Category Archives: backyard chickens

Update: Retirement Home for 4 Hens

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UPDATE:  The hens have a home in a lovely retirement community at Eden’s Organic Garden Center!  They are calm, happy, and in retirement (except for the occasion egg they choose to lay).  Here’s an updated picture of them in their new habitat:

In Search of RETIREMENT HOME for 4 hens (ages 4 and 5). (email Anita@AnitasArbor.com if you would like to inherit these hens) The hens have been together since 2013, and even the oldest is still laying occasionally – in spring we are covered up with eggs.  They have all been fed organic feed since they were peeps.  They are:

Winnie:

Winnie came from Peace and Love Farms in 2013, and resided at Urban Acres Market for a year before coming to live with me.  She is about 5 years old. She is an Ameraucana and is anoble gray with a long neck. She is shy of people, and is the last to emerge when the greens (chard, bok choy or tatsoi), scratch, and chunks of pear have been spread out. She lays eggs with a tint of green.

 

 

 

Mavriki (Mav for short)

Mavriki is Greek for “little black one.” She is an Australorp with irridescent black feathers.  She came to me as a peep in November of 2013. She lived at Urban Acres will late 2014 and then came to live with me. She was the one who noted, after the move, that they were in a different place and tried to alert the others, who were too busy pecking and scratching for grain. She alerts me to something that needs attention – like when another hen, Fancy Pants, got sick. Shen Fancy Pants the one who brooded eggs, died, Mav took over the task of brooding – trying hard to hatch that fake egg!  She likes organic produce, and frozen peaches. Her eggs are brown.

 

Aurie and Rosie (O’Grady, as in Nosey Rosie O’Grady):

Aurie is an Ameraucana, and her eggs are blue tinted. She is the middle hen in the picture. She came to me as a peep in November of 2013 and was raised at Urban Acres, then came home with me in late 2014. She is pretty calm and lays throughout the summer, when other hens take a break. She delights in watermelon, and particularly frozen watermelon in the summer.

Rosie is also an Ameraucana, and lays light rose-colored eggs. She is the hen on the right in the picture. She was also raised as a peep from November 2013 until coming home with me in late 2014. She gets her name because she was the one, from about 2 weeks of age, who was curious every time I went into the coop. She watched me and inquired as to what I was doing. She continues to do so to the this – she will watch me while others are indulging in the goodies I bring. She, along with the others, love the heads of broccoli.

A note in memoriam – the hen at the left of the picture was Ginger. She is recently deceased.  She was the Rhode Island Red, and was head hen. RIP, Ginger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chickens’ Laying Oddities

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I am owned by five hens – three Ameraucanas, one black Australorp, and one Rhode Island Red.  The youngest are now about 3 years old, the oldest, one of the Ameraucanas, is about 4.  But all still lay at some rate or another.

I noticed, however, that two were laying pretty regularly in December – Auri (blue eggs) and Ginger (brown eggs).  But in January two others took up the torch while the others took a break – Mav (brown eggs with deep brown speckles) and Rosie (pinkish brown eggs).  In fact, Mav and Rosie are still laying as I write thise.

HOWEVER, the other day, Mav’s egg was rather odd – as you see in the picture.

You will note that the egg on the left is the size of a marble.  This is not something Mav had laid before.  It was perfectly formed, and had that speckled look just like her regular eggs.

So I cracked it open to see what was inside, and it appeared perfectly normal, with a small, almost forming yolk.  The white had a good consistency.  It’s hard to see – I cracked it into a white bowl, and a light keeps reflecting on it.

I asked my local chicken expert and he said – it just happens sometimes!  Doesn’t indicate anything is wrong.

In fact, the next day she laid an egg that was perfectly normal, so I guess all is well in the coop.

One thing that must be remembered – chicks often take a break over winter or when the weather is wonky like we have had lately here in Dallas.  Or when they are molting, or move, or otherwise their world is disrupted.  But usually egg laying subsides markedly in the winter.  And then … Groundhog Day comes … and the laying starts picking up.  It’s really not magic, and don’t go looking for a calendar in the coop, where the hens are keeping track of the days.  It all has to do with the length of the day – the number of hours of daylight.  As the daylight increases, so does laying.

So… keep those hens happy and enjoy the eggs!

 

 

We Get Attached to Our Chickens

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I must say, we urban chicken wranglers do get attached to our chickens.  Especially if we have raised them from mere day-old chicks.  I had what could only be a “mom moment” a couple of weeks ago.  I had tossed out to the hens some broccoli that had been in the refrigerator a bit too long. As these 3-year olds attacked the broccoli, I had a flashback to when they were mere chicks and were attacking a broccoli floret I had given them.

So here’s the first picture, taken in early 2014:

That’s Mav (for Mavriki), Rosie (Nosie Rosie) and Ginger (Georgia Ginger) going at the broccoli pecking away.

 

 

 

 

 

Now let’s look at them in January 2017….. Mav and Aurie (Ameracauna – she was outside the previous picture) as well as Ginger heading for the broccoli.  The gray lady is Winnie, another Ameracauna who is almost a year older.  I got her as a laying hen.

Fall is Here! Egg Production Up… and Strawbale Class coming

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Fall is here, and egg production is beginning to ramp up in the coop.  I guess it’s the cooler nights and not-so-hot days.  All three Ameraucanas are now laying….with an occasional egg from the Rhode Island Red.  But I’m still waiting for the Black Cochin and Black Austrolorp to come online.  I’ll supplement their feed with some more protein – yummy meal worms and maybe some calcium to help them along.

 

I was reflecting the other day how going out to take care of the chickens in the morning has become a time of untime.  I move into a zen and no-time, as I care for them, cluck at them and generally carry on the morning conversation.  It would seem odd to hurry through the routine.  Chickens truly are a stress reducer… ask anyone who has sat and watched them scratching as they foraged.

I’ll be teaching strawbale gardening on October 3, Saturday, 10 am at Trinity Haymarket (1715 Market Center Blvd).  The class is free, and the proprietors Bill and Fred have coffee and pastries to munch on before the class begins.  You can learn how to condition strawbales organically to grow (especially) greens for the winter.  Strawbales are excellent choices for a temporary garden, a garden for not bending over, or just plain fun!  and when the season or two the bales last are over, you have COMPOST!

Also come and check out Trinity Haymarket’s new offerings – Sojos freeze-dried, no-grain dog food.  Super nutritious, as well as local honey, chicken and bee supplies as well as organic garden supplies.  It’s like an old-time feedstore and really fun to visit.

Snow Gardening

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Is this the last blast of winter?  Maybe….it seems like it’s all coming at once.  But I do remember that in 2010 we had a freeze in April.

Caution is the watch word for early spring gardening in North Texas.  Be flexible, and be ready  to haul out the covers for plants that were just placed in the ground. snow garden

Looking at my garden tubs, I’m thankful I didn’t have enough time to plant collards, radishes and more lettuce just yet.

The garlic is also weathering the snow well. They’re in the square tub.  I’ll check to see how the bulbs are forming when the snow melts.

But look at the chard in the picture below (well, it’s hard to tell because it’s under all that snow!)…it’ll come back strong when it warms up a bit.  Chard is durable and I’ve found it’s a perennial – hardy perennial.  The downside, is that as it gets older and harvesting takes the outer leaves, the inner ones become smaller and smaller.  But they are tender and tasty!  Note that the green onions (those wisps at the front) are doing well, too.snow chard

 

The chickens are well suited for the cold – they have feathers and down, and I’ve tarped the north and most of the west side of the run so that no snow gets into their habitat.  I just keep them busy with scratch and some cracked corn (extra carbohydrate to help them keep warm).

snow chickens

Next week will warm a bit.  I’ll write more about what I’m planting next week – and if you’re in the Dallas Design District, stop by for my Straw Bale Gardening class at Trinity Haymarket (March 7, 10 am – free).

Until then, stay warm.

Moving Hens – and Mav the Alarmist

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Chicken-2BMavAbout three weeks ago, I moved six hens into the backyard coop.  You’ve met the hens before…in previous posts… but in a different setting.  Now, they reside with me and I can sit on my back step with my tea and commune with them in the morning.  A dear friend helped me with the move, which required some planning.  First, we had to pick a night we were both available and then find two pet carriers.  A flashlight and headlamp completed the equipment list.

Hens should be moved at night – they are sleepy and so it is less traumatic for them.  We avoided lights, wondering if at any moment we might be questioned by law enforcement about why we were slinking about with flashlights hen-napping.  But, with a few squawks we managed to get all six hens transferred from their roost in the old coop and into the two carriers and loaded in my van.  A short drive to my house and the carriers were moved into position. I had planned on putting the carriers in the run and then opening the doors to let the hens wander out.  But, alas and alack … the door to the run was too narrow!

Therefore, after positioning each carrier at the door, I reached in and plucked each hen out, then placed her on the shelf above the watering/feeding station.  The shelf was the spot of choice because the coop framed out in the shed was not quite complete.  But, with a tarp over the end of the run, it was snug and cozy and the hens slept there for a few nights quite happily.

In the morning, I went out the back door, to find the hens clucking, scratching and pecking in their normal manner.  At least five of them….the sixth, Mavriki the black Australorp, was squawking and pacing about the run, checking the perimeter and otherwise fussing.  She seemed to be saying, “Doesn’t anyone else notice that this place is different?  Doesn’t anyone know we’re not where we were?!”  No one else seemed to care.  By the next morning they had convinced her it was okay, even if it was different.

The hens are now settled in and, with molting nearly complete two of the hens are laying again.  But wait eagerly for the green, blue and pink eggs to be gifted again by Winnie, Aurie and Rosie, the three Ameraucanas.

 

THE CHICKEN INTEGRATION SAGA OF JANUARY 2014

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It was on the fateful day of Friday, January 17, that I finally decided the chicks could no longer stay in the indoor coop – they were just too big and I expected them to start acting out through boredom.  I’d taken them outside for a look-see earlier in the week. 
So, at the stroke of midnight, my son helped me load them into a plastic tote and take them to the hen house.  I didn’t want to wake them too much, so we didn’t turn on any lights.  I wore my camping headlamp and hoped that the local police wouldn’t find that time to drive by and we’d have to explain the intricacies of moving chickens at night!
I took each of the youth and put them in the coop.  The elder hens clucked a bit, but didn’t quite wake up.
By the next morning, they were in the “basement”, the space under the coop.  Herded there by the elder hens. Later in the day, I found they were huddled at the end of the chicken run, terrorized by the elders.  I sighed and entered the run – the fully enclosed 2 foot high run – on my hands and knees and crawled toward the youth.  I wanted to herd them back into the basement where they might feel safer.  The alpha hen, Dolly the Barred Rock, took after me, squawking and flapping her wings. I brushed her back and she just settled back to cluck angrily. 
 Dolly
Then Penny, the Rhode Island Red, took her turn getting after me.  I brushed her back too. I finally gave up because the young ‘uns wouldn’t herd very well. So I crawled back and emerged from the run.
I was worried that the chicks wouldn’t be able to get any food and water, so I visited the coop after dark on Saturday with my flashlight.  The elders were in the coop settling in for the night, and the teens were out and partying – they were peeping away, eating and drinking and having a great time.  I set my mind at ease.Penny
The next morning,  Sunday, the youth were again herded to the end of the run by their elders.  Every time they tried to get to the general feed and goodies, they were intimidated back into a cluster.  One of the youth, an Araucana by the name of Aury, had a bit of blood on her beak from pecking.  So I drove to the drug store for hydrogen peroxide and swabs.  My chicken mentor, Andrea,  asked me if I’d coated the young ones with Pick-No-More, which I’d forgotten to do.  So….back into the chicken run I crawled – only this time I put some straw down so I had a cleaner crawl.  I slathered each of the chicks with the PNM, then swabbed Aury with the hydrogen peroxide and then slathered her.  Neither Penny nor Dolly tried to come for me this time….they knew I was ALPHA HEN, so all they did was cluck angrily.  Penny did take a peck at one of the chicks and discovered the awful taste of PNM, so she went off.
By Monday, when I found the chicks herded back into the basement, I started throwing handfuls of scratch and pellets into the understorey for them.  I also threw some greens, but C.Lo, the black cochin went after them.  So I sneaked around to the back of the coop while C.Lo was otherwise occupied and stuffed bits of greens through the hardware cloth for the chicks….they love their greens and were quite happy.
C_Lo
Tuesday, I knew the routine…give scratch and greens to the hens, then retire to the coop to replace pellets and water and then throw scratch and pellets into the basement.  Then I sneaked to the back and started stuffing greens.  By now, the chicks expected it and they were eagerly peeping….which alerted C.Lo, who came charging in to intimidate them and steal the greens.  I yelled at her, hissed, whistled and otherwise tried to scare her away.  She just stared at me.  I was stumped. C.Lo was the bully; none of the other hens seemed bothered by the chicks by now. 
I got to thinking about it.  C.Lo had been the one who was most friendly to people in her former home.  The other hens had come from large flocks and so were not so people friendly.  I realized that C.Lo would greet me when I put food and water into the coop area and cluck at me.  Then, when I went to the run to throw scratch, she’d come out too.  It hit me….C.Lo was jealous of the chicks!  And I was giving her negative attention, but attention nonetheless.
So I decided to change my tactics.  On Wednesday I threw scratch and greens in the run for the hens.  I also cut up pieces of pear.  But C.Lo wasn’t allowed by the other hens to partake of the pears – they jealously guarded them for themselves.  So I then went to the coop area with pellets and water and C.Lo followed.  I cut pieces of pear just for her and talked to her.  I cut greens just for her.  And the chicks ventured out to partake of pellets.  Every time she started to herd them back to the basement, I called to her and gave her another piece of greens. 
Thursday I continued the special C.Lo treatment, which seemed to be working rather well.  The chicks would make forays out to the run to pick up some goodie and then retreat to the basement area.  At least they were eating and drinking.  And then…..
The weather report said we’d get an arctic cold front with nighttime temperatures in the teens.  Ouch!  How were the chicks going to survive if they couldn’t get into the warm coop at night? I started by tarping the run, and re-stapling plastic sheeting around the coop and understorey to keep out drafts.  I gave the hens and chicks extra scratch that evening so they could have some fuel to keep them warm.  And I called my mentor for ideas – since I had no lamp in the coop for warmth, she suggested heating a brick in the over and then wrapping it and putting it into the coop. It would radiate enough heat to take the edge off.  So I heated a brick for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees, then wrapped it in an old sheet, and put it inside the understorey area.  And crossed my fingers.
Friday morning I was anxious.  When I approached the run and unwrapped  it for the sun to warm the chickens, only the hens were clucking.  I didn’t hear the familiar peeping of the chicks!  I spread scratch and greens and then went to the coop to put in feed and water.  The water was only partially frozen (that was a good sign!) … and out from the basement came all four of the chicks!  And C.Lo didn’t intimidate them either (although I did have special treats for her, too).
With the weather turning warm again for several days and, even though another cold front is coming through in a few days, it is not expected to get quite as cold as it was Thursday night. And the chicks now seem to have some freedom of movement and certainly can access food and water.  Maybe the Great Chicken Integration will happen after all and I’ll have a whole flock of 8 chickens. 
And as a bonus, I found not just the one egg (green, from the Araucana) that I’ve been finding for the past week or so, but a brown one too!  On the coldest night we’ve had, another chicken has decided to start laying.  Woohoo! 
Two-eggs

The Music of Peeps

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I have to brag about the new additions to the Urban Acres Farmstead family. 

About 10 days ago I was placed in charge of 4 little fuzzyballs of peeping chicks.  The peeping subsided once they were installed in a straw-bedded crate with water and food and a heat lamp.  Full tummies helped them settle down and take a much-needed nap.

 By the third day, however, they were in need of a deeper crate, and one with a wire top – one was trying to fly to the lip of the crate to make a getaway.  Now, in their second week, they’re ready for another move – to a borrowed indoor coop that will give them some vertical room to test their wings, learn to roost and grow more.

The routine is to change their water, add fresh chick mash, more wheat straw and a half cup of chopped greens.  They seem to prefer parsley, do not care much for brassica greens, and love lettuce as well as bok choy. 

Our chicks are representatives of four different breeds – Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, Araucana and New Hampshire.  I’ll explain a bit about each one.

The Wyandotte coloring is a speckled black and white.  It’s a traditional homestead bird, bred for both meat and egg production.  The silver-laced variety was first standardized in 1883 in the US.   Wyandottes can look heavy due to their feathering.  Eggs are light tan to brown, and they are medium to high egg producers.  A Wyandotte hen can weigh up to 7 pounds.

The Rhode Island Red is a very well-known bird and it was developed for both meat and egg production.  It’s adult color is deep red, and egg color is a light brown.  As a high egg producer, a Rhode Island hen can lay up to 250 eggs a year.   Historically this has been a reliable bird for beginners because it can adapt to extremes of climate.  An adult Rhode Island Red hen can be about 6 pounds.

 The Araucana can grow to 5-6 pounds, and originated in South America (Chile), but the breed was imported to the US in the 1930s. It is a “crested variety” and has ear tufts on either side of its head.  Araucanas are hardy and can handle poor weather conditions easily. They are known as the “Easter Egg” chickens, because their eggs can be tinted blue or green.  Our little Araucana may reach 5-6 pounds when she’s an adult.

Our New Hampshire Red is also a US breed, developed during the early 20thcentury, but became popular in Europe in the mid-twentieth century.  It was primarily developed for egg production.  The eggs are light brown to brown. This chick may top out at about 6 pounds or so.

I’ve found a couple of good references on chickens that are helping to update my knowledge of chicken keeping (since the last time I kept chickens was a good 30 years ago!):

Dr. Joseph Barber (ed.), The Chicken: A Natural History. Lewes, East Sussex, UK: Ivy Press, 2012.

Christine Heinrichs, How to Raise Chickens: Everything You Need to Know. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press, 2013.

Suzie Baldwin, Chickens: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Keeping Happy, Healthy Hens. London, UK: Kyle Books, 2012.

And for chicks:

Jenna Woginrich, Chick Days: Raising Chickens from Hatchlings to Laying Hens. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 2010.