Washingtonians

[Chicken Rustler]

Here's a crazy example of what it can cost to take my kid to the library... my #1 child has a photographic memory, esp. when it comes to numbers.

I can so relate to this!!! I can still see what the Wallpaper on your phone is and the list of contacts!

 

[itsren]

I know I'll get a wide range of answers to 'how many nesting boxes should I have?'... so let me just ask this: Should 1 nesting box per 2 birds be sufficient?

That's a good number. I think no matter how many you put in, they'll all want to be in the same one.

They definitely don't need one per chicken!

 

[itsren]

...so I'm stuck on the 'breeds' section, adding breed after breed to my 'want' list... at this rate I'm going to need a farm much sooner than I thought LOL

How many birds does one usually keep to a flock (assuming they are cooped/run not free range) - I've been reading that if the flocks get too large you may have 'pecking order' issues and it would be best to segregate the birds in to smaller, more manageable flocks. And do any of you do that (have more than one coop/run to separate your birds)? Does anyone do that to keep breeds separate so you don't end up with 'mixed' breed eggs (assuming you have roos and hatch your own chicks)?

If you want to keep the breeds pure, you'll have to have separate pens. The rooster is not going to only go after the girl who's the same breed as he. I think it is a common practice for breeders to keep breeds separated.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Also keep in mind that after mating with say rooster A then hen may continue to produce off spring from him for several weeks. So If you want chicks from Rooster B the hen needs to be isolated with only Rooster B and only after several weeks of being away from ALL others is it safe to assume you will only get rooster B offspring!!

 

[FirewifeJess]

I just finished "ordering" all our library books online for the next 4 school weeks. Now to keep them all straight as they start coming into the library. And please, please, please, dear Toddler Child, PLEASE stop shoving them under the couch and throwing them off the deck!   How do families with small children utilize the library without paying through the nose!? We never had this problem before having 3 kids; I'm telling you, #3 is a doozey!

Sad as it may sound, but we tend to buy books, because it often works out cheaper than checking them out.  We can get books pretty cheap through the school's Scholastic program.  Then we just donate them to the school after our kids outgrow them.  The Scholastic program helps the teachers get books for the classroom and the school appreciates it when the books get donated to the school library.  We do like to go to the library, but we rarely actually check the books out.

Here's a crazy example of what it can cost to take my kid to the library... my #1 child has a photographic memory, esp. when it comes to numbers.  His school teacher walked the kids down to the city library as part of a class project.  The rule was, if kids had their cards, the teacher let them check out books.  My son did not have his card, but the teacher didn't know he didn't have it.  DS checked out a bunch of books, keying in his library card number from memory, even though he had not even seen his card in months as I had quit going due to a previous costly incident.  I never knew he checked any books out until a bill went to collection for $45.  I immediately went down and suspended young DS's ability to check books out on his card.  And that was just one library mishap!  :/   We have spent hundreds of dollars at the library because of book issues with our children.

Whew! What a mess that was for you! We've yet to actually pay anything besides late fees, but I'm waiting for the day William is too rough with one, or throws it in the toilet or something! LOL. We can't afford to buy 20+ school books per week either. Our curriculum is based on Charlotte Masons approach of a "living book basket" for the kids tI look through; all books for the week corrospond to our lessons and we try to read them all. This week I already have 23 books, next week there will be 27 books :-/. So that's why we can't buy them

 

[itsren]

I can so relate to this!!! I can still see what the Wallpaper on your phone is and the list of contacts!

Thankfully, for my contacts sake, none of them have chickens.... 'cept for Jessica (FireWife), but she protects her flock with a gun. But now that we know you are also a master at rustling phones, I guess nothing is safe.

 

[itsren]

Whew! What a mess that was for you! We've yet to actually pay anything besides late fees, but I'm waiting for the day William is too rough with one, or throws it in the toilet or something! LOL. We can't afford to buy 20+ school books per week either. Our curriculum is based on Charlotte Masons approach of a "living book basket" for the kids tI look through; all books for the week corrospond to our lessons and we try to read them all. This week I already have 23 books, next week there will be 27 books :-/. So that's why we can't buy them

Did ya see my son's book shelf in his room? It is possible to buy them.

You just have to plan on being broke for the rest of your life.

I'm just glad his mass collection of books are now 200-400 page novels that take him a lot longer to read through. That whole picture book thing got super spendy.

Watch garage sales for books - esp. picture books. You can pick them up for .25 cents each. The young reader novels are not as readily available at garage sales though.

 

[itsren]

We've yet to actually pay anything besides late fees,

Oh, and all our fees have been late fees. We have spent hundreds at the local library and have still returned every single book.

When you don't know your kid has them checked out, it makes it difficult to manage. That's why we're down to one library card - mine. Early on I agreed with the school and library's idea of letting the kids have their own cards. That did not work for our family! They still have their own cards for playing library computer games, but those card have now been blocked for being able to check books out.

 

[Breshcandra]

Did ya see my son's book shelf in his room? It is possible to buy them.

You just have to plan on being broke for the rest of your life.

I'm just glad his mass collection of books are now 200-400 page novels that take him a lot longer to read through. That whole picture book thing got super spendy.

Watch garage sales for books - esp. picture books. You can pick them up for .25 cents each. The young reader novels are not as readily available at garage sales though.

I go to the used book stores and the thrift stores for my books. But it is nice that my library does not charge for over due books.

 

[KMHunter]

I have 10 hens that fight over the same 2 nesting spots....

HAHAHAHA! Do you have them in a line? What if you stacked them??


The coop I designed is going to look similar to my shed and is an 8'x12" with 12'x8' run. The coop will be 'halved' on the inside, a partition with a screen door. The first 5 feet or so will be for the humans, and the other 7ish feet will be for the hens. I was going to do, I think, about 4 nesting boxes (they will be in the partition so that I can collect eggs from the 'people' side), each about 1 sq ft... but I was thinking I COULD stack two rows and get 8 nesting boxes...

LOL

How many birds do you plan to have. And are we talking B or LF?  If  LF that run is only big enough for 9. 

I would go 14"x14" for the nest boxes. If you are going to have large breeds. Or if you are doing both bantams and LF you could do a couple of each size. Just my opinion.