Washingtonians

[TheReidHomestead]

Love the Coop Tour photo's! Thanks so much for taking them and sharing with us!

So the girls and I were all set to go and get my oldest DD's driving permit, look online to find the closest office, and realize they are all closed on Mondays.

So we went shopping instead. Just got home, have 5 Orps out and 7 pips on the Cochin eggs!!!

But where is our heat? They said it would be overcast today but warmer than yesterday with the winds coming west from over the mountains. It's been drizzling here off and on all day so far!

 

[TheReidHomestead]

Glad your appt went well Heather! She will be here before we all know it!!!

 

[SadieSue]

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That's great news! I'm so glad we're over all that nonsense you had to go through the first few months. I'll bet you are too.

Good growing RFF baby!

 

[VelvettFog]

Summer has finally arrived, at least in my version of reality. I got a wee bit of sun burn on Saturday, but not on my head! I always -- always, wear a hat. I am rather opposed to melanoma. Especially on my ears. But that's just me. While surfing the internet I found my self absorbed by the concept of aquaponics. (raise fish and use the pond water to feed plants/use the plants to filter the fish water - eat both fish and plants) This is DIY's fault and I am now forced to examine my fledgling relationship with him. Is he friend; or enabler in disguise. Only time will tell

It was something like 88 today - but cloudy and muggy for us. Lots of coyote activity last night, which is unusual for us this time of year. Probably a side effect of the wetter-than-normal spring. I'm between major projects, so I'll tinker a bit on the coops. (Trying nipple watering systems, but my birds are dumb). This also gives me time to straighten up the shop, scratch off a honey-do or three. I'm thinking of rebuilding my radial-arm saw table so that it incorporates a station for my compound miter saw. That would free up about 12 sq feet of shop, as I have my chop saw on it's own 2x6 home-made roll-away. I should build a lean-to so I could put the log-splitter and a few other things outside. But those all sound more like fall/winter projects and not summer. One thing I will do this winter is learn to build hive-frames. Boxes are easy. Frames look like a fun challenge.

I need a partner who wants to operate all the things I like to build -- aquaponics, coops, hutches, greenhouses, hives .. and that's just a small list

Dave

... solar panels, wind-mills, water wheels...

 

[TheReidHomestead]

So we had 3 blue Orp chicks and 2 black Orps chicks hatch out. One blue chick is still drying off, but here are the other four. Baxter is the daddy.

Black Chicks

Blue chicks

Baxter

Baxter and a girlfriend

Here's our current Orpington compound on the back of the goat shed. We fenced in to the right of it for Baxter and his girls. We will be doing something similar on the left for the Lav Orps and putting in a small Serama coop on the left end, all in front of the woodpile.

Close up of Baxter's new run, the small coop on the right is a temp kind of a thing. We had Baxter and our blue hen in it until yesterday for breeding purposes. Now our evil Lav Roo is in there until he goes to the freezer unless anyone wants him?

And Oscar, our Lav Roo on the other side of the duplex

 

[L0rraine]

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I'm on Whidbey too! We've got 17 chickens (ten of which we share with the neighbors), eight chicks (four silkies who will be looking for a home soon , and ten ducks (mostly Runners). Oh for the good old days when we had just a few.

Yes, the predators here on Whidbey are a bad problem. We've lost several ducks and chickens to eagles and a couple to raccoons (or a skunk or an opossum)

. The coyotes haven't breeched the fence yet, but they are out there lickin' their chops on a daily basis. Welcome to the forum - what part of Whidbey are you on?

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
wow you were very busy!
Moving flocks & fencing is a stress for all.
I never did get to see your garden

But did you see the pic I posted on the strawberries ?
They are Monsters and getting redder everyday.
DH wants them on pancakes, waffles, shortcake & ice cream !

 

[pettec63]

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That's great news! I'm so glad we're over all that nonsense you had to go through the first few months. I'll bet you are too.

Good growing RFF baby!

x2!!!

 

[Chickielady]

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We have $18,000 worth of solar panels on our home in NorCal...rented out of course, up for sale for a year now....

I have threatened driving down & ripping the entire grid system off the roof & bringing it up here, but we will just get more here.
All our family down there has solar panels, and the reward is over 10%, in other words, the same money in the bank rewards you with 3-4% interest at best...and the amount you save in electrical bills is way way way more.
In other words, the power bill in Calif at $300 a month for example, and the interet in the savings account is $45.
So the money makes more money on the roof, rather in the bank.
Up here, it will depend on deep cloudiness.
Our panels in NorCal work better on an overcast day, there is more UV, and less heat.
heat is not good.
Magnified UV is good.
So the panels may yeild well here on the coast

Wanna see pics of the solar panels ???
Just say the word.
Otherwise I will not bother you with them.

 

[Chickielady]

I am soooooooooooo falling in love with Oscar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Completely whiped Wyatt out of my mind~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh look, a pretty chicken!!!

Just waite until all these Icelandics fledge...and they are ALL colors...maybe THAT will satidfy my need for colors!!
The occasional white egg will look very nice in my egg basket, too!

Seriously, I am turning people away wanting to buy eggs here!!!
If I had 20 doz a day to sell, every one would be sold, every day, none would go overnight.