Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

Hey, BYC WA peeps!
Been a long time!
Life is starting to get back to normal. Radiation is over.
I had my final check on my skin today and things are healing up great!
I have a new level of sympathy for burn victims. Wowsa!
Sorry to anyone that needed an answer or info from me in the last couple of months.
I did not realize how zapped I was going get.
Now that I am coming out of it, I can see how bad it was.
My kids are grateful to have their mom back!
I still take naps but am feeling soooo much better.
On the chicken side of life, We are having to beat off the broodys with a stick.
We sold 3 chickens that we hatch last spring to a friend and 2 of them have shared a hatch!
Very cool, indeed!
There is no way I can get caught up on all the missed stuff, so I just want to say...

to the many new peeps!
Hope everyone is doing ok.

OH SO GOOD TO HEAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad you are back with us & getting better !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chickielady]

Want to see some photo?:
Husband the turkeys. Oh, speaking of butcherng, some of these were suppose to go to freezer..guess what....not gonna happen. Next year, I will put some separate and those will go to freezer.

 

[Sunbug4]

I am so use to the chicks just chirping. Now at 6 weeks I am hearing diffrent noises. What is the purring/cooing type sound they make? I can't describe it but one was making it when she was dustbathing.

And I swear one is actually trying to bok bok instead of chirp chirp. LOL

Ha ha! To cute! I heard a bok bok from one of my girls yesterday and just died when she had a look on her face like "did that come out of me??" I have not heard any cooing from mine yet.. to cute though!!!

 

[StarryEyzz]

Decided it was about time to show off my girls. These are our EE's. The black one is my son's he named her Flash, the white one is my daughter's, she named her Hope. They are 5 weeks old. These babies were born on Easter. Flash is the more trusting, Hope is the piggy.. She is the first one to food always!

Beautiful girls!! And I love their names.

 

[Chickielady]

Hmmm, I reckon you weren't doing it right mikeyb - wild or domestic, we dress them and they don't' smell any worse than chickens. Course, I don't like chicken smell much either!

My rabbits butchered had no bad odaor at all, even if I knicked an intestine.
The birds however smell horrid, especially wet feathers (almost like wet dirty dog smell)
Once cleaned & washed.they are fine.

 

[Sunbug4]

Quote: Awww, thank you! My son was mad because he had to have a girl chicken.. lol so we went through his list of names he wanted and picked the most gender friendly.. He had Green lantern, Iron man, The Hulk.. HA HA! You can tell he is 8. LOL! My daughter picked Hope, for I HOPE she lives. OMG! We had tried 4 chicks right before these two and my daughters friend left the door open and when we came home the cat had attacked them, some died from a heart attack I am sure, we found one in the living room as well. Sadly my daughter was the first in the house and that is a scream I will never forget as long as I live, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was a horrible experience, she still wakes up in tears. My poor baby.. She just turned 7. then we get 4 more chicks and one ended up being a roo, so I got rid of my RIR's to a friend as a matched pair, so my daughter is just a mess. We have had horrible chick luck. I hope it gets better. I do not think my daughter can handle anymore chicken loss..

 

[Chickielady]

It is not difficult at all to raise rabbits, just remember to keep them dry and out of the wind. Rabbits like cold weather over hot. From what I have heard a California crossed with a New Zealand makes the best meat rabbit. IMHO Florida Whites are way to small for meat. You want them big enough to butcher at 8 to 10 weeks of age.

Rabbits are a true fur animal, along with otters & minks, amongst others.
They were designed to live deep in the cool ground.
They have large ears in order to help cool themselves.
The rabbits' ears actually acts as a radiator to disperse heat out of their bodies.
We raised registered California meat rabbits, and they had to be kept cool, even in shade on a hot day, they can drop dead from heat stroke.

 

[Chickielady]

I used to be a stick chewer (especially when I was quitting smoking, argh) although I've never actually eaten mahogany. We did, in fact, butcher the eldest of the Thousand Banty Army; he stewed in the stock pot overnight and barely discolored the water, nor did he get any less rigid. There is a point where things are too old to cook.

I have had old hens & cock birds stew for DAYS and yes, barely discolor the water & still the meat was so tough it would not come off the bone.
Depends on the age & breed.
This one in particular was cooked simmering for 2 days (overnight !) and was still rubbery...............then I realized a tank of propane was used...(to try & cook the rbber chicken) ...and it was smarter to remove the bird's noggin & toss it out.

So much for trying to save $ by eating your layer birds.

 

[Chickielady]

Well yesterday we went to HD & got half of the polystyrene 4x8 panels we need to attach UNDER the floor joists.
See, last summer HD did not carry any 8" insulation, so we got 6"...................and put it in, and then put the T&G floor deck on & screwed it all down per spec.
Then we put seam filler on...and used the hand planer to smooth it all out.
Then we put several layers of oil enamel on the floor (helps to fill any more seams and prevent moisture from getting down into the insulation underneath)

We did the whole floor but 1 4x8 sheet of decking so we could get pipes under the floor.
We DO have a human-type 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 foot access door in the bedroom floor (will be covered by a persian rug one day).....but can't get a 4x8 foot sheet of polystyrene through there !!!!!!!!

Then we called the building inspecter to come sign off the floor construction, and he looked in the access door & saw we only had 6" insulation, and said NO WAY !!!!!!!!!!
So we have to add R-10 to the under floor.........................

These panels cost $27 each.......we need 24 of them....................we got 15 yesterday...............and have to get 2x4s and rip lathe to attach them by screws, to the UNDERNEATH of the floor joists !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This involves laying on your back & holding a 4x8 sheet up & a stick of lath, and screwing it to the under joist....alot of crawling around on the back..................

I just can't hardly waite !

DH is getting 2x4s right now, then we rip them with the worm drive (no table saw) and crawl under the floor.....YIPPEE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not know if I will need knee pads more, or butt pads...............I plan on taking my yoga mat to lie on...it is backfilled with road base rock under there..........

Later peeps !!

 

[StarryEyzz]

Awww, thank you! My son was mad because he had to have a girl chicken.. lol so we went through his list of names he wanted and picked the most gender friendly.. He had Green lantern, Iron man, The Hulk.. HA HA! You can tell he is 8. LOL! My daughter picked Hope, for I HOPE she lives. OMG! We had tried 4 chicks right before these two and my daughters friend left the door open and when we came home the cat had attacked them, some died from a heart attack I am sure, we found one in the living room as well. Sadly my daughter was the first in the house and that is a scream I will never forget as long as I live, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was a horrible experience, she still wakes up in tears. My poor baby.. She just turned 7. then we get 4 more chicks and one ended up being a roo, so I got rid of my RIR's to a friend as a matched pair, so my daughter is just a mess. We have had horrible chick luck. I hope it gets better. I do not think my daughter can handle anymore chicken loss..

Awwww, how sad for your daughter (and your family!)

But I do love her thinking on naming it Hope. I dread if something happens to one of the chicks. For both myself and my nephew. I already explained that if any of them turn out to be roo's then we will have to replace it. I think he is okay with it....we will see. But as sad as it is, I think its a good lesson for kids to learn. And us adults.

We have 6 chicks. While they are being housed at our house and we are mostly responsible for them; we went in together with my brother and family. (they live next door). So it was an Easter present for my nephew. I had them for about 2 days before Easter and was already attached and thinking of names. He came in and named them all: Silver, Blaze, Amy, Shadow, Crystal and Bibey. Apparently most are from the Sonic the Hedgehog video games. LOL

So I had no choice in their names. Any future chicks though I am claiming as "my own".