They's A-Crowing!

My childhood memories of chickens were of dirty, smelly things. Their white feathers always had guck on them, they were forever running around in dirty water and drinking it. But the thing I remember most is that they were nasty; nasty to each other and nasty to humans, too. They ran away from them and squawked at them, and any chance they got, they'd peck at them. Of course, the chickens I saw were in zoos or petting farms and those situations weren't all that pleasant to begin with. Now seeing them in a environment more suited for them, I realize they are quite the little characters, full of fun and manageable mischief. The chickens spend their days out in the run, eating bugs and green apples that fall from the trees. They so enjoy dust baths and preening their feathers, staying clean and healthy. They come running to greet me, wings flapping, eyes bright and hop around my feet waiting for their treat.

I'm surprised at how easy to keep they are. I'm using the deep litter method in the coop. That means the wood chips are deep, at least 6 inches, and all you do is rake it up every couple of days or so, and add more when needed. This way the litter is only changed once or twice a year. It's working out great, very little smell and things seem to be clean - well, considering it is a chicken coop.

I built little stands for the two waterers and that was a great idea, the wood chips and other uckies stay out of the water so it stays fresh. I also built a feeder, just a long wooden box with and open edge at the bottom, it's got a built in stand to keep it up out of the chips as well. The box is big enough to pour in a whole 40 kg bag of feed. It's pretty good but the chickens like to stand on top of it so I'm constantly washing the lid. I'm hoping to make a few lids so I can change them and give them a really good disinfecting cleaning every so often. Don built beautiful nest boxes for them and I'm hoping to get them in the coop this week. It's still too early for the hens to be laying but we are all looking forward to our own farm fresh eggs!

In the morning, I can hear the roosters crowing. It's a soothing sound, not shrill or grating at all. It's low and mellow; and I can hear such joy and confidence resounding in their greeting of the sun. It's a new day and they're going to enjoy it to the fullest. Humans could take a lesson from that, must be darn near impossible to have a bad day if you welcome it with that kind of gusto and confidence.



This is Tobias, one of my Buff Orpington roos. He's a very dominant fellow and keeps everybody in line.


This is a Partridge Chantecler roo, he doesn't have a name yet, though under my breath, I call him Wimpy. He's very mellow and even the hens can boss him around. In fact, I'd say they delight in it. But he goes his own way and seems happy enough milling around with the rest.