Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Duck Drover]

Does anyone near Covington process chickens for the freezer? I have roosters for sale and I can't keep raising them myself so they will need to either go to the auction or to the freezer if they don't sell this week. I am not opposed to killing roosters if there are no flocks that want them but I am not set up to do it in my backyard and my neighbors have already complained about me having more than three chickens since Covington is trying to call chickens and ducks small animals like dogs and cats. It does not seem logical to me to call a bird an animal, especially when they are listed elsewhere in the code as poultry. Anyway, as much as it might thrill my neighbors for me to reduce the number I am raising, I suspect they would be horrified if they looked over the fence and saw hanging headless chickens waiting to be boiled and plucked!

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

Anyone know the cheapest place to buy sawdust? For my chicken nests? or someone local to tenino or north tacoma have a bail of hay for sale cheap? (i prefer sawdust though keeps the eggs cleaner)

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

Does anyone near Covington process chickens for the freezer? I have roosters for sale and I can't keep raising them myself so they will need to either go to the auction or to the freezer if they don't sell this week. I am not opposed to killing roosters if there are no flocks that want them but I am not set up to do it in my backyard and my neighbors have already complained about me having more than three chickens since Covington is trying to call chickens and ducks small animals like dogs and cats. It does not seem logical to me to call a bird an animal, especially when they are listed elsewhere in the code as poultry. Anyway, as much as it might thrill my neighbors for me to reduce the number I am raising, I suspect they would be horrified if they looked over the fence and saw hanging headless chickens waiting to be boiled and plucked!

I had a similar complaint in the past, but my neighbor told me i had 2 days to re-home or get rid of a hen i had that was crowing. Or figure out how to make it so they couldn't hear it, They didn't care what i did is what they claimed. Until they looked over and see me processing it LOL
Animal control showed up and told me to do it in the house if possible next time because it's actually illegal to process birds in city limits. They were understanding about it maybe because by the time they showed up i offered them some fresh chicken soup.

 

[Kaneke]

I found that shredded paper is even nicer for nest material -- we get a ton of junk mail so put that through the shredder (especially the stuff with personal ID on it) -- the hens have loved the clean paper, and it's really easy to clean out of the nest box and replace with more ... while the "used" shreds go into the compost bin ...

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

I found that shredded paper is even nicer for nest material -- we get a ton of junk mail so put that through the shredder (especially the stuff with personal ID on it) -- the hens have loved the clean paper, and it's really easy to clean out of the nest box and replace with more ... while the "used" shreds go into the compost bin ...

I used shredded paper for a while for it. But it doesn't keep the eggs as clean as sawdust seems to do.
I shred a lot of paper and compost it already. Mixing paper with the compost and then cleaning out the chicken coop into the compost seems to make for a great garden soil.

 

[Lutefisk]

I used shredded paper for a while for it.   But it doesn't keep the eggs as clean as sawdust seems to do.      

I shred a lot of paper and compost it already.    Mixing paper with the compost and then cleaning out the chicken coop into the compost seems to make for a great garden soil.

might try calling around the sawmills in Tacoma, they probably have tons of sawdust, literally...

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

might try calling around the sawmills in Tacoma, they probably have tons of sawdust, literally...

i'm just worried that they don't separate it, and it might have cedar in it which can poison chickens and ducks.
Tomorrow if i can manage to get out of the house at all i think i'll go around to the local stores and try to find it cheap. I mean it can't cost to much right?

 

[Kaneke]

I bought pine shavings when I first got the chicks from Del's -- turns out the little nuisances ATE the stuff ... and I worried ... replaced those with a puppy-pad covered with fallen fir needles (we have LOTS of that ... the ants pile it three feet high) .. so I still have most of the package of those shavings around here somewhere, will take a look in the morning, would that help?

 

[NanaHess]

just finally able to sign in to BYC again, dunno why I couldn't for the last couple of years but anyway ...

my chickens came from Del's ... from a hatchery in New Mexico I believe, they were labeled as Americanas ... yes ... there is an I in Americana .. just Easter Eggers by a different name ...

great hens ! (and yes, one great rooster in the supposedly-sexed bin) -- I had six hens to begin with and each of them laid a slightly different color or size of egg so I knew whose was whose ... one pink, one olive drab, and four of various shades of blue-green ...

while we were gone for a few months, DS left the run door open a few times, supposedly ALL the chickens were gone (yes including the roo) .. with piles of feathers all over our yard and the next door neighbor's ...

but, amazingly, we still have one hen!

going to check around the area, see if anyone else has an Easter Egger or two, to add to my "flock" since of course she's lonely ... of course will quarantine ...

I do like this style of chicken .. sturdy, good layer, doesn't go broody, am sure the hatchery breeds for good survivability, instead of pure strains ...

and I'd like a rainbow of eggs in my basket again ...

Candy

I actually have 2 EE that I would be willing to part with to make some room for growing chicks that I am hatching. They are both a year old. Not sure what color eggs they are laying, I have 14 layers in various breeds right now and get a mix of colors tan, dark brown, green, blues...
I just realized that I haven't taken any photos of them since they were 3 months old, but this is them

 

[Lutefisk]

i'm just worried that they don't separate it, and it might have cedar in it which can poison chickens and ducks.

Tomorrow if i can manage to get out of the house at all i think i'll go around to the local stores and try to find it cheap.   I mean it can't cost to much right?

try Del's (tractor supply). We get a big bale of pine shavings there for about $5. Lasts us over a year but we only use it in brooder and nest boxes. We start chicks on paper towels in a bus tub for the first 2-3 days before putting them on shavings in the brooder. Never seen them eat shavings.