Late Hatch

Last September, Caribou, a Buff Orpington hen decided to go broody. ~Incidentally, just in case you're wondering, I don't name all my chickens! With thirty plus birds and some of them almost identical it would be impossible. But when one stands out with a certain feature or personality, a name invariably pops into my head and the chicken is christened. Caribou came by her name because her comb was missing a couple of spikes, nothing happened to her, she hatched that way. Anyhow the resulting comb looks like the antler on a caribou and so she was named.~

I thought Caribou's timing was a bit off. September is not a great time for little chicks but she was not going to get off that nest for love, money or chicken feed so I put her in a broody area with ten eggs. While the time for raising chicks was not good, the timing to extend her lifespan was impeccable. Caribou was destined for the freezer with all the other year and a half old hens. So she dodged that bullet (or axe, whatever the case may be).

On October 14, nine of the eggs hatched. I was pretty impressed with the hatch rate, especially when I considered some of the frosty nights Caribou had to keep those eggs warm through. All nine thrived, I didn't loose one. Cariboo is an excellent mother, and this was her first time at it. Gotta love a Buff Orpington's natural instinct! The chicks are about nine weeks old now and the cockerels are trying to crow and end up strangling on the noise. I put Caribou back in the main coop and she seems be doing just fine. Sometimes I find her on top of a straw bale looking at her chicks but she doesn't seem upset that she's not with them.

So my first fall hatch turned out very well, I think. When it comes time for broodiness, the hens know much more about it and I think I'm going to trust their judgement.

Roosting just like big chickens!

Pumpkins on a Gate

The title sounds like something on the menu of one of those restaurants where the "ambiance" costs more than the food. You know, the type of restaurants that spring up in touristy areas promoting down home, old fashioned cooking (usually with imported food). But I have to admit, the pumpkined gate gives off an ambiance all of its own without any hype or spin. It's quaint, old-fashioned and charming. It's also totally unplanned and truly did spring up on its own.

A long, long time ago (last spring), Don made new pen for the baby chicks from the three broody hens. He bought a very large and deep storage shelf from work so he turned it on its side, stuck doors on it, made a few air vents and ta-dah! a chook coop! Worked well, too. We kept 24 chooks in that thing. Of course, they were only in it at night, but still it was roomy and airy and sooooo easy to keep clean. Don even put a window in one of the doors for the chicks so they could look out in rainy weather. The only problem was the afternoon sun. Except for right behind the coop, there was no shade at all. So I made a little strip of a lasagna garden by the fence to cut the sun's blistering heat and create some shade. I planted snow peas, sunflowers, corn and nasturtiums. The snow peas and sunflowers never stood a chance. They were planted right by the fence and the chicks ate the young plants as soon as the little plants poked out of the ground. The corn is ragged, having their lower leaves torn and shredded by little curious beaks, but the corn is tall and strong and their yield is good. I suppose there are a couple of nasturtiums in there somewhere, overshadowed by the broad pumpkin leaves.

I never planted pumpkins; they were pop ups from the compost I used. I'm used to having pop ups now. I enjoy them, actually; it's like Nature is adding her own special touch when I plant gardens. Pop ups confirm the co-operation between myself and Nature. So when I noticed the pumpkin plants, I thought, "Oh, that's cute, kind of like a miniature Three Sisters Garden." Pumpkin plants by nature are a curious lot, always exploring. They grow and stretch and stretch. These found a gate that was beside the pen and started growing through and up and over it. The gate is sturdy and strong and I knew the pumpkins wouldn't wreck it, well not much anyhow. I think it looks really interesting. I can't wait to see what it looks like once the pumpkins turn orange.

Sigh, Rooster Problems

Sometimes life on The DaM Farm is just not all rosy and picture-perfect. One of the things I hate the most is when my inexperience causes pain to my animals. I don't mind paying for my own mistakes (well, actually I do, kind of; but that's besides the point) but I loathe when someone else pays for me. Even if it's "just a chicken".

This happened about a month ago. It all started when I noticed a change in attitude in Chandler. Chandler is the #2 rooster. He basically plays second fiddle to Captain Morgan. They don't fight but Captain Morgan would get in Chandler's face if he felt Chandler was getting a little too close. Chandler would always run away, he never challenged Captain Morgan. But those incidents were rare, mostly the two just ignored each other. They both had their own little harem of hens and basically co-existed in harmony. Then the attitude change, Chandler started challenging me! The first time, he went for my legs. I just chased him around, caught him and held him down letting him know that was totally unacceptable behavior. But he did it again within the week. Now, if I had any brains in my head at this time, I would have separated him or, more practically, sent him to the freezer. But I didn't because he's a Partridge Chantecler rooster and I only have 2 P.C. hens. I wanted more. Unfortunately, the two hens went broody last spring before I could separate them with Chandler and collect the eggs. So my plan was to wait until the hens were finished raising their clutches and have a late summer breeding. I also reasoned that he was just challenging me, he still ran away from Captain Morgan so there wouldn't be an issue there. Nothing more than what I wanted and my inexperience made the decision. And it was is direct contrast to what I always said I'd do; I would never keep a rooster who was viscous. Small as roosters are, they can be dangerous, especially for children. But there were no grandkids visiting and wouldn't be so, just this once, I'd keep the rooster until I got more eggs from his hens. In short, I was just being stupid.

Just to be on the safe side, I started carrying a rake with me when I had to be anywhere near Chandler. He always backed off when he saw the rake and life went on. Then I walked into the Coop and found Captain Morgan and Chandler going at it. Obviously Chandler decided the time had come not to run away which I would have seen coming had I the experience to pay attention to the warning signs. It was horrible. Both were bloody and panting. I separated them using the rake. I cleaned both up. Chandler fought me tooth and nail, but Captain Morgan snuggled and let me attend to his wounds. Neither was mortally wounded. In fact all wounds were superficial and were all situated around the head area. They hadn't used their spurs on each other. Captain Morgan did get the worse of it, though and I'm pretty sure he would have lost the fight.

Battle scarred Captain Morgan. He's all healed now and feeling fine.

I have decided that from now on, the coop is one rooster only. I don't care how well two roosters seem to be getting along, I don't ever want a fight like that again. I will stay with Buff Orpingtons because that is what my rooster is. The two Chantecler hens that go broody at a drop of a hat (I have one who's broody again after just raising a clutch) will not be butchered this fall. They can stay and be as broody as they want for as long as they want. Hopefully some crossbreeds of these two will be good broody hens too.

Captain Morgan, the reigning (and only) rooster.

Chicken Management or ARRRGGG!!!!!!

I've never had so many issues with chooks before. Last year, I raised a bunch, stuck 'em in the main coop when they got old enough and come fall, ate the roosters and had more laying hens. With the exception of the Timbits Drama, everything was honky-dory. This year, nobody is co-operating with me. I swear, they get together in little groups brainstorming how to make my life miserable, I can just hear them...."OK, you two will get out and hide in the corn. You over there, act like a hen and then when she's sure you're female, CROW! Hahaha, cackle, cackle, cackle, gafaw, gafaw, gafaw."

Here they are, plotting against me, I'm sure the two with their heads down are in cahoots!

I got a few different types of birds this year and may-be that is what is adding to the challenges but I don't see why. I mean a chicken is a chicken, right? Apparently not. I tried to get breeds that are very mellow and calm but I guess personality trumps genetics every now and then.

I really like having green eggs so I got six Americauna eggs plus two day old chicks and three or four Americauna mixes from my own Leah. And out of the twelve, I might have two females! Arrrggg!

I'm pretty sure this little Americauna cross is a female. (please, please, please!!!)

I decided to get other laying hens, too so I ordered six from the feed store. Good thing I did, considering the male Americana fiasco. I think these hens are hybrids. They will lay brown eggs. They're very mellow and not shy at all. While they are smaller than the dual purpose chickens, they get along famously with everybody. And the best thing about them, I know they're hens because that's what I ordered.

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The laying hens colouring differs by shade of brown and the amount of white. It is kind of nice, adds a little pizazz to the coop. `

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Another breed new this year is Delaware. They're a duel purpose bird, said to be very mellow and sweet. Ha!!! Not when compared to my wonderful Partridge Chanticlers and Buff Orpingtons. A couple of the roos have real attitude. They are a pretty bird, though; white with black speckles on the tail and around the neck.

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Here's one doing his early morning calisthenics. Don't ask me why, I don't have a clue.

Some Delawares have lots of black speckles. I think this one is a female...may-be...perhaps.

Others barely have any speckles. But they're still growing so that might change.

The big issue right now is the cockerels being jerks. Last year they just hung together being jerks only when the opportunity arose. This year, they're constantly at each other and chasing the hens relentlessly. No-one has gotten seriously injured yet but I think it's coming and that is something I want to avoid at all costs. So I'm trying to separate these teenagers according to sex but it's difficult for me still. I think someone is a male, stick him with the other males and then it's obvious he's a she, put her back with the pullets and ~voila~ she turns back into a he. They're doing it on purpose, I'm sure of it.

Here's two Ameriacaunas and one Americauna cross (the brown one). I'm pretty sure the two very impressive and pretty silver/black ones are males. The cross looks like a male when it is with the ladies, it struts and chases them. But next to males, it looks kind of heny.

So I spent the better part of a morning re-arranging the chooks again. I don't think it's perfect but it seems to be very much improved. Almost no squabbling and the pullets are much more relaxed and happy. I put the biggest, toughest teenage roos in the big coop where the adults will keep them in line. They are adjusting to life in the 'big house' well so far. So it's just a matter of watching closely and continue to be on the alert for chickens changing sex just for the amusement of seeing me go insane.

I can't tell you what sex either of these two are but I'm pretty sure the one on the left is a cat.

Chicken Antics - The Good, The Bad and the Downright Annoying

Silly Timbits

When I walked into the coop this morning, I found Timbits in a nest box. Ah, that happens on occasion. The fact she lays at all amazes me, considering all she's been through. As I do my chores and general chicken management (with four different chicken sections and a sub-section within a section, chicken management becomes a skill to be honed). About half way through, Timbits informs me that her egg has been laid. This is done by clucking loudly and generally making an unearthly noise. So I go check because she'll keep up that metal-buckets-falling-down-concrete-stairs racket until I do. So I peek in the nest box where she was setting... Ha! Nice try, Timbits! I know that is not your egg because it's too big and it's GREEN. Only Leah lays green eggs.

You's a silly hen, Timbits.

Duck and SilverWing

Duck, on the left, and SilverWing, on the right, came from the same set of eggs, set under the same hen and hatched at the same time. Despite the unexplained size difference, they hang together all the time, you can't see one without seeing the other. They're both Americaunas and I'm hoping they are females, which is why I call them Duck and SilverWing. If I knew they were roosters, I'd call 'em Grimli and Legolas.

There's Always One in the Bunch...

I planted corn, sunflowers and snowpeas in front of the chick run to provide some shade for the little guys. There's always one that can manage to find a way out and eat all the snowpea vines, shred the corn leaves and tug on the sunflowers, generally causing wreck, ruin and mayhem. Well satisfied with himself, he looks around and panics because he realizes he can't get back into the run. Catching panicked mayhem is becoming my specialty and a vital part of my chicken management program.

Ten Little Peepers

We finally had our first hatch of 2010 last Monday. This was done the old fashioned way, stick a bunch of eggs under a hen and let her do the work. Sounds easy enough but with the fiasco of the broody hen who wasn't, I've learned that easy comes tough sometimes. This Partridge Chantecler hen was broody and did a great job, I put 10 eggs under her and she hatched out 10 chicks, all are thriving. We've never had a complete 100% hatch rate before. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever heard of it, books and websites generally say anything over 60% is good.

So I'm thinking back trying to figure out what was different in this hatch.

• It was a great time of year, with the exception of one, all of last years' were in the winter.
• Very little wait time for the eggs. Usually I gather eggs for a few days, this time I stuck three under her the first day and the remaining seven the next. No wait time.
• I did not muck about with the eggs half as much. They say you should be checking the eggs every couple of days, making sure there was no broken or cracked ones. ("They" don't seem to give the hen a whole lot of credit here.) I was very apprehensive of disturbing this hen, I did not want her to stop being broody, one broody fiasco a year is plenty. I gently picked her up a couple of times later in the incubation, to take a gander at the eggs but that was it.

I don't know if any of this made a difference but I think I will definitely keep up the habit of the occasional visual check of the eggs, unless a problem arises. And I will aim for less wait time when it comes to collecting the eggs.

Enough of the pondering! I'm just going to enjoy these sweet little puffballs and their antics. I love watching a hen in mom-mode, they are so gentle and mellow with their little ones.

Here's Mama teaching a few of her chicks how to scratch and pick out good things to eat.

Early Edibles

I had my teenage daughter, T, and her best bud rake out the herb garden, or at least the remains of it, last weekend. The herb garden is turning into a perennial patch of comfrey and various mints, if it's invasive, it stays to do its own battle with the weeds. Among the various mints was a patch of chives, a good 6 - 8 inches long. Whoot. I love chives, they're a great substitute for onions. I ran out of my own onions a couple of weeks back and had to buy them. Which was pretty depressing because store-bought onions are really inferior in both taste and looks to mine (she says matter-of-factly, with no snobbishness or pride). But now the the chives have sprung up, I can use them pretty much wherever I'd use onions. The picture many not look like much, but the chives were great in the pasta salad I made that night.

Chives aren't the only thing springing up around here. Clover, dandelions and plantain are also making an appearance, much to the rabbits delight. They love their fresh greens. As the season continues, they will eat more and more fresh and less pellets. I think its better for them and they certainly enjoy it more. I think they can smell the greens when I bring the laden bowl down to them. I'll fill up the pellet dish first, the rabbits may give it a disinterested sniff or two but the rabbits will look at me expectantly, ears erect, eyes bright, and sitting with their front paws in the air... they know what's coming! Then I'll dump the greens and the rabbits dive into that sea of fragrant, fresh goodness. It may not look like much in the picture but the rabbits think it's divine.

The compost is also giving up its bounty as well. As I turn it, the worms wiggle and squirm. Now that's a treat only the chickens could love, and they do. They sure make short work of them. I'm positive the worms don't even know what hit 'em. (No picture because not only doesn't it look like much, it positively looks gross.)

So the bounty begins and the gifts are well appreciated by everybody on the DaM Farm. And expectations of more fresh produce bloom (cue Carly Simon's "Anticipation" now).

Not Exactly Like I Planned...

Spring is here and everything is bursting with new life except for a little acre or so in scenic PEI nestled in a little sheltered corner of the island. I've been have a heck of a time getting my new generation of livestock going here on the farm. Talk about a run of disappointments.

The rabbits were the beginning of the run. I have a young doe I've been trying to breed for forever. She just won't have anything to do with it. Just my luck to get a purist rabbit. The real disappointing thing is I kept her back from the last litter my dear Earl Grey sired before he passed away. She grew well and had a good body shape and nice personality but so did the other doelings from that litter. The reason why I chose her was because she looked very similar to Earl. Earl was a great rabbit and I wanted to keep his looks around. But she is not co-operating at all. I've tried everything I know of to get her 'in the mood' but nada, zip, zilch, nothing. Of the other four does I bred at the same time, only one had a viable litter. My oldest doe had one large dead kit, the other two did nothing. It was after a fairly long break for them and I know sometimes rabbits take a while to get back into breeding mode but I never had that problem before. So the rabbitry should be 'hoping' with new life but it is not. It's got some but no where close to where it should be.

The chickens are fairing worse than the rabbits! First there was that whole false broody thing where I lost the whole nest of eggs. Then I had an incubator fiasco where it shot up to 110F for some unknown reason but I strongly suspect the water I put in the tray with was may-be too warm. Whatever the reason, I didn't get one chick, not one out of 42 eggs. During the three week incubation period, I hoped against hope that something survived. Two more times the temperature shot up but when I tried another thermometer, the temp. was a perfect 99.5F So I'm thinking it wasn't the incubator but a faulty thermometer. In which case the eggs didn't hatch cause I cooled them down for too long. Losing a whole hatch of my own eggs is bad enough but I bought two dozen eggs, Delaware and Americauna, to complement my own. Losing those just added to the whole disappointment. So I should be having peeps all over the place and I have none, nada, zip, zilch.

That's how it goes sometimes. It's really nothing disastrous, more like a series of setbacks one after the other. The DaM Farm holds so many surprises and unexpected joys that I think I'm just not used to having a bunch of disappointments anymore. I can't decided if that's a good thing or not. Anyhow, onwards and upwards, pip-pip, whoot-whoot and all that rot. Disappointments never killed anybody, probably builds character...or dementia.

Empty Nest Syndrome

I wrote a little while ago about finding a bunch of eggs and thinking I had a broody hen or two. You can read about that here. Well, Mocha sat on the eggs for two days and I thought everything was hunky-dory. On the third day, she got off the nest and started pacing by the fence to get out. She kept it up all day so that night I let her go back to the main coop. I figured if the eggs were cooled for 24 hours, they were toast anyhow. Out of the eight eggs, I was able to use 3 or 4 in baking, they passed the water test. The others were iffy so I didn't used them. Out of the eight, seven had no sign starting life. One had a little cobwebby blood threads may-be a quarter inch long. A disappointment for sure, but valuable lessons learned and I know much more about broodiness, half -broodiness and stubbornness passing as broodiness.

Who Knew Chickens Played April Fools?

Well, those little feathery tricksters sure pulled one over on me. I went out to look for eggs this morning. A little Buff Orpington just couldn't wait to get out of the coop proper and head over to the "brooding area" which is empty. She seemed a little frantic, which was weird but I didn't think much of it. On occasion, I will find a chicken over there, just checking things out. I collect the eggs in the coop and on my way out, I check the Buff in the brooding area but I can't see her...ANYWHERE. I could hear her, but couldn't see her. So I went in for a closer look. That's the brooding area in the picture above. With the exception of the butt-end of a chicken in the lower right hand corner (some hens will do anything to be a star), do you see any chickens in there? Neither do I.

So I started snooping and there, squished in between the top and bottom straw bales, I found her. I also found a mixed hen, too. The Buff was enthusiastically pecking her on the head trying to make her move. O.K., now this is getting odd. So I reach under the mix, who I believe to be Mocha to see if there was an egg. There was ten. Ten I knew nothing about because it never occurred to me that a hen, much less two, would wedge themselves between two straw bales to lay eggs. There's Mocha after I chased away the head poking Buff Orpington.

Now I have a nest of eggs in the most unlikely and unsuitable places and possibly two broody hens. GACK!!! Funny how this situation was never mentioned in any books or any conversations I ever had about chickens. "Oh, and by the way, Marn; (or Marnie, or Marian, or Dumb-Dumb)make sure you don't make any cool hidy-holes that would be totally impractical for brooding hens 'cause that's exactly where they'll pick for raising their chicks. Until, of course, the chicks hatch, fall off the bale and break their itty-bitty necks." Double GACK!!!

That's the cache of eggs I knew nothing about. There's twelve, not ten. On top of everything else, I can't count when surprised. Well, I have to do something but I have no idea what. So I'll start with the easiest and work my way up (or down, whatever). I definitely have to close off that broody area so no chicken can get in or out. That I solved by using an S hook to close the top part of the fence where the chickens were getting in. The thing is, I don't know about leaving the eggs on that bale, it seems precarious to say the least if those eggs hatch. I looks like I may have two broody hens. Of the two, Mocha is totally in broody mode. She's cranky, she's pecky and when I pick her up, she turns into a boneless pile of rags. The Buff is running around, eating and generally being a normal chicken. So I figure she was just hoping to add another egg to the clutch and let another hen have the fun of hatching them. So I put her back in the flock. There's no way that Mocha can set twelve eggs, it's a bit much. I have learned that eight eggs seem to be a good number for a hen Mocha's size. So I take seven of the eggs and put them in my pocket. The other five I put in a new nest area that I have packed with straw all around to make it cozy and secure and on the floor. I remove the top bale, opening up the area where Mocha is setting making it not so attractive to her. I transfer Mocha to the new nest area. She protests a bit but then she sees the eggs and goes in and settles. I take the seven eggs in and test them to see how fresh they are. If you put an egg in a bowl of water, a fresh one will sink, a 'rotten' one will float to the top and a so-so one will stand on end. So I decide to give her the so-so ones since chances are there's a chick developing in them. I had a whole escapade with weird broody hens last season and did the whole egg water thing, the eggs that stood on end or floated did hatch. The four fresh ones I kept to put in the incubator that will be started this Saturday (more on that in another post; one long, convoluted story at a time). I went back to the brooding area to give Mocha the eggs. Now I intended to take the other five and do the water test so she'd have eggs roughly the same age but I decided against it. She'd been through a lot of turmoil, being pecked on the head, being moved, have eggs taken then replaced, and I thought I had pushed it about as far as I could.

So Mocha now has eight eggs under her and hopefully she'll stay on the nest and in three weeks I'll see if anything hatches or if this was nothing more than an elaborate April Fool's Joke these two hens 'hatched' up. "Hey, I know," Says Mocha to Buffy, "Let's hide a bunch of eggs on her and then on April Fool's, we'll let her find them. That'll be a fine joke. And messing with her head is just a bonus."

First Wash on the Line This Year

Ah, I'm probably pushing it a bit, but I'll see if the clothes will actually dry. It's been so sunny and warm(ish) for days now. I'm starting my seeds and my head is chocked full of plans for the garden. The rabbits are in breeding mode and I'm actually getting ready to start collecting eggs for hatching. These are all things I do that heralds Spring's long awaited appearance. Of course their are other not so exciting chores that are Spring related as well...namely major, not-so-run-of-the-mill cleaning. Not a whole lot of fun but windows and curtains need to be washed. The wood furnace has its charms but the walls need a wash down because of it in the Spring. So when I can put a little joy in the cleaning, I do and it's always nice to have the first wash on the line. It might sound like a boring life if the first wash causes so much excitement but there's nothing boring in Spring's arrival and I can't think of anything that trumpets the coming of Spring more than bright, freshly washed clothes bobbing on the line. It puts a 'spring' in my step and a smile on my face.

Way to Go, Timbitts!! Whoot, Whoot!

For the last week or so, Timbitts has been acting curiously like a laying hen. Which is odd considering that she is A) in a molt and molting chickens generally go off laying for a bit and B) she's never laid an egg in her life and considering she's almost a year old I wasn't thinking she would. Be that as it may, I have found her in a nesting box several times lately. I kind of thought she was just staying quiet and wanting to be away from everyone else as she molts. (Chickens seem to get a little self-conscious when they molt, I guess it's their equivalent to me having a bad hair day.) But I thought I'd keep a closer eye or her just in case something was up. Sure enough, something was.

Yesterday, I was in the coop and noticed Timbitts scurry into an empty nest box. I puttered around for a while and then left after checking under her. No egg. About an hour later I headed out again. She was still sitting in the nest box. So I checked under her and lo and behold, I found a little egg. She then started the typical "LOOK, LOOK, WHAT I DID, I LAID AN EGG!!!" clucking. A few chickens congratulated her and she decided all that effort had made her hungry and headed for a food dish. The egg is considerably smaller than the norm but that's not unusual for a hen just starting to lay eggs so all the evidence points to her being the owner of this egg. That's her egg on the right.

Good for you, little hen, good for you.

K-K-Keeping Ch-Ch-Chickens C-C-Comfortable in the C-C-Cold

Chandler and one of his ladies waiting for Pumpkin

We haven't had any real deep freezes yet, unlike this time last year. The coop was -7 C today and that's the coldest it has been in there for weeks. Chanteclers and Orpingtons are considered winter-hardy birds and can handle -7 pretty well. Captain Morgan has a wee bit of frostbite on the very tips of his comb but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. I was a little surprised though, because that didn't happen last year until the second -25 C plus deep freeze.

-7C is cold enough to warrant baking up a nice pumpkin for them. They do love their warm pumpkin on cold mornings! I change the waterer making sure the water is warm. I really believe the chickens appreciate my little attempts at trying to make them as comfortable as possible. They cluck softly and look at me brightly. It's a 'Cozy Coop' feeling. Then I notice those little pumpkin guts threads hanging out of their mouths and that kind of breaks the moment. Adds a little comedy, though.

I count heads and check combs and feet. I wonder over Splash yet again. I just don't know what Splash is. At first I thought she was a pure Chantecler. Then I noticed a couple of startling white feathers. After her first molt, more white feathers appeared. I don't know if it is just a throwback some Chanteclers have or if she is a mix. But white feathers on a mix doesn't make sense either because I don't have any white birds. At first I started calling her 'White, The Feather' then I realized the the initials were WTF; that's not really very complementary (though it was a pretty accurate description of those white feathers). Don came up with 'Splash' and it suits not only her looks, but her personality. She's a bright and chipper kind of bird, always adds a 'splash' of personality to any group she's in. So the coop is in pretty good shape this winter, so far. The chickens been getting out quite a bit due to the warm(ish) weather. The two roos are getting along quite nicely, too.

I have lost one hen, though. One of the only three Chantecler hens I have. She had a prolapsed oviduct. I am not going to describe or explain that too much, it's not... well, it's a little... actually it's ... surprisingly not painful for the hen, anyhow. For those with insatiable curiosity and a strong stomach, I suggest you google it. When I first noticed it, I separated her and did what I could for her. She seemed happy and content. After a couple of days, it even looked like it was getting better. Then one morning I found that she had died during the night. She's been the only loss this winter so far. Hopefully I won't have anymore.

Splash Sittin' Pretty

Chicken Update

Today I gave the chickens the insides of the pumpkins I baked for freezing. Of course, there's always one in the crowd more interested in the empty container than in the seeds. I guess she's just making sure I didn't leave any in there, she probably figures you never can tell with humans.

A hen Doin' Her Job

This year, we decided to keep more hens over the winter. The demand for our eggs has increased to the point where sometimes we don't have eggs for ourselves. That kind of defeats the whole reason of chickens in the first place. We're hoping by having 17 hens instead of 10 will meet all our needs. I'm also thinking the more warm bodies in the coop the warmer it will be this winter. Personally, I really think we need a four legged animal in there to use as a walking furnace. A friend of mine has a goat and her barn stays a lot warmer than my coop. I'm leaning towards a donkey. Always wanted a donkey. Don isn't too sure about a donkey, may-be he figures he gets enough braying as is. (Now there's a question best left unasked!)

I'm hoping the increased number of hens will keep the two roosters living in relative harmony. So far it's been working. Last year, I ended up separating the roos because one was being harried to death. This year I kept two new roos and they are getting along better. Each have their own harem of hens and as long as the second rooster, Chandler, doesn't start courting one of Captain Morgans' ladies, they co-exist pretty well. They don't ever fight, Chandler knows he's second fiddle and seems to be fine with that arrangement. He doesn't crow and he always gives way to Captain Morgan. I think because there's more hens, they can easily share without any conflicts. The real test will be when they are cooped up together days on end during a winter storm or cold snap.

Captain Morgan (front) and Chandler (back) Ignoring Each Other Peacefully.

We're thinking next spring of getting a few more layers, hopefully Americaunas, like Leah; green eggs are cool. I might look into getting a few meat birds to raise over the summer as well. I really like my dual purpose chickens but it takes two birds to feed us, it might be nice to have a few of the bigger variety. While we might expand our variety, we will keep mainly to our heritage breeds. They don't have the problems the modern breeds have. Modern meat birds, because they're so heavy tend to go lame easily. Modern egg layers won't go broody; that trait is pretty much bred right out of them. That means they won't sit on a nest to incubate and raise chicks. I certainly prefer broody hens to incubators and brooders. What ever we do, as long as I can go into the coop and thrill to a nest full of eggs, I'll be happy.

Little Chick Update

After doing the Chicken coop update, I realized there were a few things that I mentioned but hadn't followed up for a while. So I thought I'd start updating some of them starting with the little chick in the incubator that could not get out of his shell on his own.

It seemed this little chick was doomed from the start, he couldn't even get out of his own shell. Everything I read said that helping a chick out of the egg was not a great idea because if the chick is not strong enough to manage to get out on his own, he wouldn't survive anyway. Or so the theory goes. I fully intended to follow this advice, but the theory did not take into account the chick peeping all day long. This chick cracked his shell in the morning and started peeping. After a few hours of this, I couldn't just stand by and listen to him anymore; he was stuck and scared so I helped him out. He was wobbly and certainly a little different than the other chicks so I secluded him for a few days as he got his feet under him. I started calling him Tiny Tim.

After a few days, he was pretty steady on his feet so I put him with all the other chicks. Being the smallest in the bunch, he learned to stand up for himself and be insistent about getting food and water. None of the other chicks picked on him, they just tended to run over him in their rush for food. He'd just get right back up and join in at the feeding dish. Things seemed to be working out for him.

Once the chicks were too big for the brooder, I moved them into the vacant rabbit colonies in the chicken coop. Everybody thrived. I could always spot Tiny Tim because he was smaller than the rest. No matter, he was growing and developing at his own pace and could keep up with the rest. I always make a point of picking up and holding the chicks so they'd become accustomed to human touch, I must admit Tiny Tim got more than his fair share of petting. Once they got old enough, I cut a little hole in the chick area wall to the main coop. That way, the more adventurous ones could go and mingle but still be able to get back to their safe area if any of the big chickens decided to be morons. And that's where poor Tiny Tim got himself into a world of trouble.

In the chicken coup, the main flock had 21 previously hatched chicks about 2 months older than the incubator chicks. Several of the young roosters started hanging out together and developed a real gang mentality. All that was missing were cigarettes hanging out of their little beaks and cans of spray paint. Generally the two older roosters kept everything under control. But the J.D.s (juvenile delinquents) were opportunistic and if the occasion would arise, they'd give grief to any chicken in their line of fire. I started counting down to when I could put those three into the freezer, a first for me.

`

I never thought for a moment that Tiny Tim would venture out of the safe area. I should have known better; his determination and bravery was apparent from the day I helped him out; the bird was a fighter. So the poor little thing went out into the big old coop and the rotten roosters were all over him. Don noticed the commotion when he was doing some outside work. He started yelling for me and finally I heard him. I found doing his best to keep the roosters away from poor Tiny Tim as he cowered under a board. Not only did Tiny Tim venture out into the coop, he managed to get outside into the pasture. Once out there, I guess he lost his bearings and couldn't figure out how to get back inside, the J.D.s took advantage of the situation. I picked him up and Don was sure the chick would need to be put down. He was beat up. I took him inside and examined him. The J.D.s must have chased him into a corner and pecked at him when he couldn't escape. I make a habit of going out every hour when new chicks are venturing out so I knew this incident was less than 15 minutes old. They sure did a number on him in that short time, though. All his feathers on his lower back were gone and he was missing a patch of skin. I washed him off as gently as I could with warm water. I kept him in a cat carrier in the kitchen. For the first day, he was very quiet and didn't do much. The next he started moving around and eating. By the fourth day he was giving his opinion on everything and really enjoyed helping me sweep. His wounds healed well and quickly. I suppose it was one of those cases of looking a lot worse than it really was.

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When he was healed, perky and extremely noisy, I brought him out to the coop again. I put him with three other chicks a hen had a few before in the other vacant rabbit colony. At first I kept him in a cage in the area. After everybody got used to each other, I opened the cage door for a bit. After a while, all four were great friends. Tiny Tim now was about 4 months old and was obviously a hen so I changed her name from Tiny Tim to Timbitts.

When the four chicks were old enough, I put them in the main coop. The J.D.s had gone off to their proper place and were now called Sunday Dinner. Chickens have quite the social order and there is a little jostling as hens learn their place in their community. The older hens tend to be higher up in the hierarchy and don't mind reminding the younger ones of this fact. Timbitts figured out how to beat the system by hanging with our main rooster, Captain Morgan. He never let the chickens squabble for long and the hens knew better to start the old dominance game anywhere near him. Captain Morgan also seemed to have a soft spot for Timbitts so the other hens gave her no big problems.

I tagged Timbitts with my version of a leg ring, a plastic electricians tie, just so I could spot her easily. I didn't need to, Timbitts stands out in any crowd. It didn't hurt that she managed to twist her toe and now it's crooked so that's a dead give away. The toe doesn't bother her and she doesn't limp. She seems to be having a great time out there and enjoys her life. She is way past due to start laying and she hasn't. I don't care, she's a little chick that defied the odds and a prime example of why 'livestock' should be redefined. She's staying :).

Timbitts with two of her buddies sharing scratch.

Chicken Coop Update

Someone who reads my blog mentioned that they never saw any pictures of the chicken coop bunny barn combo we built last year. Oops. There's a couple of reason for that. One: I forgot. Two: It took us a year to get around to painting it so it was only really completed this summer. A special thanks for Derek for helping out while he was here on vacation; Kipling said it best, "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din".

The coop is functional and the roof doesn't leak so I'm happy. We put on a high peak roof to help keep the coop cool in the summer. It doesn't seem to make a great deal of difference, if it's 28C outside, it's 28C in the coop but at least it doesn't get any higher than the outside temp. In the fall, Don lays down plywood on the rafters and we store our hay and straw up there. It's convenient and we hope it helps a little to keep warmth in during bitter cold spells. There's at least one window or windowed door on each side of the coop. The windows and doors keep it bright in the winter and hopefully a little warmer. The trees leaf up in the summer and block the sun so it doesn't absolutely bake. We can remove the windows, there's screen to keep the bugs out and hardware wire on top of the screen to keep the raccoons out. Not that I've ever seen a raccoon around, but I don't want to find out they're here by walking into a coop of dead chickens. I had a friend who lost her whole flock to raccoons, she said it was carnage. Bloody bodies everywhere and all the heads were missing. Like to avoid that, if I could. In addition to the windows, there's a few vents for air flow in the winter.

As far as being able to house the rabbits year round, the coop fails miserably. I ended up bringing the rabbits in because I needed the colonies for broody hens and raising chicks. I'm thinking...may-be...next year... of building ~gasp~ another small barn best suited for indoor colonies. Having the rabbits inside isn't a big deal. The basement has 3 north windows, is airy and bright. We run a dehumidifier in the summer so it's not damp. I use woodstove pellets as litter and there's no smell so having the rabbits inside is very workable. And it's convenient, no trucking outside in all kinds of weather. But if they were outside, I could build them a really large outside pen and that would certainly be nice for them. So I'm still thinking, may-be...next year... What's that line from the old movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? "You just keep thinking Butch. That's what you're good at."

Chicks and Cukes, Mighty Cute

The chickens come in pretty handy when I have an over-abundance of cucumbers. There are only so many cucumber sandwiches, salads and sides you can serve your family before you hear rumblings of a revolt, "Cucumbers AGAIN!?!" "Why did you grow so many?" Point in fact, cucumbers are pretty finicky, some years I might get three out of the whole crop so I have a tendency to over-plant. Then I have seasons like this one where over-planting is a really bad idea because every plant and its brother flourishes and I get lots and lots and lots of cukes. So I serve them when I can and I pickle what I can then I stare at the remaining lot, overflowing in a five gallon pail. I have discovered that cucumbers are a nutritious treat for chickens. Oddly enough, my rabbits won't eat them, but the chickens love 'em. So I am getting rid of the extras and being entertained at the same time. Trust chickens to turn feeding time into dinner-theatre.

Here's three hens sharing nicely, each taking a turn to peck.

And here's Timbits [formerly known as the chicken Tiny Tim) deciding that sharing is NOT for the birds while two hens, in hot pursuit, try to convince her otherwise. Yes, that's a cucumber Timbit is carrying.

Mandellas enjoying the middles of the cukes and leaving the rinds for the chickens.

Little Bagel-Face

One of my Partridge Chantecler chicks ended up with a beak that doesn't line up right. Looks weird and because the beak isn't aligned, he has a cross-eyed look as well. Don named him "Twistee Creme" after a childhood soft ice cream treat he liked. I call him Bagel Face when no-one's around. Sometimes I'll notice the beak is almost perfectly aligned then there are times when it looks like the picture above.

This ailment, as far as I have learned, is commonly called 'cross beak'. The jury is still out on whether it's a genetic thing or a hatch deformity. The usual 'treatment' is to kill the bird. Kind of harsh if you ask me. The theory is they can't eat and will starve to death. So I watch little Bagel Face very carefully and right now he is eating fine and is growing just as well as the other chicks. What's more, he's happy and bright, he gets along with all the chicks and no-one picks on him. He's one of the first ones to greet me in the morning. He's inquisitive and curious. I just can't look at him for too long because I'll burst out laughing. He's a sweet little bird, all things considered. Most importantly, his quality of life is the same as all the other chicks. He's not suffering and he's not unhappy. So unless that changes, I don't see any reason to do him in right now.

More Room For The Chickens

Don has made the chicken pen larger again. He started planning to do this a while back and had stopped mowing the lawn in the area he was going to expand. The grass is nice and long and the chickens are having a grand time in there.

It was kind of funny, when we first opened up the area, the chickens came over and stood at the border of the old area. They kept looking at the new area but nobody was inclined to wander in. Chickens aren't generally the 'leap before you look' type. They like to look and discuss and think about it and discuss it a little more and then, hey, let's think about it some more. Mandelas was the first adventurer in and she just loved it. By the end of the day, most of the chickens had decided that it was worth checking out. They seem to like the old tree at the end of the pen.

The new area easily doubles the area the chickens have. The more space they have, the happier they'll be. They very rarely wander alone, most have a couple they like to pal around with.

Sick Rooster

Yesterday morning I found a mixed roo not up to snuff. He was sitting behind the nest box area and didn't get up to run outside. He also had his eyes closed. I hate when any of my animals get sick, I always feel so helpless. Gingerly I picked him up; I didn't want to hurt him if he had a physical injury. He didn't even bother to try to get away from me, he kept his eyes closed and his head was drooping a bit; not good. The list of 'not goods' is getting longer and longer with this rooster.

I checked him out and could find no wounds on the guy and his bottom looked fine. Holding a rooster upside down to check his netherlands is generally taken as a great affront to roosters. And this guy did convey his displeasure by clucking fairly adamantly. So now I have a bit of a list of good signs, which is also a good sign.

I secluded him and started calling him Micheal Moore, after the directer who makes documentaries including one about the American medicare crisis called "Sicko". Well, I had to call the roo something, and I already have about thirty chickens called "Hey You". I watched him all day and he just sat with his eyes closed. I think he might have drank a little but his food remained untouched. I wasn't feeling all that hopeful. You can never tell with chickens; it could have been something he ate, it could be a number of ailments chickens can get. All I can do is watch and if I find something specific, like wheezing or a wound, I can treat it with home remedies. Basically, I just watched him do nothing and hope he wasn't about to fade away.

At bed check, Micheal Moore had eaten some of his food, but was still really quiet and lying down. This morning when I went in, he was standing up and both eyes were open. His eyes were bright and he had eaten more food. He was also clucking at me. So there is a pretty big improvement. I let him out of the cage. While he did walk around and seem interested in his surroundings, he didn't seem much inclined to go into the main coop area and mix with the other chickens. So I'm going to leaving him walking around in the storage area today, getting a little fresh air and some exercise and see how it goes. Hopefully it was just something he ate. Chickens can get botulism very easily from something as innocuous as a moldy leaf. They do tend to get over it if it's just a mild case. Hopefully that's the case with Micheal Moore.