Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Smokerbill]

I thinned out my new tomato seedlings to 2 plants per cell. Eventually I'll thin again to 1 per cell. And later, get them into bigger pots. They're going to have to do a lot of growing in the next 4 weeks. LOL. There should be 24 plants when all is said and done.

Gave the chicks a few more weed clumps, along with their morning bowl of soaked chick starter feed. Seems that I need to give them a bigger bowlful every couple of days. They just eat more and more!

And I can tell the big girls are jealous, seeing the little ones get all the special attention. They've been rebelling by laying fewer eggs...

 

[Smokerbill]

Just gave the chicks some scraps of rib eye steak to go along with their weed salad. They went crazy over the meat. LOL

 

[ValerieJ]

Tomatoes are in for better or worse They look a little ragged now but I hope they perk up in the great soil, space and fresh air.

Garlic looks very happy.

And the strawberries are flourishing.

 

[ValerieJ]

DH is working on the irrigation now. So yay!

I only give my chicks their chick feed for at least 7 or 8 weeks and leave it out 24/7. I think they need the vitamin boost to grow into strong hens. But they are nearly 2 months now and have access to the free range area if they want to go there. They do sometimes. Also, I do give them treats now, generally good scratch grains and a few meal worms. Chick grit is scattered around so they can digest the new foods. And they still have chick feed available 24/7 as well as access to the all flock feed, but they haven't gone for the latter yet.

I know a lot of people put out dishes of grit, as well as oyster shell for the hens, but I have always just scattered a handful around on the ground each day when I give them treats. Seems to have worked for my chickens.

 

[Smokerbill]

@ValerieJ , your garden looks great! I see lots of strawberries in your future. Are you trying the trick of red painted rocks in the patch to train the birds not to eat the berries when they ripen?

The chicks are getting lots more feathers on the tops of their heads now so I might remove their heat lamp in a week or two. I'll wait until they quit hanging out under the heater at night.

 

[MoonFarm]

We LOVE our friends in Washington State and we know y'all love to chat! The original Washingtonians thread has over 80,000 replies which is AMAZING!

It's great to see peeps who love raising backyard chickens come together, but all that discussion in a 5 year old thread is bogging down the server when we do updates. For this reason we're starting this new Washingtonians thread.

Rest assured that the entire original Washingtonians thread will remain closed from new replies, but completely intact. You'll be able to reference, search, and read it any time!

Please continue all of your great discussions here.

Thanks to all our Washington friends for being (chatty) members of our wonderful community!!!!

Hi fellow Washingtonians, I hope I’m posting correctly here! I’m looking for a local breeder who has Egyptian Fayoumis. 3 out of 4 of my hens have died of Mareks ): My 4th hen is doing well but very lonely.

 

[MoonFarm]

Hi fellow Washingtonians, not sure the best way to post correctly here! Moderators, forgive me if this is not the way to do it.

I’m looking for a local breeder who has Egyptian Fayoumis. Preferably western WA. 3 out of 4 of my hens have died of Mareks ): My 4th hen is doing well but very lonely.

 

[ValerieJ]

What a great idea! I never even thought about the red rocks. I'll have to think about where I would put them. I have red paint and I have rocks!

How old are your chicks? Mine stopped going under the heat as soon as they feathered out. We took the Sweeter Heater out a few weeks ago and recently took the black light out too. They are doing just fine. They cuddle up together.

In fact, we took the Sweeter Heater out just about the time you were ordering the black light. I thought about lending it to you just a couple days too late.

Thanks for the compliment on my garden. I sure hope it does okay this year. Have sure not had a lot of luck lately.

 

[ValerieJ]

Hi fellow Washingtonians, not sure the best way to post correctly here! Moderators, forgive me if this is not the way to do it.

I’m looking for a local breeder who has Egyptian Fayoumis. Preferably western WA. 3 out of 4 of my hens have died of Mareks ): My 4th hen is doing well but very lonely.

I haven't heard of any around here in SW Washington.

So sorry for the loss of your hens!!!

 

[Smokerbill]

Hi fellow Washingtonians, not sure the best way to post correctly here! Moderators, forgive me if this is not the way to do it.

I’m looking for a local breeder who has Egyptian Fayoumis. Preferably western WA. 3 out of 4 of my hens have died of Mareks ): My 4th hen is doing well but very lonely.

I read your other thread about having Mareks in your flock. That's too bad. I don't know about any Fayoumis in the area.

I don't do Facebook, but maybe you could look there.