Washingtonians

[Chicken Rustler]

I am getting a little eggscited about the PNPA show in Salem. I found out last night that Salem has just made it legal to keep chickens in the city which may really help for those selling birds at the show. Also I was told I am being put in an island booth and that everybody going into the show will have to walk right past my space.

We ARE GONNA ROCK Salem with this show!!!!

 

[TerrorBird]

Luna's loss has been much harder for me than all the others I have lost to dogs and other predators over the years. My chickens roam on over an acre of land and I can accept an occasional loss, but I expect it to be the less friendly chickens that spend more time in the woods or in the orchard. I never thought such a gruesome attack would happen in daylight right between the 2 coops and very near the house. The chickens that hang out near the coop are all very friendly, but Luna was the best. She was a big, fluffy lap-chicken who never wandered more than 15 feet from the coop unless she was following me.

Now that the neighbors have all gotten electric fences for their dogs after several raids on my property, the wild predator attacks are increasing - no dogs to scare the raccoons out of the greenbelts surrounding my property. I have lost 3 hens to non-dog predators since July, and only 1 in the prior 3 years. Before the electric fences went up, I lost at least 5 hens to dogs in 2.5 years.

I've found that the favorites always seem to be targeted first. Someone needs to Star-Trek-up forcefield technology and make possible domes that keep unwanteds out...

 

[DeesHens]

This peanut butter recall is now up to 240 products and it is dating back to 2010.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/CORENetwork/ucm320413.htm

Please check this out. I know a lot of us like organic foods and prefer natural foods. There are a lot of those on the list.

Hello Mikey. Nice to meet you.
Grateful to you for sharing this link. I am going to send it to my email list. I don't eat peanut butter but I do eat almond butter. Just glad I didn't see the Maranatha brand on the list. We buy it from Costco along with Kirkland dry roasted almonds.

~Dee~

 

[RainyDayChicken]

I got my first egg from my RIR pullets today,they are my rooster DA flock. I hope to start hatching eggs soon from them. I also would like some easter eggers that lay blue eggs any advice on the best breed to start with for this project. My wife and daughter love the blue eggs.

 

[JennS]

Sorry about your friend, and I hope she comes through okay.

I really liked SadieSue's Brinsea and would buy the same model if I were to get an incubator. I do have some young Silkies (hatched from said bator) available but they aren't baby chicks, and it's still not certain if they're boys or girls.

If you would be willing to sell one to me, that would be great! Today my son and I went out to Tailfeathers' place and saw his beautiful birds. We picked out some to bring home.

He didn't have any very young ones, so we now are the proud owners of two gorgeous Barnevelders and two gorgeous Buckeyes. He thought that the biggest Barnevelder was a girl, but couldn't tell on the others, which is why I got the "spares", lol. These four are currently out in a stock tank in the garage, since they are much bigger than the Wyandottes. I would much prefer to have a flock of birds from local breeders of healthy stock, so I will probably give most of the hatchery chicks to friend who just want eggs.

Here are the new birds enjoying some grass and feed while waiting for me to set up the new brooder. They are so sweet tempered, I just love them! We put in a few fallen pears from our tree, but they didn't seen interested.



Thanks again whoever posted the X-pen idea! Sorry I can't remember who it was, today was so busy my head is spinning. We wrapped up the day with a visit to our friend at Harborview. She broke her femur, ankle and some foot bones. She was in surgery for 8 hours yesterday and will have to go back for more. But she has no head or spinal injuries. It's going to be a long recovery. She lives right around the corner and I feed her cats and sometimes dogsit her husky mix, so I told her that I'll happily help with her animals and driving her around. They think it'll take 3 months to heal the leg, and she'll need PT to walk. Anyways, I know I'm posting more than I need but I'm worn out and it's been a really long day. I'm glad the chicks are all set up and I have most of the flock that I want!

Jennifer

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

I got my first egg from my RIR pullets today,they are my rooster DA flock. I hope to start hatching eggs soon from them. I also would like some easter eggers that lay blue eggs any advice on the best breed to start with for this project. My wife and daughter love the blue eggs.

True Ameraucanas, and some variety of Leghorn, or maybe an Andalusian... Basically, any true Ameraucana bred to anything that lays a white egg....

 

[DeesHens]

Hi. For those two that I read that had raccoon trouble. I wanted to say I am very sorry to hear of the raccoon attack (hope your special hen survives - sending good thoughts) and also sorry for the loss of your dear Luna. It strikes close to home for me as I also have recently lost a hen from a raccoon. It was bizarre! Afternoon, sunny day, hens in a fenced yard against our house to do a little foraging for a few hours. I was in the house for only 20-30 minutes and on my way back out to check on things. When through the window I saw a raccoon in the yard with one of my hens trying to pull its dead headless body over the fence. I was so angry I ran through the house yelling at my DH about it. When we got outdoors the raccoon just starred us down. Unafraid! We live in the country but as the population grows and people feed them I think they get bolder. DH ran at it yelling so when he was 10 feet away it finally backed off so he could retrieve the dead chicken, poor Gemini. But then it kept coming back over and over again. I have been nursing my last hen (she was in shock even crowing like a cockerel) Betsy Barr Rock wasn't injured but is now all alone which is not so good. DH put a large mirror in her tractor run which helps her somewhat. She loves her reflection so spends a lot of time in front of it. Anyway, I feel your pain.

~Dee~

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

What a day/night. I stayed up holding Salma the sickly Welsummer until past 10pm because she was still holding her beak open every couple of minutes, which I figured out meant she was thirsty. She was still munching on eggs pretty well, too.

I was giving her Pedialyte and she was really getting after it. In fact, I was getting a little worried she was drinking too much. Then I realized Pedialyte has salt in it and maybe that was making her thirsty. So I switched to water and she gobbled that up, too. Now I'm kinda worried she's had too much liquids and/or too much salt. I wanted to stay up with her, but it just wasn't feasible. Even the living room is occupied at my BF's house right now by a young couple with a baby who've fallen on hard times. And my poor BF passed out in his room the moment he got home from band rehearsal. To make matters worse, I myself came down with a nasty respiratory virus last weekend and I'm far from fully recovered, so staying up all night probably isn't the best idea if I ever want to get back to work. And I certainly didn't want to subject Salma to a car ride across town from Roosevelt to Beacon Hill to stay at my place. So, I found a relatively quiet corner, put her in a big dog carrier on a coffee table with some water and scrambled eggs, covered it with a blanket, and came back to my apartment. My BF set his alarm for 8am so he can let the chickens out of their cramped, makeshift (but SECURE) coop and give Salma her antibiotic. Given how well she's eating and drinking, I really think she's going to be fine, but I'm the kind of person who's going to worry myself half to death all night anyway.

I'm still not sure what to do about the goo in her eye. We'll see how it looks tomorrow. Hopefully the oral ("beak-al"? LOL) antibiotics will take care of it.

I got my first egg from my RIR pullets today,they are my rooster DA flock. I hope to start hatching eggs soon from them. I also would like some easter eggers that lay blue eggs any advice on the best breed to start with for this project. My wife and daughter love the blue eggs.

I'm a newbie myself, so take this with a grain of salt. But from what I've read, you'll need to find a purebred Araucana or Ameraucana to get blue eggs. I know some hatcheries claim to sell purebreds of said breeds, but I've also heard that some of them are flat-out lying and calling hybrids purebreds. I don't know why those particular breeds are so hard to find considering how popular blue eggs are. Sorry I can't point you in the right direction but I'm fairly certain that what info I have provided is correct. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[JennS]

Alright, I'm on a phone at my BF's and can't get the quoting to work.
The next door neighbors also have chickens and they gave us an antibiotic they had called Baytril. According to the directions, we have enough for a full round. Yay! I already forced a dose down her throat. They also gave us an eye ointment called "Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates and Dexamethasone". No directions on it but I cleaned the goo out of her eye with a Q-tip then applied some of the ointment and her eye looks much better. She also also eaten a few bites of scrambled egg and swallowed some water, maybe only a tablespoon but it's a good sign. For now she's wrapped in a blanket in my lap and she seems better. Every few minutes she wakes up and swallows a few drops of water or maybe a tiny peck of egg.
Jess, that is a lovely offer and I do appreciate it. Hopefully it won't be necessary but I will definitely take you up on it if she doesn't improve.
Thanks everyone for your help!!!

I'm glad to hear she is doing better!

Jennifer

 

[JennS]

Hi all!

I have not visited in a while, and now I'm 200 posts behind.

I have been busy studying for my Enrolled Agent Tax exams with the IRS, and this morning I passed the second test (I did the first one 13 days ago) - one to go!

I was feeling all happy about passing the exam (in Puyallup at 7:30 am), came home and saw a horrific scene in my backyard that took away any good feeling I had.

The kids were playing video games and had let the chickens out, but ignored the dogs who were stil in their crates. I yelled at the kids, followed the dogs out to check on all the waterers and feeders and I saw Luna, the white sussex lying in the yard near the coop where she likes to hang out, neck twisted and rolled partway under her, and much of her neck and shoulders and part of a wing eaten away with bones sticking out, and she was still breathing!!! I yelled for my husband who came out and finished her off. Then I yelled at my kids for letting the chickens out without their guard dogs. I'm thinking it was a raccoon. A few weeks ago I found another hen in the same area, injured in the same spot. That injury was minor in comparison. I think I had scared off whatever the predator was there when the attack started, but the hen must have died of a hear attack. Poor Luna was still alive and it is awful to think of what the poor girl must have endured. She was such a sweet hen. I still have 10 roosters, but my supply of hens is going down.

Oh wow, that is terrible. I'm so sorry you lost Luna, and that you found her in such a state. Raccoons suck. I think I'm going to dig out our old slingshot and buy some large shot just in case we get any visitors....

Jennifer