Meet the Flock Roundup – July 2017

Suddenly, after celebrating her one-month birthday, Paula the Salmon Faverolles chick is starting to look like a teenage chicken. Look at the feathers sprouting all over her legs & her pretty salmon colored wing feathers!

Squawky the Speckled Sussex chick looks longingly out the window at the great wide world. A week after this shot, the chicks had their first opportunity to go outside!

Leaving Chickhood Behind – The Hipster Chicks Move Out of the Woodshed

On Saturday evening, I went into the woodshed with the bag of dried mealworms.  The chicks know this bag of deliciousness on sight and gathered around for a treat.  Valerie and Squawky, who are not shy, ate some delightful treats right out of my hand while the others blissfully pecked them off the floor.  Then Valerie, as she often does, hopped right into my hand.  That’s when I closed my hand around her and shoved her into the cat carrier that my wife, Kathy, was holding.  I also nabbed Squawky before she could run away and put her in the carrier with Valerie.  Both chicks cried out continuous shrill peeps of fear and alarm, and the others scattered for the corners of the woodshed.  We carried these two little girls down the hill to the pole barn and released them into the new coop that I’d prepared for them.  The time had come for these nine-weeks-old chicks to take the next step towards henhood. 

 

Life So Far for the HIpster Chicks:  They hatched on June 6 and were put in a transport box - I picked them up and drove them to their new home.  Their first week was in the big blue bin - mostly under the heater.  Then they moved to the plastic kiddie pool, where they started roosting on top of the heater.  Finally, at about three weeks old, the kiddie pool went away and they had full run of the woodshed - until last Saturday!

Meet the Flock Roundup – May & June, 2017

Meet Veronica the Easter Egger, a prolific layer of green eggs. Veronica's in her 5th year and was the only Easter Egger of her generation to lay continuously through this past winter. Such a hard worker! And very pretty to boot!

Getting Your Ducks in a Row for Raising Baby Chicks: Eight Questions and Answers

The expression "taking them under your wing” is one of about a million idiomatic phrases that originated with poultry keeping.  I’m sure you know what it means and I’m willing to bet that you’ve used the phrase yourself more than once.  But just in case you’ve never heard the expression, it means to nurture and protect those who are inexperienced, young, or in need of protection—just as mother hen nurtures and protects her baby chicks and gathers them under her protective wing.  When you adopt baby chicks, you’re taking these small, helpless, peeping balls of fluff under your wing.  It’s a big responsibility, and if you’ve never done it before, you should make sure you understand the list of basics before you undertake this big venture.  If you have done it before, it’s good to pull out that list and review it just to make sure you have all your ducks in a row (I’m mixing metaphors here, but it does present an interesting mental image!).  Raising baby chicks is not hard, after all, but there are a few things you have to consider and a few things you need to do right. 

I'll be publishing this post on June 5, and shortly after I post it, my wife, Kathy, and I will get in the car and set off on our quest for baby chicks.  If you’re reading it the day I post it, you can imagine us somewhere on I-35 headed south from Minnesota to Webster City, Iowa to pick up chicks at the Murray McMurray Hatchery.  Or maybe we’re on the way home and I’m holding a box of peeping fluff balls on my lap.  You can be sure that getting these babies was not a spontaneous decision.  What follows is a list of the questions I've asked myself and the answers I've come up with before getting these babies. I think these questions and answers will be useful to you if you're considering getting chicks for the first time, or if you're adding to your existing flock. There’s lots of useful information on the web about caring for baby chicks, and every time I’ve gotten chicks I’ve taken the time beforehand to sample from the collective knowledge of all those people who have raised chicks and written about it.  I’m including a lot of links to all those folks in this post.  It takes a village, don’t you know, to raise a chick. 

1 - Do I want chickens?  This is the obvious first thing you consider. If you’ve thought about owning chickens, you probably already realize that becoming a chicken owner will put you at the forefront of the local/sustainable food movement.  You’ll be producing food right in your own backyard!  If you already produce food in your backyard with a garden, chickens are a natural complement to that garden—the chickens will happily devour any leftover vegetable scraps and weeds you give them and all that composted chicken manure will make for some very happy garden plants!  Also, any chickens you keep will, without a doubt, be better treated and happier than the majority of the hens laying the eggs you find at the grocery store.  So, does it make you happy to imagine a small flock of hens clucking contentedly in your backyard?  If you immediately answer “yes” to that question, you’ve jumped the first hurdle!  That was the easy one!  Of course if you already have chickens the question becomes, “Do I want more, chickens?”  The answer to that question is always “yes”, naturally.

Feathered Faces in Far Away Places

One of the things I do when I'm not thinking about chickens is travel.  Matter of fact I blog about that as well.  It would be easy to think that these two interests wouldn't have a lot in common, but when you think more about it chickens are everywhere.  And when I encounter chickens in far-flung places I notice them and usually wind up with a few photographs.  Here are some pictures of a few of those chickens that I've met along the way.

I met this very cool rooster at Hacienda Buena Vista, a 19th century coffee plantation in Puerto Rico that is now run as a museum by the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust. Cockfighting is legal in Puerto Rico and is practically the national sport, but I don't think this guy had to worry about that.  There were many chickens and ducks wandering the grounds there, and his job was just to strut around and be dandy -  a job he was performing well.

This mama hen and her babies were also wandering the grounds at Hacienda Buena Vista.

Speaking of mama hens, babies, and coffee plantations, I ran into this little family at the Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation near Kona, Hawaii.

When I was in Botswana in 2009, I crossed the border to visit a small village in Namibia.  In this case, crossing the border meant taking a small boat across the Chobe River to Impalila Island, an island formed at the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers, just upstream from Victoria Falls.  Impalila Island contains around 60 village and about 1200 people, all of the Subia tribe.  The village I visited had around 20 houses.  Chickens and goats free-ranged throughout the village. They also had cows, but they were not allowed in the village and were grazed in the grassy area outside of town.  Since the cows were outside of the village, they were tended by herders to keep them safe from predators, and also to keep them from breaking through the acacia brush fences and marauding through the crops.  These chickens seemed small, but I am guessing that they were young.  I love the beautiful feather patterns and colors.  Would've been fun to pack a couple in my suitcase and bring them home!

I found the chickens in these last two pictures in 2015 in the little town of Pilcopata in the Peruvian rainforest.  Pilcopata extends for a few blocks along the only road in the area that ends a few miles later at the edge of the Manu Reserve.  Chickens and pigs were wandering main street of town when we stopped.  I'm not sure what's going on with the gene pool of the Pilcopata chickens, but they are pretty strange.  I'm guessing there's some Silkie in the lineage of the chicken in the upper picture and definitely Naked Neck blood in both of these birds.  

The Legbar Chicks Go Into The Great Wide World

One of the Teenage Legbars stands on the threshold of the pop door leading to the world

Courtney laid an egg last Saturday.  Normally, the news that a chicken laid an egg would not be news at all. But in this case, the last time Courtney laid an egg was way back before she became broody and long before she became the mom for this brood of Legbar chicks.  Laying an egg is her way of saying that she's getting ready to be done with this "mom" stuff and is all set for the old chickless routines.  And this all happened, ironically,  the day before Mother's Day.  I fully expected her to give the kids the cold shoulder from that point forward, but that really hasn't happened.  The first few days after that first egg, there were times when the chicks would be in the coop but I would see Courtney out pecking around in the chicken run.

The Egg!

But then yesterday morning Courtney was in the run and had managed to bring all the babies outside with her.  They were a bit tentative about leaving the coop at first but by this morning, they were all outside and all having a blast!

Paulette managed to scratch a worm out of the ground at one point, and by the time she got it in her beak, the other three were after her and a crazy game of tag ensued.  First one chick then another grabbed the worm and would take off at a run with the others in fast pursuit.  Bonnie, the smallest of the brood was the last one I saw with it as she zipped into the coop and out of sight with the others right behind.  I don't know who got the worm.  For all I know the worm got away!

Mama Courtney with Marissa in front and Nicky behind

Courtney & three of her kids - Bonnie leads the way with Paulette in the middle and Marissa bringing up the rear

Here's a great picture of all four chicks with Bonnie in the foreground, Paulette in the middle, and Marissa in the back on the left and Nicky on the right.  With Bonnie standing right in the front it's probably time to talk about her lack of a tail.  Araucanas are one of the breeds British geneticists used when they developed the Legbar.  Araucanas lay blue eggs and that's the trait they were after.  Auracanas also are missing the last vertebrae, tail feathers, and a tail, for that matter.  The missing tail genes were supposedly bread out of Legbars.  Bonnie would say, "I beg to differ."

Bonnie, because of her missing tail and her small stature would not win any ribbons at the State Fair.  For that matter, Marissa would fall short because her neck hackles have too much gold.  Nicky would miss out becasue her breast plumage and hackles are too dark.  Of the four, Paulette is probably closest to the breed Standard of Perfection.  But nevertheless, every one of them are top notch Hipster Hens.  I don't plan on using these girls for breeding stock nor do I ever plan to show them.  And if they all met the Standard of Perfection, they would all look identical, so how would I ever tell them apart?

A May Day at the Chicken Ranch

It's been a fine day here at the ranch.  I grabbed the camera and spent some time in the coop this afternoon and captured some pictures of the chickens enjoying life on this fine May day.

The Legbar chicks will turn six weeks old at the end of the week and in chicken-years are definitely teenage chickens now.  They now have 24/7 access to the coop where Emily, Angitou, and Snowball live and hang out there most of the day.  Courtney still takes them back into their own coop at night. Here, from left to right we've got Marissa, Bonnie, Nicky, and Paulette.

Marissa and her mom, Courtney are enjoying a light afternoon snack.

Here's Marissa again - I guess she was just being photogenic today.  She's proudly standing on a roost that's about two feet off the ground.  Just today, Paulette found her way to the high roost that's four feet off the ground.  She was quite proud of herself.

Meanwhile, out in the big chicken yard, the hens all scratch, peck, and enjoy the spring weather while Emile the birchen Cochin bantam rooster keeps watch from the hen yard perch in the background.

Here's Jennifer the White Crested Black Polish hen being beautiful.

Out in the chicken run, Snowball the Silkie roo and Angitou the Golden Polish hen are having a great time digging through a leaf pile.

Another fine day filled with scratching, pecking, clucking, and laying eggs.  Life is good.

Coop Update

Happy birthday to the chicks on their one-month birthday!  Here are Mama Courtney, Bonnie (in back), Marissa, Nicky,  & Paulette (L to R).

Here's a picture of Nicky the Teenage Chicky.  See how she's starting to get the crazy Legbar hairdo already! She's also already getting the salmon colored breast feathers that will be her adult color.

Meanwhile, over in the big coop, every nest box in the coop is empty except for this one which both Veronica the Easter Egger & Buffy the Buff Orpington seem to feel is the only one that will work for them. Never said chickens were bright. On the other hand they're a lot like us.

Fine Poultry Art & The Chicks Go Out

I recently had a birthday, and my amazing wife, Kathy, presented me with an equally amazing birthday present – a portrait of four of my chickens by the Wisconsin artist Susan Martin.  I’ve been using an image of Susan’s painting “Three Wise Roosters” on my egg cartons because I love its rusticity and whimsy, so I was overjoyed to see the images of Snowball the Silkie rooster, Emily and Courtney the Silkie hens, and Angitou the Polish hen put to canvas. 

Snowball and His Hens - by Susan Martin

This group of chickens, by the way, are my “decorative” chickens and share a coop separate from the rest of the flock.  Courtney and her Legbar chicks share a small coop next door to this coop and my plan is for them to all eventually live together.  The first step in incorporating the babies with this group of chickens happened a week ago when I replaced the solid pop door separating the two coops with a hardware cloth panel, so everybody could see each other.

The Legbar Babies Viewing the World Through a Hardware Cloth Window

Yesterday, I opened the door entirely so I could see how everybody would interact.  I sprinkled a handful of dried mealworms at the door entrance and in no time at all, Courtney and the kids were at the door and then through the door, happily pecking up mealworms. 

Courtney calls to her babies through the pop door & out they come, pell-mell, tumble bumble!

Emily and Angitou were in the coop when Courtney walked in with her chicks and both hens acted very cautiously.  Emily was a little taken aback by this intrusion of strangers, and quietly backed into a corner.  Angitou stood stock still and actually backed up when one of the chicks ran over to check her out.  Courtney apparently was concerned about this interaction, however, and ran at Angitou aggressively, chased her around a couple of times until Angitou escaped out the door and into the run.    

After an hour in the big coop, I put Courtney and babies back into their coop.  They’re in the big coop again today, though, and I’m hoping I can leave them there all day without any major battles.

The chicks are 23 days old today!  Here, Marissa says, "See how cool and grown up I am!  I can perch!"

The Chicks Are 16 Days Old

Ah, they grow up so fast!  Everybody has cute little wing feathers, and Paulette, precocious chick that she is, already has sprouted tail feathers.

Courtney contentedly poses with a couple of her kids

Paulette is proud of her new tail feathers

One postscript on my March 21 post about the chick nursery:  I'd suggested that paper towels were a good thing to use on the floor of the brooder coop.  They really do work well for all the reasons I talked about in that post.  But, I’ve never had a broody hen in the coop with the babies before.  New advice: If you’re planning on using a hen, forget the paper towels.  Courtney is constantly scratching the floor in an attempt to unearth treats for her babies.   There are no treats down there, Courtney--nothing but a wooden floor!  When the weather gets warmer she can take the kids outside and scratch in the dirt and then she'll be a whole lot more successful in finding buried treasure.  In the coop the only product of her efforts have been huge paper towel tumbleweeds!  When she was just sitting on golf balls the floor stayed pristine.  After a single day with chicks, the coop floor was down to bare wood with lots of piles of crumpled up paper towels.  The morning of her second day with the chicks I found that one of the paper towel wads had wound up in the chick water font and had wicked out all the water.  So not only was there no water to drink, there was also a big pile of soggy towels!  That’s when I got rid of all of the paper towels and put down pine shavings.  The pine shavings have been absolutely fine.

Finally, I have been focusing all my recent blogs on Courtney and the chicks.  There has been a certain amount of grumbling among the other hens that I’m playing favorites and that they’ve been forgotten about.  So to set things right, here’s a sketch my wife Kathy made this week in the hen yard when everybody was out enjoying the spring weather.  There you go, hens--now you can stop complaining!

The Hens

The Chicks - Latest Update

I am sorry to report that one of the babies looked lethargic on the evening of April 1, and by the next morning when I went to the coop I found that she had died during the night.  I am completely mystified as to the cause.  One thing you need to watch for in baby chicks is pasty butt - a condition that occurs in baby chicks where poop sticks to the down around their vent and can build up to the point where it forms an impermeable plug - it can be fatal and is easily avoided simply by washing the poop off their down.  This chick did not suffer from that and as a matter of fact showed no outward appearance of any problem.  Baby chicks can simply mysteriously die, and that's where I am at with this one.  I've been worried that this baby died of something potentially infectious, but time has passed and the others continue to be happy and healthy, so I would like to think that I am out of the woods for an infectious disease.

Meanwhile the chicks have been christened.  I would like to introduce Bonnie, Marissa, Nicky, and Paulette!  They are a week and a day old now - notice how they're already getting little wing feathers!

Courtney & Babies - 8 days old

Driving Across State Lines to Pick Up Chicks

 It played out a little like a drug deal.  We met in a park.  When I saw them arrive I casually walked over and they handed me a package.  Then I gave them some cash and we went our separate ways.  The tip-off that this was a legitimate transaction was that this mysterious package peeped.

The Chicks Go Outside

On Saturday I finally came to the realization that the chicks were not going to get moved to the big coop in the time frame I had originally planned on - so I decided I would build them a small outdoor run in their current location. I spent about 10 minutes putting up the world's most rickety fence, then grabbed a lawn chair, a beer, & a camera & watched them come outdoors for the first time.

Maran, Angitou, & Carmen stand on the threshold for a long, long time trying to figure out why there's a gaping hole in the wall & what it all means.

Carmen: "There's yummy green stuff down there!"

Carmen goes for it.

Yes! Carmen, Angitou, & Maran are out!

Meanwhile the Silkes, oblivious to these new developments are standing around with their fingers up their noses. If they had fingers....or noses. Anyway, they are totally unaware.

Courtney: "Hey! There's a gaping hole in the wall. And the other chickens are in it!"

Courtney, Paulette, & Emily peering nervously into the abyss.

Courtney: "There's yummy green stuff out there! I'm going for it!"

Paulette & Emily, "Courtney! Come back!!!"

All the Silkies finally make it outside.

Next day: Everybody loves their new chicken run!

Baby Chicks and Other Birds

2014-07-27 Baby Chicks and Other Birds

Angitou

Carmen & Angitou in a staredown

Emily & Carmen

Carmen and Angitou give each other a little peck on the beak while Maran feigns disinterest.

Maran hunting and pecking

The baby chicks have been hogging all my poultry posts, so it's time to post a pic of the adult hens. Here are Mary and Mary the Campines, who do everything together, sharing a nest.

Here's an early morning shot of my flock on the roost. This is everybody except for Snowball & the babies. This is also proof that I'm up before the chickens.