Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Zgoatlady]

Just wanted to share! I had a great turn of events. While I will never be purchasing birds from Mallard Lane Farms again, I found someone through here who will be sending me a mate for my sweet whistling duck to replace the little guy who didn't make it. I found him on here, his website is http://www.quackhabit.com and although the website says he sells them in pairs, I explained the situation and he worked with me to not only get me just the drake, but is trying to find the most appropriate mate for my girl. I'm so happy I could fly. This really made up for the crummy week I had.

That is great!

So I had my first attack from raccoons I think, I'm so mad! They got two of my Cream Legbars and a BCM pullets at point of lay of course.
Today we are moving the group we have left and now thinking of a great our again since we lost ours last Christmas. I guess after 13 years we ave been lucky.

 

[CarolynF]

Just wanted to share! I had a great turn of events. While I will never be purchasing birds from Mallard Lane Farms again, I found someone through here who will be sending me a mate for my sweet whistling duck to replace the little guy who didn't make it. I found him on here, his website is http://www.quackhabit.com and although the website says he sells them in pairs, I explained the situation and he worked with me to not only get me just the drake, but is trying to find the most appropriate mate for my girl. I'm so happy I could fly. This really made up for the crummy week I had.

So happy for you! Thanks for sharing!

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Hey Folks, we are looking to rehome two of our girls. We've decided to go with a flock of all larger birds, so our two buff brahma banties would likely be better off as someone's beloved backyard ornaments. They're just about six months old right now. They're both spoiled and will eat from your hand.

We're near Port Townsend, and I don't want to stress them out with a long drive so my preference is for them to go to someone on the Olympic Peninsula or nearby.

 

[nbd3um1]

What, if anything, have you done to make your chickens comfortable tonight with the freeing temps?

I really am not sure what to do for my girls. Should I keep the temp above a particular temp in the coop? They are 7 months old.

 

[AletaG]

What, if anything, have you done to make your chickens comfortable tonight with the freeing temps?
I really am not sure what to do for my girls. Should I keep the temp above a particular temp in the coop? They are 7 months old.

Not a thing. But there are 11 to keep each other warm in one coop, and 6 in the other. If I only had 2, I might be tempted to add a tiny infrared lamp or my personal favorite for my brooders, a seedling mat (meant to get dirty and wet, and doesn't mess with circadian rhythms like lights can. As long as your coop has air flow, but not WIND, their feathers should be all they need. There are some chickens that do better or less well in cold temps. Checked your profile, can't tell if you are East WA where it gets much colder, or in say Sequim where it's mild all year... the occasional frost notwithstanding. Breeds? I have Icees (naturally cold hardy) prod reds, Heritage reds, a couple of bantam Orps, a LF Orp, and a couple Marans. None of those seem to care so far...

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

What, if anything, have you done to make your chickens comfortable tonight with the freeing temps?

I really am not sure what to do for my girls. Should I keep the temp above a particular temp in the coop? They are 7 months old.

Nothing, unless temps get below 0F. Chickens are well adapted to withstand cold temps. Just need to keep them free of drafts and dry

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
Same here. I just make sure they don't have the wind blowing in to them. The main coop here at the moment is just a 10x16, 7-8 foot tall, awning with OSB thrown up to keep the wind out. The boards are straight so there is a nice triangular gap for ventilation. Even with it being like that, it stays several degrees warmer inside. Enough to keep the water bowls from freezing for most of the time. If they do get a light ice, my chickens will peck holes through to the liquid water as soon as they get up at light.

I have a few other pens and the birds in those sleep in converted dog houses. Even the silkies have had no issues in their dog house with four adult birds in it, one of which hatched chicks in there in november last year. The chicks did very well without heat. The silkies let chicks sleep under them at night so no babies get cold.

 

[CarolynF]

What, if anything, have you done to make your chickens comfortable tonight with the freeing temps?

I really am not sure what to do for my girls. Should I keep the temp above a particular temp in the coop? They are 7 months old.

I'll echo what the others have said, and add that you need to be sure to maintain good ventilation, preferably near the roof line. Without proper ventilation too much moisture can build up and create respiratory issues.

 

[crazybirdlady2p]

Welcome to BYC and enjoy! We sure do exchange a great deal of information and fun photos. We are like proud grandparents showing off the feather kids.

 

[crazybirdlady2p]

How did everyone do last night? Hope all is well with everyone's coops. We added a bit of straw to the nesting areas that the young ones have taken over. All the young (4 months and younger) huddled up in 2 nesting boxes at my house.Got down to 30 at my house. Wind gust took my green house yesterday

but the box of greens I had growing for my brood is OK. Milk crate full of baby kale,mixed lettuce,and grass for the chickens.They love it.