Washingtonians

[Rainwolf]

ErinMartin927 welcome to the Washington crazy train!

You need a draft free place like the garage or basement or mudroom or something to brood the babies in the cage/crate/tote of your choice.

Chicks need ventilation but no draft, heat but also a cool zone and can not go outside without heat until they have feathers under the wing and are climatized to the current outside temps.

They grow super fast so image your 4 chicks as full sized birds.... then image if the 4 big birds would fit in the box..... if they fit then it will work for a brooder until they go outside. (my "formula" is 4 sq feet per adult = a minimum of 1 to 2 sq ft per chick (again this is bare minimum) the bigger the breed the more space needed to grow. also this is a complete grow out brooder. You can do stages... Tote for start to 2 weeks, crate for 2-4/5 weeks then something bigger for that final push to outside.

Watch the chicks they will tell you if they are cold or hot..... if the pile on top of each other and try to bury themselves under other chicks or stand on top others to get close to the heat source they are too cold, if the lay out with wings spread and possible panting they are too hot, if the snuggle close like peas in a pod just out from the center of the heat area then it is just right.

Hope this helps some!


It was a lot of fun to meet you all! Sorry we lost you all at lunch but Mama and I had to make the 2hr ride home then I did some tilling of the front former lawn (it will be resodded) before it got dark. plus with only 3hrs sleep Mama needed to get some sleep before working tomorrow collecting for the food banks/soup kitchens in the morning. A huge THANKS to JB for the ride from the bus to the auction! Oh and yes I did crate 2 roosters on to the bus from north seattle to auburn! Everyone thought we were going to the Puyallup Fair! once they figured out it was chickens in the crates anyhow....

The Auction was very different from what I expected and I will be going back when I have some extras I need sell. I also want to have a day to view the larger livestock auctions too....

I sent off 2 more Hens to Yakatat AK to help my friends create self sustainability in eggs and possibly meat. (Need to build up the flock first!) They will be on the first flight in the morning.....
I am now back down to my normal flock size and my bugs (bantams) Just in time to start planing my hatching schedule!

Now I need to lock up my boys, have my hot Thai Tea, read a few pages of my book and get some SLEEP!

Oh and don't trust any photos of me.... I change so often most of my friends have issues keeping an ID on me

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Good point I totally missed that part.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Yes, it did. I figured I could find them a home So you don't think 4+ week old chicks would be able to utilize the different levels??

Uhm there really ain't a nice way to say this but chickies aren't the brightest light sabre. They would end up walking off the edge and tumbling down the ramps.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Holy crap - is it seriously past 1 in the morning and I'm on a CHICKEN FORUM? My husband is going to think I've gone crazy... Although he thinks that about me anyway, regardless of the topic LOL

You are not crazy. I am not crazy. We chicken folks ( and a quack or two) are not crazy. It's the rest of the world that is messed up!!!

 

[itsren]

I put my son's train table out front for free a few days ago and so far, no takers... I wonder if I can somehow use that as a base and turn it in to an indoor chick house?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/pet/3271480113.html

I bet that rediculous dog crate would even fit on top of it (hey, at least I wouldn't have to bend down all the dang time), and I could put all the chicken supplies in teh drawers... hrmmm.... (Can you tell I hate to pay for ... anything? LOL)

That's a great idea! I'd go get that train table back before someone takes it! Murphy's law - if you want something taken, no one will take it. The things that get taken are the items you want.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

OK so I know ya all have been told the fabricated story of me (supposedly) stealing the waitress's phone. That is not the way it went. Well OK so maybe her phone may have ended up in my pocket but.
Really it wasn't.





So here is what I think MAY have happened. While standing in the restaurant talking to T HI and itsren I think the phone may have "accidentally" jumped into my pocket because it thought it belonged to T HI and feared she was going to forget it on the counter. And then some ten or so minutes later when T Hi was seen talking on her own phone said supposedly rustled phone realized it didn't belong to T HI so it didn't need to depend on me for a ride home and that it should give it's self up to be reunited with it's proper owner! At which point the waitress happened to walk by and see the "supposedly stolen" phone in my hand.
Yeah that must have been the way it all went down. And see just how fast people were to try to blame me??? This is prezectally why peeps think me to be what they think me to be!!!

 

[itsren]

Great idea... although I don't have one anymore. But I'm always seeing those suckers on craigs list! I just worry about my cats... I'm still thinking the crate is what we'll have to end up doing. I have it, so no money out there, and it'll keep them safe and with enough room to move about until they are old enough to be in their coop. I'm thinking of pulling that train table back in the house though and keeping the chicks up in my boys' room instead of on the main level (my boys have a nice big room that is mostly unused space-wise).

Be aware that chicks are extremely dusty little creatures. If your boys have allergies of any type (feathers, dust, mites, trees) you may not want chicks or pine shavings in your boys' room.

I got chicks, kept them in the family room, and ended up getting very sick - like wondering if I was gonna die sick. The allergies of 2 of my 3 kids got worse, too. It was a little better when they were in the garage, but it didn't get a lot better until they got the boot to the great outdoors.

 

[itsren]

Uhm there really ain't a nice way to say this but chickies aren't the brightest light sabre. They would end up walking off the edge and tumbling down the ramps.

No. They aren't! Even full-grown ones can be, well, lacking something in the upstairs department. But, that is also what is a bit funny about them. You can watch them for hours and laugh like crazy.

 

[itsren]

OK so I know ya all have been told the fabricated story of me (supposedly) stealing the waitress's phone. That is not the way it went. Well OK so maybe her phone may have ended up in my pocket but.
Really it wasn't.





So here is what I think MAY have happened. While standing in the restaurant talking to T HI and itsren I think the phone may have "accidentally" jumped into my pocket because it thought it belonged to T HI and feared she was going to forget it on the counter.

Yeah right!

Afraid T-Hi was going to "forget" it.

Uh huh. Sure. That's what happened. Don't let the Rustler fool ya! There was some serious prankster-in' going on! He's quick. He's smooth. And he can walk off with something w/o anyone knowing it happened! Goodness, he even fooled the waitress - she didn't even know it had gone missing! That's how good he is at this whole rustling thing!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

DANG IT JIM !!!!! A guy just don't stand an honest chance around here does he???