Well – I gotta say – I think we’re doing our part!
Isn’t it crazy how completely revolutionary backyard poultry seem less than 100 years later? I mean – honestly – it’s against the law in neighborhoods just a stone’s throw from my house. And don’t even get me started on home owners associations! Ugh!
Well, it’s been a while since I gave an update on the baby girls, so I thought I’d do just that!
But first – most of you are well aware of the fact that we live in Oregon.
Yes, we have a bit of a reputation as being a bit of a rainy state. (Honestly – do you know that a significant part of the state has desert?!) And it’s true – there have been t-shirts produced in the past that read, “Oregonians don’t tan – they rust!” But really – most of the time – particularly in late Spring and Summer, and oftentimes well into Fall – it’s just incredibly beautiful. Green, lush, amazing.
This year – we’re living up to our notariety the home of the rained upon.
This is what the skies look like more often than not:
According to the weatherman, this will be the 4th wettest May on record.
NOT something to celebrate, I’m feeling.
Okay – that’s my whine about the weather. Just wanted you to know that the sunshine filled pictures of the girls ARE NOT going to be coming next… mostly cloudy, recently been rained upon pictures ARE, in fact, next!
Meet Lacey:
This is one of Jezebel’s babies that hatched in February. She’s the first hatchling that we’ve had reach this age. She’s now almost 15 weeks old. She’ll likely start laying in 3 to 5 more weeks. Hard to believe she’s that grown up! Isn’t she pretty? I love her coloring.
Remember my little leghorns that I brought home in March?
They’re getting so grown up! These girls are now just shy of 12 weeks old! Just about six more weeks and then they’ll start laying! They really are lovely – and are very sweet natured.
You may recall the 16 chicks that came home in April. Sadly – we believe a coyote may have gotten the majority of these girls. We’re left with only 4 of the original 16. My heart just aches over the loss of those beautiful little babies!
The four now 7 week olds we are left with are thick as thieves.
The three black chicks are supposed to be Black Sex Links. They look so dissimilar, I’ve got to wonder. The fact that they came from a farm store that we’ve had pretty significant misidentification of breeds in the past, doubles wonder factor! Of course, we have no experience with this breed, so who knows! The fourth chick is the lone surviving Sicilian Buttercup. She is SO beautiful!
Isn’t her coloring amazing? I can hardly wait until these girls grow up!
And, of course, we have the chicks that hatched this past week. Buffy is proving to be a wonderful mother, and her four chicks are thriving!
Buffy – by far – is the most mellow broody mama that I’ve had to date. She lets me pet her, feed her little treats from my hand (without any fear of losing a finger on my part!), and will let me lift her up enough to get a quick status report on the chicks.
…and…. I have yet another broody hen.
She’s a Cuckoo Maran – and she is bound and determined to hatch out chicks with the wooden eggs she’s setting. She somehow manages to gather a few eggs that the other girls have laid each day and gets them to her favorite nest box to warm.
I’m about ready to head out to the feed store and buy a few day old chicks to put under her! We know several folks who have had great success doing just such a thing. The only thing that keeps me from doing just that is the fact that I don’t know where I’d put her and said chicks! Broody Mama quarters are currently occupied with Buffy and babies! Dunno… I’m mulling it over!
And while I know Uncle Sam doesn’t necessarily encourage us all to have a couple of cats in the backyard – I couldn’t imagine our yard without Jake and Caleb! They keep the place rodent free, and – I’m fairly sure – consider the girls strange step-siblings of some sort!
Here’s Caleb – wondering why the heck I’ve got a camera in his face! J
I tried to get a close-up of Pepper to balance things out – but she thought I wanted her to play fetch with the camera – so that didn’t work. Instead, in closing – here’s a further-away shot of Pepper – who is doing what she does best – guard her flock!
Known By Name 
I found your blog while searching for definitive ordinance info regarding chickens in unincorporated PDX within Washington County. I live in the Bethany/Rock Creek area. I have combed the Washington County website and can’t seem to find the answers. You mentioned that you too were in Washington county and close to Portland so I thought maybe you were near me and that perhaps fall under the same ordinance.
I would appreciate any information you could share regarding rules/permits, etc. for raising chickens here. I wanted to raise 2-3 hens for eggs. I also wanted a breed that would be friendly with children and double as a family pet. Based on what I’ve read I was leaning toward Rhode Island Reds. Again, I would really appreciate any info you could share.
Debbie
Hi Debbie!
Great to meet you! We used to live in the same neck of the woods – we’re a little closer to town now, actually – in an older neighborhood with larger lots.
Yes, we are in unincorporated Washington County. The way we learned about what the ordinances was, was by calling the Bonnie L. Hayes Animal Shelter office and asked what the parameters were for our location. They were able to give us great information! Where we are located we are allowed to have as many chickens as we can house healthfully (see Gail Damerow’s excellent book “Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens”) and appropriately based on the size of our lot, and so long as there are no complaints by our neighbors. Legally, we can have a rooster, as well. Five of our six neighbors would be thrilled for us to have a rooster – one is beyond NOT thrilled. So, we don’t have a rooster. 😦
We love our Rhode Island Reds. They are very friendly, excellent layers, and are so fun and inquisitive. Our first chicks were RIRs, and we are VERY attached to them! An excellent resource for choosing breeds is found Henderson’s Chicken Breed Chart – I highly recommend it!
There’s a great Yahoo Group that you’ll want to consider joining, as well. If you go to http://www.groups.yahoo.com and do a search for PDXBackyardChix you’ll find them. Wonderful information there, and lots of excellent resources, as well.
Hey – if you ever want to come check out the girls, just say the word! We’d love to show you around! 🙂
Blessings,
dina
I see they are trying to make it legal in Beaverton and there will be hearings about it soon. We got a flier about it at the farmer’s market. Can you believe they need to even debate it? Get with the times people! I too am in unincorporated WA county and our neighbors even had a rooster when we first moved in. I love that the rules are not as strict in this area. Love the chicken photos!
I think the craziest part about the whole whether or not to include Backyard Chickens in Beaverton is the fact that the lots in Beaverton tend to have quite a bit more elbow room – leaving *plenty* of room for a few hens and a decent hen house! I think I’m going to have to get me to that meeting next Tuesday to see what comes of all of this – surely they will listen to reason, right?!
Dina, I have a couple black sex link chicks and they look at lot like yours–all a little different and none as black as my black sex link hen.
Chris – that’s good to know! Thanks! I gotta say – they are developing into some really beautiful birds. And I keep hearing what amazing layers they are. I’m excited to see the girls they will grow into.
Just wanted to let you know that we are making great progress in getting the chicken laws changed in Beaverton. We are scheduled for a vote in the first part of august. With a proposed ordinance that is quite livable being proposed. They have dropped city planning commission meetings on it where it was tabled last november.
Bright green Beaverton has been working on this. We have a facebook page where we post details and dates for city meeting to attend. As well as other issues we are working on. thanks
mark ludeman Ludemans backyard farm and garden store. 12675 sw canyon Beaverton Ore 503 646 6409
Thanks Mark! I’ve joined the Facebook group – and it has been good to get that current information! While I’m glad that it appears that Beaverton will be reasonable – it makes me nervous that if ever our part of unincorporated Washington County (with PDX mailing address) were ever annexed into Beaverton – our set up would be out the window! Likely with little regard for the fact that we’ve got half an acre to play with!
I will continue to watch closely what transpires! Thanks so much for your input!
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