Hello!

[coolnoah]

Hello all, we're planning to start our first backyard chicken process in Washington State. We've got lots of questions but this seems like a great community. Happy to learn from the experts!

 

[ValerieJ]

Hi! Welcome to BYC from a fellow Washingtonian! We can help you a lot with your plans. What region of WA are you in? Where I am, the rain is the biggest consideration, both in coop building and food storage.

 

[so lucky]

Welcome from Southeast Missouri! You will find lots of good information here. Do you live in Western Washington with the rain, or Eastern Washington with the not-rain?

 

[drumstick diva]

Thank you for joining us at Backyard Chickens, the pulse beat of the chicken community.

 

[coolnoah]

We're in Shoreline, definitely Western Washington. It's raining right now!

 

[BullChick]

Great to have you here!
I hope we can answer all of your questions, and supply you with plenty of chickens, ducks, turkey, quail, goats...
What breeds are you thinking about? There are so many colors of eggs, I think we all go through a colorful egg basket phase. Typically every other year!

 

[Pennys Mama]

Hidy~Howdy!!!
Welcome to the BYC flock and stock family!!!
Glad you decided to join us, we can & will all learn from each other!

 

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

I'm not an expert but you have come to the right place to learn. Research and planning are the best advice to having a healthy, productive flock.

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC.

Here are some links to useful resources:

• List of guides on how to use the site - “How to...” guides
• Great go-to resource - Learning Centre
• Good starting point for browsing the site - Articles
• Insightful feedback on how members manage their flocks - Topic of the Week back-catalogue
• Excellent sources of local information - U.S. States thread list

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[ValerieJ]

We're in Shoreline, definitely Western Washington. It's raining right now!

Nice area! Okay I have a couple suggestions, right off the bat. One is, visit our state thread. You can find it here: Washingtonians Come Together. You can ask any random questions about what is unique about raising chickens in Washington. It's an ongoing conversation, so a great place to connect. Another one is to start a thread in the Coop and Run Design forum asking about designs that work best in the rainy state. Follow the link and start a new a new post (upper right).

For starters, I suggest not using prefabs. At best they will last two years in this rain. Secondly, build with wood, or buy a wooden shed and convert it. This stays dryer. You need to either make a large enough coop to store the food and supplies in or have a separate dry storage for that. I tried a deck box of plastic in the beginning. Big disaster.

Secondly, I think just about any chicken breed can thrive here, so you can just have fun picking them out.

Don't hesitate to ask specific questions. We love to help as much as we love getting help!!