Washingtonians

[FirewifeJess]

OK well I'm off to see where the heck to buy sand. I only had ONE 100lb bag of sand in the garage; don't know if it was the right type, but the run was getting pretty bad and impossible to clean out yet as it's still just dead grass in there. I need sand so I can rake it out every day! Today will be sand day and find-an-armoire day for the run

 

[KMHunter]

OK well I'm off to see where the heck to buy sand. I only had ONE 100lb bag of sand in the garage; don't know if it was the right type, but the run was getting pretty bad and impossible to clean out yet as it's still just dead grass in there. I need sand so I can rake it out every day! Today will be sand day and find-an-armoire day for the run

Since I seem to be aquiring feather footed breed lately I switched to Bark chips. Cloverleaf had them in her runs when went there and it worked great! No mud! I did leave a couple of ares of dirt and stuff for digging. But I am so glad I switched! the poop just washes off the top of the chips and down into the dirt with the rain or if you use a hose. I do have sand in the covered part of my run and Iike it for that area. Oh, and Bark chips are much easier to carry! Lol!

 

[itsren]

Really, you CAN raise up 25, as you have to butcher them within 8-10 weeks, who's gonna know ?

Trust me... three neighbors would know right away, and the rest would know via neighborly gossip. We live on the edge of a cul-de-sac. Our entire yard is visible to someone, even though we have a wood fence. Two-story houses look down over the fence in our back yard. One family, who has full view of our back yard, has already expressed dissatisfaction with our having chickens (not that they can do anything about it, because my chickens are legal, kept clean and I haven't violated any set-back codes).

Unless I raised them in the garage, there's no way I could get away with that many. And that would go against the idea of free-ranged meat birds. Some day I hope we can move and I'll be able to raise meat birds regularly. But, for now, I want to raise a few on a regular basis to teach my children the idea of where food comes from and give them the skills as they grow up to, hopefully, plan for and develop as sustainable lifestyle when they go out on their own. I wasn't raised around any kind of farm animal, and I made choices (buying a house in the city) based on the experiences I had as a child. I want to change that for my kids and give them life experiences that will give them options for their life as they grow up.

 

[lovinchickypoos]

I'm in the Washington desert, a.k.a. the Tri-Cities, Kennewick to be exact. Anyone else around me? I'm so glad to have a reprive from the horrible wind we've been having. I was worried my chickens might blow away!

 

[Flaming Chicken]

Crazy week here with all the end of school/dance recital craziness!!!

On top of that, my poor little Figgy (our Puggle puppy who is 7 1/2 months old) was not feeling well at ALL yesterday. She had diarhhea all morning, than at lunch started barfing. Called the vet and they suggested giving her Pepto Bismal, letting her rest, skipping dinner and see how she is this morning and she is soooooooo much better! Full of energy and back to herself so far. Of course she scarfed down the rice/chicken broth breakfast we gave her and are supposed to continue with that today in small amounts over the day. Scared me big time though!!!

Today is my 5th Grader's Moving Up Ceremony at 2:00. Than an afterschool party to celebrate. Then my middle daughter has her regular dance class at 5:00 tonight and a dress rehearsal tonight from 7:00-9:00 and her recital is Saturday! Can't wait until that is over and then things will calm down a bit and it will feel like summer vacation!

So I'm heading out to take advantage of this nice weather this morning since I'll be all busy this afternoon/evening. Enjoy the day!!!

I have much of the same going on. My 5th grader had her promotion celebration last night. Meanwhile my dog has been sick, had to go to the vet yesterday before I dropped off for school. He was vomiting over night and then the diarrhea set in yesterday. This morning he ate his chicken and rice and seems better. 3 more days of school in which there is no academic stuff at all. Just parties and clean up.

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
Hmm, I was considering adding sand to my big coop/run ground this year. We have bare dirt in there now and I just don't like the way it looks. What kind of bark chips are being used? Is this something I can find at Lowe's or Home Depot? It sure would be easier to carry than sand!

 

[itsren]

Hmm, I was considering adding sand to my big coop/run ground this year. We have bare dirt in there now and I just don't like the way it looks. What kind of bark chips are being used? Is this something I can find at Lowe's or Home Depot? It sure would be easier to carry than sand!

I would recommend against cedar. I've heard it is toxic to chickens. Unfortunately, our huge play set area is covered in cedar chips and I'm forever shooing my chickens away from it when they are free-ranging. Last night they were being little pills and kept going back to the cedar chips.

 

[itsren]

Well, I've got to motivate myself to get outside and paint. I woke up with a headache. I'm not fully recovered from my earlier in the week concussion. I had a C-scan and got clearance from the doc , so I'm not too worried about the headache. The bump on the side of my face is still sore (complete with ugly black eye) so I'm guessing that's adding to the headache. I just wish the headache would go away. Sigh.

Three chickens need a cute little coop... must get off this site and out into the beautiful sunshine. Have a great day everyone!

 

[Teva]

Well, I've had my 5 new EEs in the minicoop for 5 days now. One blue is dead set on escaping everytime we open the top to check for eggs. She flew over the pen again yesterday (sheesh they can fly high! My only other flyers are my buttercups, because they are very small) and into the underbrush so I said #$#%@ it I wasn't going to worry about her anymore.

Last night I forgot to close the coop up. doh! I really need to get that automatic door installed. Went to check on them this morning and the black star Mommas were sitting outside of the hardware cloth around the minicoop talking to the other 4 EEs. The escaped blue was pecking around next to them, so looks like she's integrated! (The other day the BS Mommas kept jumping on her and chomping on her peacomb, I guess they are done with that.).

I'm keeping the three blue EEs and next week I'll be taking the black and the splash down to a girlfriend in Vancouver. They'll stay in the minicoop until then, I will probably let my other two blues out today so Miss Escape won't be so lonely.

Happy first full day of summer break for us! My kids (a DD 4th grader and a DS 1st grader now!!) actually let us sleep in until NINE A.M.!! Wow, that was a treat!

 

[KMHunter]

Quote:
Hmm, I was considering adding sand to my big coop/run ground this year. We have bare dirt in there now and I just don't like the way it looks. What kind of bark chips are being used? Is this something I can find at Lowe's or Home Depot? It sure would be easier to carry than sand!
Yes! The big bark chips. So far even when it's wet, my eggs are clean and there is no more mud!!!