Washingtonians

[weaveagarden]

Looks like this would be a good candidate for a live trap if you want to keep the poisons out of the yard. Or the old fashioned "ker-snap!" bait trap. Good news once full grown, you chickens will help to keep those guys away from the food in their run. I hear chickens eat mice and have been known to attack rats.

 

[AnnesChicks]

Weaveagarden ~ I read that Hoquiam City Hall backed down on their chicken proposal. Congrats and Hurrah for you!

I read comments in the paper about how awful and smelly chickens are blah blah blah, and I'm here to tell you that with a good set up there is very little smell, and not much work at all to keep it that way. And other then a little morning "egg" clucking they really don't make much noise. We located our coop just outside our bedroom window and the only time they woke us up ~ their feeder was empty - oh my.

 

[weaveagarden]

Well, they had a tie vote. But two of the council people weren't there, so they will likely try again if they think they have the votes.

Now Durney and some of the council people are likely hopping mad. I just wish they could realize that they are ignorant about the real situation with chickens these days. Yes they can be stinky and noisy. But if properly maintained, they don't have to be. I would love to talk to you sometime about how you handle some of the issues that are complicated by our immense amount of rain in the winter months. I am laying in a supply of stalldry, but want to keep on top of it so the neighbors don't have reason to complain.

 

[tomato lady]

Quote:
Sometimes council members avoid a meeting if they don't want to go on record with a vote either way. My guess is they won't put it to a vote again unless they feel confident there are the votes to pass it.

A few letters thanking the informed council members who voted your way might be a good thing. That would also give you an opportunity to briefly restate the value of backyard flocks.

Keep trying to organize those chicken keepers. In politics there are two kinds of power: money and people (voters).

We held off a mega project for a long time with people power. We finally lost, but it took them 13 years and millions of $$ to win.

 

[weaveagarden]

Quote:
Yes, I figured that the two who didn't attend may have been because of wanting to avoid the stuff flying through the air that night.
The letters are a good idea. Also a chance to steer them toward some related education to help our cause. I posted asking for a sticky list of facts and figures to help to fight.... But so far nothing.
I also have an ad in the paper that will run out sometime next week. So far, one lonely responder. Who is a lovely person. She is the one who started crying at the meeting. I think most people want to stay annonomous. That makes it very hard.

Actually, the group was intended to be more than just a way to fight city hall. I hope that we will be able to organize some education for poultry raisers big and small. I also would like to see someone planning a chickenstock in Grays Harbor.

I thought it would be a good thing for Hoquiam, as the Stadium would be a great place to have it.... Who knows, maybe they will eventually start coming if I have a meeting or two.

So far, all of 4-5 members. Me, I faint when stressed too much. Another disabled friend of mine who recently got chickens and is shy to come out in the open. The woman who called me who is so sensitive and scared of losing her chickens. And Anthony (the "crazy chicken man in hoquiam" with 70+ chickens right now). This is us:

I would really like to get more mainstream chicken raisers to attend.

Keep it in mind. And you will know it is me in the future if I have a meeting announcement in the paper. I am using GHPoultry as my name of the group until we can have a larger group to determine a catchy name.

 

[tomato lady]

Quote:

This was me when we started our fight. I was OK with the orginization part, but when the first hearing before the Hearings Examiner came, the board said I would be the one to speak. I said, "Oh No! I don't do that!" The board members said, "But you are the president. You have to speak!" Well, don't think it was a big thing to be president. I only took the job because no one else would. But, I gathered up all my courage, wrote out word for word what I wanted to say, and read it at the hearing. Although, I had important things to say, the delivery was seriously lacking.

The good news is that I learned to speak in public. I had passion for our cause. During the time I was president I spoke at many county hearings, at the Corps of Engineers hearings, Department of Ecology hearings, and legislative committee hearings. I really got quite good. Soon I learned that notes just distracted me. I would go up with only a few words on a piece of paper to keep me on track. I wrote volumes for all of the above and the courts. I testified in court and suffered through a 2 day deposition by one of the most obnoxious attorneys around. It was a real education.

As if that was not enough, it was the job of the board to educate and direct the citizens who were members of our orginization.

We had people who would go off the effective message (our clean water supply) and say things that left me speachless. And we had a number of

, and

, and

, and even a

or two. At several "community meetings" held by the council they brought police escorts! That was just for media attention. There was no one who would hurt anyone, but they wanted us to look like a bunch of militant radicals.

We kept membership in our group very loose. Some will be cautious about "joining" but will quietly support your cause. We included anyone with the same goals as supporters.

We made our group seem as large as possible. We helped people write letters. Sometimes we wrote a very simple letter that people could just sign and send in. We circulated petitions. We wrote letters to the editor. I wrote guest editorials.

I think the idea of forming this group partly for education is great. We did that too, and went to schools to speak to classes. For that we had to leave the politics out of it, just give information.

Well, I will get off my soap box now. Guess I have rambled on enough for one day. Good luck.

Edit to say: If you want some suggestions about approaching teachers, I have done that a lot. Not just for this group, but I used to go to schools and educate students on disabilities.

 

[djackjr]

ok have not posted in awhile how are the washington chickens all doing??

Still waiting on my 8 hens to get out of commitee on the lack of egg production and starting laying me some eggs...

20 week RIR.....I know its like watching a pot of water to boil............

 

[AnnesChicks]

This will be my first winter with chickens so I'll be watching the forum for ideas too. We did build a raised coop which was the best idea, shade on sunny days, and shelter on rainy days. I am watching craigslist, 2goog2toss for some free/cheap materials to roof the run.

I too am leery about going public, I couldn't find any info on chickens for my zoning, but I am out of the city limits and went for it. I did of course check with my two closest neighbors, who didn't care. I don't have a rooster because I didn't want to take a chance on attracting any complaints. I figure keeping a low profile is the best way to stay out of trouble so to speak.

Although I did find someone willing to loan me a rooster for a week or two next spring if I want to try to hatch chicks. Speaking of hatching-I have an incubator from my brother law and right now I'm trying to hatch a russian tortoise egg, I'll know in a couple of weeks whether or not its fertile. I got my first egg from them last November but it was a dud, however as much as they were doing the naughty the past few months I have high hopes for this egg.

 

[LauraM]

I have to sell my beloved 4 hens and their tractor due to divorce/moving. I have 2 BA and 2BO and they are almost 7 months old. I love these girls, they lay beautiful eggs, love to be petted and held, are used to kids, and used to free ranging. I don't even know what to charge, I have been in denial about getting rid of these girls, my kids love them and our family dog had to be put to rest last month and we have really become close to the chickens. It is an A-frame tractor, painted red, with a door that lifts up for eggs/ food/ etc and the front of the A-frame opens up to let the chickens out or to walk into. If interested, make an offer. Otherwise I will be posting on CL.

 

[weaveagarden]

Quote:
That's awful. Maybe somebody could foster them until you can have them someplace else, I would if I were close.