Washingtonians

[SadieSue]

Woke up to two dead chocolate Orp chicks. One was buried in the straw with a broken neck. One looked like it was sleeping. The other was peeping in loneliness.

They were JUST FINE last night at 10pm, and there was no power outage and no sign that anything got into the brooder.

This week is just killing me!

Oh no!!! I am SO sorry to hear about the chicks! Definitely not the best week for you. I wonder what the problem could have been? Really sorry - I was looking forward to watching your chicks grow along with you...

 

[sherrik9]

You need runner ducks for herding, not call ducks.

Nice work Jill!! My calls are working great for herding.

 

[BerrytangleFarm]

Off to Enumclaw to deliver chickens. This better go well!

 

[lovinchickypoos]

hello every one i live in the port orchard area and have 63 chickens different ages and kinds,been in washington for a year moved here from sc just want to say hello

Hello back and welcome!!
-From another newbie

P.S. Welcome to Washington! Hope you enjoy it!

 

[VelvettFog]

Thank you so much, I think the hardest part also could be the weight per birds, if people want smaller birds to eat from it,it will take more weight on the board to help raise it ( I think )

I have an idea for that. I'll try and tune the mechanics to open for a 2# bird. If you have lighter birds, you'd add some material to the under-side of the treadle. This will add weight, and allow a lighter bird to step up and open the feeder.

I have been wondering about the delivery part and was thinking if they could be in panels that were easy to bolt/screw together. it may make it easier to haul them like in the trunk or so that many could be hauled at once like in an SUV. Just an idea but being the awesome wood worker VF is I am sure he probably has this all figured out too.

CR - The units wont be very big, 16" tall and 18" wide, with a depth of 16". They will probably weigh about 20 lbs. I could probably make them so they screw together. Then they could be shipped via UPS, with some final assembly required.

Question... the girls have been in the coop most of this week. I put one roost bar 18-20" above the floor going one way and another roost 3" off the floor going the opposite way (like the top of a "T") for Drama, my Light Brahma. I hoped Drama would roost there. The coop is small, so I really didn't think it would be a problem because she could sit on her roost and look up at the other two.

The new set-up is very similar to how the brooder was set up. Drama would sleep on her lower roost, while the other two slept up above.

A couple of days ago, when she was sitting on my lap, I noticed she reeked to high heaven. Last night I sat out and watched them go to sleep before their auto door shut. Turns out, Rhodie and Caunnie sit on the top roost and Drama sits right beneath them on the floor - right in the poop zone.

No wonder my lap bird reeks!

Any suggestions on what I can do? I want to hold my girl, but, wowza, I don't want to smell that!

And... can chickens be washed? If so, how?

Ren

I keep all my roosts the same height. Since chickens want to roost as high as they can get, this seems to prevent a the chooks from arguing too much about who sleeps where.

Yes you can wash them Folks who show their birds can give you better advice on 'how'. I have a feeling they put them in the bath tub and have at it! Getting the bird dry, and not allowing the bird to become chilled while their feathers are wet would be the things I paid the most attention to.

VF

 

[Farmin Momma]

Quote: Whoops I messed up the quote, oh well.

FirewifeJess- I have read so many things that say one breed goes broody and one breed does not ever, but then I have been on the Broody hen thread here and there have been many on there who have breeds that are never sapose to go broody and yet they have.
Now for me I have many of the same breeds that you do and my Australorp, EE mixes and SLW have all gone broody for me, and I have a Buff O that is threatning to go broody.

 

[lovinchickypoos]

So, I have a 2yr old BLRW who went broody. Dad is a big BR. She tried earlier this year but I pulled her out and carried her around and she broke from it. It kind of made me feel bad so I think I'm going to let her try to hatch this time. Silly girl decided to lay UNDER the nesting buckets! I think she was trying to be sneaky. I really need to look into how to go about this. I do have a separate brooding pen, but I am assuming I should wait until they hatch to move her. Would you agree? After they hatch (if they do, since you're not supposed to count them before they do when should we start handling them? I am guessing she will be quite protective of them. If I leave her in the brooding pen with them, do I need to offer both layer and chick feed? I've obviously never done this before so I welcome opinions! We raised 6 chicks this spring and apparently did well as they all survived, but not sure about the best way to go about this!

Ok, I think I'm gonna have to move her tonight as she has at least 11 eggs under her and I think she's only been there about 5 days. The other ladies must be adding to her clutch and I've only got 1 egg/day for the last 2 days!

 

[Chickielady]

Well yes and no! See he has his own tote of sand for indoor dust bath any time he asks. Quincy gets a bit confused by the silly bird in the box of dirt

I bet he does !!!!

 

[Chickielady]

LOL! Wow, I didn't catch that. That's funny, because didn't she say something about keeping chickens in coops was wrong or something. Maybe not. I don't remember. Not worth looking back up, either.

I think all she is doing is soliciting for donations so she can buy some land & have a """sancutuary""" which in itself is just a small farm, or hobby farm, which is exactly what we are doing..........although all of us PAID for our lands, animals & feed.
She wants to creat sensationalism & incite pity in order to get donations so she can have a farm like us.
Pure & simple to me.

 

[Chickielady]

I keep reading ivomec pour on for cattle. My parent have some of that next door for their cows.
Noone seems to agree on egg withdrawl though......

Eprinex pour on.
1/2 cc for LF, 1/4 cc for BF
No egg withdrawal.
Kills internal AND external parasites, Ivermectin does not.
Do it at night, eye dropper on the back of the neck...I have a red lensed flash light so birds cannot see me go bird to bird while they are on the roost.
I also use Permectrin II concentrate, dilute as directed & add to a spray bottle and spary their fannies a few good squirts, works fantatsic !