Washingtonians

[lovinchickypoos]

And this is what I suspected. I'm sorry CF, because I was the first one to mention the Favaucanas. I was dazzled by the article and photos of pretty chickens. And right away I jumped to the idea that if someone were to "breed" the Favaucanas, that your Faverolles are by far the prettiest.

Which led to the next immediate thought and brought up my question about how someone would feel if they have worked hard to "better" a breed, not only for looks but for utility and for good health only to have someone use a fine specimen to breed a "mutt".

Here, I will also relate that some of my best dogs have been mutts - I loved them as much as my purebred dogs but my purebred dogs came from breeders who worked very very hard and spend a great deal of money to better the breed, have all necessary testing done, go to innumerable dog shows, spend thousands of hours training and many of their dogs ARE being used for the purposes for which they were originally bred (gundogs, retrieving) or are spending their time in agility, flyball, or as therapy dogs. These same folks are also involved in rescue and volunteering.

I currently own a mutt and a purebred dog that was carefully chosen by a reputable breeder, but also volunteer at my local shelter and spend weeks of time and my own money to foster for the shelter so that those animals will find their forever home. (I just picked up a couple of fosters again on Friday.)

So I apologize to everyone for opening up a can of worms because I know there are many who are passionate about all animals, 4 legged or 2 legged and I hope we can agree that we may have differing opinions but share one common element of wanting the best for them and recognizing each one for their very special qualities. I would hope that our passions are funneled into continuing doing for our animals rather than arguing with each other. Sometimes it's better to agree to disagree on smaller points and get back to our own business.

CF - I owe you a personal apology. But I stand by my original statement many pages ago. Your Faverolles have been and still are my favorites but it's because you have spent such a huge effort and countless generations working with them and all that work has paid off in producing a beautiful quality bird, certainly deserving of merit on it's own.

Now I'll go back to my own business of thinking before I type haphazardly.

 

[Ogress]

I've been feeding Flock Raiser for a very long time, and have recently switched to Payback's all purpose poultry feed. It's about $1.50 more per 50# bag, but with the inconsistencies I've been seeing in my Flock Raiser bags, the health and safety of my birds far outweighs that $1.50. Some of the ingredients that Purina uses come from China, and Purina just had a HUGE animal food recall, luckily Flock Raiser wasn't a part of all that, but between that and what I've been seeing in my bags lately, those were enough reasons for me to switch to a different brand completely....

Here payback is about $1.50 less per bag than Flock Raiser, but I have to go to Issaquah to get it. I get the flock raiser at Ace which is only 4 miles from here and it is either $17.99 or $18.99 for a 50 pound bag.

I did not know it contained ingredients from China. When I asked the gal in charge of animal feed at Ace, she told me it was milled in Spokane from locally sourced grains. I guess I'll need to do my own research. Ace only carries Purina, Organic Payback (at about $30 per bag) , and Alpers?? or something like that which I know nothing of and they charge about $22 for it. I had been purchasing from Patriot Farms, but it is very dusty (not pelleted nor crumbled), and my birds wasted a lot of it. I also had problems with a wobbling chick. It cleared immediately when I switched food. I read it can be caused by a vitamin dificiency, and I don't think it is economical for small producers to get each batch of grains characterised. Using the same ratios of grains does not ensure the same nutrient load. If it cam pelletized or crumbled, I'd switch my main flock back to it as I'd prefer something local.

The recall on Purina was also for a lack of vitamin D, but I heard on NPR that it is only an issue for flocks that never see sunshine.

 

[itsren]

I am looking at this and wondering what the measurements of each are.. Just curious.

RE: My run is 44 sq. feet. The coop is 16 sq. feet. I have 3 birds.

The coop is 16 sq. feet (2 egg boxes are included in this measurement). The egg boxes are the left slanted area of the coop. The right slanted area is just more coop space - that whole area is wide open.

The run attached to the coop is 4'x7' = 28 sq. feet + 16 sq. feet beneath the coop = 44 sq. feet.

Here's a picture to help you visualize it:



We originally planned to make the run 4'x8'... not sure what happened during the actual building process. Somehow we left out a foot.

 

[itsren]

I am looking at this and wondering what the measurements of each are.. Just curious.

RE: My run is 44 sq. feet. The coop is 16 sq. feet. I have 3 birds.

The coop is 16 sq. feet (2 egg boxes are included in this measurement). The egg boxes are the left slanted area of the coop. The right slanted area is just more coop space - that whole area is wide open.

The run attached to the coop is 4'x7' = 28 sq. feet + 16 sq. feet beneath the coop = 44 sq. feet.

Here's a picture to help you visualize it:



We originally planned to make the run 4'x8'... not sure what happened during the actual building process. Somehow we left out a foot.

 

[drumstick diva]

itsren beautiful digs - really pays off being a chicken in life!

 

[itsren]

I also do this! LOL Our birds really like our two big cedar trees!

I have to pull most of the chicks out of the trees and put them in their small coop; just two of them will go directly in.

The two bantams are sometimes hard to find!

Occasionally I will also find the Ameracuanas and Foxglove (a smaller EE) in the trees.

I also have to pull the Brabanters out of the trees every night, as they didn't want to go in the big coop - they were getting picked on.

So - I ended up putting curtains between the two roosts to section the coop.

Now with the curtains - they aren't - but I do occasionally have to move one of the big girls to their side.

Having all these different sizes/ages/breeds is work - but I love it! My husband and kids think I'm nuts though

My young ones are so sad when their ladder is taken over by the older girls that they try to sleep in trees outside. I basically have to gently move the older girls to other ladders so the young ones will sleep in the house. I have to carefully arrange everyone so that no one is being beaten up. It's a giant pain, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't love them so much!

Will they come running and go into the coop with meal worms? I get mine back into the run each night by shaking a bag of meal worms. I throw the worms in the run, they run in and then I lock the run. They'll eat until about 8:30 and they'll wander up the ramp to the coop.

It would drive me crazy to have to play chicken chase every night. They're not easy to catch.

It was kind of funny - we have been working in the back yard today and didn't want the chickens under foot, so I let them out for a while then got them to go into the chicken tractor with meal worms. All three got in, and just as I was closing the tractor door, Rhodie looked up at me and said "Oh" in a very whiny voice. It was almost as if she suddenly realized she got tricked into the tractor.

 

[itsren]

itsren beautiful digs - really pays off being a chicken in life!

Aw... thanks.

Sorry about the double post. The computer locked up and I refreshed the screen. It looks like it double-posted.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Just ate dinner in Moses Lake and we're about2 hours away from bliss! I miss my chickens

 

[itsren]

So, we keep looking. Keep a good thought for us please that our tiny chicken comes home.

SadieSue - I'm so sorry. I hope you find your Serama.

 

[Ogress]

I "fixed" the John Deere again. DS was mowing and hit a rock. The blades made an awful noise and he said it was broken. DH took a look and agreed. I hated looking at a partially mowed lawn with a dead lawn tractor on it, so I fixed it the same way I always do - find the steepest, bumpiest hill in the yard and race up and down it a few times, raising and lowering the blades as I go, forwards, backwards, blades on, blades off. Eventually something falls out of the blades, usually a stone or a branch. This time it was a heavy, curved, grooved piece of metal about 18 inches long. Looks like it has been dragging on the ground for years. It's part of the mower, but the mower works fine without it.

That thing takes so much abuse! I use it to mow down alders, scotch broom, blackberries, butterfly bush...