Washingtonians

[weaveagarden]

Thanks for the advise on my council meeting. Keep it coming please. I have also posted in the appropriate area at https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=229600
so I can get more advise from non-Wa'ers

Welcome to Tacoma!!!!

3 is not nearly enough (you will soon find out)

Check out the info on deep litter systems here at BYC. I am loving the product StallDry for helping to keep odors and other problems down.

 

[weaveagarden]

Quote:
I goofed, that was supposed to say to Tacoma!. I am in Hoquiam.

You are likely right about the 4 hens. I just mean that once you start raising them, you will want more soon. Really check out the info on Breeds so you have exactly what you want. I wish I had thought about the Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers before I got mine. They lay dark brown eggs. I also wish I had gotten a Laced Wyandotte. Just plain pretty chickens.

Have fun!

 

[brennant]

the morans and welsummers look like a good idea for close quarters with neighbors. Thanks for the advice. Are they really any more quiet? I am still figuring out which breed I want to go with (provided the neighbors don't object).

 

[weaveagarden]

If I could only have 4 hens. I think I would do 1 Maren, 1 Welsummer, 1 Australorp or Orpington and 1 Easter Egger type. All should give a reasonable amount of eggs. All are fairly friendly from what I understand and you would have 3 shades of Brown eggs (1 med color, 1 dk terracotta, 1 Chocolate) and a Green/Blue Egg.

All of them are relatively large hens, so you will want to have a larger nesting box or two and plenty of room to roost in the coop. (An egloo type of housing might be too small when fully grown.)

But do your homework. You may just fall in love with a breed and want that. If eggs are important, check out a Breed Chart like Henderson's Breed chart (search online). They list the size and approximate number of eggs as well as temperment and other factors.

 

[Greg Richardson]

Brennant.

I am still figuring out which breed I want to go with (provided the neighbors don't object).

I realize everyone wants to be a good neighbor and I appreciate that in people. Well done!

That being said, I don't understand how having chickens the noise is any different then barking dogs, loud motorcycles, kids, stereo's, and the list goes on and on.

I think we all have to respect each other but we shouldn't have to live in fear of what the neighbor might think of us having chickens. There was a time in this country when having chickens was just as natural as having a dog is today in apartments.

Unfortunately fast food and so called easier lifestyle took over in so many parts of the country we got away from what is good for us and now the stores full of food that is bad for you.

Here you are improving what your family eats as well as improving the quality of your life enjoying a great animal.

Just want to encourage you to remember chickens are as natural being in someones yard as the sun shining in their yard.

We need to take back this country with good food and simple quality of life instead of all this political correctness letting big brother and uneducated neighbors tell us how to live.

If one moves into a home owners association place and the rules in place OK one can't complain.
But otherwise people who complain about chickens need to wake up.​

 

[tomato lady]

Quote:
Well said. I live in the country where most people have 3 - 5 acres. I hear my neighbors and their children. I hear neighbors on the other side with their teens on trail bikes. I hear a sterio from the other side of the woods. There are barking dogs everywhere, including my yard. My grandkids live with me. Interestingly, I didn't even know that I had a neighbor with chickens until one day I heard an egg song.

I have 31 chickens and I'm about to get new chicks. The only one who complains my DH!

 

[tomato lady]

Quote:
Well said. I live in the country where most people have 3 - 5 acres. I hear my neighbors and their children. I hear neighbors on the other side with their teens on trail bikes. I hear a sterio from the other side of the woods. There are barking dogs everywhere, including my yard. My grandkids live with me. Interestingly, I didn't even know that I had a neighbor with chickens until one day I heard an egg song.

I have 31 chickens and I'm about to get new chicks. The only one who complains my DH!

 

[brennant]

Quote:
True. I wish I had just a little more yard to separate out our neighbors, but that isn't the case. I am interested in keeping my closest neighbors happy. You never know when you might need them. (Our neighborhood is very good about keeping their homes and yards up, etc etc)

 

[StacyK]

Quote:
True. I wish I had just a little more yard to separate out our neighbors, but that isn't the case. I am interested in keeping my closest neighbors happy. You never know when you might need them. (Our neighborhood is very good about keeping their homes and yards up, etc etc)

Excel - very well written post. Hit the nail on the head all around.

Brennant - you are a very good neighbor to be concerned, but having chickens does not exclude keeping your home & yard up. If you are having just 3-4 hens, the noise will be much less than kids, dogs, conversations in the back yard. 50 feet to the nearest house is actually a decent distance. I live on almost an acre & my neighbor is on 8 acres, but their back porch is no more than 50 feet away across the creek. People talking out here is way louder than any of our chickens! And we all have them. Tho I think I'm the only one without roosters.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Just a note to let anyone interested know that I have three peachicks that are ready to go. Two have mysteriously disappeared in the last two days.

I will also have four more in a month or so as my other peahen just surprised me Sunday with four more.

Still have plenty of keets for sale too.

God Bless,