Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CoopDeDoo]

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.

"merry chases" are the most fun aren't they

If you need to re-home your BO and cockerels I don' think you'll have any problems. There are lots of chicken folks in your area and Craigslist usually gets good results if you don't find anyone. Good luck with your new flock!

 

[jbkirk]

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.

grammabonnie! One way that I have found to sex chicks is that cockerels will have a bigger comb and pointy spur spots

. Oh and we have gotten "standard" (really bantam) chicks from a feed store before

.

 

[elizmartin]

My husband hasn't been in any hurry to get a new washer because he doesn't have to deal with it. I've told him that one year of using the laundry mat would pay for the washer

My husband is a gem, When we first got married i used a few laundry mats till i asked him to keep me company. We always had alot to wash with our daughter too….*He* decided it would be much nicer to have a pair at home…He also does his own laundry too….eliz

 

[Chickielady]

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

What kind of breed are they ?

 

[Chickielady]

I could have baled mud today

We will be baling mud by tomorrow with this upcoming rain...the grass half weed wacked & the dog half shaved...................

 

[ochochicas]

Welcome Grammabonnie! I've found that Coastal isn't really known for giving you what they say they're selling. It could be that the employees can't tell the birds apart, or the hatcheries are sending mixed shipments, or the store is mixing birds in the brooders and they are labeled incorrectly. I've also found a lot of their pullets end up being cockerels. It seems like Dels is a bit better. My neighbor bought 6 pullets from Dels, and they are all pullets. They are even the same breeds she paid for! LOL

One of my chicks is much smaller than the others. I'm pretty sure she's a standard though. At 3 weeks the others were twice as big as she was. Now at 8 weeks she is catching up. Luckily the chicks grow up fast so you won't have to wait too much longer to find out what you have.

If you do end up with boys, you can often find them homes by posting here or on Craigslist. If you have pictures we'd love to see them!

 

[Chickielady]

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

OMG after open heart surgery !
I have bradycardia too...maybe I need to speed up my HB ! ! !

That'd be like a 200 year old man taking viagra.

Up until about 6 months ago, we hauled all our water, and porta potty waste, and scrubbed our laudry mostly (until I demanded a washer which sat outdoors & froze quite a few times)
cooked on a campstove (a luxury !)
And heated our hot water on the campstove, so we could mix it 50-50% with cool water in a 5 gallon bucket, then carried to a shower stall where you could use a dipper, and bathe.
All this while living in a 8x16 foot mini storage barn.
Yep, a lawn mower barn.

Yes I am far too tired to do that anymore !
I am so happy to finally have hot running water & flush toilets, and even a clothes dryer !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chickielady]

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.

Welcome Gramma Bonnie from Gramma Robin & I won't touch real live meal worms either !

 

[Chickielady]

grammabonnie! One way that I have found to sex chicks is that cockerels will have a bigger comb and pointy spur spots

. Oh and we have gotten "standard" (really bantam) chicks from a feed store before

.

One fun way to try & sex chicks....is the "Old Sock Toss" method which is a kick:

You have your chicks in a large tub or brooder, ball up an old sock & toss it over their heads.
Cockerels will stand tall & even attack the sock, pullets will run & duck.

It never fails, although some cockerels are (waite for it)

CHICKEN, so they run away with the girls !!

 

[ochochicas]

Quote: Ughhhh! Sounds like life when I lived in South America. For some reason people there think cold showers are the norm. Not for this northern girl! At least now when the power goes out I'm a pro at heating water up on the wood stove and taking a hot shower from a bucket.