Category: chickens

Chicks arrive, cozy in their new home.

On By stefrobrtsIn 2010chicks, chickens3 Comments

Today I brought home 20 chicks – 10 Buff Orpingtons, and 10 feather-footed cochins. I can’t wait to see what the cochins grow into, they are partridge colored, red, white and buff, and maybe a black or blue in there too. They were still unloading chicks from the packing crates when I got to the feed store this morning, so they packed mine right up in a little box and I brought them straight home to their brooder box which was all warmed up and outfitted with food and water.

I started out using my waterer I used for the chicks last year, but they ended up hopping right into it, so I switched to this chicken-waterer that has just a shallow trough so no one will get their butt wet standing in it.

There are two little guys like this, I think they are the partridge colored cochins. I know they’re cochins, look at all the feathers on her legs.

Warm, fed, and dozing under the heat lamp. Happy chicks!

Chicks -2010

On By stefrobrtsIn 2010chicks, chickens5 Comments

Wednesday I will be picking up 20 chicks from the feed store – 10 buff o’s and 10 assorted color cochins – red, black and buff. Hopefully someone will go broody and I’ll get some chicks from my own hens as well this year, but because the feed store chicks are sexed, I thought this would be a nice way to go. Not so many roosters to deal with. Also I want to handle them more and make them friendly, not stand-offish like my mama-raised birds. I plan to keep the ones I like and sell the other one’s to be urban egg layers, since city-folk love having tame chickens, but not everyone has the facilities to raise their own chicks.

I set up a 4 x 4ft brooder box in the chicken shed, with a heat lamp hanging from the ceiling on a chain, and food and water inside. The floor is covered in vinyl to protect it, and that is covered in wood chips. This same system worked great for the turkey chicks last year. Now I just need a cover to keep the cat out.

Garden and chickens

On By stefrobrtsIn chickens, garden1 Comment

Laid down peat moss on top of the garden beds, one bale only covered a bed and a half. Guess I’m going to need a couple more bales before I’m done.

My sitting area next to the garden, looking out on the pasture.

The chickens were out in the backyard again today. I get such a kick out of watching them, they are so busy and look so serious about it 🙂

Chickens in the backyard

On By stefrobrtsIn chickens2 Comments

Chickens exploring the backyard. I let them out to wander around under the backyard trees, hunt for bugs. It was a beautiful day.

While the girls are pecking around, all you see are chicken butts, but this guy keeps his head up watching for hawks.

He has really grown into a spectacular rooster, and he’s never made so much as a move at me, though he did fuss at me once when I picked up one of the girls, but he didn’t attack.

Cleaning the Coop – the deep litter method

On By stefrobrtsIn chickens4 Comments

If it looks like the debris under the roost is about a chicken deep, that’s no illusion. We are practicing the deep litter method, so I started out with a layer of pine chips, then as they roost and poo in there I throw more chips on top, and now, several months later, it’s about a foot deep! It got pretty stinky during the winter when they were trapped inside because of the hawk incident, but otherwise it’s usually not too bad in there. The chips do a good job of keeping the smell down.

The roost is like a big ladder, and it’s hinged at the top, and the bottom lifts up and I can secure it to the ceiling using the hook and chain the food bin hangs from.

Which leaves me free and clear to shovel out the poo. A suspicious hen watches from the doorway.

Three heavy wheelbarrow loads later, and I’m down to the vinyl flooring. It’s still in good shape, except for right by the door and the air vent. I’ll need to clean those areas up later.

Half a bale of fresh pine chips…

Down comes the roost and hang the chow bin back up.

And invite the girls back in to check out their fresh and clean coop. Ready to start the deep litter thing all over again.

And out in the garden, I have a whole wagon-load of chicken debris, partially composted. I’ve heard this is good to put straight down on the garden, since it’s already partially composted and mixed with chips, or I could compost it a bit longer if I want. I’ll do some research before deciding.

Shellless Egg

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, chickens, jack2 Comments
 
 
One of the girls laid a shellless egg! It is just a membrane, no shell. What a weird thing to hold. It’s all squishy! I don’t think it’s anything to worry about though, I’ve read that hens occasionally lay one, especially if they are just starting laying, and I have a couple young hens that certainly could be just getting started. Plus it was laid in a nest they don’t usually use, so it must have been one of the girls still figuring out how it’s done.
 
 The dogs still enjoyed it!

Tough Decisions – Copper moves on

On By stefrobrtsIn chickens, Copper1 Comment
Don’t send me away, I’ll be good!
Tough decision time – I like Copper, he’s been a very nice rooster. He is big and beautiful, and well behaved. He gets on fine with the other rooster too. Only problem is, he loves the ladies! A little too much. The ladies are getting tired of getting attention from two roosters. Every time I go check on them I find hens sitting on the chair, or up in the trees, trying to get away from him!
 
He can’t reach me up here!
So I decided eight hens just wasn’t enough to spread out the attentions of two roosters, so one had to go. Since Copper is related to a couple of the hens, I decided to keep the unrelated rooster, Big Blue. Plus Blue is a cochin and I’m getting cochin chicks in March, so that will give me the opportunity to produce more pure cochins next year.
Surprisingly, I found someone on the Portland Chicken List who has 30 hens and a very tired old rooster, and wanted a vigorous young rooster. So he is boxed up and ready to go to his new home. Hopefully he’ll fit right in there, and be making friends with all the new ladies in no time 😉

Chickens in the sun

On By stefrobrtsIn chickens4 Comments
 
We’ve had a couple beautiful sunny days! Yesterday I secured the fence to the backyard so Barclay couldn’t squeeze through it anymore, and decided it would be nice to let the chickens out to peck around in the lush grass back there – their chicken pen is looking pretty picked over.
 
So I threw out a few handfuls of scratch and opened the service side of the coop and let them come out through the shed. The roosters were on patrol the whole time. 
I was watching from the other side of the fence, taking pictures. I didn’t want to disturb them, and I didn’t want to get sneak-attacked by a rooster while I was busy looking through the camera 🙂 Then a funny thing happened. Big Blue was watching me closely. Then he waddled down towards the shed and made a funny noise, and the other rooster, Copper, ran down and joined him. They appeared to have a conference, clucking at each other, then Big Blue called the girls and everyone went back to the shed and he took them through the coop and back out to the regular chicken yard! Even though there was still scratch on the ground! I guess he decided the new area was too scary, especially with me hanging around staring! 
Chickens are so amazing!
While I was taking pictures of the chickens this guy kept flitting around. I think it’s some kind of Oriole. I see a lot of them, but he’s the first one I’ve noticed this season. 

Around the farm

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, chickens, food, jack1 Comment
I got up this morning and took the dogs out, and went out to feed the chickens. My big buff rooster looks so much like his dad! (he’s in the back). I threw some scratch down in the coop for the girls.They gave me six eggs in return!

One of the girls was impatient waiting for her scratch while I was filling the feeder and she ran out into the ‘service’ area, and scared Barclay. She had such a determined look as she ran up to him he turned tail and ran!

Then he stole the scoop. He thought this was a sure-fire way to get me to chase him, but he forgot I have two scoops now.

 
We came back in and Jack was in the mood to get rowdy!

Woo hoo! Running through the house!
 
Wheeeeee!
Then it was time for doggie breakfast. And people breakfast.
The other day I made Beef and Bok Choy Hot Pot for dinner, and I made extra so there would be leftovers. It’s like an asian beef soup. So this morning I heated up a small pot of the leftovers, threw in some ramen noodles, and had that for a hearty breakfast – yum!

Then off for another exciting day at work…