Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Chickielady]

Urgh. Mowed today. Four hours later I've got most of it done. Some needs to dry out a bit more before I mow it. I think I really need to take the bladed weed wacker out and trim some me wide lanes and put in fencing for small pastures then get some critters.

We have been mowing here, even with the wheel driven wacker....
I am still amazed at how it looks like 5-8" of grass but when you get out there it is up to your butt !!!

Need to bale hay here !

 

[Chickielady]

NWSumatras...join in !

Love to see pics of your birds...love the heritage breeds.
The Sumatra was used in the developement of so many breeds.
Every so often a Black Java or Jersey Giant Cock grows up & developes a second spikey spur...

 

[starterfarm]

aww man was taking a closer look an the fryer chicks i bought..to start my own flock of fryer...uhh i think they are all roo's...that wont work lol

 

[Hinotori]

Urgh. Mowed today. Four hours later I've got most of it done. Some needs to dry out a bit more before I mow it. I think I really need to take the bladed weed wacker out and trim some me wide lanes and put in fencing for small pastures then get some critters.

We have been mowing here, even with the wheel driven wacker....
I am still amazed at how it looks like 5-8" of grass but when you get out there it is up to your butt !!!

Need to bale hay here !

I could have baled mud today

 

[DeltaBluezTess]

And sheep, and goats, and dogs, and...............................

This woman has energy of at least 5 peaople !!!
How she does it all (and does it very well) is beyond me !
Oh I wish I had but half her energy !

yes, but i dont haul water and do laundry be hand!! I hd open heart surgery and just recently a pacemaker which doubled my heartbeat from 30 to 60 beats a minute.

i am selling the half grown chickens and the rhodebars. I will have some Black Copper Marans but not for about 6 more weeks as they still are chicks

Maxwell sends his love...he loves being the main rooster

 

[CarolynF]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. MelNurse, we are practically neighbors

I have 3 Productions Reds, 3 Black Cuckoo Marans, and 1 Ameraucana purchased from Reber Ranch in Kent. Man do these guys grow fast!!!

Nice selection, and yes they really do grow fast. I love to watch the transformation and their crazy antics.

You should know from the get go that "Ameraucanas" sold at feed stores and through commercial hatcheries are actually Easter Eggers. It's an ongoing issue and newcomers get taken in constantly. Easter Eggers are often beautiful birds and lay very pretty eggs that can be green, pink, blue, or brown. Feed store employees either don't know the difference or refuse to admit there IS a difference and just keep spitting out misinformation. One of my first girls was also an EE and I really liked her!

 

[ochochicas]

Nice selection, and yes they really do grow fast. I love to watch the transformation and their crazy antics.

You should know from the get go that "Ameraucanas" sold at feed stores and through commercial hatcheries are actually Easter Eggers. It's an ongoing issue and newcomers get taken in constantly. Easter Eggers are often beautiful birds and lay very pretty eggs that can be green, pink, blue, or brown. Feed store employees either don't know the difference or refuse to admit there IS a difference and just keep spitting out misinformation. One of my first girls was also an EE and I really liked her!

Not that I would defend the feed store, but the hatcheries that supply the feed stores are selling them what they call Ameraucanas. Some actually calls theirs Araucanas. In fine print they say they are not show quality. As long as the hatcheries have them mislabeled the stores selling them aren't going to correct the error.

 

[grammabonnie]

Hi I am GrammaBonnie and of course a senior citizen. I have just started up raising chickens for the eggs, not meat. Not yet anyway.

I have ten chicks right now, but pretty sure two are cockerals, will wait and see. I only wanted five but fell in love with so many at the feed store. 2 Australorp, 1 Ameracauna, 2 barred rock, 1 Black Copper Maran (roo?), 1 Welsummer, 1 Black sex link, 1 Blue laced red Wyandotte and lastly 1 Buff Orpington. Only problem is, I thought the Buff Orpington was just another pullet. Seems like he/she is a bantam. So small, all the other ones are much larger. Some of mine are 8 weeks, some six, and some 2-3 wks. They all get along so far. My problem with this little Bantam I call her "Buffy" is that I now have all of them going into their coop at night (had to put a light in there first) but she won't or can't figure out how to climb the ladder to get in. So when it is dark I have to go outside and sure enough, she is standing looking at the coop with all the other chicks in it, peeping her little head off. Then trying to catch her is hard. But eventually I do, after she takes me on a merry chase and I am slow ha! Thinking of selling her, she is the only small one, and like I said, more work. The other chicks pay no attention to her at all. but she doesn't see to mind being alone all the time..

I do love just pulling up a bench and watching them play and chase each other. I laugh my head off when I throw a handful of mealy worms in there. (Dehydrated, can't touch those real ones - eeek.)

I live in Lake Tapps near Sumner. I shop at either Del's or Coastal. They both have been very helpful. And I love Backyard Chickens, I have learned so much from all of you. Thank you.
Can't wait to see out of ten how many roo's I have. I think two, but we'll see.

Enjoy the sun, here in western Wa., it isn't consistent. Three days of sun, 4 days of rain. Chickies are in bed and I'm heading there too.

 

[Duck Drover]

In all fairness, the hatcheries and feed stores have been selling them for over 30 years, before the SOP was written. I will only get hatchery Easter Eggers since the chicks I got from a breeder ended up laying tan eggs instead of colored eggs and I had to sell them so I don't hatch the eggs by mistake.

 

[AliceSaurus]

That's nice that your birds will get fresh grass all the time and I think you're on the right track.  You didn't say what size you're planning, but the size is dependent on a few things including the breed of the chickens because some are more docile than others, and how much you'd like your birds to be able to move around.  During the first summer I found that even though my birds technically had enough room (10 sq ft per bird) I felt better when they could run and play a bit more, and keep out of the other's path.  So it's kinda personal.  Most of us seem to make changes after having them for a while.  My suggestion would be to allow yourself to watch, learn, and grow.  Build it bigger than you think you need -- you will probably get a few more before long!    

Thanks for your reply and I'm sorry I forgot to write the run (which has now officially become a tractor) size I have two Buff Orpingtons and a Barred Plymouth Rock, all 6.5 weeks old.

I've tinkered with my plans a bit and have ended up with a 6'lx4'wx2'h tractor that the girls love. I had them out 4 days this week and they were in worm-eating, dust-bathing, stump-perching, room-to-run Heaven! Granted, they're still not very big yet at 6.5 weeks so I did leave myself the room to expand, which I fully expect to have to do at some point. I just worry about it being too heavy for me to drag around. I moved it several times each day so they had lots of variety and didn't cook in the sun. I just need to go buy some more supplies this weekend to finish it 100%. Oh, they have been so happy! I'll put the 10' square fence up this week if the weather cooperates so that should more than accommodate their needs. The coop is only 12' square but I can expand it this fall if really necessary.I also have no experience with and limited access to power tools besides a cheap table saw that scares me... so it has been hard and slow going. I get to do all the work while caring for my toddler and infant. No one else has helped so I get really creative sometimes. I'm probably insane but I know the birds will be safe and comfy and that's my goal