Chicken Helper(s)

We have been letting the chickens out almost every day, now that the weather has warmed up, to roam around the yard--pardon me, to free range.

They are quite docile and so far have rarely even ventured to the other side of the yard, let alone attempted to fly over the fence. That is good, because we haven't clipped their wings.

So what happens when the gardener decides to do some weeding while the chickens are out?

No fewer than 6 chickens come running straight over!

They park themselves right in front of where I'm working and get busy looking for worms, scratching the dirt, jumping into my weed bucket, and eating weeds out of my hands.

Also, pecking at my gloves.

Yes you. Hello.

It's a little hard to get anything done, but it's quite entertaining, so I go with it.

Every now and then I push them aside so I can dig up a few more weeds.

They come right back over as soon as they see me turning over the dirt.

If one gets a worm and another sees it, the first one takes off running, with 3 of 4 chasing after her.

It's so funny! 

When it's time to let them out, they can hardly wait and all come crowding out at once.

Once they've been out for an hour or two, they're much more content to stay in the coop once we put them back. They've had their exercise, I guess, and are ready to go back.

We're still averaging nearly a dozen eggs per day.

We will probably never make back in eggs the money we've spent on feed and equipment, but I have to say entertainment value is pretty high on the list as well.

My kids pick them up and carry them around all the time.

So that's something.

No names. They all look so much alike we can't tell them apart anyway.

We've decided our next batch of chicks (whenever that comes along) will be a different breed, so we can at least tell apart the older ones from the younger. 

By the Dozens

Guess what? 

Our chickens have started laying eggs!

We are so excited!

Since we still aren't living in our home yet (due to the fire), we have been going over to check on the chickens every day, but usually not looking in the nest boxes. 

My husband has been the main one taking care of them, including refilling food and water, etc.

Well, a week ago Sunday he went over to check on them and just so happened to open up the coop.

There were 30 eggs in the one nest box!

Surprise!

They must have started laying the week before that some time.

Of course, we couldn't use any of those eggs, since we had no idea how long they had been there (darn!), but we got the coop all cleaned out, fixed up the nest boxes a little better to make them easier to clean, and we're off!

Since then we have gotten an even dozen some days, and 11 the past couple of days.
Once again, all the eggs have been in the same nest box.

As you can see, they are all brown, some lighter than others. Some of them have what looks like a coating of tiny white dots on them.
There were 2 in this set--the great big ones--that each had 2 yolks. Twin eggs!

Now we are learning all about eggs--to wash or not to wash? And so on.

I think we're going to run out of refrigerator space before we run out of eggs.

Maybe we'll sell some; I know we'll start giving them away.

So--anyone want to come visit? 

We'll have some farm fresh eggs to send home with you!

And Then There Were 12

Yesterday morning around 10am, I looked out our back window to see the lid of one of the nesting boxes on the ground next to the coop.

What in the world?

This could not be good. 

Those lids were held closed with carabiners.

The carabiner and the latch were still there, but something had torn the lid right off its hinges.

There was no blood, no feathers.

No chicken wandering the yard or neighbor's fields.

After propping the lid back in place so no chickens jumped out, I started counting.

There should have been 13.

I counted 12.

(I counted 3 times to make sure I hadn't just missed one.)

When my kids got home from school, they helped investigate.

They found a small pile of feathers I had missed.

We still weren't sure what could have done it.

My husband cracked the case:

he noticed bite marks on the lid and signs of digging close to the coop.

(Thank goodness for buried wire mesh all around the coop!)

It had to have been a dog.

There are 2 or 3 that we have seen running around our street in the last week.

They are either strays or get out a lot.

He and my oldest son boarded up a hole in our back fence, closed all the gates to the backyard, and securely screwed the lid back in place. (He reinforced the one on the other side as well.)

We are looking into different coop options.

This one has always been pretty flimsy--it was a build-it-yourself kit, and all the wood pieces are very thin. We may have to just get some plans and build one out of stronger materials.

I'm sure this will not be the last time an animal tries to kill our chickens.

I just hope it's the last successful attempt. 

Last week we had a hawk swoop down right in front of us and try to snatch one.

We were all in the backyard at the time.

It must not have noticed the wire mesh all around the coop and run.

It beat its wings against the mesh a couple of times, then took off when my son started shouting and running toward it.

Sheesh! Leave our chickens alone!

p.s. How do free-range chickens survive?

The Girls Are Outside!

Hardware cloth installed, food and water moved, pine shavings put down.

Check, check, check.

Or should I say cluck, cluck, cluck?

Welcome to your new home, chickens!

They were pretty tentative at first, and the kids took it up on themselves to "train" them how to get up the ramp into the actual coop. The slat that fell out of the ramp didn't help much.

(We'll have to replace that.)

They seemed to enjoy having more space to practice flying.

Several of them flew the length of the coop.

It seems we'll probably have to clip their wings when they get bigger.

I ended up moving their food to the other side of the ramp.

I had it down at the far end of the run, but they were all huddled up over there, and it was like they forgot the water bucket existed until I came out and used a stick to make some water come out.

Then they all came running!

After I moved the food closer to the water, they were eating and drinking, rather than just one or the other. More like what they were used to, I guess.

Chickens are funny.

Let's talk about the weather for a bit.

See how it looks sunny and calm in this picture?

It wasn't. It was SUPER windy that day.

Poor little chickens probably were wondering what just happened to them!

I didn't want to wait to get them outside, though, because Monday was the supposed to be the warmest day all week.

I really want them to get acclimatized to being outside soon.

After all, it's just going to keep getting colder.

I don't think we're doing them any favors leaving them in here where it's warm.

They're a cold hardy breed, but apparently they grow feathers appropriate to the temperatures they are in. So unless we want 13 hens in our house all winter, they have to get out there and get used to it!

Plus, they were stinky (we were changing out the bedding material every 2-3 days) and they had grown big enough to be crowded in the tin tub.

So, after a warm but windy afternoon, Monday night we had a wild and windy rainstorm!

At least before it started we had already gotten them all safely into the coop and closed the door, and my husband figured out how to rig up the heat lamp for them overnight.

(We'll probably have the lamp on for them at night for another week or so.)

It was just pouring out there, though, and the wind was blowing the rain sideways.

Welcome to living outside, ladies!

I felt a little bad for them, but on the other hand--see above.

It was time to get them out there.

What a first day and night to be outside, though!

The Backyard Chicken Bible, by Eric Lofgren

My husband gave me this book for Christmas--I think it was 2 years ago. In any case, it was long before we had the room or the inclination to raise our own chickens. Ever since we moved here, though, I knew chickens would be coming soon. Not only did we have quite a bit more space out back, we are in much more of a farming community here. Plus, we eat a lot of eggs! Not to mention, it would be a good experience for the kids to raise some animals, and we he had heard that chickens were good for beginner farmers (i.e. city slickers) like us.

Well, it has been a good thing I've had this book to fall back on, because we really knew nothing going in. I mean basics, yeah--give them food and water--but details? Not so much.

The Backyard Chicken Bible: The Complete Guide to Raising Chickens, by Eric Lofgren

4 stars: So far so good!

This book had been my go-to information source so far. Lofgren starts by defining terms, then he goes into what you need in order to prepare to keep chickens, from choosing a breed to building a coop, avoiding predators, and so on. Chapter 3 goes into more depth on starting out with chicks (where my bookmark is currently!), life stages of chickens, and taking care of the eggs--including incubating and hatching your own if wanted. The following chapters talk about maintaining the flock, and caring for diseases and ailments.

Lofgren's conversational tone and anecdotes make it all seem well within reach. His overall message seems to be one of reassurance: chickens are resilient; most likely, it will be okay. It's like an experienced neighbor is leaning over the fence and telling you everything he knows. He has a dry sense of humor, as well, that makes it enjoyable to read beyond just gathering information.

* * * * *
As for us, I am happy to report that 2 1/2 weeks in, our chicks are all still alive! The kids are still taking their turns as "chicken helper" willingly. For whatever reason, they have even decided it's fun to change out the wood shavings, so hey, I guess we're doing good on that score!

We are now turning their heat lamp off during the day and back on at night, though they are still in the house at this point. We are looking to get them moved outside in the next week--we just need to get the hardware cloth installed around the bottom edge of the coop to stop digging predators from getting in. They are not the cute little balls of fuzz they were at first, but it has been fun to see their feathers start to grow in on their wings and tails.

I need to get back to my book to figure out at what point you can tell if you really got all hens or if some are roosters. I mean, I'm sure it will become obvious if or when some start to crow, but it might be nice to know before that point. We've already told the kids that any roosters will be eaten. (The book calls it sending them to Freezer Camp. Ha!) They were okay with that.

A New Adventure

Happy Labor Day!

We have officially entered new territory!

Here's a hint:

(No, not a playhouse for the children, as our neighbor suggested.)

Almost finished.

Surely you have guessed it by now!

That's right.

CHICKENS!

Currently residing in our laundry room.

We picked up 13 Golden Sex-Link chicks from the Tractor Supply store, for 25 cents each.

Neither my husband nor I have ever raised chickens.

We were quite worried the first night, since we didn't see any of them drinking the water.

So my husband caught several of them and tapped their beaks against the metal nipple.

It was a bit hard to tell which ones he had already done, since they all look very much alike at this stage. I guess they figured it out somehow, because they made it through the night!

This was a week ago; kids are still thrilled!

I am happy to report that so far they have all survived.

Their wings have started to grow out now and they are getting a little more feisty when the kids pick them up, but still all kinds of fun.

We have one more week of keeping them indoors.

It hasn't been too bad, to be honest.

The laundry room is on the one end of the house, and bedroom are upstairs, so we haven't heard them chirping all night or anything.

My 3 little helpers have been good about changing out food and water, and wood shavings, too.

They should be grown up enough to start laying eggs by spring.

At least, that's what the books say. What do we know?

So, don't hold out on me!

Give me all your chicken advice!