Washingtonians

[savingdogs]

Newchick 715, I wouldn't be too concerned about costs. We've found chickens to be extremely cheap. A bag of feed costs us 13.99 and lasts a very long time and we have 18.
If you plan to feed organic feed that was quite a bit more. You can also do alot of supplementing, ours like bugs best!
We have kept everything clean and have not had health problems yet. Shavings for their coop don't add up too quickly. Other than setting ourselves up, chickens have been an inexpensive hobby.

 

[ChristinaMae]

Quote:
The only problem with that is I am terrified of geese, lol. After talking to my mom about my daughter wanting a goose, my mom said, "Oh, no! Geese are awful! They bite, and they take huges chunks of flesh out of your arm! Don't let her have geese!!" and now I know why I am so scared of them, lmao. Now that I know, I'm pretty sure I can get past it, though, so I'll probably let her get them.

newchik715 - About the smell, the *only* reason I decided to give chickens a chance was because I can recall my father having chickens when I was a teenager and they *never* smelled. Prior to (and after that) my only experience was with an aunt and grandma each having chickens and they reeked.

Since having my chickens I have learned that the key to a non-stinky coop seems to be making sure it is water tight (and not spilling their waterer, lol) and not having too many animals crammed into the space - both of which were big differences between my fathers coop and the others. I have 8 chickens in a, I want to say 6x8 coop, it may be bigger. In 4 months, we've only cleaned it twice, but it is needing cleaning again. And both of those times it really wasn't visibly dirty except around the roost. I'm pretty sure I can comfortably keep 12-15 chickens in there, but we would need to clean it more frequently.

Monthly costs for us is about $40 for a bag of organic feed. It would be way cheaper if we didn't buy the organic stuff. Also, we spend less than $10 for a bale of straw which lasts 2-3 cleanings. Chickens are really pretty cheap once you get past the initial cost of the coop and run.

You should just go for it! You probably won't regret buying chickens, and if you do, you can always sell them on craigslist.

 

[herbandteas]

If you get geese get them as goslings so they will bond with her but here is a thought if your the one who takes care of it then it will bond with you not her and may do what ours did. Bite her when it got older because you are its mom. That is what happen with my daughter I was the only one really taking care of tweety and as he grew up he was very protective of me so when my daughter reached down to pet him one time he bit the heck out of her and she was lucky I was there and she had pants on.

I gave him to a friend who had a lot of birds and a big pond for him to splash in. I still miss him because he followed me around like a puppy.

 

[ChristinaMae]

She wants american buff geese, and they would be all hers. I have been reading that they have mild temperments, like the sebastopols. I love the sebastopols, though, but wasn't able to talk her into them, lol. Maybe for myself, in the (near) future.

I'm thinking 2, maybe 3, and definately getting goslings. They would be all her responsibility. I think she'll do fine playing with/handling them regularly - it was difficult to keep her away from our chicks, haha.

Do you think they would bond to more than one person? We have a younger child as well, and wouldn't want them to go after him because they're protecting her.

 

[herbandteas]

Tweety was our one and only goose raised from just hatched to young goose. Other family members were not interested in the goose so I can't say from experience if they would or not. Try googling geese to see what you can find out. Or go to the goose page here on back yard chicken to see.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Quote:
Hi Newchik, I'm about 30 minutes from you. I just got in the door about 10 minutes ago. Was up until 0330 this morning washing birds and then got about four hours sleep before having to go back to the fairgrounds to get the birds in place before the judging began. So I’m pretty beat right now but wanted to shoot you off a quick email.

If you'd like to send me a personal email (not PM as who knows when I'll be back on BYC next), I can respond to some of your questions. You're also more than welcome to just stop by and see the place. I also kept an email I sent a lady a year or two ago who was in the same place you are. The email breaks down the cost of raising a chicken. She lives in downtown Everett, bought two birds from me, and loves it.

Now, I gotta go put the birds I still have here to bed and then I think I'm gonna crash for the night.

God Bless,

 

[tomato lady]

Quote:
My son-in-law and I went to Portland to attend a tour of urban coops. We saw some very interesting coops and what struck me most was that a coop can be anything you want it to be -- large, small, portable, stationary, or combined with other animals. It can be made of new material or reused items. Many had coops that reflected their personalities. One coop was surely built by a collector. One lady had her goats and chickens running together. One thing I did NOT notice was any unplesant smell.

I think you should try to see several chicken people. Tailfeathers invited you to see his place, and it is very nice. You should go see it. He could also answer a lot of your questions. He is set up for breeding and he has some nice show quality birds.

You should also try to see other chicken set-ups. Setting up for chickens is a very individual thing. I have 5 acres and my set up was determined by existing buildings. I built my first coop under the kid's old tree fort because it ment I didn't have to build a roof. My second coop was my old goat barn that I remodeled (200 sq. ft.). I love it. I use both my coops because I have 47 chickens. You are welcome to come visit and see my coops, but I live nearly an hour south of Tacoma and it would be a long drive for you.

My son-in-law lives on a city lot in Tacoma and has a small coop for 4 birds. It works for him, although he is thinking of going a little larger.

My brother has a small coop and lets his chickens free range in his orchard. They keep the grass down and the bugs out.

My suggestion is that you look around, decide what works for you, and go for it. I love having chickens and I know you will too.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Viki, thank you for the kind words about my place. I'm glad you found it "nice". As you saw, keeping chickens is tough business if you're trying to run a clean operation but I try my best.

Newchick, I apologize. I thought my the link to email me was displaying and I just realized it was not. It is there now. Just click on the link under my avatar. If that still doesn't work, my email addy is: [email protected] .

God Bless,

 

[brennant]

Next week I get my first chicks. I had a meeting with Gardensphere, and will be buying my first round of chicks from them. They did such a great job of helping me with my wedding, I want to spread the "wealth" around!

Wish me luck!

 

[brennant]

Thanks.

Their chicks are hatching late next week, and they are going to give me a rundown of what they have sometime in the week as far as breeds. He is proposing an assortment of breeds "for fun" as he puts it. I will know more next week. I think I am going to go with four birds for sure.

While the chicks are getting their big girl feathers, I will be out in the shed constructing their coop.

Side Note: This is what I found on my bird feeder yesterday around noon.

Now I have another job of getting rid of a darned RAT!