Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Lady M]

Don't get goats if you want a lawn mower! They will eat EVERYTHING except the grass, or at least save it until they are really hungry. If you want a nice grass mower get sheep. A friendly sheep is quite a pleasure to be around. And as a bonus they won't get into everything and chew your zippers.

Hahaha! See? This is why I stick to chickens. I obviously don't know goats

 

[Leigti]

Those are some good looking turtles and fish. I just scanned super quickly. It's been a long day. Here's an update picture

 

[chickenmomma16]

Don't get goats if you want a lawn mower! They will eat EVERYTHING except the grass, or at least save it until they are really hungry. If you want a nice grass mower get sheep. A friendly sheep is quite a pleasure to be around. And as a bonus they won't get into everything and chew your zippers.

Hahaha! See? This is why I stick to chickens. I obviously don't know goats

My chickens are quite good at keeping the grass down

Surprisingly most people think goats are good mowers but in fact they are not grazers, they are browsers. They love going after brambles, they will strip and kill young evergreen trees, and they love maple leaves too! They are good brush clearers. Sheep will munch here and there on brush but they go for the grass first.

 

[Gatewayto]

Hi there Olympic Chickens - which part of WA State are in you?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey just started raining here in podunk Mossyrock that is
where I little slice of heaven is

 

[Gatewayto]

Having major problem combining our two sets of chickens

First set of 2 chickens are about 2 months old now and the second set of 3 chickens are 1 month old. We created a divided run and coop system for them to be next to each other for a week then removed the divider. Been watching closely after removing the divider for over 4 days now. Early this morning around 6am I heard the chick screaming, woke up and found the smallest one dead and the 2nd to smallest injured. The 3rd of the second set were ok and trying to comfort the injured chick.

So sad... Added the divider again... The run is about 5 feet by 10 feet long... they should have enough room to run away and places to hide. So sad....

 

[Duck Drover]

My chickens are quite good at keeping the grass down

Surprisingly most people think goats are good mowers but in fact they are not grazers, they are browsers. They love going after brambles, they will strip and kill young evergreen trees, and they love maple leaves too! They are good brush clearers. Sheep will munch here and there on brush but they go for the grass first.

I raised goats for years and this is so true. Whoever said goats are good lawnmowers must not have raised goats or they were so starved they ate the grass. Ours have always eaten brush so we ran them with sheep to clear brush in order to grow grass for the sheep.

We use our ducks and chickens to keep our backyard trimmed and they do a great job. We have even used rabbits in a wire run to mow and fertilize the yard. The birds do a great job weeding and getting rid of the moss in the grass too. We need to put them to work on the front yard too but it is not fenced so we have to use a mower, weed killer, and moss killer.

 

[Gatewayto]

Anyone in Southwest Washington area needing homes for 1 or 2 hens? We have space for a couple of hens.

 

[lynnehd]

Having major problem combining our two sets of chickens

First set of 2 chickens are about 2 months old now and the second set of 3 chickens are 1 month old. We created a divided run and coop system for them to be next to each other for a week then removed the divider. Been watching closely after removing the divider for over 4 days now. Early this morning around 6am I heard the chick screaming, woke up and found the smallest one dead and the 2nd to smallest injured. The 3rd of the second set were ok and trying to comfort the injured chick.

So sad... Added the divider again... The run is about 5 feet by 10 feet long... they should have enough room to run away and places to hide. So sad....

So very sorry to hear this.
You might want to spend time closely observing which of the 2 month old chickens are the instigator. There might be one who is the bully. If you can figure this out, remove her and then see how the smaller two (if the injured one survives) do with the 'non bully' older chicken. If it goes OK, completely remove the bully chicken from view (dog crate in garage, etc.) for a week or so, then try re adding under supervision.
And sometimes they need to live 'in parallel' for a longer period of time. Some people start integration by cutting a couple of doors that only the smaller ones can get through, so they can run back to their 'safe side'.

(Note; If you need to nurse the injured chicken inside, then bring the other one with it for now, as it is likely to recover better with companionship).

An awful thing for you to find. Hope the injured chick makes it.

 

[Manningjw]

Don't get goats if you want a lawn mower! They will eat EVERYTHING except the grass, or at least save it until they are really hungry. If you want a nice grass mower get sheep. A friendly sheep is quite a pleasure to be around. And as a bonus they won't get into everything and chew your zippers.

Glad to see you are still active on the forums!

I still have my favorite hen I hatched from your fertile eggs! She will be 3 years old this Cinco de Mayo. The sweetest hen, she still jumps over the fence to land on your arm if you invite her for pets. She has raised several generations of chicks and is still laying nice blue eggs! I will be turning 30 on the day she turns 3 years old, kind of fun to share a birthday with my first and still favorite hen

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