Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CharterChick]

I am looking for chicks, but it is almost impossible to find anything at this time of the year, is there any hatcheries that sell chicks now? Perhaps I would have to wait until February. 

There are always crazy people(like me) hatching chicks. I just sold 8 barnyard mix chicks. I'd check with people near you and see if anyone is willing to hatch a few. Unless you are looking for specific breeds then you might have to wait.

 

[ochochicas]

Check on craigslist if you are looking for chicks. It is probably better to buy locally anyway than ordering from a hatchery. I just sold my last five chicks...three to a neighbor and two on craigslist.

 

[Ashley Stroud]

oh! There so cute. I'm hoping to add an Orpington to my flock. My list of breeds I want are 1 EE, 1 Orpington, 1silkie, and 1 Barred Rock. Thats just the short list. I've been banned from having more than 10 adult birds at a time

Oh no! Just went out check the girls and make sure they all made it into the new coop and I noticed some one attacked my little pullet Mable. I think it was Brownie cause I've seen her push the babies around everyonce in a while but I've never seen her full on attack the little ones. Poor Mable has had her neck feathers plucked clean off. There is a little blood but I don't see cuts or scrapes on her skin. What should I do at this point? Put Mable separate that would upset her as she would be separated from her mom. Segregate Brownie? Or let us go a just watch them for now. If Brownie keeps attaching them then she gonna find herself in the pot.

Hubby has banned me from more chickens--I have absolutely no idea how these Orpingtons got here!

Hope Mabel is alright! Separate the bully for a bit.

 

[catface]

I'm in NE Whatcom Co.

 

[catface]

Are you picky on the type of Orpington you want? I've got hatching eggs.

 

[Wootage]

Hi! We're in the Chehalis area. We currently have 5 Buff Orpington ladies and are hoping to get some more in the spring

 

[Duck Drover]

I have BBS English Orpingtons and I am taking a break from hatching until I get my flock reduced following my spring and summer hatches. I wanted to keep splash only but of course I have a bunch of blue and black Orpingtons out of my black rooster and a bunch of blue Orpingtons out of my blue rooster. Then I ended up with a couple diluted splash out of the splash hens I sold but they look like roosters and I already have a group of roosters that need to go. The Orpington hens are so sweet but the roosters tend to get aggressive once they hit breeding age and start fighting over the girls.

The guy from our city code enforcement told me in the spring that I need a business license to sell birds and eggs so I have limited my sales to just a few roosters at a time except when people contact me specifically for pullets or hens. Has anyone else ever been told they need a business license to sell chicks and eggs? I ended up raising far more birds this year to avoid selling them but it looks like I will be taking roosters to the auction since that does not require a business license. I had not planned on keeping so many pullets but there is no way I will take them to the auction when they have a long life ahead of them. I may just have to move them out to the barn where we keep the horses and risk having the bobcats or eagles get them.

If anyone wants winter chicks, I can hatch more but for now we are just eating the eggs and I am taking a break from hatching. I have hatched the past few winters in order to have spring layers but I have to keep chicks inside far longer when it is cold and rainy. I always have people asking me for hatching eggs but I have not had as much success hatching eggs I get from other people while I hatch my own right next to them with no problems. I don't want to risk my reputation if someone has a bad hatch for any reason because I have learned that people will blame me for their mistakes. I don't know if the eggs get shaken during transport but I stopped buying hatching eggs and only hatch my own now. The chicks I hatched from other people were never as nice as my own anyway and I have more eggs than I can hatch so I don't need any more.

The forced air fan on one of my Little Giant incubators stopped working so I bought a lightly used forced air Farm Innovators incubator (I love it when people use them once and sell them for half price) and have not even plugged it in to calibrate it yet. I could probably sell it and stick with my tried and true Little Giant incubators that I have used successfully for many years. The still air incubators work great for hatching ducklings and thankfully I have a break from ducklings until March. I can always add a fan kit to a still air incubator for chicken eggs but they cost as much as the incubator and they don't seem to hold up very long. I hatched some Orpington chicks in a still air incubator and ended up with a couple of foot deformities so I will only use forced air for chicken eggs. The Silkie eggs I hatched in the still air incubator produced a couple tiny weak chicks (although they could have been from a very young hen or ones I got from a friend) so it is not worth it to me to hatch anything when they have problems.

 

[Duck Drover]

I should have made smaller paragraphs. I don't post often so, when I do, it seems I have too much to say. My husband has ADHD so he is one of those people who skips big paragraphs because they are too hard to read, LOL.

 

[jbkirk]

I should have made smaller paragraphs. I don't post often so, when I do, it seems I have too much to say. My husband has ADHD so he is one of those people who skips big paragraphs because they are too hard to read, LOL.

This is how I read large paragraphs!!!

 

[Espresso]

I think you only need a license when you sell in certain quantities and/or pull in a taxable amount of profit. In fact, I know that the amount of eggs you can sell is pretty high. He probably hasn't even researched the specifics but it's an easy google search.