I'm going to try to get better pictures in the next few days.

By the way, it was nice meeting you last Sunday!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Well, I think we are going to lose all three baby goats - Momma won't let them nurse. I'm bummed.

Put her in stanchion and let them nurse or milk her and bottle feed. If she rejects you may want to think about like treatment for her!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Sometimes you can get the doe to nurse, but more often she won't. Even if you hold her to let the babies nurse, when you go away, she won't let them. And, they need to nurse very often. They can also get pretty aggressive, and with horns they can be dangerous. I've got one in the house, gave him some milk and pedialite, but I don't think he'll make it. They won't starve. If they don't show any improvement, they will be humanely euthanized. I can't stand to watch animals suffer. I went through this with a doeling 18 months ago. I had her in the garage and tried to nurse her back, but in the end she was too weak too stand. I'm sure the look in her eyes at the end was asking me to help her out of her suffering. So we did. And then I cried.

If the other doe had kidded at the same time, or a bit earlier, I think she would have taken them. She was such a good momma last year. This one is new and not very tame. We'll do our best.
Also TC for future when yer next doe freshens. Milk out some of the first colostrum and freeze it in ice cube trays. once frozen pop the cubes out and put them all in a vacu seal bag seal and freeze. then next time you need some remove one or 2 cubes thaw and feed DO NOT microwave. in the vac seal bag these are good for a year if kept frozen.

 

[BGMatt]

The ducklings are starting to hatch tonight instead of Monday night. Either they take 28 days and not 26 days like I read or they are late because the incubator temperature was low. I have another batch that are due to go into lockdown today according to a 26 day incubation period but I will delay moving them for a couple days, assuming they are on the same timeline as this first group. The first eggs I set were also some older eggs because I had hoped the hens would hatch them but then I decided to buy an incubator. I have some that I don't think will hatch because I did not see any movement when I candled them (they are supposed to be in lockdown but I wanted to see if there was still hope they would hatch) but most of them seem to be alive and well so hopefully they will hatch and the ducklings will be okay. I was worried that I killed them when I moved them into the hatching incubator but now I know they are just late.

Someone told you wrong. Ducks are 28 day incubation normally. Exception is Muscovy which is 30-32 days.so your incubator temp and everything is apparently right on. Happy hatching.

 

[michellemcfeely]

This time I bought it to see what they'd do and they love it. They eat it and 2 sleep in it. I'm gonna try my hand at fodder once I get my coop and run finished.

do you grow the wheat grass for them? or buy it already grown?    

 

[michellemcfeely]

I know that feeling the rain could back off for a week I could get the run done.

I'm hoping it's nice. I hate digging in the rain.

 

[coffeekittie]

You haven't met my d'Anvers! They came from the breeder in Centralia. I got them at around 2 months old, but they only warmed up a little bit. When I bring in new birds, they love to terrorize them. They did that with my LF girls last year, but the victims are now the aggressors on occasion. Those Belgians really didn't think that through very well. They love to bully the squirrels around when they're allowed to free-range. I do have one girl who happens to be the sweetest little thing. I got her from Farmin Momma last year. She's nice and friendly. The other day, she wandered up behind one of my Australorps and started picking at her tail feathers. Pengin looked a little confused because she couldn't see tiny Marmalade. She just sat there as Marmalade tugged on her behind. It was adorable. Here's a terrible picture of Marmalade.

I love her gold coloring. I'm going to try to get better pictures in the next few days.

By the way, it was nice meeting you last Sunday!

Hi!

Your little ones are fiends, then, lol. I bet they are cute, though!

 

[lilfarmmomma]

OK...Just played catch up. Busy day yesterday, picked up the swingset, started making the repairs that it needed and got the good parts put back together. Then my mom came over and brought her trampoline for the boys. We got that all set up, so that should keep Logan quite busy today. Then, she and I played around with our cameras and lenses for awhile. We are shooting a wedding this weekend. I am really nervous. I like taking portraits of kids and teens, but am not quite professional status (yet), but a wedding seems so daunting. Oh well, it will be good experience. And who knows, maybe I will love it.

Welcome to all the new people. I know there are a bunch. I have had a hard time keeping up this week. This weather makes me be outside a lot, which is awesome. I don't absorb as much when I skim.

Quote: Well, when we got there, it was actually 2 separate units. One a more basic swingset, the other a full on climber. Each had a 16' swing bar. It was a much more daunting task than I thought it would be. We ended up putting the fort section into the truck mostly whole, and the smaller platform that has the steps for the slide. We ended up not being able to fit the swing beams, but we have a beam that we can use, so she said if we don't come back to get them, it's no biggie. In hindsight, we should have taken a trailer. The one unit is so heavy, that the farthest we will be taking it is to the backyard, right behind the house. I wanted it on the hill beside the house, but that is not looking feasible. Whatever. I thought about trying to drag it up there with the tractor, but DH is saying that it will break. I don't see why we couldn't use the bottom frame like you would skids, but I guess he knows best. I found some chest waders on clearance online for $70, but that is out of my budget. Especially for something that he will just use here to go in the creek and pond. I will keep watching craigslist, maybe I will get lucky.

Sure you can convert one of these and live in it yourself, but come on, you've already got a place to live! Don't you think maybe your chickens would appreciate nice digs like this?

That would be cute for a guest house. Driving through Montana a couple of years ago, I noticed that many farms have old rail cars on their properties. I am guessing for hay storage, but who knows. I thought they would make a cute guest house, but at the time we were renting. I also have no clue how I would go about obtaining one. These things were definitely old. But it would be great to have a small stretch of rail and have them set up like a sleeper car, but add a small washroom and maybe a dinette type kitchen. Gosh, I am such a nerd.

Teehee, it's so cute and perfect! I put the babies underneath and will put Lucy in the top later. Need to figure out a waterer for her, that's it!

It is so cute!! It looks like it will be SO easy to clean. Perfect size for a momma to raise chicks in. YAY!!

How do I get so far behind!?

Quote: I quoted this before I read the rest of the posts. I'm sorry about the little boy. I also was going to offer to bottle feed one for you if all 3 were too much for you to handle. I do have a bucket with a nipple attached, if she doesn't let them nurse, but will allow you to milk her, you could fill the bucket and it hangs on the stall. Our babies last year used it and it worked pretty well. I could meet you somewhere, if you would like to give it a try.

Quote: I had to herd mine in for the first few days. They have it all figured out now, and go in as soon as it is beyond dusk, but not quite dark. My problem now, is that Sirius the roo, goes to sleep right in the doorway, like he is guarding the flock. When I wake him to close the door, he gets quite grumbly. Silly bird.

 

[michellemcfeely]

Aren't Call Ducks 26?

Someone told you wrong. Ducks are 28 day incubation normally. Exception is Muscovy which is 30-32 days.so your incubator temp and everything is apparently right on. Happy hatching.