Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Sequel]

@penny1960 and @avidity I wish you a great time tomorrow. I sure was wanting to come join you but the weather has our joints SO painful!

 

[MishaMichele]

Maybe check Baxter Barn? https://baxterbarn.org/farm-business/chicks-to-fully-mature Many feed stores don't carry older birds and don't carry birds in fall so only other option would be private breeders or mail order.

Thank you to all who replied (not going to clog up the thread with multiple replies). I have mixed feelings about Baxter. I’ve seen that many have been happy, and many have been unhappy, and that the customer service may be lacking when people have issues with their birds, especially if they did not get the breed they paid for.

I did consider Craigslist, but being brand new to chickens I was concerned that I won’t know all the right questions to ask, or things to look for when I go to look at the birds. I think I need to find a VERY local chicken savvy friend who could try to help me navigate that.

My mother-in-law also keeps chickens and I need to reach out to her. Maybe she will know someone nearby but I thought I would ask here too.

When trying to fall asleep last night my brain suddenly came up with a million more questions, but for the moment I’m going to do some searching and reading on here because I’m sure they are pretty standard concerns.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Your welcome to clog up the state thread with questions

 

[MishaMichele]

Your welcome to clog up the state thread with questions

Be careful, I might take you at your word! Lol



Trying to work out the floorplan of the coop. We have the structure figured out, the coop will be tall enough that I can stand up, and will be raised off the ground about 30 inches so that when the double doors are open I can scoop the litter into a wheelbarrow and take it to the nearby compost pile.

I figure it makes the most sense for the first door to open to be the one that would give me the most access to walk into the coop without having to open the other door. But then if I did need to, the second one would open as well. And that second one would have a window in it for both ventilation and a little peekaboo for me to see the roosting bars.

I know that the first roost needs to be higher than the nesting box and then the other one can be a bit taller than that so I’m assuming that would be the one closest to the wall. And then where the floor space is most open is where I thought I would have the door for the chickens. I I am unsure if I should have it set back from the wall of the run like in the sketch or if it should be closer to the wall. That half of the run will also be covered by the same type of metal roof I’m using for their coop.

I’m planning to eventually gather rain water from the roof. It slants down toward the people door, so I need a little room for the pvc pipe and no pole or cup waterers (or a combo?) I will also have a gravity fed system for pellets which will be outside too, under cover. The coop and half the run will be covered with a metal roof and the rest of it will be covered in 1/2” galvanized mesh on all sides.

Coop will be 4x6’ and the run 6x14-16’ (space permitting). Planning on 5-6 standard sized hens but legally can have up to 8 birds for our city’s codes. Leaving room in my master plan to add a nearby duck enclosure at a later time.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Sounds great idea use hardware cloth not chickens wire then on any opening..
Two of my coops have a concrete apron so things cannot dig under but keeps wood off the ground.
They can do dirt baths inside on rainy days

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you to all who replied (not going to clog up the thread with multiple replies). I have mixed feelings about Baxter. I’ve seen that many have been happy, and many have been unhappy, and that the customer service may be lacking when people have issues with their birds, especially if they did not get the breed they paid for.

I did consider Craigslist, but being brand new to chickens I was concerned that I won’t know all the right questions to ask, or things to look for when I go to look at the birds. I think I need to find a VERY local chicken savvy friend who could try to help me navigate that.

My mother-in-law also keeps chickens and I need to reach out to her. Maybe she will know someone nearby but I thought I would ask here too.

I haven't tried Baxter myself but I admit I can't help but look at their availability list from time to time.

Are you dead set on started pullets? I was just at my feed store today and apparently they're still doing chicks so I guess you can still get them this late, though personally I wouldn't want to deal with chicks and fall weather (but I brood outdoors so weather makes a bigger difference than if I were to brood indoors).

No matter which option you want to go with, if you do have chicken savvy friends or family it would help to take them with you if possible.

 

[Sequel]

I’m wondering how the chicken processing went. It ended up being a mostly lovely day here, I’m hoping you were able to stay dry.

 

[MishaMichele]

Are you dead set on started pullets?

Yeah, I have a really small house and a really determined kitty. It just wouldn’t work to try to raise little chicks inside. Maybe someday one of my (future) hens will get broody and I will try and let her raise some chicks but right now that’s just not gonna happen. Or… Maybe I should ask my mother-in-law if she has a couple of broody girls she would loan me??

Spent time with my dad today ironing out some coop plan details. Need to build that before I acquire any birds of any age. Hope to get it started soon.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Spent time with my dad today ironing out some coop plan details. Need to build that before I acquire any birds of any age. Hope to get it started soon.

Very good plan, no matter the age and number of birds you're getting!

 

[pennyJo1960]

I’m wondering how the chicken processing went. It ended up being a mostly lovely day here, I’m hoping you were able to stay dry.

Went great did 5 birds in couple hours .. They where doing all alone the last 3 so it was great