Are You My Mother?

Have you ever read the Dr. Seuss book Are You My Mother? That was one of my Dad’s favorite books when we would read the series together when I was a little kid.  It is a good one! The reason I mention that is because we have a broody hen right now and when she started acting like this it reminded me of that story. Broody hens are chickens that believe the eggs that are being laid are fertilized and will become baby chicks. What they do then is nest in the eggs boxes all day and all night laying on top of the eggs keeping them safe and warm. It really is sweet and endearing.
Dumpling, our broody hen, really wants to be a Mama. When we first introduced our new girls to the coop she would chase them around the run. It was not in a territorial mean way. It was as if she wanted to be their mom or friend. Take them under her wing, pun intended.
 This is my first experience dealing with a broody hen so I was not sure of what to expect. Right now what Dumpling will do is roll all of the eggs into a pile and then lay on top of them all fluffed up. She will continuously do this all day and night. Each day I have been taking her out of the egg box so at least I know she is getting food and water at some point each day.  Once she has ate a meal she heads back in to the egg box to continue her duty of protecting the eggs. This is right after she takes a dirt bath of course. She has been keeping herself extra clean lately. Rushing over to the dirt bath, scrubbing up and then heading back inside.

I also have noticed that she has pulled the feathers from her stomach out. I read online that hens will do this so they have skin to egg contact to help keep the eggs extra warm. They also have been known to use the feathers to create a comfortable nest for the eggs to rest on. It is not a painful process for the hens and once the hens molts new feathers will grow in anyway.
Her characteristics through this process have also changed. She makes a “cooing” sound every night when Cory or I go and retrieve the eggs for the day. Almost asking us to not touch them please. However, even after removal of the eggs she still remains nesting in the egg box.  Broody Hens will continue to protect the eggs even if they are not there; “ghost eggs.” You could buy fake eggs at your local tractor supply store if you want to give her something to lay on.
When she does come out of the coop she makes a loud unique squawking noise every so often and flaps her wings, pushes out her chest and fluffs up her feathers. I am not too sure what is means when she does this. I am assuming it is something to do with the broodiness but she sounds a bit dramatic which makes it comical! Haha.
I also do not know the timeline of how long this will go on for. I have read its upwards of 20 days until the eggs hatch. Which in our case, they never will. Other flocksters have suggested removing broody hens from the egg box repeatedly until they break the cycle or putting them into a separate container with a wire bottom so they are not comfortable and break the trance. I just do not have the heart to do that. Something in her brain is telling her right now that she is a mother. That is nature’s way and I am not one to ruin the natural cycle.  Egg production from that hen will go down so you could test out those methods to break the broodiness and have her start laying again but we are going to let it play out. So Dumpling, enjoy being a Mother Hen!

Welcome Home!

Ding Ding Ding.. Round Two!! Last night Cory and I picked up eight little chicks from Runnings so I wanted to give my readers a quick update. We are SO excited to be adding to our brood. Our Chicken family is growing! We ended up getting three different breeds this time; all of which we do not currently have in our flock. We purchased four Rhode Islands Reds, two California Whites, and two Rainbows. I cannot get over how tiny they are. I forget that our "OG" (original girls) were that small at one point! When they walk onto your hands it feels like a little tickle as do their pecks. So sweet! I even had one girl fall asleep in my hands! I love when that happens.
All of these breeds are known to be great layers so we have some delicious eggs coming our way in the future.
  The first night they were getting use to being in the brooder together. We got them set up with their heat lamp, waterer and food. We needed to purchase Chick Starter feed. The feed is typically medicated to help build up the immune systems of the baby chicks and it is made out of mostly crumbles that way it is easier for them to eat. I let them eat out of my hand this morning so they get use to being handled. We did this with our year old hens and now they are comfortable with us being around and picking them up.
  We purchased a new waterer this year as well. It works just like the one we currently have for the hens. It is gravity fed the difference is that it is teeny tiny! They look adorable drinking out of it.
  My heart is so full right now knowing we are adding these little girls to the group! I was like a little kid on Christmas morning I was so excited. I'll keep you all updated as these little ones grown. I am going to be one busy chicken mama over the next few weeks making sure these girls stay healthy and grow up strong so they can be added to the coop. Their sisters are excited to meet them as well.. I hope! :)

 

Peep Peep

Chick Days has finally arrived! Who will be starting or adding to their brood? I know we will be adding some new tiny girls to our group!

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The Hunt for a Chicken Waterer

I wanted to share some small but very good news with my fellow readers. We finally found a waterer that works! Wahoo! Since we got the eight little hens we have been struggling to find a watering system that would be care free and provide enough water that all eight hens have the opportunity to drink at the same time.

The first one we tried was a gravity fed galvanized 3 gallon waterer. But the gravity feed on it was not working properly so the water just kept spilling over the edge until the waterer was empty and the bedding became soaked. Back to the store that went. The next two we tried were both plastic waterers, also 3 gallon I believe. The first one the handle broke off which is what controls the gravity feed. The second one the ring around the top that seals the lid snapped. Back to the store those two went as well. In between all of the returns and frustration we used a regular glass bowl in the brooder box for the chicks and when they were bigger switched over to a Tupperware tub (This is what you are seeing in the video at the top of the page). The glass bowl when they were chicks we also placed and even smaller bowl in the center to take up some of the space to prevent drowning. Chicks are not as equipped as hens to get out of water as easily and we wanted to prevent anyone for being harmed. With the Tupperware tub, this was large enough that several hens could drink at the same time in the coop and we raised it up a bit on some stones for easier access. The only big downside to these two options was we had to change the water every single day. They are not closed off watering systems and sometimes bedding would get in there or the girls would tip them over and we would have to clean up and refill. I did not mind doing this in the spring and summer because we had our garden hose right next to the coop and we could just fill it up each time. However, once winter came, it was a whole different ball game.

 Now I cannot complain too much because this winter so far has been relatively mild. However, we have had some freezing temperatures which led to frozen water in the coop. As I have mentioned in previous posts, water is essential to the hens health especially in the winter because they are consuming more food to keep warm hence they drink more water. We would have to break the ice up or dump it out and pour fresh water in. It was okay at first, but if the water in the bowl was frozen then that usually means the water in the hose was also frozen. Not the easiest task to accomplish. We would have to go inside the house fill up the waterer and bring it back out, sometimes multiple times a day depending on the weather. I really did not mind doing this for the little ladies but it was becoming quite the chore.

  This was all until Cory found the best waterer!! It is a tall skinny plastic electric waterer!! Electric!! It holds 3 gallons of water and has a plug that you just hook up to an extension cord or however you want to get power to it and boom you are done. No freezing water and no changing it every day! It is a beautiful thing! Haha. We set this up on top of a milk crate in the coop to keep it higher to make it easier for the hens to drink out of but also to keep the bedding out of it. When the hens scratch they tend to make quiet a mess and so you want to make sure their water is always clean. The waterer also has an internal thermostat so it only runs when it is beginning to get below freezing otherwise it will shut itself off! We have had it for a few months or so now and have had no complaints yet (fingers crossed). 

Winter Wonderland

Footprints in the first snowfall

This winter season is really throwing me for a loop this year. I was anticipating heavy snow, bone-chilling temperatures and a battle between us and mother nature. So far, we had one soft snowy day and it did not even stick to the ground. Don't get me wrong, I am totally happy not having to shovel my car out of the snow, but I was prepared to help our little hens tackle the winter.
   This is our first winter with the girls and so I wanted to make sure we were ready for the challenge. I did a lot of research in preparation of the colder months to understand the do's and don'ts for chicken keeping.
    Chickens are known for not being huge fans of snow. When we did have the one day of light snow fall the girls went outside and looked a little confused. They kept picking their tiny feet up and pecking the ground trying to understand what this cold white stuff was. Since we have been lucky without having a large amount of snow yet we haven't had to worry about the run as much. A few ideas of what to do when it does snow is you can cover the snow with some straw for the chickens to walk on. If the snow becomes deep, you will probably have to shovel an area for them to peck around and free range. If you have a smaller run, I have read other owners covered their run with a tarp to keep the snow off the ground. Our run is more of a larger fenced in area so we will be picking up our shovels and make a path for the ladies.
    Our coop is pretty much squared away since we are already doing the deep little method that adds extra insulation to keep the hens warm. You will want to make sure there is no draft in the coop. Chickens are able to sustain pretty cold temperatures by huddling together. It is easier for them to get warm in the winter with their natural down coats than to cool down in the summer. However, too much wind can cause the chickens to get frostbite and sick. If the wind is too much in the coop you can tarp the outside. It is important to make sure your coop has great ventilation since the hens might spend some more time inside than they normally do. If you see a build up of condensation on your coop windows, that means you do not have enough ventilation and need to come up with a way to get better air circulation.
Water is the enemy in colder months. It is sort of a catch twenty-two when it comes to water. You need to keep the coop as dry as possible to keep the hens healthy, yet you need to make sure the hens always have access to drinking water. The reason being, hens consume more food in the winter to keep their bodies warm and in turn drink more water. Water freezes. You can get a heated bowl that plugs in and keep the water at an above freezing temperature. Or you can make several trips from the inside to the outside changing out the frozen water for fresh water. (which we have been doing since the temps have been above freezing most nights). Another idea I read about is placing a ping pong ball in the water to keep the water in constant motion to prevent freezing. I have not tried that one yet!
 It is not recommended to insulate your coop. This can cause humidity and ammonia levels to increase which can cause your hens to become ill. If you purchase hearty birds they are built to handle colder temperatures. The only thing I would keep an eye on is their feet, wattles and combs to make sure they are not getting frostbite. These are areas of their bodies where they release heat. Our White Leghorns have larger combs so they are more susceptible to frostbite than our other hens since the combs are farther away from their bodies. To be proactive in preventing frostbit you can put petroleum jelly on these body parts to give them a layer of protection.
 Do not be surprised if your egg production decreases a little bit. The hens go through an adjustment with the season changes and sometimes they do not lay as frequently. They are getting use to temperature changes and the fact that in the winter it gets darker earlier. Hens usually need 12 hours of daylight to lay productively. Some owners place supplemental light in the coop to keep production up. We decided we are not going to do that only because we are not dependent on having the large volume of eggs. They will lay when they lay! Also, you will want to collect your eggs more frequently to prevent them from freezing. Adding straw to the egg boxes helps for a little bit of extra insulation.  Lastly, the hens wanted to celebrate the holiday season too so we added some lights to the outside of the coop! We turn them off at "bed time" so they can get some rest. It is a fun and festive way to jazz up the outside of the coop.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!!

The Deep Litter Method

       When looking into what type of bedding we wanted to use for the coop we found a simple yet effective technique called the Deep Litter Method. They suggest that pine shavings for bedding are the best to use. You would not want to purchase cedar shavings because those have led to respiration problems with chickens. They also recommend when using the Deep Litter Method you will want to mix the bedding with diatomaceous earth (DE). Make sure you purchase the food grade diatomaceous earth because if the hens consume it, it gets passed to their eggs which you eat, so you want to make sure it is safe for you as well. DE also is helpful in preventing mites, fleas and ticks in the coop and on the chickens. It is a natural bug repellent. We actually sprinkle some around the outside of our house to keep ants and spiders at bay. It works!  They also mention that if you mix some in the chickens feed it helps to keep their eggs clean while they lay. It is a very safe product all around.

 To build up your litter you first want to add about 4-6 inches of pine shavings to your coop floor. Then take some of the DE and sprinkle it over the top surface area of the pine shavings. Now you could mix it in yourself or let the chickens do it when the scratch while they are in there. Either way is fine. I prefer to mix it in myself. Pine shavings are good for soaking up any moisture and the DE helps to keep the bedding dry. It dries up the chickens droppings so the ammonia in the air is low which helps with the chickens health and keeps the smell of the coop fresh. After a while, the bedding will begin to break down. Essentially you are creating a compost inside the chicken coop. You will want to stir the bedding (I do it daily) with a yard rake or pitch fork. The chickens will mix it up when they are inside the coop, but free-range chickens tend to not mix it enough because they are not in there as often. You want to make sure it is not matted down otherwise the break down process will not work correctly. You will noticed if it needs to be rotated because it will look dusty in the coop and the bedding on top will be too dry as opposed to the bedding on the bottom. Each week or every other week you can add another inch or so of bedding to freshen it up and to begin to build the layers. Theoretically, you are supposed to only have to change their bedding in the coop once a year with the deep litter method. It is very safe and sanitary in both respects for the chickens. We will be changing ours every 6 months which is just a personal preference.

  Typically, you would want to change the bedding as the seasons change. We are doing ours during the fall and then will change it again in the spring. I read that in the summer you want to keep the bedding layers a little lighter than you would in the winter because it does add extra insulation. Which is great when it is freezing temperatures to help keep the hens warm but dreadful when its 90 and the chickens are trying to keep cool. So the bedding in our coop during the summer and into fall was light but we have began to beef it up a bit because winter is right around the corner.

 You will also notice that the scent in the coop will begin to smell earthy. That is the best way I can describe it which is normal. If it smells like ammonia that is not a good thing. I would suggest cleaning the coop out and trying again if that happens. The Deep Litter Method is not for everyone. If you prefer to change the bedding more frequently that is perfectly fine. We just found that this is a safe, sanitary, and even a highly-cost effective way to do it. Not to mention it saves a good amount of time too!