Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CarolynF]

Ooooh too late I went to his website.

I'm glad you said that because I thought it was a problem on my end! No problem on my phone viewing it, oddly. A Bantam Australorp sounds pretty amazing.

June would be the perfect time as that's when our current babies will be well into the coop (if we ever finish it...) and we'll be vacationed enough from messy 'brooder in living room' shenanigans to think having more chicks is a good idea.

I think bantams are adorable and sized a bit better for suburban living. Maybe also a little bit scared of the larger standard breeds (oh man, we saw a this enormous Wyandotte on a farm that seemed like a feathered T-rex), or at least the size of their poops. But I would like at least semi-regular egg-laying because I love eggs and as bribes to keep our neighbors happy. So I was thinking of useful but still cute bantams/smaller breeds! Probably not for eating unless there's a particularly mean one.

Quote:
There are a few breeds that tend to be smaller, I would say Ameraucana and EEs and especially Swedish Flower Hen which lays a big egg but isn't a big bird. Barnevelders would be very nice for an urban setting, very calm and generally quiet with huge eggs. They are certainly smaller than an Orpingtons or Wyandottes of the same quality. Yep, you just have to go to the show in June, no doubt about it!

@Manningjw I'm thinking yours are on the smaller side, too. Is that true, compared to Wyandottes?

 

[Slinglings]

I haven't posted here in a long time! I am in NE Seattle and I'm looking for two new pullets or young layers. I want at least one of them to be a red sexlink. I've lost two red sexlinks to raccoons (at different times) and I miss them. I'm open to the idea of two RSLs, or one of another breed or cross. I would like both to be from the same flock though. An olive egger would be nice, or bright blue layer.

They will be added to my existing flock of 9: 4 year old white leghorn, her two EE daughters, 2 years old; and 6 hens that were hatched last summer (RIR, 3 EEs, bielefelder, white plymouth rock)

I personally don't want to travel too far from NE Seattle to buy these. Carolyn Farmer has offered to help transport from the Bremerton area on the 30th if anyone has something in that area.

Thanks!

 

[Duck Drover]

The more research I do on my Quechua rooster, the more confused I get! I think he might be most closely related to the Australian Araucana (hopefully I have at least learned to spell that right) that recognizes the tuftless and tailed version only of the Araucana breed, however they may also have small slicked back crests like the British tailed Araucanas. I have seen pictures of both tailed and rumpless versions of the Quechua so it may be more towards the multi-possibility genetics of the Araucana (the result of lethal genes causing them to not breed true) than the Ameraucana, which breeds true.

I thought that the true Ameraucanas only lay blue eggs and the true Araucanas only lay green eggs with the true Easter Eggers (with beards, muffs, pea combs, and tails) laying both colors plus the pink and purple eggs (not rose colored beige eggs) but it seems the Araucanas only lay blue eggs, not green, so I was mistaken. The Quechua is supposed to lay only blue eggs (hard to know having a rooster and no hens) so I want to retain some green egg laying qualities without losing the green to beige eggs with too much crossbreeding.

It seems the Araucana is actually a mix of multiple South American breeds and that is why it does not breed true with regards to tufts and rumps. It is like breeding Sizzle to Sizzle and getting multiple outcomes. I like tails, not tufts, so I am more impressed with the Ameraucana breed except that I like mixed feather color and mixed egg color. I want more of an Easter Egger Ameraucana than a pure Ameraucana so I get green egg layers without getting into the ugly shades of green that result from too much brown egg genetics in the mix.

My old time Easter Egger chickens (that the hatcheries first called Araucanas but now seem to call Ameraucanas) had muffs that covered their ears but not tufts sticking out of their ears. They had full beards, which also eliminated the wattles. They had slate legs with a characteristic green hue. I bred my stock for many years with high hatch rates (no lethal genes) and an undocumented breed "standard" that was "true" except for feather color and egg color, which is why they are now called Easter Eggers. The problem is that so many people are creating their own mutt Easter Eggers in order to experiment with egg color and there is no way to guarantee egg color in a chick.

The only way I can get back to what I want is to try to eliminate too many "improvements" in the hatchery Ameraucanas so I can get back to the hatchery "improved" Araucanas. I am hoping that putting a tailed and non-tufted Quechua over hatchery Ameraucanas will be the right recipe but I will need them to breed true and the multiple potential outcomes in the various Araucanas (North American vs Australian vs British standards) sort of makes that impossible. I don't even know how you can register a breed with so many phenotypes out of the same genotypes. No wonder these breeds are surrounded in so much controversy. It will take raising up alot of hens before I know if my project is a success and I am still working on acquiring parent stock without introducing health risks.

I do not understand complex genetics well enough to consider myself a true breeder. I like what I like and I use that to make more of what I like without worrying about things going too wrong genetically. Show judges like what they like too so show quality is somewhat subjective and tends to be a moving target. I guess as long as I like my chickens it is worth hatching more and keeping my favorites without getting too hung up on the standards of perfection but I am probably too much of a perfectionist to not consider quality over quantity.

The hardest thing I would face if I had to give up my chickens one day is that I would never find suitable replacements. I keep thinking that chickens are too much hassle for the eggs but I enjoy the chickens more than I enjoy their eggs. I would love to get back to a self-sufficient lifestyle one day but my more immediate goal is being able to walk again after my surgery. I am spending too much time contemplating my chickens while being immobilized (and a bit loopy on pain meds).

 

[Mortisha1010]

I don't know why people are so harsh about renting to people with animals. Goodness, people with animals are way more awesomer than people who don't want animals!!

. We have renters right now with an elderly golden retriever. Just based on the size of their dog no one would rent to them! Their loss...we have excellent tenants that have never paid late on rent and take excellent care of our home.

Wish you were closer...I would've been glad to help!

Right? We've always been good tenants and have an excellent credit score but seems like pets always cause landlords to turn us away. When we moved out of our last house in CA we even found someone else to move in right after us so our landlord wouldn't lose money. Just don't understand... and then most places that do accept pets want like $300 per pet. No way would my pets ever cause even a fraction of that. I get that there are a lot of irresponsible pet owners and they make the good ones look bad and suffer for it. =[

 

[Chickielady]

Excellent article! Thanks for sharing. From my research, many long-time breeders have closed flocks and practice line breeding, which is distinct from inbreeding. Here is a quote from the article, though I recommend reading it in it's entirety, it's not long:

[Now not all chicken lovers are interested in breeding to a standard. They just want to keep some chickens. And that's alright. But if a person has become interested in chickens and wants to set the goal of having a chicken that actually represents the breed and produces offspring that represent the breed, then starting with unrelated parents is not necessarily a good idea. My opinion.
I have said in the past few articles that if you want to get 5 show quality Japanese then you have to set 100 eggs. I know that there are a few breeders out there that chuckle when they read that statement. And rightly so because they are setting 30 eggs and getting 10 show quality birds, and they are doing it year after year after year. How do they do it? An old breeder of Plymouth Rocks by the name of Ralph Sturgeon said it best in the title his little book, " Start Where You Are With What You Have". That's the first step. But the rest of your steps have to be calculated. We are talking about the difference between line breeding and inbreeding. The basic flaw of inbreeding is continually breeding brother to sister, disposing of the parents and taking their offspring and breeding brother to sister. This will eventually end up at the dead end of infertility. (Emphasis mine)
I had a man call last week asking me if I had any good birds to sell. I said I would but good had to be defined. I have what I would call good birds. I am talking about Black Tailed Whites now. I could have sold this man a trio of good birds, but I could not guarantee that they would breed true. Four years ago I got back into Black Tailed Whites by getting breeding stock from four different strains. What I have now are birds that are crossed from three of those strains. I have disposed of one of the strains. I have to set 100 eggs to get 5 show birds. But one of my strains is from a breeder, and he is a breeder, that if he set 30 eggs he gets 10 show birds. The difference here is that I have blended three strains together and he has been breeding the same strain for 50 years. The quality of offspring from his birds is pretty predictable.]

I have been told by a breeder that you could get away with inbreeding (brother to sister) for one generation, but after that you better put mother to son, father to daughter, etc and build a line breeding program. Line breeding closes the gene pool and emphasizes both the good and the bad. When the bad shows up you select away from it year after year. When and if you introduce new stock you will be introducing a whole other gene pool and you have really no idea what is in it until you start raising them up.
Good luck!

 

[Chickielady]

Hi all, I'm new to BYC - just popping in to say hello! We are first time chicken owners in Monroe, WA getting started with 3 pullets - buff Orpington, speckled Sussex and a blue Wyandotte.

Question - how much of a problem are Hawks/Eagles in a semi-developed area (most properties near us are 1-5 acres)? I want to let the girls free range during the day but I don't want to lose them! Is it best to wait until they are full size before giving them free reign of the yard? We have a full fenced yard about 3/4 acre in size and another 2 acres that they won't have access to that isn't fenced (read: wandering dogs, cats, coyote, etc.)

Love your avatar name !!!!!!!!!!!!! and welcome, as I am a bit saying welcome, welcome anyways !

 

[Chickielady]

@ Duck Drover

Please forgive my pain killer induced ramblings. I will be so grateful to have my thinking back to normal again because it sure does get muddied lately.


I understand that so very well I have tramadol from my Dr. many he trusts me not to abuse but could take at least 12 a day
for a month or more if I needed. last time in there I asked to lower the amount I get as I did not need a year
supply in my cabinet...... It is now on the controlled list but my pharmaceutical company send 3 months at a time..

Tramadol is the only pain killer I can take, and so welcome last gallstone attack !!!
I like it better than any opiod...which I am deathly allergic to...

 

[Chickielady]

Got some feed store chicks on 3/10, and this Ancona turned out to be a roo. Free to good home. Thought I'd check here to see if anyone wants him before I have to cull. Landlady will not allow. Please PM or quote this post in a reply if you're interested. Will deliver anywhere between Kent and Mt. Vernon.

I would LOVE to have him !!

 

[Chickielady]

Just purchased the new complete 2nd edition of "The Chicken Health Handbook, Gail Damerow…full color.Have both but highly recommend this new version for those looking for that one or two good books to have for reference.

 

[Chickielady]

@CarolynF ....................I still have your Christmas gift, I will try mailing it one more time...it has come back 2X now...