Houdini

     This is a brief post on how my Americauna hen escapes the coop everyday and expects me to let her back in when I get home from work. But first an update on the status of my backyard flock.
     I have a backyard coop that now houses twelve hens and two roosters. The roosters are a large white Leghorn rooster and an even bigger hand raised Barred Rock rooster. The hens are seven Barred Rock ladies, two Americauna ladies and two mixed hens one that is red and appears to be a Rhode Island variety and one that is mostly white with some tan in her that resembles a Leghorn. The Barred Rock hens lay brown cocoa colored eggs and the Americauna hens lay greenish blue eggs. The lighter colored hen lays pink colored eggs and the Rhode Island looking one lays brownish eggs. That's the makeup of my chicken family. I've raised all but three from chicks or eggs.
     Anyway, back to Houdini. She started escaping about a month ago and no matter what attempts I make to prevent her from getting out she mysteriously escapes. Someday I'll figure it out. She spends her day out and about in the yard scavenging for bugs and worms and such. She's the healthiest of the hens with her extra nutrition gathered from the yard. When I drive up she sees me and wobbles her way in my direction and follows me to the coop entrance to reunite with her family. I think they are jealous but then again they are chickens. I've discovered that it's healthy for the yard for her to explore and scratch for the bugs. I think the rest would be able to explore as well if my house wasn't so close to a highway in the city.
     It's my opinion that if you have a Houdini hen it's ok. She is healthy for the yard and as long as she gets back into the safety of the roost at night she'll do more good than harm. So let her roam! Enjoy the individual nature of each of your backyard flock family.
     Until next time.

Travis

21 days until more chicks

I placed 18 fertilized eggs under two hens yesterday.  They're seasoned sitters so I know the eggs will be well taken care of.  I've got two more broody hens that I have yet to try.  Maybe I'll get some more eggs under them.  This is a good way to replenish and grow my backyard flock.  More hens means more eggs in the fall. 

Last year I placed a dozen eggs under four hens and I got three hens and two roosters.  So five out of twelve isn't bad.  I've changed my strategy a bit this year.  I just love seeing the hens work and how committed they are.  We'll see how this years stock comes out. 

A Treat Before Bed

 
    I finally got my camera working so I decided to show the active hens enjoying a quick treat before bed. The other four hens are broody right now so they spend almost all day sitting on eggs. The pictures below are of those four hens taken over the last few days. They are currently not distracted by snacks and only leave the nest when they need a quick bite to eat and a drink. Other than those brief moments when they take a break they won't leave their nest.
 
    Our broody hens have been a heated topic around our house lately due to a lack of egg production. We had the debate and decided that we would acquire some fertilized eggs and allow the hens to sit on them until they hatch. We hope they do! We happened to get a group of hens that is really good at sitting on eggs so we hope the effort pays off. We should know by next week when the 21 or so days it takes to hatch them is up.
 
    The hen shown first is Big Mama and she is at the top of the pecking order. Next is Queeny and she was the first to go broody. I believe this may be her first year at it but she is a natural. In the third picture is a hen named after a princess so I won't name her. However, I will say she is very good at defending her eggs and has a very sharp beek! In the final picture is Blacky or Beauty as I call her. She is a natural at the motherhood thing and I love her because she is docile and easy to check under for eggs. She will be a good hen to have around.
   

    We made a decision that almost all keepers of hens have to make. Do you stop the broody hen in her tracks through a difficult but usually short process or do you acquire fertile eggs and give the hen a chance to hatch them? It is an individual decision with consequences either way. For my family it was a heated debate at times. Eventually giving the hens a chance won out because fertile eggs are readily available thanks to a friend who's flock includes roosters. I was curious to see which hens would actually last the 21 days it takes to hatch the eggs. That can be risky because the chickens may die in the process or just not last through it and that means a lot of wasted time and energy.
 
    I hope this was enjoyable to read and look at. It will get better with time! Until next time enjoy your flock and keep fresh food and water out there it is is getting hot.

Chickens in my backyard...

    I originally said this would be a guide to how I was able to start my backyard flock without very much money.  I guess that's true in a sense. After my first post I decided that a more interactive day to day approach to the life of my flock would be more interesting and helpful to anyone getting involved in a backyard flock of chickens.  I will make sure to include any expenses that come up as I raise my flock. 

    The up front cost of my flock came out to about $150.00 The things I had to purchase before bringing home my birds were 2 feeders, 2 water containers, a 50 lb. bag of pellet food, a 50 lb. bag of scratch corn, 1 bag of starter feed for my younger hens, 1 small bag of oyster shell to add to my feed, 1 50 lb. bail of coastal hay for my floor and nesting boxes, bulk nails of different sizes to help with constructing the nesting boxes and roosts, 6 T-Posts, and the most expensive part of the deal 100 feet of fencing. I used hardware cloth with half inch holes for my fencing. I wanted to discourage any unwanted visitors. I was overly cautious most people do not fortify their coops as I have.

    I was extremely lucky when I got started with my flock. We started with 5 laying hens at least 1 year old and 5 immature hens not yet laying that were around 3 months old. I picked up the hens at night because that's what the books said was best if you are trying to catch chickens. We must have done something right in the transportation and introduction of the birds into their new home because on day one we had three eggs in our nesting boxes. I was also extremely lucky because our hens cost us nothing. The friend we went to see to get ideas about our new flock of chickens had so many birds they decided to give us some as a gift to get started.

     Once we had our chickens in the backyard Rebecca and the kids went to work coming up with appropriate names for the hens.  Without getting in trouble I will mention that each of the younger ones has a princess name and the older ones have names fitting their looks or status in our flock like "Big Mama" who is at the head of the pecking order.

    The kids are able to handle the younger hens fairly easily and they come when the kids approach with food or treats. The older ones stay clear and avoid us until we throw food. I guess that is typical behavior for chickens. The more you handle them the tamer they will be.

    Our chickens have become productive pets. At this point we would have a hard time time getting rid of them. I think I will talk more about the reasons I've thought about culling or thinning my flock and what solutions I have come up with to keep them alive and away from my dinner table. So far keeping the chickens off the dinner plate and in the pen has worked to keep the peace in our home.

(Pictures Coming Soon)

When my flock was only an idea...

    One day an ad for a local feed store came in the mail and suddenly I just knew I would have a backyard flock.  I believe the ad read "chick days are back." I mentioned the ad to my wife and she thought it would be nice to have eggs everyday. However, she is a lot less impulsive than I am and she refused to jump on the idea of going and buying some chicks without doing some research. Her advice to me was as follows, "go and talk to someone who keeps chickens about what it entails and we will see if it is even possible or worth the money it takes to get started." That was the best advice I could have received from anyone before starting my flock. It turned out to be such useful advice that I want to make sure I let everyone know about it before I say anything else! Whenever possible seek the advice and know-how of someone who already keeps chickens. Their mistakes and successes can save you a considerable amount of money.

    I will explain the steps I took to get started on my flock in my next entry. So until then go and ask someone a few questions about their birds. Their answers will surely excite you, and you will find they will have plenty to say about their flock. Your chickens become an obsession overnight and as you will see in future entries it really is possible for just about anyone to get started with keeping chickens no matter what your budget looks like!