Washingtonians

[brownlikewoah]

man it is raining so hard at my house right now! I haven't seen much of my chickies lately either... I strung up some ropelight in their coop last week and have it on a timer to come on at 4am so hopefully that is enough light for them, they are all between 5 & 6 months old, no eggs yet. This week they keep putting themselves to bed early, like 4:30 pm

 

[weaveagarden]

Quote:
I sure wish I were closer. I would be happy to relieve you of that burden. No eggs for me yet. My oldest girls are just 4 months this next week. I sure hope I have a few early layers. Currently I have 9 RIR, 4 NHR, 1 BR, 4 EE's, 3 BA, 1 Sumatra's, 1 BO, 1 Dark Cornish, And a Black that has Black legs and yellow feet (not JG, I think..... Not sure what)
I think my best bet for early eggs are the New Hampshires.

I also have 1 Delaware, 3 Cuckoo Marans, 3 Welsummers that are just 8 weeks.

I am planning to sell 5 of my Reds, 4 of my Blacks. I am asking $15. ea.. Anybody have an opinion about whether the price is set right. They are very healthy, and were vaccinated for Mareks and Cocci. I have been feeding them about 75% organic, but had to add in some standard 24% feed recently to stretch my budget a bit.

In case anybody is interested, I can help to transport them to the Seattle area if anybody wants to buy.

 

[savingdogs]

Quote:
Speaking of raining really hard, what is everyone doing to deal with mud???????

My chickens do not free range because of predation and have a large pen. Over the summer things were great but now there is so much mud and shavings are not cutting it. I'm having to add shavings every day and by the end of the day they are covered in mud again.

I've read some threads on hear about sand....is anyone trying it here in WA? My coop run is at the back of the property so we'll have to haul alot of wheelbarrows full back there.

How about dry leaves? That is if they ever get a chance to dry out. I have alot of big leaf maple leaves especially.
We have a chipper and access to alot of trees so we could make our own bedding but not sure what would work well for the amount of effort.
What is working for you guys in this rain? I have a stationary coop.

 

[rainplace]

Quote:

I'm so happy to have another ducky person around! Make sure to check out the duck forums around here. There's another duck/chicken owner up on Whidbey that hangs in that forum. She's pretty awesome.

In regards to mud, Arin, it might be a losing battle for me. Not only do I have mud loving ducks, but the yard is on a slope.

I have laid down tons of pea gravel in some of the worst spots, and that seems to be working thus far. Because of the slope though I have to rake it back up every few weeks. I'm thinking about laying out wood shavings? Anyone else do this?

 

[brennant]

Quote:
Speaking of raining really hard, what is everyone doing to deal with mud???????

My chickens do not free range because of predation and have a large pen. Over the summer things were great but now there is so much mud and shavings are not cutting it. I'm having to add shavings every day and by the end of the day they are covered in mud again.

I've read some threads on hear about sand....is anyone trying it here in WA? My coop run is at the back of the property so we'll have to haul alot of wheelbarrows full back there.

How about dry leaves? That is if they ever get a chance to dry out. I have alot of big leaf maple leaves especially.
We have a chipper and access to alot of trees so we could make our own bedding but not sure what would work well for the amount of effort.
What is working for you guys in this rain? I have a stationary coop.

I am going to do a base of pea gravel (to drain) and sand on top for easy cleaning. Luckily I have tons of pea gravel

As you can see:

their coop is surrounded by trees and will stay fairly damp during the winter and spring. I plan on using DE to make sure their coop is extra dry as well.

 

[brennant]

Quote:
Thanks! I think the girls are happy for right now. The really want to go outside the coop... They are not ready for lots of time outside yet so I let them out when I am working on the outside of the coop or yard...

But they seem happy so far... better than shoulder to shoulder in the garage brooder... they were getting a little testy!

Let them out for a bit and they began doing some weeding

So helpful.

 

[Greg Richardson]

Sand is the answer. It works great.
Everything else once wet eventually packs down not absorbing water.
Gravel can work but I want something I can use for compost and much nicer is sand for chickens to take dust baths and peck around for food and bugs.

 

[KMHunter]

I put sand in my run a few months back and I love it. It doesn't get super mucky. and the top layer sort of might stay damp, but not wet. AND I can go through the run with a cat liter scooper/sifter thing, and scopp poop and leave most of the sand. Works great!

 

[herbandteas]

I got mine at Del's it was $4.95 per 60 lb round tube like bags. I also was told that if you went to walmart thiers is a $1 cheaper but when I got there it was out in the rain and I tried to pick up a bag and it split. So thats when I went to Del's. They are my go to feed store.

 

[TrystInn]

Rainplace - thank you, I'll keep a lookout for her. If you see her, send her my way.

Brennant - gorgeous pen, ours is cobbled together from recycled rabbit pens, etc. but I have dreams. I surely do.

I'm thinking pea gravel and sand for ours, but right now we're still working on collecting rocks around the pond. The wet straw in there now is insanely slippery, I'm rather surprised I haven't broken an ankle yet.

We use two electrical systems out in our pens - one that's always on (for the pond's bio-filter we built) and chicken hutch light (it's on a sensor, so it pops on when it's dark) and the other that's on a timer so we can light up the rope lights strung along the fencing. So far the rope lights have been enough to keep the ducks laying.

We're trying to start a north Whidbey Grange here, anyone else a member of the Grange?