Washingtonians

[SadieSue]

First off Welcome to all the new guys joining us. Stick around we move fast.
Any hoo I just wanted to give ya an up date. I showed the hubby the plans I made for my brooder along with Totalcoulors pictures and he said it was a good idea and gave me the go ahead to build

SO I made a trip to lowes and got right to work. Got all the panels made and was on the last one when I split a piece of wood.

So I guess I will have to wait to finish it till tomorrow. Then all I have to do is screw the 4 panels together staple in the chicken wire and build a lid. I will be sure to post pics when its all done.

Oh on another note we decided to go ahead with the turkeys. We have 3 straight run Bourbon Reds coming on May 3rd or 4th.... YAY. I may also be getting 10 Cornish Rocks tomorrow if the lady gets her shipment... I love spring

KMoran, I have to say I am really impressed by your ability to have an idea and quickly bring it to fruition. You just jump right in and get it done yourself, whether it's building or processing your own chickens for the first time, whatever. Even more impressive is that you manage to do it while you still have small children at home!
Props to you for being a woman that is near unstoppable!

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:

The article said it still needed to be composted hot, and then set for 45 to 60 days before use. I got the impression that the manure is best composted with other materials.

My DFiL simply dug in straight chicken waste into the garden mid winter, and has not had any problems with this method. The thought is that the winter rains aid composting. I raised my meaties on the area that we then used as a garden. I have never had a garden grow as fast as the one did last year. We just planted it to late for good success.

Here is the link for fertilizer teas. http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/liquid-fertilizers-zm0z11zhun.aspx

My chicken bedding goes through two bins and a tumbler. I throw in my coffee grounds when it goes in the tumbler. When it smells good, I know it's done. It's still pretty woody at that point, so I use it as mulch. I don't worry about it getting hot. As far as I can tell, it doesn't.




I would love to see a picture of your tumbler. I know that getting the pile turned is my biggest problem.


I would like to replace the bins with tumblers. it's so much easier. Mine looks like this. I got mine from Mom. She hadn't used it in years. I can't imagine why it's so expensive.
http://www.naturalenviro.com/productinfo.php?sku=RTS-CPTUM

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Hi...we're in Omak..anybody else in the area? I can't believe how long this thread is!

Wow, another Omakian. I am Teresa. I have Seramas, Black orpingtons and soon to have turkeys. I also have a pen of miscellaneous layers just for eggs. This is a great group, but it moves fast. How very fun to have another Omak. There is yet another fairly new Omakian...there is Rare Feathered Farms in Okanogan, and there is someone who appears occasionally from Tonasket. Welcome to the chaos.

 

[KMoran]

KMoran, I have to say I am really impressed by your ability to have an idea and quickly bring it to fruition. You just jump right in and get it done yourself, whether it's building or processing your own chickens for the first time, whatever. Even more impressive is that you manage to do it while you still have small children at home!
Props to you for being a woman that is near unstoppable!

Thank You. I have always been one to say why put off till tomorrow what can be done today... Which can be a double bladed ax at times... Cuz I really like things done NOW. Which annoys my husband who is more when it gets done it gets done kinda guy. But for the most part he is very supportive of my ventures. As he says... I just sit back and let you do your thing if you need help you know where to find me. ) As for my kids they are really helpful I try to get them involved as much as possible. I think its important to learn new skills that will help them later. I grew up a city girl never doing anything with chickens or a garden or tools... I have had to learn from scratch and so I think its great they get to learn right along with me and someday when they grow up and move away they will have that experience behind them. Its also very rewarding putting in a hard days work and seeing the results. But hopefully I get that brooder done today or tomorrow... My next project starts on friday.... I am laying hardwood floors throughout my whole house.... EEEK.

 

[Greg Richardson]

Erica. You can only put in place all the security you can, do the best you can, if what happens in nature takes place if you have done all you can then you realize that is life you did the best you could.

If I was in your shoes first thing I'd do is use your dogs for protection. If you can afford the invisable fence please get it done. Do not get chickens for a week so they get use to their new freedom and settle down.

They may bark etc but a smart animal who wants dinner is eventually going to figure out they can't reach him.

Not only are you protecting your chickens they are now protecting you.
Have you seen the amount of home invasion robberies lately?
I have watched the numbers slowly climb.
No area is safe anymore.
When they see dogs in a pen they don't care about barking.

What you do after fence is up dogs are use to new freedom you buy your chicks.
Bring your dogs around them.
Place the chicks on top of their head.
On top of their back repeating mine. These are mine.
Let them breifly smell them in your hand.

Now what you have done is taken away the curiosity of what they smell like,
You have let them know they are important to you, and MOSTY IMPORTANTLY you have created dominance.
Dogs are all about who is head of the pack no matter it being another dog, chicken, or person.

Do this procedure a couple times.

Unless you have an extreme hunting dog you are done and can relax knowing you've done everything you can.

 

[RonB]

Welcome to all the new people!

We need to have a big ol' get together, don't you think?
Ron, we still coming out to your place for a BBQ?

Good night, all. I am going to bed!

Ruth
Yes I am still planing my BBQ. just a reminder to all the regulars on here and a Invite to ALL you new people. I am having a BBQ on Sunday July 1st. I am providing Hamburgers and Hot dogs. then people coming can bring a side dish or something. Ruth will be in charge of keeping track of who is bringing what. so you can PM her.

Some information for you new people. I live on 12 acres in Woodinville with my landlord and another family. Kids are invited too. we have plenty of room to roam.but not a whole lot to do,but sit around and chat. I just ask that if you bring young kids that you keep an eye on them and respect the other two families privacy

If anyone has questions you can PM me. I will have more details in early June. Look forward to seeing everyone and having a great time

 

[RCRIR]

So, out of 15 straight-run chicks, about 5 of them are cockerels. I have leghorns, buff orpingons, and EEs.

I suppose I ought to keep one. I'm not looking forward to the 5am wake up calls, though.

In your experience, which breed is the best roo?

From that list, I'd choose the BO

 

[Ogress]

Quote:
Hmm, maybe some of us should make a BYC visit to cheer you up, help with the laundry, and chase marauding dogs out of your coops!

Congrats on surviving your first tax season and the excellent reviews; Honeysuckle Hills, congrats also!




I am more than willing to help do laundry. I am fairly good at being able to sit and fold. I wouldn't mind a tour of the beads either.

You guys are wonderful! I am doing better every day. I am going to do my first non Dr outing today. PTA meeting at the middle school. It will be the furthest I have walked withou crutches, maybe 350 feet, but I feel I can do it so long as I can prop up my leg when I reach the library. I will be treasurer next year, so I better see if I can figure out what is going on. Whatever bacteria that was growing in my leg produced toxins that made powerfull, pounding headaches. It is the headaches that made me seek medical help. My leg only felt and looked sunburned. My head hurt so bad that even trying to follow a Spongebob cartoon caused wired electrical sensations , very painful across my scalp. The constant pounding lasted 3 days until they gave me OxyContin. Lessened my headache, but boy do I hallucinate on that crap. The Dr told me I was like a sorority girl on my first drug trip, entertaining the whole hospital ( only 24 beds in the place, mostly elderly stroke victims .... I had 2 poor roommates that had to put up with me!) anyways, they were not always happy hallucinations. I feared sleeping because I would see little gremlins like in the Twilight Zone gnawing away at all the painful parts of my body, swinging great big stone hammers in my head, and chewing their way around the base of my skull and down my ear canals to my teeth! It would also make my body fall asleep while my head remained awake, and I could hear everything around me but was unable to respond to it. That drove me crazy and my blood pressure would skyrocket when that happened. After 2 days, I refused the OxyContin. The Iv vanco remained painful and I would see strange and painful rings of light circling around various parts of my body as it entered. Thankfully that all subsided once I got home to a quiet and peaceful environment. Until a few days ago, reading and thinking would set off bad headaches. I feared permanent vision problems and memory loss, but thankfully both of those seem to be tied to the amount of pain in my leg which fills with fluid when I hang it over the edge of the bed or stand. I am thrilled to be able to read and think again without setting off the pounding. The last few days, since they were able to bind the wrap on my leg nice and tight so the fluid does not rush down into it, my recovery has been in leaps and bounds. I can now do all my personal care without assistance, I can do laundry so long as I am in a recliner when I fold the stuff. I can't yet stand long enough to cook a meal from scratch, but that is what microwaves are for, and Trader Joes has some wonderful meals. I also found out I have the best friends and neighbors, even the ones with the marauding dogs, have been sending over home-made meals and bouquets of flowers. I'm thinking that by the time I have my big dr appointment at Overlake next week, I will be able to drive myself and I may be all better. My now 26 hens have been laying at least 2 dozen eggs per day, and I have not been able to do the deliveries, so everyone who comes over goes home with lots of eggs. The housekeeper that my friends hired has chickens so I have not been able to get her to take any, but at least she understands how my kitchen floor can get covered with feathers and nest shavings when the kids clean the eggs. (I have not succeeded in teaching any of my family what a broom and dustpan are used for)

 

[Ogress]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to this thread (and to BYC) but have a quick question. How many in Western WA (I'm in the Gig Harbor area) successfully free range their flocks (without fencing) during the day? I hope to free range during the day (sometimes we'll be home, sometimes not) by using a chicken door, and they'll be locked in the coop at night. So my concern is about daytime predators.

We'll have a rooster, and our dogs will be outside during the day, but they're in a large fenced run on the opposite side of the house from where the chickens will be, so not loose. But they will bark up a storm if any other animals come onto the property, hopefully scaring them off or deterring them altogether. We also have several neighborhood dogs on invisible fences nearby (another deterrent), and our property is 5 acres of mainly woods, so tons of cover from hawks.

I would love some realistic advice. I've never seen any predator on our property other than a hawk (who was being mercilessly attacked by 2 crows mid-air), but we've heard coyotes far off in the distance. Never found any scat or other evidence of wildlife (every day when we're home we let our dogs run loose through the woods, so they mark their territory all over the place and I think that keeps them away). Our immediate neighbors keep their trash outside and have never had any animal lay a finger on it (tells me the neighborhood dogs also deter the bears and raccoons). We have another neighbor adjacent to us who has some old sheep and a single rooster, who are out ranging all day, and has not reported any problems.

All that being said, perhaps no predators have come because we never served up a chicken buffet on a silver platter before. I'm sure the chickens will attract interest, but given all of the above can I make an educated guess that we may have an ok chance at successfully free ranging the birds?

I'm open to adding electric field fencing around a large area, possibly even creating smaller areas that we move every week. This would be my plan B. And then plan C would be a fully enclosed run.

So, my friendly locals, thoughts? Successes and failures? Am I being overly optimistic and setting myself up for a chicken massacre?

PS - another option I'm open to is putting our own dogs on an invisible fence so that they're out mingling with the chickens all day, but won't know if this is feasible until we see how they behave. For all we know, our dogs may want to eat the chickens too, lol. But it's something we'll explore with caution if our dogs show potential of becoming LGD's.

I do sometimes drive by a large rural property between North Bend and Snoqualmie that free-ranges a large flock with zero fencing but they do have large dogs in an enclosure. It amazes me that the chickens seem to stay away from the road and the creek bordering their property. My birds free-range on 1.5 acres surrounded by 6' chain link. The fence does not stop bears and bobcats from entering my yard. The bears leave the chickens alone and go for the fruit trees and the blueberries. The bobcats will take chickens if my dogs are not in their outdoor run, so i always keep my dogs in their run when the chickens are out which is pretty much any time there is daylight. If the kids or I are in the yard, the dogs are out with the chickens and us. The chickens love it when we head to the orchard. They won't wander back there without the protection of a person or a dog. Wise chickens, with such a large are to roam, stick near the dog run or occupied rooms of the house, and have picked these areas bare of grass while the orchard needs mowing!

 

[SadieSue]

Ogress, what an ordeal you've been through! Glad you are on the mend and hopefully back up on both feet for good soon.

I'm supposed to be at work in 10 minutes but am having trouble pulling myself away from the incubator. So far I've got the Ameraucana chick who hatched yesterday and am up to 4 wheaten Marans, one zipping and I think one pipping. Fingers crossed by the end of today I'll have all 6 out. Thank you zgoatlady - these were some good eggs!

Going over to my gf's this afternoon to candle the eggs under her broody and dose her birds with the Eprinex. I forwarded her the information you all suggested and she's going ahead and following your advice. Next week we'll do my birds.

Happy spring everyone - keep those babies coming!