Washingtonians

[itsren]

I encourage you to read what you wrote again.

Who is dictating how you live your life?

There are no do overs in life.

You are dreading they find out you are EXERCISING your RIGHT to have chickens? Huh?

Ask yourself if you could go ahead in time to ten years from now knowing the whole time you missed out on one of the great fantastic benefits of owning chickens would you still feel this way?

All this time you threw those benefits away because you are letting neighbors control you missing out on better flowers, vegetables, more soil.

IMO it's way past time to tell your neighbors you know a good real estate agent they can use if they want to keep on whining.

I reread it. Let me rephrase... I dread *hearing* the complaints about it. I don't let anyone dictate how I live (unless it is a law). I have wanted chickens for 3 years and patiently waited until the city finally rewrote the city code to allow them. City chickens have only been legal in my city for 5 months. Most of my neighbors probably don't even know they are legal now. I'm sure there is going to be a lot of squawking (and not just from my 3 hens) about those chickens living in my back yard. I will happily educate my neighbors that they are legal. And yes, as long as none of them turn out to be a roo, I will keep them.

Like I said in one post, I have more compost than I can use in my compost bin. I am an avid gardener - a city chick who dreams of living in the country. I have been studying permaculture and urban homesteading for 4 years. It is not legal for me to sell anything (compost, chicken poo, eggs) animal-based that is produced in my yard. That IS written in the city code. I can have it for personal consumption. That's why we only got three chickens - to raise what our family can consume. That waste has to go somewhere. It doesn't need to get piled up in my yard and unnecessarily upset the neighbors. I have respect for their rights, as well.

My city code allows for burning to control disease. I will confirm with the fire department if I have to have a permit to burn small piles of used shavings in a backyard fire pit. People have backyard fire pits throughout the city - it didn't even occur to me that a permit might be needed to have one.

As a cub scout leader, I teach my children to follow all laws, and if we don't like the laws we work with the city to change them. My children have met the Mayor, have met the firemen in two fire stations, and, when he was only 7 years old, my oldest son has even given a speech to the city council, with the Mayor standing at his side . I can assure you, I am not someone who will sit back and let neighbors control me. I am one who will proactively and assertively advocate change where change is needed. And, I will do it respectfully to those who live around me.

Edited to add: I am basing my assumption that a few neighbors might complain about the chickens due to their openness in complaining directly to me about my compost bin. Who knows... maybe they will readily accept them.

 

[SweetSilver]

I bet if it were checked out closely one would find that there are very few "BORN AND BRED" that refer to it as "Warshington" on a serious level. I would be willing to bet most of those people saying it with the "R" areactually transplants. Unless they are like me and just do it for fun because we find others who become so agitated by it.

Possibly transplants a generation back or so? Maybe there is a region where this came from, and even some of the settlers brought it with them. This is my guess, because like my grandmother, cousins, BIL and MIL (from near Boisssssse) to think of specific people, they all have been here their whole lives, and even in most cases their parents as well. My great-grandpa, and father of my said Gma, was born in Eugene, OR in 1880 and moved to the Wenatchee area as a boy. I don't know where his family came from. My other Gpa, his gpa's family came from Ohio to the Wapato area, but he didn't squarsh his warshes. Neither did my mom's stepdad, descended from Naches Valley settlers and a life-long resident.

So, yes, curious. Where did this come from? And why is it so **** persistent? I love this kind of stuff. Except when dh says it. NO! We will not buy a dishWARSHer! His mom is the MIL (duh....) so I'm blaming it all on her. But she's such a sweet lady. In spite of my online name, I'm not really all that sweet. So, I always have to check myself when I am thinking sarcastic or ornery things like that about her. Like she has St. Peter on speed dial.........

 

[itsren]

OK, the burning is a pet peeve of mine. Regulations for burning are at the state and federal level, with tighter controls in some locations. Just so you know, if you live in area where it is legal to burn, the only thing you may burn is clean, dry brush, leaves and wood, and enough paper to get things going. The free permits offered by the fire department, if they are required in your area, are only good to 10 feet in diameter, after that you need to apply for a permit from your region's clean air agency. Lawn clippings, dimensional lumber, paper, and any burning in a container like a burn barrel, within 50 feet of structure, or even if you simply smoke your neighbor out, all are against the regulations in any area, even if burning is otherwise permitted without a specific permit, like in ours. Under no circumstances is garbage allowed to be burned. The fire must be attended until all smoke has died down. From what I understand, King County was trying to ban all burning of this type.

No, I'm not a stickler for rules in general, in fact I'm rather a scofflaw when it comes down to most things, but this one especially is a pet peeve of mine. So, sorry, for the diatribe.

The one and a half foot wide by six inch high pile of shavings we burned falls well below the the 10 foot diameter you spoke of above. My city allows burning to control disease. As mentioned above, I will check with the fire department for what I am allowed to burn in my area and if I will need a permit for a small fire pit.

I'm getting the impression that a few who post here seem to think of everything in large scale. Not everyone on this site has a lot of land, or a farm. I joined this site because it was a "backyard" chicken website.

Edited for spelling.

 

[MamaRoo]

It is not legal for me to sell anything (compost, chicken poo, eggs) animal-based that is produced in my yard. That IS written in the city code. I can have it for personal consumption. That's why we only got three chickens - to raise what our family can consume. That waste has to go somewhere.

I had a friend who would put her coop cleanup pile on freecycle for the first taker. The poo was so popular that someone finally offered to come clean her coop once a month in exchange for the poo. Maybe you can find a nearby gardener who would willingly exchange some work for your excellent compost.

 

[Totalcolour]

Quote:
We raise rabbits for food. We have more than one breed. Unfortunately our Florida White buck died, so we replaced him with a Black Otter Rex (we couldn't find another Florida White locally). We used our FW buck on a Champagne D'Argent doe because the cross produces one of the fastest growing, meatiest baby for a food rabbit, even better than the NZ X Californians. As soon as we can get a replacement we will. They dress out very well with a really good meat to bone ratio. So far, the Rex cross isn't bad, but they don't have such compact bodies.

If I could only have one type of meat to grow, it would be rabbits. Because they are contained, they are easy to take care of, although I must say the food bill isn't cheap. They are also very quiet. We have a continuous water system, and feeders, so we can go away for a few days without worry (unless we have does ready to kindle). The droppings DON'T need to be composted either! And the meat; bunny meat can be done in almost as many ways as chicken, but they don't have the nice crispy skin of a chicken - a trade off for leaner meat!

So far, we are getting 7-8 babies per litter, and with 4 does (1 isn't producing well, so she's ready for the freon cave), we are getting over a100 babies per year. One rabbit makes us two meals, so that's a lot of good eating, and we trade some. The babies are ready in 12 weeks; that's not as good as a CornishX (butcher at 5 weeks) but the smell of the chickens! UGH!

And for dinner tonight - it's Bunny Cacciatore!

 

[SweetSilver]

I'm getting the impression that a few who post here seem to think of everything in large scale. Not everyone on this site has a lot of land, or a farm. I joined this site because it was a "backyard" chicken website.

Edited for spelling.

Our yard is under 1/4 acre, most of it house. Until this most recent batch our flock has been about 4 hens. I use a lot of litter compared to the amount of chicken poo. We do have mostly garden, being gardeners, and some lawn. We do have several composting options. We have a large worm bin, a wire rack, both get moved around the yard.

I apologize if I rubbed you the wrong way right off the bat. I love making good compost, and the hens are an integral part of that (they better be, because 4 hens is not enough to keep this family in eggs, especially in winter--but they still make poo!) Every fall, I lament the annual leaf-burn-off, knowing just how much good stuff is going up in smoke. DH is a professional gardener, and he brings bucketloads of leaves to mulch our garden for winter. So, you hit me in a soft spot. (I can tell people how to make a garden out of *wood*, but there is something about the burn that appeals to people more.)

 

[itsren]

CR- I'm in King county...what's so bad? We live on half an acre, are allowed as many fowl as we want (barring bad conditions of course), can burn our refuse and/or yard waste, can compost, can have small farm animals, can shoot in our backyard, etc. Maybe we're just in a good area of King Co?

I knew there was a reason we keep looking at your direction to move to!

We're limited to a maximum of six hens (the only outdoor fowl allowed - no ducks, turkeys etc). If we had 2,000 more square feet of land, we would be able to have either one miniature goat or one small potbelly pig. We are very limited to what we can have. These regulations are city regulations - not King County regulations.

 

[Teva]

The one and a half foot wide by six inch high pile of shavings we burned falls well below the the 10 foot diameter you spoke of above. My city allows burning to control disease. As mentioned above, I will check with the fire department for what I am allowed to burn in my area and if I will need a permit for a small fire pit.

I'm getting the impression that a few who post here seem to think of everything in large scale. Not everyone on this site has a lot of land, or a farm. I joined this site because it was a "backyard" chicken website.

Edited for spelling.

 

[Teva]

Does anyone here own peafowl? My pen is 15X20, with 14 chickens at the moment. It's not covered with netting (yet), but it is under trees, so it gets mottled sunlight. Currently, my peacock likes to roost on the dog house I have in front of my garage (we currently do not have a dog), and I have NO IDEA where the peahen roosts at night. During the day she likes the car port. I have old blankets over my cars so she won't get on them, it seems to be working. The dog house gets sun pretty much the whole day until the sun starts going down to the horizon around 6 or so. When it gets too hot he sits in the shade in my garden. They don't seem to be bothering any of my bushes or flowers.

I've only had my peafowl for a few months. I'm just wondering if anybody is familiar with their general likes/dislikes. I am considering moving the doghouse into the fowl pen and wondering if the peacock will follow, or just find something else to roost on that is in a sunnier spot. Or, once I put the netting over the pen, will he still follow and enjoy the doghouse as a roost?

 

[SweetSilver]

Couldn't help doing the research:

The added "r" comes originally from the Scots-English and is found in the American Midland Accent, originally from Maryland, DC, s. PA, W. VA, parts of VA, s. OH, and later IN, IL, most of MO, KY, TN, AK, OK part os KS and W. TX. Pretty big area, and probably everybody has some ancestor from that region.