Washingtonians

[savingdogs]

It was really cold here last night! Last time I checked it was 18 degrees but I think it got colder than that overnight. I'm near Lake Merwin.

We had just added a light and heat lamp to the coop last weekend, and my husband was really pleased with his efforts. They are loving it and we had the cold snap right after he was done. Our egg production actually went up a little. But more than that we were trying to make them happier.
We also added a whole lot of sand to their run, which had become really muddy with all our fall rains. This has helped tremendously. The clay soil was terribly mucky, but the sand drains. We did have to put a little barrier up so they don't scratch out all the sand, but we did it in such a way that it enhanced our predation control. We still want to add a roof over the run but we have had alot of other projects.

The fun part is that with the light in the coop and the location of our bedroom window, we can see the light come on and them milling around in their coop from the house. My husband caught them warming themselves, turning, warming the other side, and then getting pushed out for another to take their "turn" in front of the new lamp.
He felt very thanked for his efforts to run electricity out to their coop, that is for sure.

I cooked a big bowl of rice the other day and added ahuge collection of crushed up egg shells really finely mashed. They thought this was a great treat and laid a whole bunch of eggs that day.
Does it seem to you guys that if you warm them up with alot of food they lay more eggs for you?

I don't think rice and egg shells was very good nutrition so would not do that on a regular basis, but really cold rain was falling that day and they were wet and miserable and had nothing interesting to do in their coop. I wanted to disguise the egg shells as we had an egg eater problem awhile back we got stopped, but I was also out of oyster shell until a store run. It worked really well to warm them up though.

Stay warm and drive safe everyone!

 

[weaveagarden]

JustBugged- Do you have roosting boards under the roost?. A lot of people put paper or cardboard on the roosting boards and change that pretty regularly to keep the poo from building up so much. Also, fluffing the litter daily if necessary might help. You are probably already doing these things, but just in case. And also for Newbies knowledge.

So cold today. All the efforts of insulating the coop, and the water is still freezing solid in there. Now, the door will have to be insulated, and also underneath, I think. It is raised, so I believe the wind blowing under it may be causing some problems.

Lots of singing going on in the coop this AM. One light green egg so far. It looks like it might be a good green egg day. That is where most of the songs are coming from..... We will see.

 

[ReiMiraa]

it is 10 am and 7 degrees outside.......

i wonder if i am now the owner of chickencicles?

since the high today is only going to be 18 i think they will be stuck locked inside their coop. where it should be slightly warmer. they have pumpkins (halved) and a flock block to play with while in there....

 

[Illia]

. . . I would seriously throw all my chickens inside if it was THAT cold out here!!

It got below 20 F out here, but not too far below. Although, our Brahmas are suddenly not taking well to it. We're getting to a daily schedule of feeding them oatmeal and potatoes in the morning, and rice just before bed for some warmth, though. I hope it helps, because this morning it got so cold that the waterer INSIDE the coop was frozen!!

This is when I demand snow. . . Atleast the snow insulates things, and isn't as cold as this dry, frozen weather.

Amazingly - My Wyandottes STILL don't care.

Of all my chickens, they are the only ones who aren't standing around, puffed up - They're running around, pecking and chasing at whatever, and going on through life as if nothing is wrong. Man those girls are tough.

 

[kristenm1975]

Does anyone know for a fact what happens if you're caught with more chickens on your lot than the city allows? Not that I'd ever try anything like that personally....no, no,no. Just pure curiosity! I know that the lady I purchased my first chickens ever from lived right across from the Museum of History and Industry and had 26, believe it or not. They were her young son's technically, and were purchased as day olds for a school project for the boy. They were all free-ranging in her organic garden and yard. While there was a fence around the yard, it was of the variety that had probably 8 inches between one metal post and the next, so I'm sure the chickens were all over the neighborhood from time to time.

The family was obviously very wealthy and well-educated, with the father being some higher-upper at UW. They made the decision to keep that many over the legal limits using some other excuse besides ignorance (which I'd claim were I ever to try such a thing

).

I'd be interested in hearing any stories anyone has about any trouble they might have run into with having too many chickens in city limits, whether the trouble came from neighbors or from the authorities.

Thanks! Hope everyone is surviving the cold! Brrrr!!

 

[Kittymomma]

Kristenm1975: Most places just serve you a notice to comply and you have x number of days to get back down to the limit. You might get fined for repeated offences, but probably not for the first one.

It was 12 degrees out at 4 a.m. here and then dropped to 8 by 7:45 when my youngest headed out to the bus stop. Why are kids so against wearing coats?!!?

I swear we could live in the artic circle and he would still be down to his sweatshirt 1/2 way up the driveway.

The flock seems to be handling the cold in their uninsulated coop pretty well. I have it piled high with shavings and hay and have been giving them hot oatmeal + every morning. Silly creatures are STILL wading in the creek though, maybe it's something in the air around here....

 

[brennant]

Chickens want in... cats not sure what to think of the big birdies...

 

[Nyrial]

n.smithurmond :

Hi Washingtonians! I don't live there anymore but was born and raised near Puyallup. So hello from North Georgia!

Howdy

Just no talking about your warm weather allowed.​

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Howdy

Just no talking about your warm weather allowed.

Today I tried breaking the ice over my pond with a hatchet - Turns out it was over 3 in thick. I don't know how my goldfish live through all these winters!

- Oh, and when my chickens talk, you can see their breath in the sun (if they are in the sun)

 

[justbugged]

Quote:
I know that in King County that you can get a Kennel license, and you are then able to have more that the posted number of animals on a property. I have not looked into that option very closely due to the fact that I would have to license at least 4 dogs and 4 cats at the moment. (A bit spendy including the Kennel license, plus 2 of the dogs are not altered yet) I feel fairly sure that I would qualify for one though. The neighbors say they like us, and we keep the property and animals clean and very well fed. We also spend what's needed on health care for our pets. I would think that Seattle has very similar laws. I would check the city's web pages for more information on kennel licensing. I would think that trouble would most likely come from neighbors, rather than authorities. (They too busy ticketing off leash dogs walking, and poop-poos that don't get picked type of owners. It's much more profitable)