Category: Animals

Rehoming the Chickens

Re-homing Our Chickens

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I know we have been a little MIA with only the random post lately. We’ve just been so busy trying to get several good size projects done amid all of our normal everyday responsibilities. Neither of us seemed to have enough time, energy, nor inspiration to write much. One of those projects was Jon building a new bigger chicken coop so that we would have enough space for our current flock of 6 as well as 6 more that we got at Tractor Supply almost 7 weeks ago.
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Easter Egger Chick 2 Weeks Old

Easter Egger and Production Red 2 Weeks Old Chicks

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Here it is the first week in March and I am listening to the sleet as it hits the windows…sigh. I refuse to dwell on winter things any longer. So, we will think on happy thoughts….like baby chicks! The chicks are two weeks old now and their feathers are starting to fill in.

Flappy - 2 Week Old Production Red Pullet
Flappy – 2 Week Old Production Red Pullet

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One Day Old Easter Egger And Production Red Baby Chicks

Easter Egger and Production Red Day Old Chicks

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We have caught chick fever!

Actually, we had planned to get some more chicks this year from Tractor Supply. Our rooster to hen ratio is off and we definitely need about 5 or 6 more hens to correct that. And of course now that we got our first chickens last year we really just wanted more. I’m sure you understand, right? Jon had been wanting to get some Buff Orpington chicks this year because they are supposed go broody easily. I really like Barred Rocks, but we had no plan of getting them. The plan was to check Tractor Supply each week of their Chick Days and hopefully get the Buff Orpinton’s.

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camo-chicken-saddles-for-hen-protection

Proper Rooster to Hen Ratio and Chicken Saddles

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Our rooster to hen ratio is really off. The ideal ratio is 1 rooster for 10-12 hens. This advised ratio is to protect your hens from too much “rooster love”. Currently, we have 1 rooster and 5 hens. There is just too much of our roo a.k.a The Hoff to go around and our poor gals are receiving a lot of attention. Roosters dig their nails and spurs into the hen’s back and their beaks hold the hen’s head for stabilization while mating. 3 of the hens have complete bare spots with no feathers on their back. Luckily, none of them show signs of blood, raw, or broken skin.

We ordered hen saddles to cover the bare area for protection to allow the feathers to grow back.

Flame Pattern Hen Saddle for Protection
Flame Pattern Hen Saddle for Protection

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Chicken Cam: All Chickens on Deck!

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The chickens pretty much just roam wherever they please inside our backyard fence. They do tend to have a couple of favorite spots. Occasionally, we have spotted one random chicken on the steps of the deck. They generally look around and see there is nothing up there for them and leave disinterested.

However, Friday after work I looked out the back door and they were all on the deck. It just cracked us up because we had never seen them do this before. Our guess is there were pools of water standing on the deck where it had rained earlier in the day and it intrigued them. They had plenty of water in their waterer and also the dog’s water bowl. It wasn’t because they did not have any other water. We presume it just peaked their interest this time as usually the deck just has nothing to offer them.

Chickens checking out the deck

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Chicken Cam: 6 and 7 Months Old

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It seems time has just flown by recently. There has been so much to get done. It occurred to me that I haven’t taken any pictures of the chickens in quite a while and my have they grown! We had such a gorgeous day today. We were just enjoying the beautiful day that God had blessed us with (for the little bit we had at home this afternoon) and so were the chickens.

6 Months Old: Our Barred Rock Roo, The Hoff, and One of the Barred Rock Pullets
(They are Technically Pullets Until 1 Year Old)

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Chicken Cam

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Three weeks ago we integrated our new chicks with the flock. Other than the occasional hen peck or chase which is expected it has gone very smoothly. The young chickens are now almost as big as the older chickens.

The Older Gals – Commercial Black and Red
Left: The Older Gals – Commercial Black and Red. Right: Younger Girls/Guy – Barred Plymouth Rock
Left: Our Rooster is growing fast! Right: Just a little chicken butt.

Nesting Box Coop Curtains

Nesting Box Curtains

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Shortly after we integrated the new chicks into the flock, we had noticed some of the younger chickens were roosting in the edge of the nesting box. Although we had not seen any of them just hanging out in the nesting box there were signs (chicken poop). It is possible this would not develop into a bad habit, but I did want to break them of this before it became a problem.

So, last Saturday I decided to make some nesting box curtains for the coop. I dug through my big bag of various material and scraps. I toyed with using some black and white cow print material that was left over from one of my son’s Halloween costumes as a child. He is graduating college in a couple of weeks….if that tells you how long I’ve had it. But then I found this old pink and white material that was perfect.
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