Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[xoxocammyxoxo]

OK, I am starting several new breeding programs...some are extremely exciting !
But there is no one to talk to...............................

I'm sorry. I was at work. I'd love to hear about it

 

[jbkirk]

OK, I am starting several new breeding programs...some are extremely exciting !
But there is no one to talk to...............................

Hey I'm still here!!!! Although this thread does seem kind of empty compared to what it used to be.

Compared to now there used to be lots and lots of contributors.

Like @ochochicas and @BGMatt .

 

[elizmartin]

Snakes are shipped with their own heat source in their own boxes with their own padding. So they are probably shipped A LOT differently than chickens. But even then I don't plan to order hatching eggs anytime soon so who knows.


I don't have anything outside worth stealing. Everything gets brought into the house at night, or garage. Makes my house look super bare and empty right now but oh well.

You can lock them in alot of ways.
We got taught at a young age, very young, how to handle & respect firearms.
Even at 5-6 yrs old we were hunting with our parents, pheasant, duck, deer, and fishing.
I taught my kids.
It just was a no brainer.
The kids took lessons, and all the guns (but my sidearm) were locked up at all times.
But we did take them out & shoot several times a month.
No one "played" with guns, not even toy guns.
It is in my opinion, hard or impossible for a child to know the difference between a toy & a real gun.
Maybe being taken all around guns, and both our parents hunted bow & arrow also, and made their own arrows............
We were witness up front & personal to the BANG, the KICK, and the obliterated animal that was shot.and that, will rub respect deep down into your brain at an early age.
There was no playing around, it was constant lessons all the time.
Not many teach their children like that anymore.
It was practically every weekend, surf fishing, hunting, target practice at the range, always a family thing.

Dry Ice shipped with live animals is dangerous because it eliminates the oxygen in the environment and they die.

Proud of You Chickielady…..Agree, guns are not toys and should not be played with as TOYS…Even non hunters should know how to use, take care of and handle guns. Think its a learning of respect for something that can damage…..

 

[elizmartin]

I was thinking about the fermented feed, too, like I keep my feed(s) in rubber maide garbage cans, even the scratch, and I want to toss some yeast in there so bad...........................so I have an alembic still, and a worm, and just need to work out a thumper....................

OH YEAH I LOVES FERMENTATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!

and the chickens can have the mash afterwards!

I do feed beer mash….i get it in barrels and once the top is scraped down, and after a few days keeping it wet it has the most wonderful smell of fermentation, sort of a honey apple smell…..I give in a dish with a little gamebird starter or grower mixed in….I also take Scratch and Peck, Payback 5 way scratch, and a little layer, put into 5 gal buckets, add water and braggs apple cider vinegar and let sit overnight…..not fermented but it allows the seed to soften,,,,,The birds love it and the feed consumption is much lower. The down side is my beardies have messy faces all the time.

Has anyone tried the trickle feeders….The one where the birds touch a stick and a portion falls on the ground or the one that has an unbrella type dish hanging from it…..or the one that the birds have to step on to open….?????? I have all these finches and chickadees that are able to get in and steel from the hanging feeders…..

 

[JennysHens]

Anyone in the Bellingham/Whatcom country area know of where I can get good playground or river sand for my coop? All I can find at the hardware stores or local masonry is paving sand and it's all damp and gross. I guess I can use it and leave it out to dry for a few days before going in the coop but I want the girls outside by Monday! Failing locating good, dry sand what do you guys think of using reptile sand instead? I have a big bag I have left from when my frilled lizard died (took him in as a rescue, knew he prob wouldnt make it but wanted to try!) and that would fill the area I've penned in under the brooder bar in the coop. It's a fine sand, calci-sand they call it? Safe for reptiles to ingest without causing them to get impacted. All else fails shavings it is, I just want low maintenance!

 

[CarolynF]

Anyone in the Bellingham/Whatcom country area know of where I can get good playground or river sand for my coop? All I can find at the hardware stores or local masonry is paving sand and it's all damp and gross. I guess I can use it and leave it out to dry for a few days before going in the coop but I want the girls outside by Monday! Failing locating good, dry sand what do you guys think of using reptile sand instead? I have a big bag I have left from when my frilled lizard died (took him in as a rescue, knew he prob wouldnt make it but wanted to try!) and that would fill the area I've penned in under the brooder bar in the coop. It's a fine sand, calci-sand they call it? Safe for reptiles to ingest without causing them to get impacted. All else fails shavings it is, I just want low maintenance!

Call your local gravel pit, cement yard or sand & gravel supply and get the coarsest sand you can find. But there's no need to get too picky. The place I go to has piles they mix with cement to make concrete in their big mixer trucks. I get the version they call M33. I pay about $16 a ton and of course it's damp so I can only haul about half or less in our half-ton pickup at a time. It dries fast enough when you get it into the pen. What I put inside the coop is only about a half inch deep max. A very practical way would be to put in just a very thin layer, let it dry, then put in more and let dry. It won't hurt your little ones at all since they'd be walking on wet dirt if they were out and about with a momma hen. The first day they are on sand they'll eat more sand than feed, so don't worry. It kind of freaked me out the first time. haha.

 

[JennysHens]

Call your local gravel pit, cement yard or sand & gravel supply and get the coarsest sand you can find. But there's no need to get too picky. The place I go to has piles they mix with cement to make concrete in their big mixer trucks. I get the version they call M33. I pay about $16 a ton and of course it's damp so I can only haul about half or less in our half-ton pickup at a time. It dries fast enough when you get it into the pen. What I put inside the coop is only about a half inch deep max. A very practical way would be to put in just a very thin layer, let it dry, then put in more and let dry. It won't hurt your little ones at all since they'd be walking on wet dirt if they were out and about with a momma hen. The first day they are on sand they'll eat more sand than feed, so don't worry. It kind of freaked me out the first time. haha.

Thanks for the tips. I just went ahead and got the small bag of all purpose sand from Lowes. The local place only sells in such a huge amount, I only need to cover maybe 3 cuft? The coop itself is a tractor to move around the yard, just want the sand for the raised interior so I really don't need much and I have nowhere to store a ton of it! Next house I'll have a more stationary coop and will load up a big sandy run for them, just don't have the means at this place yet. Can't wait to get away from suburbia!

 

[ochochicas]

Quote: Sorry jbkirk. I haven't posted much since Marek's seems to be wiping out my pullets. I've been kind of bummed about it lately. It seems that some of them are resistant, but the more exotic breeds are dropping like flies. I'm going to hatch some more chicks and will be vaccinating all of them and hope to start over with new pullets. I had all these big plans to get some more rare breed birds, but now I'm not going to spend the money on eggs until I am sure we have this under control.


On another note, all the gardening has me a bit jealous so I haven't been commenting on it. We have deer and elk that frequent our yard and eat everything in site. One of our neighbors is putting up an 8 foot electric fence around their garden to keep the hoofed stock out. Seems like a lot of work to me for a few dollars in fresh vegetables. LOL No garden for me!

 

[Chickielady]

I'm sorry. I was at work. I'd love to hear about it

Well, just crossing a few breeds, should work out into a really nice bird.

 

[Chickielady]

Dry Ice shipped with live animals is dangerous because it eliminates the oxygen in the environment and they die.

Proud of You Chickielady…..Agree, guns are not toys and should not be played with as TOYS…Even non hunters should know how to use, take care of and handle guns. Think its a learning of respect for something that can damage…..

What I have always wondered is, heat paks, like handwarmers & tor warmers.we use them in the bedding of shipped chicks.
They must be exposed to Oxygen to begin their chemical heat.so was wondering if they sucked the Oxygen outta the box, too ?