Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Kaneke]

you have to walk a fine line when you "diet" too -- since if you eat too little, your body thinks you are starving and it starts trying to stockpile (mostly fat, ugh), and then you wind up actually gaining weight and girth not losing it .. for me, the combination of walking for half an hour before each meal, and, as mentioned, eating few carbs, seemed to work the best -- also eating small frequent meals rather than three big ones ... another thing that helped was to eat my biggest meal for breakfast, and eat the least at dinner and evening snack

 

[Rainier]

My name is Amy and I live in the state where the sun rarely shines more than 10 minutes at at time, otherwise known as Western Washington!

As a kid we lived on 10 acres in CO. We had horses, chickens, ducks, goats and turkeys. When my dad brought the turkeys home they were tiny little things and as an eight year old I fell in love. I asked if I could name them to which my dad responded with "they already have names." I innocently asked him what their names where to which he replied "Thanksgiving and Christmas" and no the story did NOT have a happy ending lol I quickly learned that animals named after a holiday or food where not pets.

Fast forward many years and I am now older with children of my own who also have learned that animals named after food are not pets, they however were taught this long before any fuzzy's were brought home.

We recently moved out to a more rural area and we rented the place we did because when we looked at this place we found out that the owner had a lot of land that they then divided up into three parcels and put mobile homes on. When we asked about the possibility of having some small farm animals we were told no horses or cows, the rest is fine. When we really pressed and asked detailed questions he said "your neighbors have goats and chickens, it really is fine with the owner." We are only on .5 an acre so we have to think small and cannot have a lot of animals.

We started gathering resources to add chickens, ducks and possibly rabbits (as food sources for us and our dogs/cat). We were going to go last weekend to get the new babies and we were so excited. Then I thought I heard a coyote howl. The next day when I came home from work my husband told me that he saw the coyote I heard the night before. I asked him where he saw it, thinking he was driving and saw it and he said nope, saw it right in the open 5 acre field right next to our house. We are now rethinking how we will arrange areas and protect any animals we get from predators!

I've been reading on this site for a week before I joined. I actually joined because I wanted to post a response to the lady whose dog thinks chicks are toys.

I have three dogs. Missy Mae is a Shih Tzu/Poodle mix, Tater Tot aka Tater is a Miniature Schnauzer with an extreme prey drive who will never be outside without dragging a leash (at the very least) and then we have the house horse Token. Token is a Great Dane/Lab mix who will mother anything that he comes in contact with. When he finds baby birds that have fallen out of the nest he gets my daughter and brings her to them. We also trained him from a very young age to have a soft mouth and to "find the babies" aka the ferrets. When we brought the kitten home he would pick her up by the scruff and carry her around.

We also have a cat but due to the predator issue she only goes out on a leash with us.

Earlier today a neighbor came by and saw us out with the ferrets and said her cat caught a rat the size of them (they weigh between 2-3 lbs) so that is another consideration.

So far I've seen the coyote, hawks and I know Bald Eagles are around too. I also discovered a huge red ant hill but not sure they are fire ants.

On a side note the neighbor behind us come home today with five baby chicks

Fingers crossed we can get this figured out this week and have babies next weekend!

PS
I copy and pasted my intro post here because I'm to lazy to type it all out again!

 

[Chickielady]

huh? Birds are animals.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, we be animals also.

Last year a member here mentioned how odd it was that we humans can get so attached to such a stooooooooooooopid animal that poops in it's own food !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HA HA
That would be we humans, right ?????????????????
Don't we poop in perfectly great water ???????????????????????

 

[Chickielady]

Yeah, liquid diets never worked for me. I finally got an app for my smart phone, and it has helped me lose 22 pounds so far. It keeps me on track pretty well. I know some people swear by the liquid, so if you find one that works, let everyone know! I just get too hungry - I need a lot of preotein, it fills me up and digests more slowly

(so I don't get hungry again as fast!)

UM, I am witness to how she has intend shrank from her former self...and that was months ago, so I've bet she is far smaller now.
The smaller she gets the taller she looks !!!

 

[Chickielady]

Well, yes the chicken is an animal. We are animals as well......I think they need a category for small animals such as cats/dogs, another category for birds which are chickens/ducks/etc and one for large animals such as sheep/horse etc.....

I would get rid of the roosters, try to appease the complainer by giving them free eggs and maybe near the nest box or area where they make the noise, put some boards or something to tone down the noise.

As for the fertilizer, do it late at night or cover it with a tarp for a few days or cover with dirt.

But some people like to cause drama no matter what and if they are that type, you will lose no matter what you do....

Well said !

 

[Chickielady]

Well, things are just humming along at a great rate of peed here.

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

And on a completely different topic.....

I am thoroughly disgusted with myself for the size I have grown to. I'm thinking of doing a liquid diet to lose a lot of pounds fast to get me motivated, and then switching to something more sustainable like Weight Watchers. (I also need to lose weight quickly because I am going to Hawaii in July and I don't want to have to ask for a seatbelt extender). Do any of you have any experience with liquid diets?

Yes and no. I have experience with only being able to hold down liquids and due to this have been able to get most of the nutrition I need to survive with only liquid.
My suggestion is get something with protein for the morning. Either hemp protein, or a protein shake. Then I drink V8 splash for lunch, and almond milk, or goats milk for dinner.
It's what my doctor has me doing until I can manage to hold food down everyday. I try to eat solid foods daily but for some reason when stressed I cannot eat suddenly the texture of food makes me puke.
Because of this i have lost 5 lbs in the past week. It's a good think I have weight to spare or she'd have me put in the hospital.

 

[elizmartin]

My name is Amy and I live in the state where the sun rarely shines more than 10 minutes at at time, otherwise known as Western Washington!

As a kid we lived on 10 acres in CO. We had horses, chickens, ducks, goats and turkeys. When my dad brought the turkeys home they were tiny little things and as an eight year old I fell in love. I asked if I could name them to which my dad responded with "they already have names." I innocently asked him what their names where to which he replied "Thanksgiving and Christmas" and no the story did NOT have a happy ending lol I quickly learned that animals named after a holiday or food where not pets.

Fast forward many years and I am now older with children of my own who also have learned that animals named after food are not pets, they however were taught this long before any fuzzy's were brought home.

We recently moved out to a more rural area and we rented the place we did because when we looked at this place we found out that the owner had a lot of land that they then divided up into three parcels and put mobile homes on. When we asked about the possibility of having some small farm animals we were told no horses or cows, the rest is fine. When we really pressed and asked detailed questions he said "your neighbors have goats and chickens, it really is fine with the owner." We are only on .5 an acre so we have to think small and cannot have a lot of animals.

We started gathering resources to add chickens, ducks and possibly rabbits (as food sources for us and our dogs/cat). We were going to go last weekend to get the new babies and we were so excited. Then I thought I heard a coyote howl. The next day when I came home from work my husband told me that he saw the coyote I heard the night before. I asked him where he saw it, thinking he was driving and saw it and he said nope, saw it right in the open 5 acre field right next to our house. We are now rethinking how we will arrange areas and protect any animals we get from predators!

I've been reading on this site for a week before I joined. I actually joined because I wanted to post a response to the lady whose dog thinks chicks are toys.

I have three dogs. Missy Mae is a Shih Tzu/Poodle mix, Tater Tot aka Tater is a Miniature Schnauzer with an extreme prey drive who will never be outside without dragging a leash (at the very least) and then we have the house horse Token. Token is a Great Dane/Lab mix who will mother anything that he comes in contact with. When he finds baby birds that have fallen out of the nest he gets my daughter and brings her to them. We also trained him from a very young age to have a soft mouth and to "find the babies" aka the ferrets. When we brought the kitten home he would pick her up by the scruff and carry her around.

We also have a cat but due to the predator issue she only goes out on a leash with us.

Earlier today a neighbor came by and saw us out with the ferrets and said her cat caught a rat the size of them (they weigh between 2-3 lbs) so that is another consideration.

So far I've seen the coyote, hawks and I know Bald Eagles are around too. I also discovered a huge red ant hill but not sure they are fire ants.

On a side note the neighbor behind us come home today with five baby chicks

Fingers crossed we can get this figured out this week and have babies next weekend!

PS
I copy and pasted my intro post here because I'm to lazy to type it all out again!

Welcome, , its not always the dark side, vbg, not knowing how many You hope to have, ducks, maybe some dog kennel paneling around the kiddie pool, chickens, in a large chicken tractor so they can move around but not be loose, rabbits in a large hutch? I would not use chicken wire in the country. ( not strong enough for racoons) Don't think we have fire ants here, unless someone in the south end/ or eastern Washington has seen them. We do have a large half red & black variety that builds mounds and remember an exterminator said they were related to the Carpenter Ant, so You don't want them around Your property. Missy & Tator may look like dinner to eagles/coyotes, and often You don't know a coyote is close and they are opportunists.….Know that when eagles move in every year a slew of signs for missing pets become posted. I would choose darker or multi colored poultry…White, cream is a standout. Maybe a very large portable cage, home made or that can go around a lower story window that the cat can go outside by but is confined.

 

[Rainier]

Thanks for the welcome and we all have a dark side, sometimes it needs a bit of light shined on it!

We are always careful with the smaller animals and they are never outside without us close by. Even Token sleeps inside with us and truth be told none of our animals are outside without us, the pets at least.

We are limited by the size of our property, which is only .5 acres. We are on a private road but there are seven houses on that road. Two are on 5 acres each, two are on .5 acres, one on 1 acre and one on 2 acres or so. Three of those (the 2, 1 and .5 acres) are all owned by the same person and we have one of those rentals. From what I can see the animals around here are lots of dogs, a goat, horses, geese and chickens.

We have a large area behind the detached double garage that is fenced but will have to be fixed and where we plan to build the coop. I'll take pictures tomorrow of the area to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I want to plant some plants back in what will be the run area for the chickens. I'm thinking of removing a big something or other that is growing back there. Not sure what it is so need to either ID it or remove it before babies move out there. We've got a couple of months to get that done though. DH has access to as many pallets as he can haul so we have a lot of resources for only the cost of gas.

As far as how many, we're not sure. I was thinking 3 ducks and DH wants 12 chickens but I'm not sure. The area for the chicken run is on the small side and I worry about 12 chickens having enough room. The ducks will be on the other side of the property.

The ants probably are not fire ants but they big for ants and have a huge mound/nest in the ground. If it ever stops raining I'll get some pictures! We also have sugar ants (not the name but what we always called them. Really small black ants) right now invading the kitchen. From what I understand our property was vacant for over 8 months while the mobile home was renovated on the inside so the yard is overgrown and we have a lot of work to do! The great thing is my children are 17, 17 and 15. They are also homeschooled. That means lots of free labor .. I mean chores around the house that they can do

 

[Duck Drover]

Why not make a proper compost bin? It breaks down faster and will smell a lot less than spreading uncomposted material over a large area. Better for your plants too.

We have several compost bins but they fill up and I wanted to use the compost on my raised planters in preparation for planting. The shavings in the compost don't seem to break down very well and they smell when they are wet.