Washingtonians

[FirewifeJess]

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Well I'm no expert but I seriously think all would be just fine up to about 2 weeks apart at that age. I wouldn't go more than that because of size difference. As for quarantining chicks, I think it's unnecessary but others may disagree. Even right now with my current flock, I would only quarantine new birds. If I brought chicks in, I wouldn't.

 

[itsren]

I guess if we ever went anywhere else with his bike he'd need a helmet just so we didn't get cited or something lame.

You live in King County. Be aware that King County DOES have a helmet law - which is why I'm bringing you helmets.

http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/injury/traffic/bicycles.aspx

I think you know this from Facebook - one of my Webelos was hit by a car over the summer. If he had not been wearing a helmet that had been given to him from the Fire Station, he would have died. He will have lifelong injuries and he will never look the same. He still can not walk, and we don't know how long it will be before he will be able to walk.

Your husband is a Firefighter - I'm surprised he hasn't gotten helmets from the station.

 

[itsren]

A couple of pointers to be aware of if you are new to the 4-H thing. First, there are Clubs. Some of the clubs are single project clubs, meaning they might only have a dog project. So all the club members do dogs. Other clubs are multi-project clubs, and might offer a poultry project, sewing project, dog project, model trains project, etc. The kids can elect to participate in only one project or do them all! So think about your kids interests before you sign up with one!

Different clubs/projects have different requirements in order for the kids to show at fair. Up here, the Poultry Project really has no strict requirements for you to show at fair, other than that you own any birds you are showing at fair for 60+ days, and you must do an Educational Poster to show. Our club, on the other hand, has strict requirements such as you can only miss 3 Business Meetings a year, you must participate in 4 community service events over the course of the year, you must do a Public Presentation in the spring AND you must keep up on your yearly and permanent record books. So make sure to not only find out when the Club meetings are and the Project meetings are, but also what the club/project requirements are, and make sure that you are ok with them before you really get going. And ask for a family who has been doing it awhile to mentor your family, once you get into a project so things like Record Books aren't so overwhelming to you at the start, if you have to keep them.

If you can't find a club or project in your area that interests you, don't hesitate to start one of your own! It's really not difficult and your extension office can help you out with all that you need to know.
HTH!

Can we form a club as a family? There are quite a few projects we'd like to do. I ordered the 4-H catalog and my husband and I have been discussing them. We'd like to do chickens. He's an electrician, so we'd like to do the electrical one. My kids are into robotics, so we'd like to do the robotics one. And, I'd like to do the sewing one with my daughter. I'm curious if we can just order the books and do the projects on our own. If we do it on our own - can our kids show chickens at the fair - or do they have to be in a specific type of a club to do that?

 

[FirewifeJess]

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There is no such program here. Helmets are expensive as I'm sure you know. If we went to Walmart to get helmets for the kids right now it would easily cost us $75 for the three of them. That's not a cost we're interested in. I know about your Webelos boy. I'm sorry that happened, but you've also seen my street. We simply don't have traffic! I AM, however, extremely grateful and appreciative of you offering the helmets and would LOVE to fit my kids with them if they're free. Thanks!!! Next time we're over we will definitely try to remember to do that. They will be excited too. John has been trying to do some stunts on his bike like standing on the middle bar, or putting his feet up on the handlebars, and I told him he has to stop until we get him a helmet. After all, I do not think a 6 year old has the ability to do stunts without falling sometimes William is also only 2 but is totally and completely ready for a 2 wheel bike without training wheels because of his Strider bike we gave him on his birthday; he will need a helmet before I let my 2y/o ride off on a pedal bike with no training wheels. He has bike balance at 2! I think it's awesome, LOL! Jeanine is a weenie and won't learn her bike without training wheels. I should say cautious, but really she's just silly, LOL. In essence she doesn't "need" a helmet since she goes all of 2 miles an hour on her bike with training wheels.

I know it's the law, but I won't enforce it full time on our little side street IYKWIM.

 

[itsren]

I do believe each member has to live in the same county though, could be wrong. Lake Tapps & Auburn are close but I'm in Pierce county. We'll have to see.

Shannon

Yep. We are in different counties. I'm just barely a few miles away from the "Pierce County" end of Auburn. We could easily ride our bikes to Pierce County.

 

[FirewifeJess]

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Good question! I would like to know as well!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Does anyone here happen to need some cheap size large prefolds for diapering your toddler? I also have a couple girly covers left and a boyish one, but all these diapers are for 25+lbs. If you're interested I'd love to offer a discount to someone who would NEED them. Cloth diapers were such a great thing for us, we LOVE them!

 

[JennS]

Is anyone thinking of doing an order through MyPetChicken soon? They have limited amounts of barnevelders for shipping Sept 24th. But 3 chicks will be $70!!

Is anyone thinking of ordering birds so we could combine an order? They don't have any of the other breeds I want in stock. Grrr.

Jennifer

 

[TheReidHomestead]

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That would be a question for your extension office. I know up here, they have offered 3 different types of programs:

Community Club: A club is a group of youth who are led by volunteers. Clubs may be a single-project club, where the group only participates in one project area (like only dogs, or only cooking) or multi-project club, where the group participates in many project areas.


After School Program: If you're in an afterschool program, we will work with your program sponsor to begin offering 4-H projects. 4-H also has several after school programs in many schools.


Independent Member: An independent program is offered for those youth who are not able to join a club. This program involves setting goals, quarterly meetings to discuss progress and end of the year activities.


However, I think they were trying to do away with the Independant Member option last I heard. Snohomish County is one of the most active counties involved in 4-H nationwide. Here is the link to the How do I join website for our extension office: http://snohomish.wsu.edu/4h/joining.htm

It might give you some good basic info. I have heard that many other counties in WA state are not as active, and that it is hard to reach people in the know, because they are just not as busy. HTH!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Is anyone thinking of doing an order through MyPetChicken soon? They have limited amounts of barnevelders for shipping Sept 24th. But 3 chicks will be $70!!

Is anyone thinking of ordering birds so we could combine an order? They don't have any of the other breeds I want in stock. Grrr.

Jennifer

Sorry no, I wish!! I really want chicks again soon but I swore to DH I'd wait until someone went broody to get chicks. So maybe if one of my 5.5 month olds goes broody (haha, yeah right!) I will order with you! I even have a cart with MPC but also can't order because of the cost. eesh. Hope you find someone!