Washingtonians

[FirewifeJess]

I'm a bit concerned about my chickens. They're all very skinny. They always have food (organic) and fresh water available. We let them out to range whenever we're home and haven't noticed the wild birds freaking out over hawks. Could they just have parasites? How often should they be treated for parasites? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

How old are they? I think worming should be done routinely but that's just my opinion. I will do it in the spring and fall for all my girls. Also, my birds were not growing well or thriving at all until I switched them OFF the organic non-GMO feed we were using to Purina instead. I never wanted to use that but as my last attempt to get the girls something they'd grow well on, it worked! Within 4 days of the switch they all started in on a major growth spurt and now they're seemingly healthy and the right size for their age.

 

[TerrorBird]

How old are they? I think worming should be done routinely but that's just my opinion. I will do it in the spring and fall for all my girls. Also, my birds were not growing well or thriving at all until I switched them OFF the organic non-GMO feed we were using to Purina instead. I never wanted to use that but as my last attempt to get the girls something they'd grow well on, it worked! Within 4 days of the switch they all started in on a major growth spurt and now they're seemingly healthy and the right size for their age.

Four are 3 months old and the rest are 4+ years. The young ones, I'm not so worried about since they're still growing. The others act completely normal and lay regularly (for their age). I think I'll look into worming them and will also check out the Purina food. Another thing I've noticed is that they tend to ignore their food when they're locked in their pen. They often pile up near the gate and loudly complain when we're not letting them out for safety reasons. Maybe I just need to make a new gate out of feed so that they'll actually eat more and gain some weight!

 

[nikki1]

She did...she put JUST the oyster shell into an extra chick feeder, for the big girls; or that's how I read it

Yep. That's what I did. I guess my additional question was whether they need any extra of anything in addition to the calcium? All the girls get a lot of bugs free-ranging, and my daughter is VERY generous with the freeze-dried mealworms, so I think we're okay in the protein department. Anything else? (I gave them ice water and frozen peas as a snack this afternoon...)

--Nikki

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
What feed were you using? Scratch & Peck? That's basically our only organic choice and *I* loved it, but the birds didn't thrive. Bummer. I'd get Eprinex Pour On for your birds; then you just treat them like you're putting Advantage on a cat or dog; 1/4cc for bantams, 1/2cc for LF birds on the back of their neck on the skin.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
I think you're good! Small amounts of treats, a good free-choice feed, extra calcium supplement free-choice (crushed egg shells or oyster shells), fresh clean water, and you're good to go.

 

[JennS]

Hello all,

I've been lurking for a few months and finally joined BYC. I am in the process of clearing the ground to build my coop and pen. If all goes well, I will have it built by fall and buy chicks in the spring. I bought plans for a 10X4 pen with 4X4 raised coop inside (I will make some changes for our climate), and would like to keep 3 good layers plus a silkie and a Polish for fun.

My question for other PNWers is, what sort of substrate do you use in your pens? I have seen sand, dirt and bark mulch in your pictures. My pen will be in the lee of our house and the soil drains pretty well, but it rarely dries out for 9 months out of the year. We live in that wonderful "Convergence Zone" the weather guys talk about. I don't want my pen floor to become chicken poop soup.

Any other things I need to consider for my coop that are peculiar to the PNW? I went on the recent Seattle Tilth coop tour and got to talk to a few people about their coops, but I wasn't able to see as many as I'd liked to have, since I had my toddler with me. I will be using hardware cloth (a friend who used chicken wire just had her chickens all killed by dogs) and building a sturdy structure. My coop has to be in my front yard thanks to our local ordinances, so it'll have to look nice. I have seen lots of references to "chicken math" and I hope I can avoid it, as we don't have the space for a giant chicken coop. I also have most of my .25 acre lot landscaped with ornamentals and edibles, so I will be careful about when and where the girls will get to roam.

I would appreciate any advice you can give me! It's nice to meet all of you.

Jennifer

 

[FlyRobinFly]

I've been lurking for a few months and finally joined BYC.

 

[Teva]

I think you're good! Small amounts of treats, a good free-choice feed, extra calcium supplement free-choice (crushed egg shells or oyster shells), fresh clean water, and you're good to go.

A month before they were to start laying, I started mixing starter and layena together. I layed oyster shells out prior to that for my grown-ups but they left it alone. I started crushing my used eggshells for them and that's all they would eat. Now they are all on layena, they still love the egg shells, and my shells are way more difficult to break than store-bought!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Any rare chicken breeders around the seattle area?

I think that depends on what one calls rare and what breed ya may bee lookin fer.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Hello all,

I've been lurking for a few months and finally joined BYC. I am in the process of clearing the ground to build my coop and pen. If all goes well, I will have it built by fall and buy chicks in the spring. I bought plans for a 10X4 pen with 4X4 raised coop inside (I will make some changes for our climate), and would like to keep 3 good layers plus a silkie and a Polish for fun.

My question for other PNWers is, what sort of substrate do you use in your pens? I have seen sand, dirt and bark mulch in your pictures. My pen will be in the lee of our house and the soil drains pretty well, but it rarely dries out for 9 months out of the year. We live in that wonderful "Convergence Zone" the weather guys talk about. I don't want my pen floor to become chicken poop soup.

Any other things I need to consider for my coop that are peculiar to the PNW? I went on the recent Seattle Tilth coop tour and got to talk to a few people about their coops, but I wasn't able to see as many as I'd liked to have, since I had my toddler with me. I will be using hardware cloth (a friend who used chicken wire just had her chickens all killed by dogs) and building a sturdy structure. My coop has to be in my front yard thanks to our local ordinances, so it'll have to look nice. I have seen lots of references to "chicken math" and I hope I can avoid it, as we don't have the space for a giant chicken coop. I also have most of my .25 acre lot landscaped with ornamentals and edibles, so I will be careful about when and where the girls will get to roam.

I would appreciate any advice you can give me! It's nice to meet all of you.

Jennifer

Welcome aboard. You will find a lot of very good info here and some very nice people too!