Washingtonians

[Sudsy Chick]

Last night my youngest boy asked me what we were going to do if all 5 hatched because we're only allowed to have 3 more. Ooops. The child knows the law. I had to explain the chances of all five hatching wasn't very high, and, if they did, they would live in the garage until they were big enough to go outside. As long as they were tiny enough to live in the garage, having 5 more would be OK. I also told him we would have to give away any roosters that hatched.

Dawn.... just curious why you can't hatch in the house any more? I remember reading that a while back and it made me nervous because I was afraid it was going to stink or something. So far, so good. They don't stink... yet. I have my incubator on a book shelf out of the way, so it hasn't bothered DH at all and the kids forget it is even there. DH is actually finding the process fun. When I told him I was going to candle the white one last night - he came into the bathroom to look at it, too. He thought it was pretty cool.

I did weigh my eggs before they went into the incubator. I haven't weighed them since. Maybe I should do that to see if the others are developing.

I told all the kids from the start that the likelyhood of all the chicks hatching was very low. We talked about some of the reasons, candled partway through, etc.

My husband does not like house pets - and I didn't really ask his permission with the chicks.

It was in the name of 'education'.

The hatch itself wasn't stinky at all - but the chicks in the brooder was. And more of an issue than the smell was the dust all over everything!

Since we have plenty of hens willing to go broody, I made a deal with my husband that all future chicks would only be broody-raised and sold the brooder & incubator.

 

[Sudsy Chick]

Western WA - near Olympia! How-DEE!

welcome to the WA thread!

 

[Sudsy Chick]

OK... I'm going to ask a question that I think may have been asked before, but I didn't understand what was being asked at the time. How are you guys quoting multiple people in a nested quote? I can't, for the life of me, figure it out. When I quote someone, I get the last person who wrote only - which quite often leaves my posts not showing what the topic I'm referring to is.

Edited to add... the "Multi" button doesn't quote nested quotes for me. So... I know that's not what I'm looking for.

There are a couple things this could be.

First - to make sure you understand how to use the "multi-quote". When you click "multi" - you are basically saving it for later.

It's not until you hit "quote" that all the posts you hit "multi" on will show up in the final post.

Second - it may be that your settings are set to only show the last person quoted.

Go to My Profile > Edit Account Details > Under "Site Preferences" (about 1/2way down the page) - uncheck "Remove Nested Quotes in Replies". Then click "Save" at the bottom.

Hope this helps!

 

[mikeyb]

Western WA - near Olympia! How-DEE!

Well hello and welcome. This is a very FAST moving forum, do not get discouraged, hang on tight. It is a great place to get info from knowledgeable people and very helpful ones too.

 

[VelvettFog]

Quote:

That's it exactly

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Just wanted to say hello We have had a stretch of rotten lately. First I got hurt. Then my SIL passed after a long battle with cancer. That was 2 weeks ago. Now My Grandfather has had a massive stroke and its unlikely he will recover. Add to that all the fall time colds and such ... has made for a bum go. So Ive just been lurking and trying to Keep up with ya all That's a full time job in its self..LOL

My chickies are doing well.. My girls are going through their first molt.. what a site some of them are. The Cornish X are about 2 weeks out from processing. They have been a great "learning experience" I'm def over my ideal budget with this batch.. But I know I can do better next time... have a much better idea now how and what they will eat. Also think I will def do a tractor set up next time.

I hope you all are doing well. I think of this little group when Im out with the chicken crew each day.. I send my best wishes as always and hope things calm down enough that I can visit and maybe share pics of my newest additions

Sorry to hear about your stretch of bad luck. Please don't give up on grandpa too soon. See my DW had a stroke in 2006. When I got to the ER she didn't even know who I was. After a little time and some good rehab therapy sshe made a good recovery. YES we still have issues to deal with on a daily basis But as those who havemet DW will tell you she does pretty well considering.

And remember recovery / improvement can taper off soon or can go on for a year or more.

 

[itsren]

I told all the kids from the start that the likelyhood of all the chicks hatching was very low. We talked about some of the reasons, candled partway through, etc.

My husband does not like house pets - and I didn't really ask his permission with the chicks.

It was in the name of 'education'.

The hatch itself wasn't stinky at all - but the chicks in the brooder was. And more of an issue than the smell was the dust all over everything!

Since we have plenty of hens willing to go broody, I made a deal with my husband that all future chicks would only be broody-raised and sold the brooder & incubator.

Oh boy, you sound a lot like me!

My eggs came home in the name of 'education', too. DH asked me how much I spent (because he knew I was looking at spending $40 for Light Brahma eggs, and he was not into that concept at all - so much so that he put his foot down and told me I would not buy Light Brahma eggs for $40. He doesn't usually put his foot down, so I know he meant it). I told him I traded CR unfertilized eggs for fertilized ones. He didn't say much. But he wasn't jumping for joy, either.

I did this just after he had finally gotten over my coming home with 3 chicks while he was gone hunting and finished reeling from having to spend $700 to install/build a deluxe chicken coop in the back yard. I gently reminded him that each pure-bred dog that he's owned cost more than my chicken coop just for the dog (they were both $800 each, and the one he flew over from France was even more expensive). His dogs came with LOTS of expenses in addition to the initial $800 per dog purchase (housing, food, training, treats, and the last dog required more training because he decided to get jealous of the kids after they were born and he got booted outdoors and became a permanent outside dog). Since we've been married, he's always had the pets, and I never have. That quieted him down and he got over my chicks and the coop. When the chickens started following him everywhere he went, he began to like them.

Fortunately I was given a bunch of free wood, and chicken coop #2 won't cost much.

I totally get the chicks in the brooder thing - that's about the time I got really, really sick because I'm allergic to dust, trees (pine chips) and feathers. I had all of those in the house. When they moved to the garage it was better.

He understands my plans now, and I think he's OK with it. I'm going to convert a large wooden shelving system that we were going to get rid of (recently bought metal ones) into a tiered brooder/broody pen. The brooder will be on a higher shelf with a light above it. The broody pens will be down below. They will start out in the garage, but I'm going to try to clear out the shed of it's clutter and we'll set up the larger brooder (a 3'x4' metal dog kennel) in the shed with a light. We probably keep them in the garage for at least 4 weeks though - until they have a decent number of feathers.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

I just woke up at my apartment to a bunch of text messages from my boyfriend last night from his place (where the chickens are). He says a raccoon went after our flock last night in their big pine tree where they roost, though no one was seriously injured, thank heavens. Our beloved Welsummer (she really is our favorite) suffered a minor injury, not sure what, but he said she's OK. Everyone else escaped unscathed. He has not responded to the text I just replied with, so I'm assuming he's asleep after spending a restless night out in the yard under the tree with his dog. I don't know how he found out about the attack or anything. I'm sure I will get the details as soon as he's awake. I'm going to head up there soon. Their current coop is way too small, so we are going to build a makeshift expansion on it today to hold us over until we can build the big coop we've been breaking down all the pallets for that we were already planning on starting next week. I'm just really really thankful that everyone is OK!!!

I guess this settles the question of whether or not to let them keep roosting in the tree or try to train them to roost in the new coop! Our plan had been to lock them in there the first night so they know it's an option, then let them decide from there. Now I just hope it won't be as difficult to get them to use the new coop as it was to get them to use the old one.

I really hope our Welsummer's injuries don't turn out to be more serious than he had thought. She's by far the smartest and definitely the only one of our flock who even remotely seeks out human interaction. When my BF and his roommates first got the chicks last fall, she's the one he picked to give a name and be "his", so she really has a special place in his heart.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Western WA - near Olympia! How-DEE!

From yer naybour to the south!!!!

Mikey ya see that a new peep in Oly town. Maybe we needs to plan us a little late night shopping trip!!!

 

[Greg Richardson]

This thread should inspire you for next year.
I haven't had success yet as I think I need to start in February but now my son has his band in my start grow room so not sure how that is all going to work out if the starts don't mind screaming guitars.
This guy did a fantastic job and I'm a bit like him tell me no and away I go. LOL!

Idaho Watermelon Bonanza
http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?s=188f6658c3467e3054c2c706f6ad749c&t=56879

BTW. This is the Baker Creek Seeds Forum.