Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[pebcrb]

Any ideas on sex of my blrw? About 7wks of age

 

[robj]

Greetings fellow washintonians!!

My wife and I were considering purchasing an incubator so as to avoid the (what we feel is) inflated cost of buying chicks. We were wondering if anyone sells fertile(or atleast likely to be) eggs? We read the trader joes add and that it was a smashing idea. Alas, Trader joes in our area does not sell fertile eggs(darn!) We live in teh Graham/Tacoma area. No real specific breed, however if you have polish my wife will love you and me that much more. Cheers!

Well, I have a few Extra Polish chicks from some eggs that I hatched they'd be straight run, also a couple of extra Lemon Cuckoo Orpington chicks I picked up from a breeder in early March they are off the heat so now worries there. I'll give you a heck of a deal!! PM me if you're interested

 

[robj]

Any ideas on sex of my blrw? About 7wks of age

It's a little early to tell. do you have more pics? maybe one straight on at the head (comb)

 

[MizzPeabodyIV]

[Any thoughts on this coop? It's advertised on CL but it's made in Texas and they ship it mostly assembled. It's 6' x3'. Here's a link to their website: http://www.ranch-coop.com/Chicken-coop-with-cedar-roof.html Will the hens roost (and poop all over) the nesting boxes the way they are set up? Do you think I'd still need a run, or would three hens be okay spending most of their time in there?

 

[Imp]

So what does everyone here (at least those on the western side of the state) use in their run? Sand, wood chips...? Is your run covered? I'm still trying to figure out how to set up the coop/run and I'm wondering what material will be the best in the rain. Seems to me that wet chicken poop in wet material will be next to impossible to clean out without removing everything. And then there's smell concerns.

I've mostly use yard waste, leaves, lawn clippings. It is about 100+ sf and about 1/3 is covered. I only clean it out completely about 3 times a year. As it composts it does get soggy in the rain. I don't have any smell issues, but I never have more than 5 chickens, and they get the run of the yard most all day. I've tried just about everything in the coop, I like shredded newspaper, but it was getting so time consuming to shred, so I switched to pine shavings this year, and am pretty happy with it.

Russ

 

[Imp]

[Any thoughts on this coop? It's advertised on CL but it's made in Texas and they ship it mostly assembled. It's 6' x3'.




Here's a link to their website:

http://www.ranch-coop.com/Chicken-coop-with-cedar-roof.html

Will the hens roost (and poop all over) the nesting boxes the way they are set up? Do you think I'd still need a run, or would three hens be okay spending most of their time in there?

It's very pretty. Yes it looks like they might roost in/on the nests and poop. Also looks like it would get wet inside in the rain. And might need to upgrade the latches for raccoons.

Russ

 

[mikeyb]

So what does everyone here (at least those on the western side of the state) use in their run? Sand, wood chips...? Is your run covered? I'm still trying to figure out how to set up the coop/run and I'm wondering what material will be the best in the rain. Seems to me that wet chicken poop in wet material will be next to impossible to clean out without removing everything. And then there's smell concerns.

I planned on ordering a small coop kit online, but apparently the one I wanted is back ordered. I want to spend $300 or less and I'm having a tough time. I can assemble from a kit, but that's the extent of my carpentry skills. My husband is useless in that department as well. Right now I'm leaning towards ordering this wooden playset and modifying it for the chickens. I'd still have to add a run if some sort, but I think it might be my best bet. Also, since I'm trying to keep the chickens on the DL the playhouse shouldn't attract any attention (I hope).

I use shavings in the run and yes it is covered. The feeder is hung from the rafter and the waterer sits on a concrete block. My flock also gets to free range almost every day. Most rain they ignor, but when it is heavy they head for the coop or the covered dustbath area. (spoiled they are!)

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Any ideas on sex of my blrw? About 7wks of age

Need to see a picture of its back and legs: heads aren't different enough even at maturity to be a good guide for young fowl. I have to tell you: it's hard coming up with a solid gender ID for BLRWs before ten weeks, and still tricky until after 12.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Illustration of what I mean about BLRW heads not being exceptionally sexually dimorphic by comparing them with extremely dimorphic Silver Spangled Hamburgs (although markings and size are also highly dimorphic in SSHs and it's possible to assign gender at a pretty early age for that breed). Both varieties are officially rosecomb, they look a whole lot different:

Agnetha, Anni-Frid and Prince (the rooster I got from Robj). I also need to point out that a lot of the more noticible differences in plumage are because the hens are Splash and the cockerel is Blue.

Elvis in all his glory with Maggie and Terre: he is also about 80% heavier and half again as tall as the hens.

 

[Tailfeathers]

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Just a couple quick points of clarification for the education of perhaps some that read or have read the above. First, all EE's are "mutts". A "mutt" being a Non-Standard bred bird or, in other words, unrecognized breed. And yes, I make my own EE's. Usually, I'm crossing either BCM's or Welsummers with my W & BW Am's to get varying degrees of green eggs. From light green to dark olive. Sometimes I get fortunate and get one of those pinkish purplish eggs. This year, for the sheer curiosity and excitement of it, I just left a couple nice blue egg layers in the coop with BCM, Barnevelder, Buckeye, and a BLRW rooster. I thought it would be neat to see what the results turned out to be. And it has been. Now I can't wait to see what they look like as adults and what color egg they lay. But the main point is that there's nothing wrong with EEs as long as folks know what they're getting and not thinking they're getting an Ameraucana. One might equate EE's to cock-a-poo's, labradoodles, and several other of the "designer dogs" that are out there. I can't remember what it is now but I've got an Elder of our church that breeds one of those "designer dogs" and he gets and unbelievable amount of money for those "mutts". I actually sell a lot of EE's and they go for $5-20 less per bird than a potential SQ breeder bird.

Secondly, the "HATCHERY" Barnevelder is a long story but suffice it to say after I obtained it, I used it to breed it to my pure Barnies because it lays a much darker egg and I'm trying to darken up the color of my Barnie Eggs. I've got two pullets from that mating that still look like crap but will breed them back to their Dad and then those daughters to him again and am hoping that my eggs darken up quite a bit. I felt I needed to explain this because some folks know me on here and that I show my Barnies. They've taken BB seven times in a row now - though the last time doesn't count because they were the only ones there. So I didn't want anybody getting the wrong idea.

As Scott points out, he knew perfectly well what a real Barnie looks like and I showed him mine and told him about the above. The hen he took is a pretty sweet bird and lays a pretty nice egg. I'm sure he will continue to be happy with her.

Lastly, and this is just for general info for those who don't know, but the "willing to part with" was primarily because most my other good birds are in breeding pens. I've had several people call me looking for adult laying hens. Now is not the time to be looking for laying hens. Not from me and not from most. This is the time of year when most folks have limited adults and those are usually being kept for breeding. Now is the time for chicks. Same goes for those who look for chicks in Oct/Nov. That is not the time for chicks but would be the time to contact breeders to see what POL pullets (or cockerels if you want one) they have available. So just remember, chicks in the Spring and layers in the Fall.

God Bless,