Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Cockatrice6420]

Thanks, and why again are you getting rid of him ?
I'll be back in the AM, I have to put Einstein to bed right now...ha ha ha

This is Smokey. He's blue with moderate leakage. The one I'm keeping has very heavy leakage.

 

[LaurelC]

I've moved on to the cat and dog method for rats. Especially dog. The german shepherd is vicious if she smells or hears them. She eliminated our issue a few years ago and keeps checking. One showed up again a few weeks ago and met a toothy end. The dog will not stop until the rat is dead. She's dug enough out.

Rats are the biggest reason that we got rid of our ducks. They moved in under the buried pond liner and made it so my pitbull couldn't get them. We were able to flood out a few, but not enough to make a dent in the population.

So far so good with the chickens. No great hiding spots for them so far.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Rats are the biggest reason that we got rid of our ducks.  They moved in under the buried pond liner and made it so my pitbull couldn't get them.  We were able to flood out a few, but not enough to make a dent in the population.  

So far so good with the chickens.  No great hiding spots for them so far.

Our neighboring property is overrun with brambles and saplings. Other properties near by had been abandoned for a while and new people came in and started demolishing the buildings... now we have a bigger problem than ever with them.

 

[LaurelC]

Our neighboring property is overrun with brambles and saplings. Other properties near by had been abandoned for a while and new people came in and started demolishing the buildings... now we have a bigger problem than ever with them.

FRUSTRATING! Definitely time to hit the humane society for a few cats!

 

[Elaine Wright]

I live in Skagit county. This is my first winter with chickens. I'm having an over head light fixture installed, in case it gets below freezing. They free range my yard, soon to be fenced. I also have a large covered deck, they love being under. My question - do I need to provide more wind shelter? They spent much of the storm under the deck.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

I live in Skagit county. This is my first winter with chickens. I'm having an over head light fixture installed, in case it gets below freezing. They free range my yard, soon to be fenced. I also have a large covered deck, they love being under. My question - do I need to provide more wind shelter? They spent much of the storm under the deck.

I would at least provide a covered wind blocked area for them to scratch and dust bathe in if possible.

 

[Elaine Wright]

I would at least provide a covered wind blocked area for them to scratch and dust bathe in if possible.

The deck is 12 feet deep, sits inches from the ground on one side and goes up to about 2 feet off the ground on the other end. Maybe a couple bales of hay where the distance is far off the ground? No water gets under because it's roofed.
It might be 3 feet at the highest end.

 

[junebuggena]

The deck is 12 feet deep, sits inches from the ground on one side and goes up to about 2 feet off the ground on the other end. Maybe a couple bales of hay where the distance is far off the ground? No water gets under because it's roofed.
It might be 3 feet at the highest end.

Sounds like it's a rainy day chicken paradise. I think they will be plenty shielded.

 

[Tytyvyllus]

I am so excited! My hedamoras are on day 19 in the bator today! Soon there will be cute little peepers in there instead of all those pretty brown eggs.

 

[LaurelC]

I had kind of a gross looking egg this AM. We got 3 new chickens a few weeks ago and just this weekend one of the new hens started laying. The flock they came from had roosters. This was the first egg that we got from her. Was it fertilized? I ended up feeding it to one of the dogs.