Washingtonians

[Nikki99]

Hey Washingtonians!

This is my first year with chickens and I'm grateful for this website and all of the information available. I have five pullets ( 2 BOs, a Partridge Rock, an Australorp and an EE) who have been together since chicks. (They are all four months old.) They all got along well until about 3 weeks ago.

One of the BOs began to look smaller in comparison to the other ladies, noticeably smaller than her sister BO. Recently the other four pullets have decided to ostracize "Slim". She is chased away from food, water, dust baths, etc. Often she is hanging out in the coop while the others are out in the run.

I realize that it could be a result of the pecking order but tonight I looked into the coop and Slim was at one end of the roost and the other four were nestled together at the other end.

Slim appears to be fine - no mites or lice. Comb and eyes look good. She's eating and drinking although I haven't been able to figure out how much food and water she is taking in. When I can sit in the run I hand feed her and make sure food and treats are distributed around the run so that she has a chance to eat.

Is this normal? It seems strange to me but this is my first chicken family. Not surprisingly I am not having much luck finding anything on this topic. Any tips? Ignore it? Isolate Slim? Get more chickens? (Oh no! Not that!

)

TIA

Welcome!!! This is a great site with great info and some really nice people!! Enjoy!

So Im home from vacation and I have spent 2 hours looking through post... Im sure I dont need to tell you all this.. but YOUR REALLY A GREAT BUNCH OF PEOPLE.. Im sure you all wont mind me gushing on ya all a bit.. I have learned so much just reading through all your post from the past week. I think its cool how ya all help each other out, meet up and all.

Ok Im done gushing

All my critters (except our rabbits) survived our absence. I came home to a broody hen... first time for me So since I have 2 coops one for the youngsters and one that for my aging group.. Im gonna let her sit and see what happens

. Over vacation my hubby and I talked and he agreed that raising our own meat chickens is a good idea..... sooooooo Ill be needing to learn about "processing" some really soon. Im thinking before winter. Im not sure what all breeds I have in my adopted group lol I think I may have some Mutts heehee But Im gonna research and as they thin out maybe try a few heritage breeds.. anyways Im rambling so ... good to be back and looking forward to chatting.

(PS... If anyone here has or knows of anyone that has some meat rabbits

they want to sell or rehome we are looking...breeding pair would be awesome but anything is fine since we are gonna be starting over

here really soon.)

I have a friend in Roy that has one of their females listed on craigslist right now. They have 4 that they are trying to breed so they can raise for meat but the one female can't seem to figure out how to keep the babies alive once she has them so they don't want her. I personally don't know anything about rabbits so all I told you is all I know but if your interested let me know.

~Nikki

 

[jenreinke]

Is there a process to freeze tomatoes? I've never heard of frozen tomatoes! Do you have to peel them or anything? Do you have to freeze them like berries (spread out on a tray until frozen, then bagged)?

Little ones can be frozen whole. Big ones are better blanched, peels removed and them frozen in Ziploc. I usually try to freeze the average amount I would use. You can also dehydrate them and throw them into winter soups. Great way to preserve them and save space!

Jen

 

[FirewifeJess]

Wow y'all must be busy busy today! Not much going on here. I'm just doing chores this morning and having my DS read to me a while to practice. Having a friend over for the afternoon.

Oh and for those interested, my mole is starting to react to the herb and it's working! Kinda tender right now but I know that soon I will have one less mole on me! Pretty cool

 

[ChristineR]

Do any of you have any info/opinion on Excel Feeds? Anyone feed any of their products?

 

[lovinchickypoos]

Had to show pictures

My dog watching the chicks


The 2 chicks with momma. Momma hatched 4 out 4 chicks =) I let her sit on what ever was laid in the box for 2 days.

I want to pinch those Boxer lips!!! Love those doggies! Your babies are adorable!!!!!

 

[lovinchickypoos]

Always sniff the air cell end first !
I put them in a sannich bag & zip it shut, then tap it.

EXCELLENT IDEA!!! I will certainly do that next time!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Totalcolour]

Do any of you have any info/opinion on Excel Feeds? Anyone feed any of their products?

We use mostly Excel. Since we get it in Tacoma by the tonne it's much cheaper, and the birds don't know the difference.

 

[Zgoatlady]

Do any of you have any info/opinion on Excel Feeds? Anyone feed any of their products?

yes, I feed the grain to the goats and have feed the chicken food to if Im there and remember it..

 

[lovinchickypoos]

LOL Finley is basically just down the road. Well we got our chickens and our ducks here finally. 1 chicken didn't make the short 8 mile drive she managed to get squished on the ride...

Landlady is a nut at times which is driving me crazy. But today involved a ton of dirt therapy for hubby and I. He got the expected but dreaded phone call from his aunt today. His cousin Rick who last year was given 6 months because of the cancer, passed away at midnight last night Idaho time. Rick had his 2 grown children, his wife and his mother by his side at the final moments. He told them that the pain was finally gone and then closed his eyes. Rick was only 57 yrs old and basically raised with my hubby for a lot of years. Hubby and Rick were close and had a brother type relationship. I got to meet Rick and his family, and Hubby's aunt Norma and Uncle Tommy last year. They all touched my heart in so many ways. I was instantly their family right from the introduction. No questions, expectations or anything. In my last 2 marriages the inlaws did all they could to get rid of me and never treated me like family... Hubby's Idaho family will always be dear to my heart.

We are going to be going to Idaho at a later date to have family time with Norma and Tommy. Right now with it being a small town They are all overwhelmed. Norma decided hubby and I need to come later and take a 4 wheeler ride with them to the mountains for a remembrance time. It is what Rick told us he wanted from us the last time we went to see him around memorial day.

Yea I am still having a hard time with it and so is hubby. sounds wierd but we both ended up sitting outside tonight and watching the chickens and ducks. It helped some.

So terribly sorry for your loss!!!!!! It's wonderful that you feel so close to his family. It gave me chills to hear that he was out of pain right before his passing. That will surely help his family to heal knowing that.

 

[lisaheath1]

Welcome!! I'm in Covington, we should get together. There might be others closer to you, but I'm still pretty new to chickens. We have 13; 12 pullets and 1 cockeral. Glad to have you, stick around and you'll learn a lot from these peeps!

Thanks, I have learned a lot already from this site, it's great. That would be awesome to get together. I wonder if others from Puyallup are on here. I work at home so I'm here to keep an eye on the chicks most of the time. I run a home daycare and the little kids just love watching the chicks play and grow and learn new things. It's amazing how fast they grow! Their feathers are coming in nicely and they are going to be so pretty when they get bigger.