Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Smokerbill]

Thanks. I don't think I've seen anything like that around here, but now I may go on a search.

I grew up watching my grandpa farm commercially, small scale. I learned that cutworms hide during the day, and if you dig through the dirt around the base of the plant you'll find them if they're there. They would be chicken treats then.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

Wool hen project! I've eight baby cochin bantams and I've become very leery of heat lamps. Our heating pad broke years ago and they're expensive, otherwise I would make a mama hen brooding pad cave.
So far this is working really well, but I will add more cardboard to the sides for better insulation/less drafts. Basically I took a wool scarf I had knitted, cut it into strips, sewed them onto the thin cardboard of a pasta box, and made the little cave in the corner of their brooder box.View attachment 4135721
View attachment 4135722
Last night they were happy next to warm mason jars wrapped in wool, but after the water cools it tends to draw heat away from the chicks so these jars are empty now. I put a baggie of warm rice under the length of wool scarf on the floor of the WH. That taught them quickly that that is where they are to keep warm now.
I absolutely loved getting to tuck them into it like a real hen. If they continue to be happy with this method I think I will always do it.

I ordered from amazon a - 1 Pack Seedling Heat Mat for Seed Starting,20" x 20.75" Waterproof Heating Pad for Indoor Plants


I placed a folded towel down and then the seed mat on top and then another folded towel. The chicks stayed very warm laying on it, I did also use a heat lamp- BUT if I didnt, I would have set the seed mat up in a box and cover it to keep the heat in.

 

[ValerieJ]

Hey everyone! Question for my locals (driving distance of Longview/Kelso) - has anyone used this forum for a rooster re-homing? I've got a very nice 14 week old white cockerel who I can't keep and don't personally use Facebook Marketplace or groups.

He was sold to me as a Delaware but he clearly is not, most likely some sort of mix with those mystery colors. He's been so good with the gals (all are his brooder mates) getting them to roost every night and being generally nice to them with some expected alpha control. No crowing yet, no aggression towards me though I've treated him as a roo since he was 4 weeks and stayed dominant. If I had the space and lived more rurally I would 100% keep him. Would prefer he doesn't immediately end up in a freezer. Anyone have local auction house experience? Is it easy?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts or if you want to adopt him

He's a beauty. Wish I could take him. This is a good forum if any of us are looking for one. As you know we all get more than we need. I do hope you find a good home for him!!!

 

[ValerieJ]

Maybe it's some kind of worm that BT can control. I'm just guessing here. I bought some to kill cabbage worms but only used it a couple times.

View attachment 4136495

I will look for that. I'm all about organic. Thanks.

 

[Hinotori]

Wind came along and with the sun dried all the mornings rain off the grass so I was able to mow more this evening

 

[TeePants]

You need a warm enclosed area for the chicks outside, so you would need to add a couple walls to their space, but it would be a small space to begin with. Once they have feathers, it's not a problem anymore.

The reason I would say your coop will work in the short run is twofold. First, summer is coming. Second, I read that when large farms decided to completely open up both sides of their very large coops, the circulation of air was more important than the warmth. They had a huge change in the number of lost chickens in the winter. I don't have, nor have ever been to a large farm, so I can't imagine accepting any loss in the winter. Figure it out. Good grief. But for us small time chicken tenders, that is not such a problem.

Still, my best advice is to build a coop, bigger than you think you will ever need, and way more secure than you can imagine. Ask me how I know.

Thanks! Thats not a coop design, it’s for the run, when I said 6ft I just meant height and not length or anything, haha.

I had chickens before back in Louisiana but the weather is different- it rains hard when it rains but Seattle has this all day wet nonsense all winter that just soaks into everything. I also built my coop myself back then but was a lot lazier on the run as we lived adjacent to a cow pasture so I didn’t mind the girls wandering as long as they came to bed on time.

I think I found some plans I like online that I want to mimic!

https://www.thegardencoop.com/product/garden-coop-walk-in-chicken-coop-plans/

We only plan on getting three or four hens - I hate how they advertise that these tiny coop/run combos can hold “eight hens” when they’re barely 50sqft.

We have more yard space they can use during the day, as my wife works in a shed we converted to an office in the yard and can keep an ear and eye out through her window, but on days where the weather is nasty (frequent here) they’ll be stuck in the run.

I used deep litter method with my quail when I had them a few years back and it did a good job of keeping them dry and comfortable all winter, so I assume that would work for chickens, although I admit I’ve never deep littered an entire run - in Louisiana I used sand. I think here that would wash out?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I think I found some plans I like online that I want to mimic!

https://www.thegardencoop.com/product/garden-coop-walk-in-chicken-coop-plans/

The Garden Coop isn't a bad design as it has very good top ventilation on the coop. Not sure if anyone has tried it out in WA area?https://www.thegardencoop.com/product/garden-coop-walk-in-chicken-coop-plans/

I used deep litter method with my quail when I had them a few years back and it did a good job of keeping them dry and comfortable all winter, so I assume that would work for chickens, although I admit I’ve never deep littered an entire run - in Louisiana I used sand. I think here that would wash out?

Really would not recommend sand here for the exact reason you mentioned where we're wet at least 6 months of the year.

Deep litter is probably the most common form of run litter here in large part because wood chips are readily available (and free) in much of the Western side of the state, if you have room to store a pile.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning gang! exhaustion is getting back in.
Means nothing in the big scheme of things.

 

[FeatherAndBloom]

That's a confident looking rooster. Nice. @pennyJo1960 has experience with the auction place up in Chehalis/Centralia, I think.

I already have at least two, maybe more young roosters. A couple of the pullet chicks I bought are about double the size of the others so I'm kind of suspicious they're roos.

@pennyJo1960 would love to hear any tips for the auction house or what to expect if I try and sell him there. Thanks!

 

[TeePants]

The Garden Coop isn't a bad design as it has very good top ventilation on the coop. Not sure if anyone has tried it out in WA area?https://www.thegardencoop.com/product/garden-coop-walk-in-chicken-coop-plans/

Really would not recommend sand here for the exact reason you mentioned where we're wet at least 6 months of the year.

Deep litter is probably the most common form of run litter here in large part because wood chips are readily available (and free) in much of the Western side of the state, if you have room to store a pile.

Thanks, that’s what I figured!

And yeah. It seems like everyone is trying to get rid of wood chips! We are using them to prevent invasive blackberry overgrowth in a couple places already. We requested a big truckload through chipdrop for that project; not sure if that’s useable for chickens as it’s not “nice” chips and has a lot of leaves etc in it!

I really liked deep litter for the quail, with proper maintenance it wasn’t bad to keep up with. I am hoping with bigger birds like chickens it will be even easier; the quail didn’t turn it over as much as I’d like so I’d go in and do it myself. I cleaned theirs out monthly mostly because they don’t use nest boxes so I had to dig in there to get their eggs every day!