Washingtonians

[Farmin Momma]

Ok not sure if anyone can answer this for me, but I can hope. Turkeys, I have a pair of Narragansett (I think) and I have not seen the tom "get to" the hen. But a guy that came and bought my rooster, hunts turkeys and said that mine boy is still a Jake, noting the very small almost not there beard. Also that they do not sexually mature until 3 yrs and a long beard. Does anyone know if this is true or not? I really don't want to keep this very sweet, nice, loving boy *sarcasm* for two or so more years.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

(photo of Malvina and her brood)
 Sorry to hear that mosst of them are cockerels. But I was wondering what is wrong with them having straight combs? Is that not ok for the breed? None the less this picture is so very cute, I have one like it but not as good, took mine with my phone. You have very pretty birds!

The chicks are Hamburgs, who are supposed to have beautiful, lush, extravagent rose combs- as all four parents of these chicks do. I have to figure out which parent is carrying the straight comb gene and not hatch any more eggs from them- which may mean getting a new rooster, not an easy proposition!

 Those are truly some beautiful birds. I love the coloring on them. What breeds are they?

They are all Easter Eggers. Quinta lays a beautiful aqua egg, Jinjur pink, and Tertia more-or-less pale olive, sometimes more blue, sometimes more green.

 

[CailetTempest]

I am trying to figure out why I am not getting as many eggs lately from the girls as I was. 2 weeks ago I was getting 10-12 eggs a day. (almost 30 hens) Now I am lucky to get 2.

Those 2 are from my speckled sussex and barred rock girls. (I have total of 8 hens).

Our landlady/friend/owner of the other birds helped with food for them. She got the cheap stuff that walmart sells here and egg production went on a drastic standstill. could the food have such an effect on egg laying?

I mean less eggs do make it easier for me but I am not liking the sudden drop! ( I was constantly giving eggs away to friends)

I switched back to what I was feeding them and am hoping it will help. Or maybe this is a normal thing for chickens I really do not know.

I was feeding the birds the purina flock raiser.... I have turkeys and ducks to feed also so wanted it simple...

Anybody have any thoughts on this or ideas?

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Ohhhhh, pfhui. I seem to have dumped the nearly completed post I was putting together; been that kind of a day.

I'm at war with blackberries and lilacs (growing together, not much fun) and reality in general: I still have a cow who hasn't calved, who gets bulgier and milkier every day. I'll bet she's as impatient as I am (at very least).

Malvina and the kids took to sleeping on a high stabilizer bar as of last night; I had to interrupt my very late dinner to go install a second board so they didn't have to perch their comedy act on a 2x2.



I have bad news and worse news, though: there's four cockerels. The worse news is that two of the chicks have straight combs, including one of the pullets.

We did see the transit of Venus, but the little camera didn't get a good photograph, alas.

That's a great shot of Malvina and the chick, although bummer about the boys and the combs. Hope the cow calves, and your battle against the growing things is victorious!

 

[FlyRobinFly]

WOW!! 1257 posts behind!! I am not EVEN going back! I don't have time anyway, just thought I would drop by and say hey and let my favorite peeps know I'm still alive a kickin! Got kids coming and going!! and two more does due in the next day or so. I will share pictures of the kids from the does I got from Zgoatlady,

Beautiful kids! That is a nice goat sweater too.
Sorry to hear about the turkey hen though. Hope it warms up some for you too. This June gloom thing is overrated!

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Hello! Just wanted to introduce myself to the Washingtonians. I was raised on a farm as a child but this is my first flock of my own, even though yes I am 43. So I adopted 10 straight-run chicks from a friend, mixed breeds, this spring. Within a week though, they started crowing and of course no roosters allowed in our little city limits of Wenatchee, so we started culling. By the time we were done, there's four pullets. The coop is far quieter in the mornings too. I also just picked up three adult Easter Eggers that are each giving us an egg a day, all green, very pretty. Those eggs are still fertile from her Roos, so naturally we are going to incubate a few of those too. I might be selling these older ladies come next spring if all goes well since the coop is only so big! Chicken math, right?

 

[birdly]

Hi,

In case you missed my post in the newbie thread a few days ago, I thought I'd introduce myself here.

I live over in NE Shoreline, WA and have wanted chickens for 20+ years, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm looking forward to meeting all my fellow Washingtonians here on this thread. I'm an East Coast transplant, but have lived here for 21 years. And I'm very nice.

I used to be very active! I hiked, biked, bird-watched, danced, sang in a chorus, socialized, and, oh yeah, worked AND went to grad school at the same time. But due to a disability (we're calling it CFS, since the docs can't find the cause), my life has shrunken down hugely. Mostly I'm home all day--on a good day can drive a mile or so to go shopping, and on a great day go over to the waterfront to enjoy beautiful Puget Sound. Friends, family, and my sweet, petite senior cat Fuzzy keep me sane. The Anna's hummingbirds that frequent my feeder help, too.

I guess you can say I'm a tad eccentric, because back when I was in college, I subscribed to Countryside Magazine and Dairy Goat Journal (love goats!), and in my sophomore year built a chicken coop in my room, then bought two pullets from a butcher shop. I thought I was getting chicks! But I didn't want to "put them back", even though they were two hefty, fully-feathered white rocks. One day, they jumped out of their pen, up onto my bed (where I was studying for a test), and after jostling for a while, the alpha ended up on my shoulder and the beta in my lap. I was hooked. They got to live a full life at a neighbor's house, roaming the yard during the day, filling up on salad and bugs, and giving him huge eggs.

I've been living in an apartment for the past 9 years, and noticed that more and more people are talking about having house chickens. I've also read that buff orpingtons and faverolles are affectionate and gentle breeds, and wondered if one or two would be happy as indoor birds (with deck privileges and maybe leash walks). I'm not particularly concerned about egg production. Just want some chicken cuddles and love that soft, busy clucking that they make. I've also thought about silkies, but wondered if they're small enough as adults to bring out the prey drive in Fuzzy, the cat.

I'm curious to know if anyone on the thread has had a good experience with having a hen or two as a pet.

Lastly, wishing everyone sun and warmth as Junuary hovers over many of us!

Thank you for reading!

 

[VelvettFog]

I am trying to figure out why I am not getting as many eggs lately from the girls as I was. 2 weeks ago I was getting 10-12 eggs a day. (almost 30 hens) Now I am lucky to get 2.

Those 2 are from my speckled sussex and barred rock girls. (I have total of 8 hens).

Our landlady/friend/owner of the other birds helped with food for them. She got the cheap stuff that walmart sells here and egg production went on a drastic standstill. could the food have such an effect on egg laying?

I mean less eggs do make it easier for me but I am not liking the sudden drop! ( I was constantly giving eggs away to friends)

I switched back to what I was feeding them and am hoping it will help. Or maybe this is a normal thing for chickens I really do not know.

I was feeding the birds the purina flock raiser.... I have turkeys and ducks to feed also so wanted it simple...

Anybody have any thoughts on this or ideas?

Yes -- so can switching food.

Other things that effect egg laying:
Poor nutrition
Change in feed
Lack of food
Lack of water
Illness
Stress

If they free range - are they stashing eggs?
Could something be stealing them? (snakes, weasels, other birds - crows, magpies)
Are they eating them?

 

[Breshcandra]

Hi,

In case you missed my post in the newbie thread a few days ago, I thought I'd introduce myself here.

I live over in NE Shoreline, WA and have wanted chickens for 20+ years, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm looking forward to meeting all my fellow Washingtonians here on this thread. I'm an East Coast transplant, but have lived here for 21 years. And I'm very nice.

I used to be very active! I hiked, biked, bird-watched, danced, sang in a chorus, socialized, and, oh yeah, worked AND went to grad school at the same time. But due to a disability (we're calling it CFS, since the docs can't find the cause), my life has shrunken down hugely. Mostly I'm home all day--on a good day can drive a mile or so to go shopping, and on a great day go over to the waterfront to enjoy beautiful Puget Sound. Friends, family, and my sweet, petite senior cat Fuzzy keep me sane. The Anna's hummingbirds that frequent my feeder help, too.

I guess you can say I'm a tad eccentric, because back when I was in college, I subscribed to Countryside Magazine and Dairy Goat Journal (love goats!), and in my sophomore year built a chicken coop in my room, then bought two pullets from a butcher shop. I thought I was getting chicks! But I didn't want to "put them back", even though they were two hefty, fully-feathered white rocks. One day, they jumped out of their pen, up onto my bed (where I was studying for a test), and after jostling for a while, the alpha ended up on my shoulder and the beta in my lap. I was hooked. They got to live a full life at a neighbor's house, roaming the yard during the day, filling up on salad and bugs, and giving him huge eggs.

I've been living in an apartment for the past 9 years, and noticed that more and more people are talking about having house chickens. I've also read that buff orpingtons and faverolles are affectionate and gentle breeds, and wondered if one or two would be happy as indoor birds (with deck privileges and maybe leash walks). I'm not particularly concerned about egg production. Just want some chicken cuddles and love that soft, busy clucking that they make. I've also thought about silkies, but wondered if they're small enough as adults to bring out the prey drive in Fuzzy, the cat.

I'm curious to know if anyone on the thread has had a good experience with having a hen or two as a pet.

Lastly, wishing everyone sun and warmth as Junuary hovers over many of us!

Thank you for reading!

I have silkies and they are probably big enough for your cat not to go crazy once they are fully grown. They can go broody a lot. My rooster actually gets put out if he doesn't get a turn at being held. You could also look at serama's but they are pretty small.

 

[Rainwolf]

Hi,

In case you missed my post in the newbie thread a few days ago, I thought I'd introduce myself here.

I live over in NE Shoreline, WA and have wanted chickens for 20+ years, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm looking forward to meeting all my fellow Washingtonians here on this thread. I'm an East Coast transplant, but have lived here for 21 years. And I'm very nice. 

I used to be very active! I hiked, biked, bird-watched, danced, sang in a chorus, socialized, and, oh yeah, worked AND went to grad school at the same time. But due to a disability (we're calling it CFS, since the docs can't find the cause), my life has shrunken down hugely. Mostly I'm home all day--on a good day can drive a mile or so to go shopping, and on a great day go over to the waterfront to enjoy beautiful Puget Sound. Friends, family, and my sweet, petite senior cat Fuzzy keep me sane. The Anna's hummingbirds that frequent my feeder help, too.

I guess you can say I'm a tad eccentric, because back when I was in college, I subscribed to Countryside Magazine and Dairy Goat Journal (love goats!), and in my sophomore year built a chicken coop in my room, then bought two pullets from a butcher shop. I thought I was getting chicks! But I didn't want to "put them back", even though they were two hefty, fully-feathered white rocks. One day, they jumped out of their pen, up onto my bed (where I was studying for a test), and after jostling for a while, the alpha ended up on my shoulder and the beta in my lap. I was hooked. They got to live a full life at a neighbor's house, roaming the yard during the day, filling up on salad and bugs, and giving him huge eggs.

I've been living in an apartment for the past 9 years, and noticed that more and more people are talking about having house chickens. I've also read that buff orpingtons and faverolles are affectionate and gentle breeds, and wondered if one or two would be happy as indoor birds (with deck privileges and maybe leash walks). I'm not particularly concerned about egg production. Just want some chicken cuddles and love that soft, busy clucking that they make. I've also thought about silkies, but wondered if they're small enough as adults to bring out the prey drive in Fuzzy, the cat.

I'm curious to know if anyone on the thread has had a good experience with having a hen or two as a pet.

Lastly, wishing everyone sun and warmth as Junuary hovers over many of us!

Thank you for reading!

If you really want a house chicken you need a Serama!

Welcome to BYC and howdy Neighbor! i'm by northgate mall