Washingtonians

[SadieSue]

Whew. Finally got caught up! At one point I was 4 days behind and this thread was moving fast! Congrats to those of you with new chicks, newly acquired birds, new babies, beautiful fish tanks, fall harvests etc. I read it all!

My DD was home for a few days last weekend from WSU and I spent as much time with her as I could. I had moved her over to Pullman in August but due to some recent events in her life (BF broke up with her) she looked like a sad puppy when my mother and I pulled away from the curb and left her at her new house. So I was MUCH relieved when last month she said to me, "No offense Mom, but I don't think I'm coming home for a while - there's nothing really compelling me to be there".
After the initial sting, I realized this was very, very good news as her junior year is quickly becoming her best year yet. She's venturing out more on her own, taking Aikido classes, networking with business groups, she's continuing to get fantastic grades, dating new guys, partying with girlfriends and is up for a significant promotion at the dining hall where she works.

Those of you who still have small children at home, oh my - it goes SO quickly! And words I heard years ago from the musician Peter Gabriel have resonated with me all the time my baby girl was growing up - "The thing about parenthood is, if you do it right, it has obsolescence built into it". I do miss that girl, but I am so excited (and proud) to watch her explore the world on her own and be successful.

Of course one of the reasons she came home was because she said she needed to visit all of her animals, the dogs, the cats, the chickens and to visit with the kittens I was fostering for the Humane Society. She has no time for pets and isn't allowed to have them in her rented home so I was able to provide her with something Pullman could not!

Everyone is molting here! I'm getting 2 eggs a day from my 10 current layers. Thank goodness it's only DH and I so we don't need a lot of eggs. I will NOT buy any at the store!

Visited one of our local Serama breeders so I could pick up a new pullet and came home with 4 birds - I pretty little roo, a new hen and two babies. Then a couple of days ago I rode out to the breeders again with a Serama friend who lives near me so she could get a new bird, and I'll be darned, another pullet snuck her way into my pocket. I did not tell DH but I could tell he was confused that night when he looked in the cage and it seemed the count was off a bit...

DH has suggested the Seramas stay in the computer room - I was opting for the garage, but I think he actually likes those little birds being close by! I'm working on hand taming them, none have any names yet but I love how they've already formed a little family. The roo seems to be taking very good care of all of his girls, and happily clucks when I toss meal worms into the shavings so he can point them out to the girls. They are so fun to watch.

Having Seramas has been my solution to not being able to have roosters in the city - the little ones just live in the house!

Here's a quick photo I took with my phone the other night when I moved them in altogether. The babies were settling down, they all make this sweet trilling, purring sound as they settle in for the night, and the little roo was standing watch.




And her is Lily with our foster kittens. The kittens went back to the Humane Society yesterday, had spay surgery this morning and are available for adoption tomorrow. A friend of mine is adopting the orange tabby!

 

[CarolynF]

While I was wandering down the hill today following the girls, I was blindsided by Lyle. He attacked my leg for no apparent reason. Then he sat there all puffed up. I waited until I could sneak up on him and grabbed him. I carried him around like a football for about 20 or 25 minutes. He managed to bite me a few times before I could secure him, though.

I'm going to work with him until he understands that I'm top dog around here. I've heard that roosters will go through a phase like this, and I will do whatever it takes to teach him. He's smart, so I'm sure he'll learn.

Sounds like a plan!
Our son had a fiesty young rooster that terrorized his little girls (human) so being a good daddy he grabbed that guy by the neck and held his face in the dirt for a few minutes. He showed a lot more respect after that.

 

[hallerlake]

Whew. Finally got caught up! At one point I was 4 days behind and this thread was moving fast! Congrats to those of you with new chicks, newly acquired birds, new babies, beautiful fish tanks, fall harvests etc. I read it all!

My DD was home for a few days last weekend from WSU and I spent as much time with her as I could. I had moved her over to Pullman in August but due to some recent events in her life (BF broke up with her) she looked like a sad puppy when my mother and I pulled away from the curb and left her at her new house. So I was MUCH relieved when last month she said to me, "No offense Mom, but I don't think I'm coming home for a while - there's nothing really compelling me to be there".
After the initial sting, I realized this was very, very good news as her junior year is quickly becoming her best year yet. She's venturing out more on her own, taking Aikido classes, networking with business groups, she's continuing to get fantastic grades, dating new guys, partying with girlfriends and is up for a significant promotion at the dining hall where she works.

Those of you who still have small children at home, oh my - it goes SO quickly! And words I heard years ago from the musician Peter Gabriel have resonated with me all the time my baby girl was growing up - "The thing about parenthood is, if you do it right, it has obsolescence built into it". I do miss that girl, but I am so excited (and proud) to watch her explore the world on her own and be successful.

Of course one of the reasons she came home was because she said she needed to visit all of her animals, the dogs, the cats, the chickens and to visit with the kittens I was fostering for the Humane Society. She has no time for pets and isn't allowed to have them in her rented home so I was able to provide her with something Pullman could not!

Everyone is molting here! I'm getting 2 eggs a day from my 10 current layers. Thank goodness it's only DH and I so we don't need a lot of eggs. I will NOT buy any at the store!

Visited one of our local Serama breeders so I could pick up a new pullet and came home with 4 birds - I pretty little roo, a new hen and two babies. Then a couple of days ago I rode out to the breeders again with a Serama friend who lives near me so she could get a new bird, and I'll be darned, another pullet snuck her way into my pocket. I did not tell DH but I could tell he was confused that night when he looked in the cage and it seemed the count was off a bit...

DH has suggested the Seramas stay in the computer room - I was opting for the garage, but I think he actually likes those little birds being close by! I'm working on hand taming them, none have any names yet but I love how they've already formed a little family. The roo seems to be taking very good care of all of his girls, and happily clucks when I toss meal worms into the shavings so he can point them out to the girls. They are so fun to watch.

Having Seramas has been my solution to not being able to have roosters in the city - the little ones just live in the house!

Here's a quick photo I took with my phone the other night when I moved them in altogether. The babies were settling down, they all make this sweet trilling, purring sound as they settle in for the night, and the little roo was standing watch.




And her is Lily with our foster kittens. The kittens went back to the Humane Society yesterday, had spay surgery this morning and are available for adoption tomorrow. A friend of mine is adopting the orange tabby!

You've got that right!

 

[JennS]

Quote:
I'm in too!

me too!
I'm up for it, too, if I can make it. Anyone have a suggestion for day/time?

I'll have to be good. The first time I went to Flower World I spent a ridiculous amount of money. I have rows of plants outside in pots waiting to be planted (been waiting for the rain to come, not sure what my excuse is now) so I can't fit much more into the yard anyway.

Jennifer

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I know I've shared this picture before but, I just thought I'd show it again, and dang it if I could have taken another today with this same cat laying among the ducks,

She was just a kitten then, and here is my male, brother to Kali

That was just about an hour ago!  

Kali looks like my old grey cat Moose, who was the master murder cat to everything from mice up to full-grown rabbits for fourteen years, and then got bitten by an agressive hobo spider and had a necotising wound we didn't catch (because he was an inside-outside cat to the exact extent that he came inside and ate once in a while) until it had taken most of his leg. He'd been dead about four months when the gophers ate every one of my hybrid daylilies.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Well, I sure haven't figured out, how to do the quote thing yet, in all the time it's been here, I tried it once and I got lost some where!!  LOL!

and yes I went to my profile and made sure the thingy wasn't or was checked which ever it was, ( I read it many posts back when some one asked)


Anyway, I know I'm like almost three weeks late but, I finally got my garlic in the ground for the first time in my life!  Now lets see if something grows! LOL!

also, and yes I need my head examined, some one posted what size eggs and how many a year that certain breeds lay?

was SLW on that list?? Are they a med or large brown egg layer?? I know what your all gonna say!!      


I was doing a friend a favor, he had to sell his chickens and this gals were already laying so I said what the heck, they are in quarantine right now, they are very healthy the little red , ( supposed to be Bantam RIR hen)  got picked on so her head is growing back feathers.  they will go out with the other layers in another week.

Wyandottes lay a barely USDA large egg; SLWs are supposed to be the most dependable layer of the bunch. Those are really nicely marked!

Ah, interesting, these are only what I would say are med size, I wouldn't think they would get bigger?? And I have never had SLW so I have no idea what their pattern is, I thought they were a nice size and they were healthy and laying, my husband of course freaked!  LOL   he said " what are going to do with THEM" ???
I said, add them to my layer collection??  I'm not breeding them, give me a break!!
(they came from hatchery no doubt)  Anyway, it is what it is, as they say!!  
Thanks Stumpy!!    by the way, the Bantam RIR hen is as big as some of my Bantam rir roos, so yea, she was a Mcmurry surprise chick I guess!

I dunno- when I was hanging out at the Wyandotte thread (and the "What Breed or Gender Is It? thread) the first year I was here, I saw a whole lot of alleged SLWs and they were nowhere near as nicely marked as these: the usual hatchery stock often has a narow white stripe in the middle of black feathers instead of a narrow black line around a white feather, which is the standard.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Do we have falcons in Washington state?

Scroll to :11 on this video. 

That's EXACTLY what the bird looked like that tried to pick up my 7+ lb Brahma a while back.

Oh, yeah: there's a growing number of Peregrines near big cities, too, as they breed on skyscrapers (notably the Columbia Center), bridges, and ship-loading cranes. Gyrfalcons come south rarely and sometimes hung the snow geese on the Skagit; Merlins are becoming more common, and kestrels (sparrowhawks) are hanging on in rural communities on the west side but are most common in the Willamette and Eastern Washington. Prairie Falcons are more rare than when I went to WSU and saw them every morning, which makes me sad.

I'd be a lot more worried about owls, though (and have participated in raising chicks to feed captive falcons, so am very biased).

 

[itsren]

Quote:
So what kind is the light grey/whiteish falcon in this video? Every bird of prey I've looked at up until now was too dark.

As for the today's screech-off... DH found an audio. It may have been the two eagles. Darn it. DH said Salmon are running now and until after the winter steelhead run is finished, my girls should stay locked up in the run or the chicken tractor.

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: Flower World is a very short distance from me. Since mom really likes plants, I tend to go when I need a gift for her. I agree, it is a nice place.

My favorite out that way is Cottage Creek Nursery, on Avondale Rd. Haven't been there for ages, not exactly short of plants, more short of places to plant them.

I am busy here: got my HD list filled and a bunch of other stuff done, need to go hang out another load of laundry and figure out where I need the package of cheap asphalt shingles put that's both out of the way and easily accessible to places where I'll be using them. Decisions, decisions.
I believe that is now a feed and garden store. Called Keep it Simple. Just opened up this summer. Sorry

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Dang IF I woulda known it worked good I woulda put it to use. Hey I have fans you could put in it