I'll Miss You

Heartbroken. That is the best word to describe how I feel with my girls gone. Seven of my little ladies were taken by what we think was a Fox last week. It is truly devastating having any type of loss. I had a lot of love for those hens, still do. It breaks my heart knowing they went in fear. I only wish I was there to protect them. I understand that it is the circle of life, and that there is always risk you take when allowing your birds to free range. I guess I never excepted to go to close them in for the night and have half of them gone. The girls who are still around looked terrified. I knew something was wrong.

   I shouldn’t have favorites because I love all the hens. Each one had their own little personality. But, Betty Boop was my girl. She was my favorite hen. Always happy to greet me. The most curious chicken in the bunch who was always up to no good, typically with her sister Luna. All I had to say was “come here” or shake their bag of treats and there they were.

My mom did her best to comfort me. She made a joke about my Grandpa King now taking care of the chickens in heaven. “He knows how to do it!” Very sweet and incredibly true, he does.

They really were the best chickens. It is interesting to hear people talk about how mean some hens can be and how they are fearful to be around them. I at first was a little apprehensive getting chickens myself. However, our girls are very similar to little dogs. They would follow me around the yard. Come over to the car when I would get home from work. Jump up on my lap or shoulder just to hang out. Safe to even bring our nieces and nephews in to hang out with them. Great little creatures. They were not huge fans of Beanie, our pup but he knew to keep his distance because the girls “ruled the roost.”

Each day will get a little bit easier having them gone. We still have little hens that need our compassion and protection more than ever now. I am thankful that they were not all taken, sad for the ones we lost, and grateful for the time I did have with them all. Rest in peace my feathered friends! - Love your Chicken Mama

Long Live Linda

Hello my fellow readers! Oh how I have missed writing these posts. It has been far too long since I have posted on the blog. Four months to be exact. There has been a lot going on this year already! All very exciting things, but I hope to get you up to speed.

Cory and I are currently in the process of building a house and planning a Wedding! Yes, all in the same year! Haha! With everything that has been going on I honestly have not been able to spend as much time with the hens as I would like. Oh and we got a dog! Sorry had to drop that in there as well. I can tell you all about our rescue Beanie later. But back to the Hens! I have not had much quality time with the girls.  I feel really bad because typically when the weather is nice I spend my weekends enjoying a cup of coffee with them as they run around. Recently my weekends have been consumed by painting the house or taking appointments for the Wedding. I should make more time for the girls, it is really tough right now.

I will say though, they are getting a ton of free ranging time recently since the weather has been so wonderful so they are enjoying that.  This benefits us both. They run around and burn some energy and I save on food costs and feel better that they are not cooped up in the run all day. We have been getting a ton of incredibly hard rain these past few weeks so that has put a little damper on their outside time. For those of you who do not know, hens hate to be wet. Very similar to cats haha. They do overall enjoy this season the most. They have the shade of the trees, the ability to scratch at the grass and the dirt to take their baths in.

The Winter went pretty well with the girls this year. A lot of shoveling and laying down of straw but we had no frozen water and other than that only a few days where they were too cold to venture outside. A few times we had some of the girls picking on each other pretty badly but the pecking order is always changing.

I suppose the biggest hen topic of all was we lost one of our girls. It makes me incredibly sad whenever I think about it. This is our first chicken that we ever lost. I always had a feeling it was too good to be true to never lose a hen, but you still feel horrible when it does occur. Linda. Our girl at the bottom of the pecking order. She replaced Cleo. Cleo has finally moved up in the ranks a bit. So while there are some positives I always sympathize with the hen at the bottom. Linda was great. She was the hen who use to fly up onto my shoulder each night. She always wanted to be the last one into the coop and didn’t mind her alone time. We have a rehabilitation coop that we got. It is much smaller and honestly not even close to being as durable as the one Cory built but it served its purpose. For awhile that is where Cleo resided during the day and then it was Lindas home. She even enjoyed sleeping in there every once and awhile. It was inside the big run so I figured she would be safe. I was wrong.

The night it happened we went through our normal routine. Collected the eggs, checked the food and water, put the girls to bed, and locked the gate. Linda was sleeping in the smaller coop so I made sure she had her roost and then we left for the night. The next day I received a call from Cory at work telling me that when he got there in the morning Linda was gone. I was shocked and sad. A Raccoon got her. It managed to open the door to her coop. I understand this happens and we try everything we can to protect our flocks but I feel for anyone who has lost one of their hens. As many of you know I am really attached to my girls. At least now Linda is no longer being picked on and while she was around she was a great addition to our flock!

There is much more to share with you all but I will stop there for now. Until next time!! Happy first week of Summer!

Happy New Year!!

I am a little late but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! This year was pretty wonderful overall minus a few hiccups for the little hens and I. A lot has been going on!
This last month or so Betty Boop has been going through her first molt. The other “original girls” already molted late this past summer and I did not notice a big personality change in them but in Boop I did! Honestly, it made me really sad for a while because she would no longer come over to see me when I would walk into the run; she was being very anti-social. She would not let me pick her up. I am sure it is painful going through the process so I typically do not pick up a hen who is molting, but still! Her comb turned pale and flopped over and she was even letting some of the other girls pick on her a bit. Trust me, if she was her normal self that would not fly with her! Her egg production stopped which is normal for a molting hen.

I found if incredibly interesting how much personality a chicken can really have! Recently she is beginning to act like her normal self. Her molt must almost be over! Phew! I miss my little diva!

   Miss Cleo has moved in to her own coop during the day. For some reason, no matter what I tried the other girls just would not leave her alone. I let Cleo sleep in the main coop at night so she can feel a part of the “gang” but I can no longer risk leaving her out with them during the day. Luckily she is still around them just in her own little run where she is protected. This has been going well. We had a tough few months there of her getting hurt and having to heal. When the weather is nice they still all get to run around the yard together when Cory and I are home so that is a plus too!

Miss Cleo for President!

Another thing we have been dealing with is Rhode Island Reds. I should have a done a little more research on this breed before getting them. This might not speak for all Rhode Island Reds but ours can be bullies! So strange to me how much they chase each other around. Fortunately, no one is hurt so to me it is just pecking order establishment but they really do chase each other around the run. This breed is very rambunctious. One of them named Linda, loves to fly up onto my shoulder and just sit there. I have never had that happen before! It was strange at first but now I can walk around and she just hangs out. I told Cory soon I will like the lady in Home Alone except with Chickens! Haha!

  This past year we also had a good run with predators getting into the run! A few Raccoons, a Opossum and even a Skunk! They were always getting in the run at night when the girls were safely in their coop so no one was harmed thank goodness. Cory owns a have-a-heart trap which has worked out because we figured they were more after the eggs and chicken feed than the actual hens. However, we really could not risk having them in the area in case something bad happened and our theory was wrong. Cory would trap each one and the following day we would drive them to another property for release. It makes us feel better that the animal gets to carry on with their life and also knowing our hens are safe! 

    I must say, although Winter just started I am looking forward to Spring. These warm days are giving us a break from the cold and also giving me a bit of spring fever. I believe the hens are looking forward to warmer weather as well. They really do not like the snow. There will be days where we open up the coop door, a few of them stick their heads out, look around and basically tell us “nope” to coming outside! They then spend the day literally "cooped" up. I am looking forward to them getting back into their routines of laying eggs more frequently, running around the yard and taking dirt baths! The Winter season tends to be a bit more difficult to take care of the hens than during the Summer months. You have to worry about the hens keeping warm, frostbite, frozen water and snow removal. Some of those bad snow days led to me waking up before work to shovel and spread straw for them to walk on. However, this year Cory installed an indoor faucet so we can fill their waterers. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing this is! It seems so simple, but it has been a huge process improvement when it comes to tending to hens in freezing temperatures. We will keep looking forward to Spring and taking naps in the sunshine but until then we will hunker down and wait for the weather to break!

We hope you all have a great New Year and that 2017 is your best year yet! 

What the Peck?

Pecking. One of the hardest situations we have had to deal with so far while raising these birds. Poor Miss Cleo is getting the short end of the stick in this situation. Granted, the pecking order is a real thing as I have spoken on in previous posts. However, when there is blood involved you have to approach the situation differently.
   Cleo is at the bottom of the pecking order in our flock. She is also the largest hen which I find interesting. I have seen other hens peck at her and she tolerates it. I kept saying if you just stick up for yourself just once it will probably stop. Unfortunately, she does not understand what I am saying, ha-ha! Each time I would see it happen I would intervene, however, we are not around 24/7 to monitor them so
Cory and I had to go back to the drawing board.
  The feathers at the top of Cleo's tail are missing. This is a common place for hens to peck. I did quite a bit of research on this topic to understand why this is happening, how to fix it and how to prevent it going forward. A ton of other flocksters had pecking occur in the same area of their hens so we were not alone which is reassuring. At first I felt like we were doing something wrong. Do the girls not have enough food and water? Yes, plenty. Do they need more space? No, free range is their daily routine. Are they getting enough protein and nutrients? Yes! So what is it then? Time to test some different solutions out and wait to see which one sticks.
  We purchased a hen saddle for Cleo that lays across her back and covers up her tail so the hens can no longer see the bare skin and would hopefully stop pecking her. Honestly, it worked. She looked adorable and it was protecting her enough so she could heal and allow her feathers to grow back.
 Things were going great, until they weren't. One of our Rhode Island Reds has it out for Cleo. The reason why we still have not figured out. Cleo had the feathers of her under belly plucked out and it created a pretty big wound. I felt and still feel terrible that it happened. This poor girl cannot catch a break. We brought her inside, cleaned and disinfected the wound. We then sprayed Blu-Kote on it. An antiseptic spray that sanitizes the wound, stops the bleeding and helps the healing process. This stuff is the real deal.
 Cleo is currently separated from the other girls again and she will be for a few more weeks until her feathers grow back and her wound is fully healed. The re-introduction of her to the coop again will be a process. We need to make sure this issue does not keep happening. I am hopeful that the long time apart the hens will forget the situation and we will be good to go. Another option is to remove the bird who is causing the issues and let the flock develop a new pecking order with Cleo involved and then try adding the trouble maker back in. Potentially having that hen be at the bottom of the pecking order in a peaceful way. I have learned that sometimes raising chickens can have stressful situations and you have to test different scenarios out until something works. We just need to keep in mind that we will figure it out!

   

To Molt or not to Molt...

Once you chickens are over a year old they will begin to go through a phase called Molting. This is where their current feathers fall out and new feathers grow in. The entire process can vary per bird. It is said that your most prominent layers will molt the fastest as opposed to your infrequent layers they will molt the longest. This could vary from a few weeks to months depending on your hens.
  During this time there could be a significant decrease in egg production. Hens use a lot of effort and protein in their bodies to develop the new feathers and push them out to be full grown. Therefore, the protein they use to generate eggs is supplemented to complete the molting process. We have noticed that some hens, such as our White Leghorns continue to lay as they molt. My assumption is because they are such a fantastic egg laying breed that they are able to multi-task. Where as our Australorps are molting the hardest. They have been molting for months now and do not tell them I said this but, they have looked better. Poor girls!
  Molting typically starts from the neck and works its way down the body. You will not have a fully naked chickens running around. I chuckle just at the thought of that! But they will have bare spots. Our Australorps do not have many feathers on their neck. It looks incredibly strange, almost to the point where you think they are ill but I can assure you they are happy as can be!
   During the molting season we mix our feed with layer feed and feather fixer. The laying feed will help give them the calcium and other nutrients they need for their laying and the feather fixer will increase their protein consumption to help them grow new feathers.
 In an effort to make sure their protein levels stay high, every few days I will give them plain yogurt. Recently I started giving them plain Greek yogurt because the levels of protein in it is incredibly high. I also make scrambled eggs and mix in sunflower seed and chopped non-salted peanuts to give them an extra boost.
   There are a few signs you can look for to see if you need to included these other protein options for your hens. The hens will begin to crack and eat the eggs they lay in the egg boxes. Granted this sometimes occurs by mistake. One gets stepped on and breaks so they eat it. Other times it is intentional because they are seeking calcium from the shell and protein from the egg itself. Other clues are the chickens will start eating the feathers off the ground that others have shed. Or they will start plucking the feathers from one another and consuming them. It does not sound pleasant but protein is what they are searching for.
   I should also mention that before your hens go through their adult molt each year they do molt a few times as youngsters. When they are baby chicks they molt their down and grow their first round of feathers. They then molt their teenage feathers to get their adult feathers. The first few molts are not as intense or as noticeable.
  Molting is an uncomfortable process for hens so the best thing we can do it make sure they have access to proper food, water and shelter. They can take care of the rest! Happy Molting! 
  
 

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite

This topic is not going to be the most glamorous posting I have ever written, however, it is an important one. Mites. Tiny, microscopic creatures that are harmless to humans but can be quiet an annoyance to chickens.
  No matter how clean your coop is, rest assured that every flockster at one point or another will experience mites in their coops/runs. It stinks, it's gross, but it happens and you're not alone. I wanted to provide everyone with some tips and tricks that I have learned along the way on how to correct the situation.
  It is hard to determine if you have mites in your coop because they are incredibly difficult to see due to their size. Some tell tale signs that you have a mite issue is by being observant of your birds. If they are plucking feathers or constantly preening/nibbling themselves you might have a mite issue. You can always check around a chickens vent area or under their wings to see if you can see the mites because that is typically where they "hang out."
  The one time we thought we had a mite issue, which we were never able to really confirm, we did the next few steps to resolve the issue. I will admit at first that I was itching myself because it gave me the creeps me out but it really is not that bad.  If you act on it you can get your birds back to being comfortable and happy.
  First thing you will want to do is clean out your coop and run completely and dispose of any bedding/straw. Once the coop is cleaned out I run a shop vac throughout the whole thing sucking up any dust, left over bedding or debris that is inside the coop.
  At your local tractor supply store or online I would purchase two items. A poultry protector spray and a garden/poultry dust. The spray will say on the label that it is meant to kill mites etc. The poultry protector spray by Manna does not have any harsh chemicals in it so it is safe to use on and around birds.  The garden/poultry dust that we purchased was made by Y-Tex. Sevin is also a great brand you can use. This dust is put directly on the chickens, usually around the vent area. It will suffocate and kill any mites that are on the hens body. Both of these products are safe so you do not have to dispose of any eggs during this process. If you were to use a heavy chemically dosed product you will want to dispose the eggs per the directions on the bottle. I like to keep things as natural as I can for the hens while receiving effective results.
 Spray the poultry protector all over inside the coop. Try and get into the tight spaces where mites enjoy living. Once sprayed all over, let it air out and dry. Place brand new pine shavings into the coop and mix in food grade diatomaceous earth. DE is great for keeping bedding dry and for keeping insects away from the coop. There is a balance of how much to mix because you do not want the bedding to be too dry. Start with a small amount, you can always add more. I use 1 cup inside the coop to start. Our coop is 36 square feet to give you an idea of how much to use.
  We then spread DE around the entire outside of the coop and all over the run. You can also use the garden dust and sprinkle that around the run as well and inside the coop if you would like. The garden dust is then dusted onto every hen. I do this every day for about a week just to be safe that the mites are killed. If one bird has mites, treat them all as it will spread.
  If you feel that one bird has it worse than others you can always give that hen a bath. Pick up a bottle of mite or lice animal shampoo and bathe the hen using that product. I bought a brand that is used on cats and dogs which worked out perfectly. It is made with oatmeal which is great for the skin.
   Also, to prevent mite issues make sure your hens have access to dust or dirt baths. This is the way hens maintain a healthy skin themselves.

The dirt and dust they bathe in kills the mites the same way the store bought dust does by suffocating the mites. Luckily, our hens like to take dust baths regularly to help prevent us from having any issues.
   As stated before, every flockster will have this issue. Other animals around the coop area bring the mites in so do not feel that you have failed or that your coop is not clean. You're doing great and the treatment process it easy, affordable and effective! 

Cleopatra

Good Morning Chicken Scratch Blog Followers! I apologize it has been so long since my last post. A lot has happened with the girls lately so I have to get to sharing!
About a month ago one of our new hens was being picked on. This is normal when you add new hens to the flock because they have to reestablish the pecking order. Someone will always be the head hen and someone will be at the bottom, it is just how it works. As long as no one is bleeding and for the most part they are getting along then everything is going correctly. However, we had one of our girls that ended up getting pecked a bit too much.
 Cleo is our largest hen. Her growth rate is that of a meat bird, however, she is still an egg layer. Looking at her size you would think that she would be the "boss" of the group but she truly is a gentle giant. The crown still belongs to Betty and Luna, they keep our flock in line.
   At the top of Cleo's tail near her preening gland up towards the middle of her back her feathers had been plucked out. Which then caused her to have a bit of bleeding. It sounds scary but I can assure you she was fine and after we saw her wound she received the royal treatment!
    When you first experience a bird that is hurt it can be a bit overwhelming. Many of you know I have a incredibly soft spot for animals and sympathize with their pain as a lot of people I know do as well. You just have to remember that these things happen and do what you can to make them more comfortable and help the wound stay clean and heal.

Cleo and I hanging out for a few minutes.

  The first thing we did was give Cleo a bath. I wanted to make sure the wound was clean and the area around it was as well. You can do this in a wash sink or a shallow bucket. You fill the sink/bucket with warm water and gently set the bird in. They will fidget at first. Chickens remind me of cats and are not big fans of getting wet. Hold their wings down and lightly keep pressure on the hen and you will feel her relax in the warm water. Of all the chicken baths I have given I have not had a hen yet who did not enjoy the bath after they were warm. I run the water over the hens entire body except for their head. I only spot wash a hens head if necessary with a damp towel.  Then I use an animal friendly shampoo that is usually for sensitive skin so it is not so harsh on the hens. After washing the entire body I rinse the hen thoroughly and wrap her in a towel. We have a towel that is designated for Chickens now so I would keep that separate from your personal towels. I use a blow dryer to finish drying their feathers. Keep it on a low heat and put a good distance between the dryer and feathers so the bird does not get too hot. If you move in a circular motion it drys the feathers faster as it lifts them from the skin to get in between each layer. Once dry they can usually rejoin the flock. This time we do not do that with Cleo because we needed her to heal.
      For a few days I cleaned her wound with Peroxide and put some Neosporin on it to help prevent infection. I applied both parts of this process with a Q-tip.
   We kept her separated from the other birds until her wound scabbed over. She got her own food, bed and waterer. She loved it. We hung out! It was nice because she use to be a little hesitant when we would pick her up. Now, she runs right over to us when we walk in the run and typically follows me around! Such a sweetheart.

  Just to note, you want to keep the bird separated from the other hens until they are healed otherwise the wound will keep being re-opened. Her sisters cannot help but peck out of curiosity. You can keep them in a crate or if you have another coop area you can put the bird in there. We kept Cleo in a crate during this process. It was big enough for her to walk around and stand up so she was comfortable. We put her food and water in there with her along with a small branch that she could roost on at night to sleep.
  Currently she is back in the run and good as new. Her feathers are still missing, however, they will grow back once she goes through her first molt.