Washingtonians

[hallerlake]

Quote: Awww, dang it. I was really rootin' for the little gal.
I was, too.

 

[lovinchickypoos]

Hi everyone.. I just skimmed the last few days post.. I'm glad to see the injured birds are doing better.

Everyone seems busy getting ready for the wet and cold coming our way.. We just finished the new fence on the back property line.... and have 6 of the 10 apple trees picked.. so I'm a busy bee making applesauce and apple butter.

I'm a little bummed/worried because we did not get to build our new coop and remodel chicken area as planned. Hubby's work load was changed ( he is moving up in company So he couldn't take his 2 weeks planned vacation... instead he took 2 days.. Those 2 days were following my Grandfathers death last Sunday. So now I'm scrambling trying to figure out winter housing for 30 hens.. My current coop is only suitable for half that many... I told the hubby we should 'nt put it off LOL Should of done when i planned this summer instead of going to the Dunes.. but what do I know I'm "Just the Wife" LOL Oh well it will be OK.... I'm not gonna be too grumpy with him because I have room to complain that he is working steady in this economy. That's a blessing. The new girls just may have to live in a cow stall in the barn this winter and I may just have to build a new run.. That I can do on my own

I am gonna be busy helping my Mom put together services and a gathering for 200 to 300 people for a memorial for my Grandfather on October 27Th. We are in need of some large outdoor tent type structures for outdoor covers on that day.. Anyone have any they would like to rent out???

So now for something I think is really Odd....... I have a wild female pheasant trying to live with chickens...... I had seen some odd feathers about 5 days ago. Yesterday i was working in the garden area and noticed a "funny looking chicken" out with my hens... I realized that it was a pheasant. I shooed it off but she only went a little ways off and in the evening she was nested down in some blackberry bushes next to my pens.. The next few days she just was wandering around with my hens as they were free ranging. This morning she was in a tree above my coop. Then tonite she was actually in the coop with the Rooster and hens... I had kept the hens in their Kennel today hoping she would leave. Because she is getting tamer and tamer around us. So I got her out and then went around and reinforced the top of the pens to keep her out... When I last checked to nite she had dug a little hole right ext to the coop pen and was huddled up next to the wire. I'm only worried about it all because I have heard that wild birds can carry disease that my chickens may not be immune too. Any Insight????

Very sorry about your G-pa!!!
Your pheasant story kinda breaks my heart! It seems very strange for a wild bird to do that. I wonder if she lost her mate. She seems very determined to join your flock! I would think that your birds have already been exposed to anything she may be carrying. It's just a guess. If it were me I think I would do a precautionary deworming & external parasite treatment just in case.

 

[lovinchickypoos]

Found my first white egg today! Those White Leghorns sure ended up with funny combs! It seems like overnight they went from small, normal combs to funny, floppy ones! Those girls better get used to getting them oiled this winter. Anyone prefer anything other than petroleum jelly for large combs?

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Make it classy. It's easy to scrounge free materials, but tough to make them into something to 'write home about'. And if you're planning to be in your space for a few years, plan for permanency. Insulate, even if you think global warming is here. Design for old age and infirmity. When you're down with the flu or have pulled muscles from hiking you'll want an easy care coop. And check out DMRippy's pallet pen designs.

I love your sig line. I'm an old Seattle native moved to Bellingham. Life in the country is SO worth it.

Yeah, free materials are all we can afford. I think it's going to look pretty nice. I don't mind all the different sizes and colors of boards with different amounts of weathering. I actually think that kind of thing looks cool. Of course we'll probably wind up having to paint it with whatever paint scraps are around because we can't afford to buy clear finish. And unfortunately I think I'll be taking your word for it for a very, very long time, re: living in the country. I can't for the life of me imagine how I would earn a living that way, plus my BF will definitely not be moving far away from his ex-girlfriend any time soon because they share custody of their beloved two-year-old pooch.

I would say, make sure everything is easy to get to and you don't have to bend over to clean or get at feeders and waterers. My original run is only 4 feet high. I hate going in there! But the rest is high enough for me to stand up, and my coop is ok, I can get into it but I can't stand up straight in there either. But it has a large clean out door on one end which works well! Just think long term acess and like seventrees says, take into account that you might not be able to take care of them due to circumstances beyond your control. I have a large run so that on those days that I can't let them out, they have enough room to scratch, and I throw alfalfa hay in there for them to pick through. Just things I have learned over time. (and in my old age) Lol! Good luck and have fun with it!

Yes, it is going to be tall enough for me (5'3") and my boyfriend (5'8") to stand up in. Our plan is to make the floor out of industrial tiles we're going to get from a friend in the construction biz, and put some industrial flooring we picked up today from Imp on at least the lower portion of all the walls, so that we can just hose the whole thing out very easily. As far as longevity, the house is surely going to be sold in the next 1-3 years. The landlord is just waiting for the light rail to extend that far north. So the coop is going to be designed so that it can be taken apart and rebuilt somewhere else. I just hope that when the move inevitably happens we can find a new place on a property that is suitable for the flock.

So we got home from the store just after dark. DH likes to shine his light out in the field looking for deer while I get the gate open. Their were a lot of eyes tonight and he said "the shadows look big". So he turned the truck left and shown the headlights out over the field. 10-12 Elk out there. The lights made them decide to move on to the back of the property. Which was just fine with me, they were about 15 feet from the silkie pen where I had to go check on birds and pick up food.

Wow! That's really cool. I've never seen an elk.

I'm as brave as the next man, but I'll let you in on a little secret.
I have remote sensors out there in the cold.
I'm warm and cozy in the house, sitting close enough to the fire and enjoying an adult beverage. Never set foot outside.

I'm also in the suburbs and don't have to worry about cougars in the backyard. Also, the state DNR says that there are no cougars in Michigan.

OMG, I am obsessed with cougars and all wild cats! Every time we go hiking or camping I secretly pray that we'll see one.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

To Greg, Slinglings and StumpFarmer, thanks for the comeback and info, my mind rests easier. Doing this for the first time leaves holes in the knowledge and reading a book or article doesn't compare to being re-assured by those who have done it and are successful.

just a note. You all may have noticed I changed my avatar. That was due to a conversation I had with CR early today about showing support for cancer.
since the pic is of my coop in pink I thought it would do.

Thanks buddy!!!

 

[itsren]

They completely stopped rocking shortly after going into lockdown early yesterday. Is that normal?

Today is day 18.

I'm just going to sit on my hands and hope for the best. I wonder if their rocking was the embryos responding to being turned every 45 minutes. They would settle down, the egg wouldn't move, then they would start rocking on their own, then the turner would turn them, and they'd go through that process again.

 

[Slinglings]

Found my first white egg today! Those White Leghorns sure ended up with funny combs! It seems like overnight they went from small, normal combs to funny, floppy ones! Those girls better get used to getting them oiled this winter. Anyone prefer anything other than petroleum jelly for large combs?

Aren't their combs hilarious? I just love my white leghorn. She has so much personality.

RainWolf here has two white leghorns, one named 'Rightie' and one named "Leftie", because their combs flop in opposite directions

 

[Stumpfarmer]

OH: I meant to clarify something about feeding hay. I know that people have had experience with sour crop from grass hay, but over many, many years I haven't seen it- neither with my cousin's free-ranging crew, which goes through every round bale (the EEs right under the cows' noses, which is hilarious to watch) nor the Thousand Banty Army, which cleaned up in the hay barn and milk parlor manure pile. I have seen all sorts of problems from cheap stemmy alfalfa in pigs and horses.

I do not feed the stem of hay to my chickens; I break up flakes and shake them to get leaf and flowe/seed heads (good hay should not have any developed seed; the latest state of maturity to make acceptable grass hay is in milk, and perfect grass hay is at early flower stage) and feed the coarser bits to the sheep, who needs the gut wad. Again, this is a Dad thing, and early training tells: spending twenty minutes twice a week processing hay so the animals I'm feeding get the bits they need is just standard farming practice for me, like going out and shaking the apple trees so the cows have green to go with their brown (I think of my composter as a cow).

One thing I wish it were easier to get is ground hay instead of pellets. My BIL grinds hay and haylage for his pigs, and it means all of the nutrients in the otherwise waste culms are available to short GI track animals. He has, among his collection of heirloom equipment, a barrel grinder. Few people are so blessed (even fewer have a bronze propellor from an ocena going freighter sitting out in the pasture; none of us know the story behind that one, as far as I've heard).

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Is Dora the roan pink enough or do y'all want me to go take a new picture for my avatar? (I may need hand-holding for it!)

 

[Farmin Momma]

Quote: First let me tell you that I have a weird obssesion with clocks, I love them. One day my DH came home telling me that he found a house with property that we could buy. I was not sure at first, so then he showed me a pic that showed the clocks on the property.... I was sold! We bought this property (The Collier Property) as is, so everything that was here stayed here these two clocks and a grandfather clock that is in my house that Jimmy also built. ( I have always wanted one)

They completely stopped rocking shortly after going into lockdown early yesterday. Is that normal?

Today is day 18.

I'm just going to sit on my hands and hope for the best. I wonder if their rocking was the embryos responding to being turned every 45 minutes. They would settle down, the egg wouldn't move, then they would start rocking on their own, then the turner would turn them, and they'd go through that process again.

I belive that when they start rocking twards the end it is because they are getting themselfs positioned for hatching. I read that somewhere.
Hope your hatch goes really well!