Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[hausfrau77]

Still awaiting our first eggs down here in Vancouver with our 5 girls. 17 weeks old today

supervised free range in the yard, mission poop everywhere accomplished

Roxy-Rexasaurus is looking more barred less penguin

Sofia Sicilian buttercup

Petri the flyer, she is also a longneck EE banty

Pearl

"Mister"Meeko
Will continue growing, learning, enjoying the community here as well as all the helpful knowledge as we continue on our suburban chicken adventure ((((waves))))

 

[Chickielady]

CL, that's simply not true. I own some duplexes which we rent. ►WE◄, the owners, pay property taxes, and they aren't subsidised. Most of ours are on septic so aren't expelling water into an area that can't handle it.

Kate

We are talking about them paying their own way, not the land owner paying their way.
Not any of us land owners paying their way.
They need to pay for themselves & their children.
All land owners DO PAY, and through the nose, in taxes for schools, ambulances, fire departments, LEVIES LEVIES LEVIES for school additions one after another.

After all this, the parents have to pay $$$ for their children to have school supplies, and back packs, shoes and clothes for gym classes, instruments for band.
One wonders where the heck all this money is going ?
And still, the local govt adds yet a new levie on the ballot...................

One of the biggest mistakes our government is making (there is alot !) but the shame of so many working families put out of their homes due to this foreclosure crisis !
We have 5 homes around us, rotted and ripped off, thanks to bank foreclosures.
Thieves have made off with the electrical wireing, bath & kitchen fixtures, they even stole the carpets off the floors and alot of striped off cedar shingles, pumps, chlorinators & Hot water tanks, gone.
Would it be so much better for EVERYONE, if Fannie mae and Freddie Mac AND the banks got together & found a way for families to stay in these homes.

4 out of 10 in Aberdeen................4 out of 5 down here.
Empty, gutted, earning no taxes, and now dillapidated and rotting, useless, and must be bulldozed.
The income for taxes would be a blessing to the rest of us struggling to pay it all...not to mention families would have a place to live, and these homes would be cared for by families with owners pride.

And I did not mean you with duplex rentals to not have to pay taxes.
What I mean is the occupants, do not.
In this manner, large families, any families, pay no taxes to school their children as they own no property, we do.

I know so many that would have loved to own the 2 parcels next door to us.
It could have housed 3 families.
Instead it was gutted, trashed, fannie mae cared less.
All over the country, there is millions of homes like this, earning no taxes, and it puts a severe burden on us property owners.
I read several articles in the last 5 years of how 'it used to be' when all 10 homes were occupied & paying taxes, now 4 of those homes are empty & trashed, and that means the rest have to pick up the taxes not being paid.
And schools and municipil issues go unpaid or left out, or deleted, like arts, and sports in schools.

OK off my soap box now !
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....................... maybe I should run for office ! ! !
I would but I HATE politics and government in general and this issue (above) is a good example why I hate our government.
YOU cannot pay your mortgage so you are kicked out & homeless, meanwhile the home goes to the thieves & rats...that is a shame.
A dirty shame !

 

[Chickielady]

I understand her frustration and was recently having a similar conversation with a friend. Living in Seattle, he keeps seeing his property taxes hiked up higher and higher because a majority of the people voting for the increases are renting, they do not own the property themselves (but they wonder why their rent keeps going up...). While the owner does pay the taxes, he or she is the minority and will lose the vote when it comes to adding additional taxes marked for schools etc. I think my property taxes will be around 4,500 next year? Single/no kids and make enough to never qualify for special rates for utilities or taxes gives me the bias I have

.

It has been estimated that up to 40% of ALL taxes paid, come from Seniors, retirees, which is BAD in that their income is Social Security, and is usually $1200. to $800. a month !
Try paying your taxes, mortgage & perscriptions, and supplemental insurance with that spec of income, and this is once a month, not a check every 2 weeks.
Disability is often 70% of what full SS is, in that way SSdisability people, like so many Americans that have incurred disease, accidents, strokes, whatever, and can no longer work, are punished by not getting 100% of their SS benefits, AND to make issues worse, SSDisability beneficieries cannot get supplemental insurance, and medicare pays at best, 70%...so how the heck do we pay the other 30% of medical and perscriptions ?

IDK....sometimes I just do not know what is to become of this country....our kids cannot get jobs, they cannot get tuition to go to college, they struggle to pay $1200 a month for a condo !
It just cannot work this way !

 

[Chickielady]

Yes, property taxes, including levies for schools and such, are calculated on the value of the property. And the the landlords pass it on to the tenants. Rental subsidies lower income taxes and perhaps business taxes, but not property taxes. And most apartments, in the city, are not subsidised housing. In the city, sewage goes to treatment plants, so whether a family lives in a house or an apt., the sewage goes to the the treatment plant.

I have other reasons not to like apartment complexes and zero-lot-line houses, but it's related more to the mental, emotional, and physical well being of those that are over crowded.

This is also true.
Humans, like so many other species, do not do well stacked up mere feet from each other, and pure rudeness results with barking dogs, noise, loudness, smells and noises !
Last place we were in California, mere 3 feet from our fence was their bedroom & master bath.
Sitting on our patios in the evening was so gross...................as was their 2 insane chihuahuas.
Then they decided to supplement their income by starting a day care....yup.
It drove me right over the edge.
Most have zero respect for their neighbors, ZERO, they think they have a right to make noise, all noise, when ever they please, and so do their dogs, and children.

 

[Manningjw]

This is also true.
Humans, like so many other species, do not do well stacked up mere feet from each other, and pure rudeness results with barking dogs, noise, loudness, smells and noises !
Last place we were in California, mere 3 feet from our fence was their bedroom & master bath.
Sitting on our patios in the evening was so gross...................as was their 2 insane chihuahuas.
Then they decided to supplement their income by starting a day care....yup.
It drove me right over the edge.
Most have zero respect for their neighbors, ZERO, they think they have a right to make noise, all noise, when ever they please, and so do their dogs, and children.

I can sympathize with you regarding neighbors. I live on a 15,000 sq foot lot which for the city of Shoreline/Seattle is pretty decent sized which should be enough to not feel crowded. I bought the house last year and clearly didn't spend enough time figuring out who my neighbors would be. The house next door has 3 young families and grandma living in it. That means 3 husband/wife couples and 2 kids each so 12 people, grandma, and they have a couple of other young men that live there and more people that get dropped off at night to stay there. Well, with 6 kids and a much smaller yard guess where the kids like to play? My yard, throwing stuff at my chickens, trying to spray them with my hose, SCREAMING as they ride their bikes by my bedroom window while I try to sleep (I work night shift, sleep during the day). Fun times.

 

[torrelee]

Hi folks, I was wondering if anyone knows where to get pet quality silkie hens in western wa? I have one showgirl who is hanging out with my parents flock until I can complete my coop and get a couple friends for her! I'M looking to keep a flock of 4, so would like another silkie but would consider bantam cochin or other genius ideas for fun/friendly options CL seems to be mostly roos.

 

[elizmartin]

Hi folks, I was wondering if anyone knows where to get pet quality silkie hens in western wa? I have one showgirl who is hanging out with my parents flock until I can complete my coop and get a couple friends for her! I'M looking to keep a flock of 4, so would like another silkie but would consider bantam cochin or other genius ideas for fun/friendly options

CL seems to be mostly roos.

Am curious as you are looking in Washington state but your avatar says Humbolt Co, California. You Calif. and Your folks Wash.????? Where in Western Wash.?

A good place to start could be with Your feed store especially if they stock chicks in the spring. Monroe feeds near the Fairgrounds comes to mind…. Knowing their customers may bring leads.. Its fair season, check out the poultry displays and ask around, Monroe fair soon, at Puyallup-Sept??? the poultry is displayed in sections over a 3 week timeframe ( chickens, water fowl, etc.)-check the Puy. website. Karen Carpenter in Burlington raises pretty silkies…..e-mail Washington Feather Fancier, and ask who they know in Your area….lots were at the Mother Earth Fair show, including for sale…..Good Luck

 

[torrelee]

Hi elizmartin,
I need to fix that. I'm in the CG and just transferred back north. One of my friends kept my birds down there because I wasn't sure if I would be in barracks or not! I am in a house on a couple acres though, so my heart says "CHICKENS" !
I already have the showgirl, but don't want to bring it home until I can find it a friend. I would like a silkie because I wanted something for it to pile with in the house. I tried our local fair here, but no one sells. I'll just keep an eye out. Petrie is happily hanging out with 2 BR and a speckled Sussex at the parents so won't go lonely, I am just being impatient

 

[Hinotori]

My silkie rooster has been picking fights today. He has all the large fowl running scared. The entire yard belongs to the silkies now, apparently. He was beating up roosters and hens that are 3-5 times his size. He has put the fear of silkie into them.

 

[drumstick diva]

WOW that sounds like one Ninja Silkie. I guess he is just avenging all the beatings silkies take at the beaks & spurs of other breeds.