Washingtonians

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Well I gotta go check incubators...all 3 of them & start candling day 17 eggs & putting the goods in lockdown.........gonna be a long time when there is 5 doz..........................
AND no I ain't going ny ny !!!!!!!!!!!!
This woman works from 5 AM to midnight, every day, every single day.
Have to steal out in the dark & check my 4 broodies..................

Even Holidays................

Usually this time of night I am waiting hand & foot on DH...but he ain't home so I can go on my merry way caring for the dog & birdzzzzzz.
Last night I spurged & had a face wash in Noxema.......wow.....something I never have time to do.
Tonight I may even punch the enevelope & give myself a manicure (notice it starts with MAN ????????????)

Thankfully a facial is still named after the FACE.
Later peeps, you too Imp !!!

I need to get more incubators and/or make that little freezer into an incubator. I have been reading up on how to. I think it would be my best choice at this point. I am just nervous about taking on this "project". Some people use PVC and a hand crank and the paper egg holders. I am fearful of that. I want something that will last a bit. I reaally don't want "hokey"...it is in my kitchen right now. I do want a PVC front. it is the insides I am concerned with how exactly to do. I will keep reading/researching and I will eventually get brave enough to do.

The above project is just like my serama coop project. I know EXACTLY what I want, I just have NO knowledg on how to build a shed. just bought a book on how toos through BYC and I think it will help a lot. OH, btw...bought the book...got a free "golden feather" membership...a key chain...a bumper stick ... and some BYC business cards. VERY COOL!!!!! I am always handing out slips of paper with the web site addy.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
Okay lady.....step up to the plate....where is the picture of your house ..... "wait for it".....HOUSE DUCK......
Yes, newbies, you heard me right....this lady has a house duck named daffy. Don't let T Hi's cuteness and sweetness fool you....she too has warped into a poultry (are ducks poultry) housing person. Daffy runs the house. Beats up on the dog. Has spa days - hours in the tub "do not distrub" placcard on the door.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
Thanks! I just got done making 2 more of my big saw blade starz so now at 11:15 I guess it's tyme to take a sprinkle, feed the dragon and park the wagon. We will be looking at the windscreen at about 6:15. One bonus is Steve called tonight and said he will bring a gourmet (McDonalds) breakfast. SAWEEEET ! Tomorrow may actually
be a no cooking day for me !

Good luck. I hope you knock them dead. Wish I could come...but the 8 hour trip would be a bit much for me.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/permanent-hoop-coop-guide
Very excited. This is perfect for my plans for this summer. I have some of those cow/hog panels that have been sitting out in the weather for ? years. infact the wild grass has grown up through them...I burn it off every year.

Will be my retirement center for old birds (nope cannot kill as daughter won't let me) and for future endevors.

eta: to fix the web site. this should be the correct one now.

 

[Greg Richardson]

Quote: Use to raise discus fish had 6 tanks going.
I hope you have very strong help when you get it home. Those are very heavy if glass.

 

[SweetSilver]

Hello everyone!

I'm from Olympia WA!

anyone near by that would want to share some chicken knowledge!?

Welcome! We are SW of you, near Rochester.

 

[Greg Richardson]

Chicken crimes
By Jerri Cook
Countryside Staff
http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/96/96-2/chicken_crimes.html


There's a sign hanging on one of the walls at COUNTRYSIDE that says, "Wherever chickens are outlawed, only outlaws will have chickens." It's funny, but who knew it was prophetic? Get ready folks. There's a new rule coming. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) means to lock up those dangerous chickens and their homestead cohorts once and for all.
We all celebrated when the proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was withdrawn, but the party's over. There's a new rule on the horizon which is not only cumbersome to small homestead herds, it puts a heavy burden on those with backyard poultry flocks. The rule proposed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, titled Traceability for Livestock Moving Interstate, is on its face useless, and a little digging reveals the real reason for such over-reaching regulation—to raise money to keep a bloated, bureaucratic agency alive. Get your shovels ready.
It's not like APHIS is lying to anyone. In fact, the truth is right there for all to see. Here's the reason for the proposed new rule: "Benefits of the proposed traceability system are for the most part potential benefits that rest on largely unknown probabilities of disease occurrence and reactions by domestic and foreign markets (pg. 3)." They have no idea what disease, if any, they might be protecting against. In the 67-page document explaining the rule, APHIS throws around references to BSE, otherwise known as mad cow disease, but other than that, they seem more worried about some disease, somewhere, someday, that might cause a problem for the domestic livestock markets.
If they really were concerned about tracing disease, APHIS would do something about the Johne's outbreak that is beyond epidemic in the United States. By some estimates, nearly 90% of herds are infected with this always fatal disease. The pathogen which causes Johne's in cows has been linked to serious disease in humans, including Crohn's disease which is rising at an alarming rate. Where is APHIS? This isn't some pretend unknown probability of disease. This is real.
Nor does APHIS claim to be protecting consumers. Just the opposite. They're protecting big banks and big government: The primary benefit of the proposed regulations would be the enhanced ability of the United States to regionalize and compartmentalize animal health issues more quickly, minimizing losses and enabling reestablishment of foreign and domestic market access with minimum delay in the wake of an animal disease event. None of this is news to homesteaders with cows, sheep, or goats. We've been through this before. But those of you with backyard flocks need to sit up and take notice. You're sitting ducks, and the shooting's about to begin.
Do you order your chicks from a hatchery? If so, you're about to pay more—a lot more. The new rule provides: Poultry moved interstate would be required to be accompanied by an ICVI (interstate certificate of veterinary inspection) unless they are from a flock participating in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) and are accompanied by the documentation required under the NPIP regulations or they are moved directly to a recognized slaughtering establishment (pg. 30). In addition to the required paperwork, the proposed rule also requires flocks not eligible for group identification (backyard and homestead flocks) to be banded individually before they cross a border, this includes day-old chicks shipped from out-of-state hatcheries. Even if the chicks never leave the homestead of the person who ordered them, the bands must be on their legs and remain there for the life of the bird. So, what happens if someone fails to comply? The proposed regulation specifically cites Title VII, Section 8313 of the US Code. First, there are the criminal penalties for non-compliance:
Distribution or sale
A person that knowingly imports, enters, exports, or moves any animal or article, for distribution or sale, in violation of this chapter, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Multiple violations
On the second and any subsequent conviction of a person of a violation of this chapter under paragraph (1), the person shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
Then, there are the civil penalties:
Except as provided in section 8309(d) of this title, any person that violates this chapter, or that forges, counterfeits, or, without authority from the Secretary, uses, alters, defaces, or destroys any certificate, permit, or other document provided under this chapter may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing on the record, be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary that does not exceed the greater of - (i) $50,000 in the case of any individual, except that the civil penalty may not exceed $1,000 in the case of an initial violation of this chapter by an individual moving regulated articles not for monetary gain; (ii) $250,000 in the case of any other person for each violation; (iii) for all violations adjudicated in a single proceeding - (iv) $500,000 if the violations do not include a willful violation; or (v) $1,000,000 if the violations include one or more willful violations. Twice the gross gain or gross loss for any violation or forgery, counterfeiting, or unauthorized use, alteration, defacing or destruction of a certificate, permit, or other document provided under this chapter that results in the person's deriving pecuniary gain or causing pecuniary loss to another person.
Failure to band a chicken could result in fines, imprisonment and possible confiscation of every chick at the hatchery or every animal on the homestead where un-banded poultry is found.
In case you haven't already figured it out, these government-approved, individually sealed and numbered leg bands aren't free. But APHIS seems unconcerned about cost. They openly acknowledge they don't have a clue how much this new regulation will cost the nation's small-scale poultry producers and independent hatcheries (pg. 31). APHIS does offer a few convoluted figures on how much the rule will cost producers overall—somewhere around $34 million a year. Not to worry though, the taxpayer will be picking up any additional costs. The 2012 budget calls for at least $3 million of taxpayer funds to be set aside for this program to offset the cost of metal ear tags. No money has been set aside to help independent hatcheries and small flock owners purchase leg bands, not one dime.
I've been accused of portraying government employees as academics who sit around dreaming up new regulations at the taxpayer's expense. And after reading this proposed traceability rule, I stand firmly behind my assertions, at least where the USDA and its agencies are concerned. This is nothing more than regulation for the sake of regulation.
So, where does that leave us? Once again, independent family farmers are staring down the barrel of government regulation. Thanks to overwhelming organizing and persistent resistance, NAIS went down in flames. But as often happens when one bad piece of regulation is defeated, another has appeared in its place. Yes, immediate action is needed. Calls to Congressmen must be made, but then what? Are we going to sit around and wait for the next regulation to come at us? And it will come. We all know it for a fact. There is, however, a way to stop such assaults on small-scale producers and homesteaders once and for all.
Have you ever asked the question, "who makes this stuff up?" The answer is always one regulatory agency or the other, but that's not the case. Federal regulators don't make the laws. Congress does, and then the laws are published in the United States Code, a gargantuan tome, legendary in its complexity (http://uscode.house.gov/lawrevisioncounsel.shtml). The Code is a codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is over 200,000 pages long, and after the update scheduled in 2012, we can be assured it will reflect more bloated government edicts than ever before. Fortunately for us, we're only concerned with Title VII of the Code—the section that gives the Secretary of Agriculture the power to make criminals out of small-scale family farmers and homesteaders. It needs to be changed, and sooner rather than later.
It may seem like a massive challenge, but in reality it's not. No one is suggesting a complete overhaul of Title VII; just a little tweaking will do the trick. Right now, the Secretary of Agriculture has full control of all the nation's producers—those who have hundreds, sometimes, thousands of animals as well of those of us with small, managed herds and flocks. The purpose of Title VII was to allow the federal government to regulate the production and trade of corporate agriculture production facilities. Title VII was never meant to allow federal control of traditional family farmers and homesteaders who produce, market and sell locally. Yet, we find ourselves squarely under the regulator's thumb. Once again, if you give the government an inch, it'll take a mile.
It's time for the language to be changed to reflect the realities of the evolving models of agriculture, which are trending smaller and more sustainable. Corporate agri-business needs far more regulating than small-producers. This is so by the government's own admission. A few years ago we applied for a government-funded program that helped to fund improvements to on-farm manure storage, only to be turned down because our 20-cow organic farm wasn't a big enough threat to the environment to warrant assistance with manure management. So, if we're not a threat, why should the federal government bother with us at all? The answer is plain. It shouldn't. Yet it does.
To argue that corporate agriculture is in any way similar to sustainable homestead producers is to kick reason right in the head.
The only way to break the stranglehold the Secretary of Agriculture has on small farms is to insist on a return to federalism. The States are the proper regulators of small independent farmers who don't participate in the rat-race known as corporate agriculture. If the small producer isn't shipping anything across state lines, then the federal government shouldn't be able to enforce regulations that hamstring locally sustainable agriculture. Similarly, if a hatchery is shipping a few dozen meat birds to a homestead in Wisconsin where they are processed and distributed as part of a local in-state CSA, it is the State of Wisconsin's responsibility to regulate that sale of chicks. If, however, a confined-animal feeding operation (CAFO) receives thousands of day-old chicks which will be raised, butchered, and distributed nationally or internationally, then by all means, let the Secretary of Agriculture regulate away. That's what Title VII was intended for.
So, how do we persuade Congress to add an exemption to Title VII specifically for independent, local producers with no ties to big banks or big corporations? Do we have to occupy somewhere or parade around with a sign? Thankfully, no.
This spring, while we're sitting around waiting for the ground to thaw and the grass to start growing, we might just have time to write a letter to Congress or to our local paper pointing out the problems with Title VII. A simple, handwritten letter sent through the United States Post Office will do the trick. Studies have shown that people are more likely to read a handwritten note than a typed one. A handwritten note to a local representative or advocacy group might be all that's needed to get the ball rolling. It's time for homestead producers to go on the offensive instead of reacting to every rogue piece of regulation purporting to guard against some imaginary "event" that might occur. Write a letter. Change the rules. The outlaw chicken you save could be your own.

 

[SadieSue]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/461/washingtonians
Very excited. This is perfect for my plans for this summer. I have some of those cow/hog panels that have been sitting out in the weather for ? years. infact the wild grass has grown up through them...I burn it off every year.

Will be my retirement center for old birds (nope cannot kill as daughter won't let me) and for future endevors.

4321, I want to see your plans, but that link just led me back to the first page of the WA thread. Will you try again?

 

[cheryl98117]

ARGH!!!!!!!!! That is so frustrating...is that the right word ????????????
At this point in time, what's another day ? It means alot to a developing baby, an embryo....every day, every minute cells are dividing & the baby will be stronger & will let you know when she is ready !

My Dr. seems to think that she is gonna tease me until April 1st! Kinda like, Happy April fools momma! lol We will see. I do however know quite well that miss Emily is a strong little bugger! lol SO reminds me of a scene from the aliens movie when she moves around. Wouldnt be an issue if her moving around wasnt so darned painfull!

She has dropped quite low though, my pants actually fit again! lol And Im not having to fast anymore. Been quite hungry the past few days. lol Figured I shoudl probably listen to my body and store what sources ofenergy I can. I remember how beat I was after having Chloe. 2 days of total exhaustion, this is the first time in I would say 4 months that I have been able to really eat anything substantial and solid. I was put on a blended diet for a while there, because I was unable to eat let alone keep down solid foods with Emily.

Things are looking up, I feel good until I get tired, then I get cranky and have to disapeer or Im just not very nice. lol


The baby shower is today, Im excited to see friends and family that I hardly ever get to see. My niece from my previous marriedge is coming! I havnt seen her in over 7 years! Im so happy to be able to catch up with her and meet her little boy! Then my Aunt from my dads side is coming as well! I havnt seen her in 2 years. My great grandmother will be here, along with some cousins, a long time friend who moved to Aberdeen as well... So lots of people, and a very busy day! But Im looking forward to the hustle!

My mother heard Chloe throwing a screaming temper tantrum last night, and came over, got her, and kept her for the night so I could sleep. "Mom lives just 100' away from us." Chloe can be VERY loud when she's not getting her way. lol But I got a good nights sleep! I actually slept through the entire night! Got up at 5, took DH to work, came home, showered, then went back to bed! lol

So far its been a good day!

 

[Chickielady]

Well all is well here, as well can be in this constant rain !
Funny the weather heads are saying there will be an increase in rain today & wind and occasional t-storms...............................Lovely, can it possibly increase ?

I have 1 coop's poop boards to scoop and after that I am taking a hot shower & staying in bed with a good book.or maybe keep on the house elevation plans.got the North side drawn yesterday........


For some reason today I am so cold & unable to warm up...ever been like that ? (I am just frizin!)

I did not lock down eggs last night...it was just a drenching pouring rain so I said forget that !

I have until Monday to get all 5 doz candled & in the hatching bator so it is no emergency.................

How is everyone ?
Despite having a brand new sewing machine & all the required materials..........I am on line to buy a doz or so hen saddles........noticed another bare back girl yesterday & will support the lady on Etsy whom I bought them from last year.