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 In the last post (see Molting Chickens), I said that you could tell how long a chicken has been molting and how long it would continue to molt by looking at the primary (flight) feathers. But, I didn’t go on to explain how from there – as several have pointed out. I’ll try to explain further with [...] Continue reading Fast or Slow Molting Chickens?  Fall is the time of year when chickens molt and ours are doing just that; so egg production is way down and it’s a good time to make decisions on which chickens (if any) should be culled. Molting is a natural occurrence for chickens triggered by shortening day length in fall. It can take from 2 [...] Continue reading Molting Chickens  Tinker Bell Eating Pea Vines Each time I work in the garden and consider bringing back some garden trimmings for the goats and chickens; I have to stop and look through my reference books – to determine whether that particular plant is safe for them to eat. So, I decided to make a list of [...] Continue reading Garden Greens for Goats & Chickens  Broody Buckeye Hen – Sitting For 10 Days & Counting As of yesterday, our broody Buckeye hen has diligently been sitting on 15 eggs - for 10 days. She gets out of her nest box only to eat, drink, and relieve herself; and has only once signalled a desire to leave the broody box (see Building A [...] Continue reading Candling Broodies Eggs  Giant Yellow Eckendorf This year, we’re adding a new vegetable mainstay to the garden – not for us, but for the chickens. Mangel beets used to be grown extensively as a livestock feed on small farms; however, usage dwindled in the US as large farms became the norm. Today, it’s being rediscovered on small farmsteads as [...] Continue reading Growing Mangel Beets for Chickens  It’s time to process the 11 Buckeye roosters that didn’t make the cut; and although that’s not exactly pleasant, I’m expecting big things from the meals they’ll be featured in. That’s because heritage birds like the Buckeyes have something that today’s supermarket birds don’t – they have flavor. The commercial chickens grown for meat today have [...] Continue reading Heritage Birds for Real Chicken Flavor  Rooster 38 at 18 Weeks The Buckeye roosters are driving us crazy with their crowing and fighting (they’re now 24 weeks old), so we need to select two roosters to keep. And, it’s important to pick the best two, because they’ll be the foundation for the flock. I get a lot of questions about why anyone [...] Continue reading Keeping Roosters  The Buckeye chicks are 21 weeks old now; and are starting to look like real chickens. We ordered 25 day-old chicks, received 30, lost two within the first three days; and the remaining 28 prospered. I wrote about how we intended to raise them when they first arrived (see Raising Day-Old Chicks); but we learned [...] Continue reading Raising Buckeye Chicks  Getting day-old chicks and raising them is fun and rewarding; they seem to grow while you watch, and their behavior is fascinating. But they’re a lot of work too, and it’s not a job that should be taken lightly. They require frequent monitoring and care for the first five weeks, so someone needs to available every day. [...] Continue reading Raising Day-Old Chicks  The six young chickens that came with the new coop (see New Chicken Coop) were a complete surprise, so we scrambled to accommodate them. It really just came down to what is best for housing, feeding, and watering five week-old chicks so they attain their full potential as healthy, happy, productive chickens. Seven Weeks Old Housing For housing, [...] Continue reading Young Chick Care  Free Ranging Pullets
Since we just went through the ordeal of culling our flock (see Painful Chicken Lesson), and then choosing another chicken breed to raise (see Buckeyes), I have a few suggestions for anyone thinking of getting a few chickens for the backyard. What to Start With You can start with eggs, day-old chicks, or pullets. [...] Continue reading Getting Started With Chickens  Will & Bab Really Dusting One of the funniest chicken behaviors to watch is dust bathing. The chickens find some warm, dry, loose material like dirt, sand, or mulch; and proceed to dig themselves in. They’ll dig and dig, throwing dirt all over themselves, and make happy noises while doing it. One place ours like [...] Continue reading Chickens Don’t Take Water Baths – They Take Dust Baths!  I discovered rather suddenly that it’s sometimes necessary to trim a chicken’s wings so they can’t fly. We’d had Golden Buff hens for awhile when I decided to introduce a Barred Rock rooster, and because the hens never flew out of their pen, I was shocked when the rooster flew out (why a rooster would [...] Continue reading Clipping Chicken Wings (Flight Feathers)  I’ve always fed the hens grape treats, and as a result, they’re quite friendly (they’ll crawl in my lap if I let them). But, when Will joined the flock, he made it apparent he had no use for grapes, and didn’t appreciate me feeding the hens either. The hens were still enthusiastic about grapes, but Will [...] Continue reading Rooster Psychology 101 Bringing new chickens into an established flock should be easy, right? Well, when my friend offered me a young rooster, I found out there are some basics to keep in mind. Figuring that a Barred Rock rooster would be ok with three Golden Buff hens, I simply added him to their pen. Things went downhill from [...] Continue reading Introducing New Chickens |
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