Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[JulesChicks]

Thank you @penny1960 - always looking for more coop ideas!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Thank you @penny1960 - always looking for more coop ideas!

cost effective biggest bang for the buck in our view..
Tim that makes them thought it out testing for durability
and had us come over to see on he did fore themselves
before we got the first one we use as a barn or overgrown tool shed
now we have 4 of them

 

[lynnehd]

You should get ducks. They love the rain!

I'd love Ducks, and a pond to go with them.
But I've got box turtles, Russian tortoises, chickens and a dog. I think I've tapped out my animal allowance with my DH.

 

[ForrestGump]

No urge for ducks here

I will stick to my chickens

Same here!

My chickens don't seem to mind the rain too much. Now snow is a different story altogether.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Well maybe I will figure hmmmm **** chickens only gave me 3 eggs so far today

worse yet they let me wait to find out... they get out the same time every morning
but are laying much later

 

[Leigti]

I'd love Ducks, and a pond to go with them.
But I've got box turtles, Russian tortoises, chickens and a dog. I think I've tapped out my animal allowance with my DH.

I'm not sure what your box turtles would think of ducks. My tortoises were outside for a few days but this rain and cold weather has kept them in now. I got the pancake tortoise enclosure to a functional level now. Waiting for the plants to grow in but he seems to like it. I did not cover the Russian tortoise enclosure over the winter, big big mistake. The wind blew in a bunch of different weeds/grass is that I do not want in there. So my next project is to tear out all that stuff and replant with things I do want. I also put down some mini clover seed over my lawn to help decrease the amount of water I need for the lawn. Which means the chickens are locked up in their run and they are not happy. Every time I went outside today they screamed at me. Not happy campers.
I thought about getting docs but I don't have a pond and I didn't want to deal with duck poop everywhere. Chicken who is bad enough. And I didn't want to deal with water during the winter. But they are cute. And some of them are very pretty.

 

[Leigti]

Well maybe I will figure hmmmm **** chickens only gave me 3 eggs so far today
worse yet they let me wait to find out... they get out the same time every morning
but are laying much later

I get 4 to 6 eggs a day from my six chickens that are old enough to lay. Every once a while they'll be a day with only one or two. It just varies.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I tends to think that all the changes as I pulled one wood set of nesting boxes
because no bird ever layed an egg in them

. I placed 5 rubber maid tubs with front
wholes for them to get in.. maybe they don't like my fake eggs

and of course I added no less than 9 from Gena and 4 olive eggers
for a bit of color but it will be a bit before I see allot of action from them

 

[Duck Drover]

I'm not sure what your box turtles would think of ducks. My tortoises were outside for a few days but this rain and cold weather has kept them in now. I got the pancake tortoise enclosure to a functional level now. Waiting for the plants to grow in but he seems to like it. I did not cover the Russian tortoise enclosure over the winter, big big mistake. The wind blew in a bunch of different weeds/grass is that I do not want in there. So my next project is to tear out all that stuff and replant with things I do want. I also put down some mini clover seed over my lawn to help decrease the amount of water I need for the lawn. Which means the chickens are locked up in their run and they are not happy. Every time I went outside today they screamed at me. Not happy campers.
I thought about getting docs but I don't have a pond and I didn't want to deal with duck poop everywhere. Chicken who is bad enough. And I didn't want to deal with water during the winter. But they are cute. And some of them are very pretty.

Bantam ducks make far less poop mess than chickens and the liquid poop makes instant fertilizer because it is not hot like chicken poop that needs to be aged before it is fertilizer. Duck poop breaks down easily with water while wet chicken poop just makes a mess unless you hose it to break it down into worm food. I like how biodegradable duck poop is because it helps things grow.

I have raised large ducks in the past but it takes more space than we have now. Ducks don't need a pond but they do need enough water for bathing. I like using a plastic sand box for a duck pond because they are shallow and double walled so they are sturdy. There are always free and cheap bathtubs on Craigslist that would work too. One of our ponds is a horse trough with a deck and ramp.

I had someone offer me two free Pekin drakes but I have had Pekins and I don't want them again. They are in Federal Way. Any takers?

 

[Leigti]

I tends to think that all the changes as I pulled one wood set of nesting boxes
because no bird ever layed an egg in them . I placed 5 rubber maid tubs with front
wholes for them to get in.. maybe they don't like my fake eggs
and of course I added no less than 9 from Gena and 4 olive eggers
for a bit of color but it will be a bit before I see allot of action from them

My two original chickens didn't lay in egg for about six weeks when I got four new ones. Then one day they started again and no problems cents. Change really throws them for a loop.