Hatched Chicks!

Well, after exactly 21 days, two of the three eggs hatched! It was all very exciting. So now we have an Olive Egger (mixture of a brown egg layer, and green egg layer) and a Cuckoo Maran (which will lay rich chocolate colored eggs). I don't know for sure what sex they are, but I'm guessing the Maran if a pullet, and the Olive Egger is a cockerel. I'm basing this off of the chicks' combs and behavior. The Olive Egger- who we will call Fern or Freddie-has a more pink comb and is much more outgoing and "brave"; which are both indications of a male chick. The Maran-who we will call Olive or Oliver (courtesy of my little sis)-has a more yellow comb and is a little more skittish; which is an indicator Olive/r is a female.
If they are females we will keep one (after 4-5 months, or when the hen is tired of them :) and if they are males we will have to sell both, because we cants have roosters in our neighborhood. So we are really hoping Olive/r the Maran chick is a girl!
Because of all this crazy heavy windy rain, we had to take the hen and chicks in the box and move them into my bathroom shower. I put shavings and food/water in it right next to the box, and emptied the box first and put new shavings in. Cosette and her chicks are much happier to be inside and its nice because its a lot easier to check on them often (and for show'n'tell!)
Once the bad weather is gone, we will put them back in the run, where we built a special little shelter for them to be under to feel protected. And the other hens will have the coop and backyard to play in where they can see the chicks without coming into contact with them. This will help the hens get used to the chicks.
So here are some fun pictures of the fuzz balls in the shower and in their outside home, and there is one where I am hatching the Maran (by slowly and delicately picking the shell and membrane off) because she was taking too long to come out (which should take around half a day to a day). A lot of experienced people will say that is not good to help a chick hatch, so generally dont help unless you're really sure the chick needs help (mine would've probably been okay hatching on its own, but these are very special chicks and each one counts... And I also wanted to take a photo of it to show :) If you want to hatch chicks, and they are at their pipping stage (where they have just chipped off some egg shell) read this website below first! Which I didn't and know feel kinda bad...but luckily both the chicks seem healthy and "strong" :)
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chicks.html

Broody Hen!

I have a VERY broody Blue Cochin hen, Cosette, who insists on staying on her nest. So, I thought I would try a little experiment with her (animals were not harmed during this experiment :). A few weeks ago I asked a lady I know, who has sold me a few of her chickens in the past (Cosette one of them) if I could have a few of her fertile eggs (She's got roosters, hens, ducks of all kinds). So I picked them up (the eggs can last about 10 days in the nest before they get rotten. A hen will lay a clutch-usually 10 eggs-one egg a day, so the embryos inside are basically frozen in time until the 10th day, then the hen will sit on them until they hatch! Which is around 21 days) and when she was out getting her food and water for the day, I snuck them in (I only put 3 in). The hen is okay with this, more the merrier! (Actually my RIR hen will sneak in while Cosette is out, and lay her egg! So then Cosette will come back and sit on the eggs and hide them from me! Who says chickens aren't smart?

So, HOPEFULLY the eggs will hatch, for a little over two weeks. So if this experiment works, in another week we will have little fuzz balls running around the coop! So exciting!

Here are some things to know if you want to try this too:

-your hen is broody if she will raise her hackle (neck) feathers, and literally make a screaming sound, or even peck you depending how tame she is (don't be offended, she is trying to protect her eggs)

-let the broody hen sit on one of her eggs for a few days to see how determined she is

-if so, you can find someone who has a rooster and hens and some of those eggs are bound to be fertile (but there is a 50/50 chance they will even hatch, and some may not be fertile)

-it is fine if your hen comes out for a couple minutes a few times during the day, or in the morning for no more than 20 minutes. she will need to eat, drink, and poop (she will hold it in the whole day! now thats commitment!)

-also, give her some corn feed, so she wont get underweight, or you can give her the laying pellets a couple times a day

-make sure the coop is insulated, and not too cold, make sure the nesting box is full of shavings, so the moister, heat, etc will stay in. and it is a good idea to put her nesting box further away if she is getting bugged by the other chickens, or all together separate

-you can check on the eggs by putting some treats in the corner, and (with gloves, just in case) stick your hand under and very carefully and slowly lift her up (sometimes she will put the eggs under her feathers-armpit area) just enough to make sure all is well

-once they hatch, instincts will kick in and the hen should be able to care for her chicks all by herself, if she rejects them go to: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chicks.html

-but you do need to have the chicks to be able to access their own chick starter crumble, and to be extra safe, you can keep the mother hen and chicks separate from the others for the first few months, unless she has hatched them in the coop and the others aren't hurting the chicks, and seem to be fine with it...

-here are other sources that you can read about:
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chicks.html *****(must read!)

http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/lifestyle-file/article/259-hatching-using-broody-hens.html

http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/incubation-and-hatching/incubation-using-a-broody-hen.html
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chicks.html

Lottie

In January , 2011, I got a Collie (like Lassie) puppy from Colorado. She flew into LAX, and was such a sweetheart from the start! She charms everyone who meets her. And a lot of people don't recognize her breed, as its not really popular now. That's why I had to get her from Colorado.
Any way, she does great with the chickens! I let her in the chicken area with me in the afternoon, when we get home from work, and she likes to lay on the mulch, and eat the poop ;) The girls are very confident around her too (I didnt let her with them until the third week I had her, so she would get used to them without coming into contact), which helps since they aren't running away encouraging her to chase them. That was one of the reasons why I chose a Collie, they are known to be polite to animals. Also great with kids, calm indoors (except 7:00 am every morning!), smart, a great companion dog, beautiful, a people pleaser, and very loving. I would recommend a female Collie to anyone who has a yard, and will have a relationship with her- otherwise, she will get into bad habits (like barking, A LOT!) And she is a little chatter box, and will make cute little yelps and yips chasing her tail, or playing with her toys (She loves my sister's stuffed animals!)
So here are some pics of her at 12-13 weeks old. Enjoy!

Opal "egg bound"

from August-October my black giant jersey hen, Opal's, bottom got more and more swollen. her vent was so stretched to the side that she could barely poop. and as you see in the pictures it stuck out very far. When this happens to a hen she is either egg bound or has some kind of infection. and in both circumstances, there isnt much you can do. if she is egg bound, soak her bottom in warm water so the egg can move through the cloaca. but more commonly it doesnt get better, which results in death within weeks-months, which is the most humane thing for the bird, since she is greatly in pain. so, Opal died in late October. and to make sure, that she was egg bound (which is good compared to the other options, so the other chickens wont get infected) i turned her on her back, and using doctor gloves and a serrated knife (easier to cut), to find out what was inside. sure enough, out came stinky yellow/orange goo, and many (i stopped counting at 30) soft shell eggs with rotting yolks inside, and a large hard shelled something decomposing in her uterus. her uterus was also the size of two fists, compared to the normal size of an egg. there was also eggs jammed between her intestines and other organs. there isnt much you can do to prevent this except keep their stress level down.

so opal is in chicken heaven right now, along with my others: Dolly, Gerty, and Belle. that is the one thing we-pet owners- must remember: that heartbreak always comes with getting an animal.

this is a picture of when i dissected Opal. she is upside down. all the orange stuff coming out if her is what i believe to be rotting eggs. and thats not even all of them! i just had to find out what was wrong with her...

Adding new chickens to your flock

Hey! I just bought two new hens on Saturday. I got two blue cochin pullets, they are so fluffy! this is a picture of Cosette, and her twin is Adelaide. So, when introducing new chickens into your flock, you must introduce the new chickens slowly and with a watchful eye. The introduction should spread out for a week. Before you get the new chickens make a temporary cage next to the run so your girls and the new chickens can see each other during the day. Make sure they also have food and water, and if laying, a nesting box. And even a small perch/stool/step for them to roost on if you want, and shelter from wind and rain or heat if the weather is bad. Here is what to do each day:

Day one-three: keep new chooks in temp. run, provide seeds, feed pellets, veggies, etc to keep them occupied.

Day four: put new girls and your flock in the run together (would be better if you had a larger area) for about 10 minutes, be in the run with them. you should expect the new chickens to be pecked, feather pulled and jumped on by your flock. they have to basically "fight out" the pecking order. after ten minutes, put the new girls back in their cage. let the chickens cool off for an hour. then repeat a couple more times throughout the day.

Day five: put the new girls in the run with the flock for about a half hour a few times throughout the day. keep an eye on them, and interceed if it gets too violent (wear jeans!). remember the smaller the flock, the closer and tightly knit they will be, so new chickens are more of an intruder to them, so it is harder to introduce new chooks.

Day six: put the new girls in the run with the flock at the end of the day (around 4 or 5 pm). make sure the new girls have a perch in the run to be able to take a break from the pecking. when the flock goes in the coop at night, see if the new chooks will go in too. if they dont place, them on a seperate perch from the rest of the flock when it is dark to stay during the night.

Day seven: The chickens will all wake up together. During the day, watch the chickens closely. they will not all get along perfectly, but after a few more weeks together, they will. Make sure also that every two hens you add you need to add one more nesting box to the coop.

goodbye belle

belle died. well, actually we had to put her down because she just continued to get more and more sick and weak. she would eat just fine, but would continue to lose weight. and eventually couldn't even stand. one of the major contributing problems were mites/flee infestation. she was covered, i couldn't even hold her for more than a minute before i was covered with mites! so that really lowered her immune system so she couldn't fight back. i tried giving her antibiotics, protein (cat food, cooked meats, flax seed), and fatty foods (cheese, whole milk, breads, yogurt...) to help her gain weight and boost her immune system, because that is what also gets attacked with mites. and i also used this powder call diatomaceous earth (DE). it kills the mites by rubbing the power into their feathers. if you see just one mite on the chicken (usually around the head and vent area), you must apply DE right away. because when there is one, there is one hundred. wear a mask when applying, because it is bad to inhale the DE. on a very infested bird, apply at least once a week. my other chooks had mites but the DE got rid of them. i even had to bathe them in a sink full of warm water and soap. (it got rid of a lot but, giving them a bath should be your last resort because it can make them very stressed). also, spread the DE all over the ground of the coop and where they take dust baths, even if they don't have mites. the best way to cure mites is prevention.

unfortunately, when something this serious happens to a chicken, you will have to know when to draw the line. there are vets that will treat chickens, but after all, it is just a chicken. belle was like my baby, she loved to be held and wrapped up in my jacket and would fall asleep in my arms immediately . but i have other chickens chickens and other animals, and if i took her to the vet, he would probably say there isn't much you can do to help and treating belle would have cost more than all my chooks put together! so one does have to draw the line at some point, i did after i spent $25-30 on her, but in the end it was hopeless.

on the bright side, i will always be grateful for this learning experience for the future, and know how to handle this kind of a situation. it also introduced me to DE, which really is a chicken lifesaver, and i will be getting two more girls from a friend as a favor for her. yay!

Clipping Wings

If you have chickens who tend to escape frequently from their designated area, then first check the run, or surrounding border, of their area to see if there are any places they can go through or get under. if there isnt, or they continue to escape, then most likely they are flying over the fence (chickens can "fly" up to probably 8 feet (if they really wanted to) depending on their size-the smaller the higher) the way to fix this problem is to clip their wings. this doesnt hurt then in any way, its just like cutting nails or hair. all youre cutting are feathers. there are 5 simple steps to do this:

before you start get: sharp scissors, a towel, and find a place to sit

step 1. hold the chicken that is the escapee, and sit down on a chair (or whatever)

step 2. hold the chicken so its head is in between your arm and side-if they starting freaking out you can cover their head and body with the towel. but if your chickens are used to being held then you shouldnt have a problem.
step 3. use you hand to spread the wing so the primary (outermost) feathers are sticking out.

step 4. while keeping the feathers spread out, clip the primary feathers from the outside towards the smaller feathers or visa versa. dont cut the smaller feathers, only the larger (primary) feathers,

(there are about 6-7)

step 5. after youre done clipping the feathers, tell the chook she's a good girl and and put her back with the others

thats it! the first time will always be awkward, but you'll get it after a while. remember that after the chickens molt, they will grow back their primary feathers so thats when you will need to clip them again. and you only need to clip one wing to make her off balance. but if the chook continues to escape then you will need to clip the other wing. and also make sure you are clipping them high enough, in the last pic you could probably cut them a 1/2 inch or inch higher than what i did.

the thing with fancy chickens-caring for sick chicken

"fancy" chickens are bred for ornamental purposes. not for meat, eggs, personality, or being healthy. its like having a persian cat (or a pug or pom for dog lovers). they are especially cute and more unique looking, but boy do they come with lots more problems! i declare Belle, my ameraucana (which isnt really that fancy of a breed) my designated problem chicken! there's no end with her! first it takes her almost TWO years to lay consistently, then she gets a cold or some other sickness i dont know every other month, a few weeks ago i thought she was going to die because she had something hanging out of her vent (butt hole) and was acting very weak and sickly for a week. so i called my chicken expert (hey, even shrinks have shrinks :) and said that if it was tissue coming out there was nothing to do to help her. or it could be an egg shell, which would come out eventually. i tried to check it out, thankfully with belle's cooperation, by cuts probably a pound of chunky poops that were stuck to her fuzzies. then i saw the tube like thing hanging out. i gave a little tug to see if she just needed help to get it out. i had to get another opinion, and dad was the only one brave enough to look. he thought it was tissue. so that got me very concerned. so here's what i did:

i got:

-a box/cage,

-light/lamp,

-newspaper or hay,

-and water and food bowls.

then i set those things all up in my room (or a place that is warm inside) and turned the light on. i got belle, and put her in there. the reason you should do this is so the sick chicken can get rest to heal, be less stressed by being in a quiet place without the hassle of the other chickens, and get warm to get her body temp up.

i had to keep belle in there for 3 days. then at 6:00 in the morning i heard a squealy high pitched "eeee" or like someone was really trying to get something out. (its the sound they make when the egg is coming out.) but of course i thought she was dying. so i jumped out of my bed, rushed over to help her. and then i get this AWFUL whiff of all the rotten fishy dead smelling things in the world combined. i gagged. and then, while holding my breath, i looked to see what it was. and sure enough it was a very rotten crushed egg shell mixed with poop. yeah! i was right! it wasnt tissue! i was an egg shell, but it got stuck because it was shaped like a lolli-pop (but not that extremely shaped). belle almost immediately perked up and at the end of the day i put her back with the others. but of course she cant be all the way better, that would to much for her little princess self to give me. no, she is still weak and slow and sleepy. but she is definitely better than with that thing stuck in her. oh well. i has been worth it so far. when she was "dying" i promised her i wouldnt make her lay any more eggs (like i even could) if she would just get better. thats the thing with pure breeds, or fancy breeds, is that they have a great personality. belle is my little baby who will always jump on my lap, burrow her head in my side, and fall asleep. i love her.

now, because of this story, i am not saying dont get fancy breeds. most of the time they are perfectly healthy like any other chickens breed. especially ameraucanas, many other people i know who have ameraucanas have not had any problems with them. belles just...special.

the best breeds

many people who want to get chickens ask me what breeds are best. well, i say, there are many breeds that are best for different tasks for the chicken. when i say different tasks i mean either egg producers, table/meat/broiler chickens, pet chickens-which are based off of personality, show chickens-who's more fancy, brooder/breeding chickens-if you want your hens to have chicks, weather hardy chickens-hot or cold, and many more..i got my chickens based on personality who will get along with who, and egg production. i currently have six different breeds in my flock of seven: Light Brahma (there are also Buff and Dark colors), Rhode Island Red (abbreviated as RIR, there are also white rhode islands), Red/brown Ameraucana (be sure to always spell it this way, not with an "i"; there are also blue, buff, partridge, black and more), Buff Orpington (very common, most Orpingtons are buff, but some are black or brown), Black Jersey Giant (a rooster can get up to 15-20 pounds--thats turkey size! the hens are very big too; there are also white jerseys), and Barred Rock (this is really just a color, most breeds are Plymouth and Dominique barred rocks).

all of these breeds, at least in hens, get along well together. Brahmas are usually the alpha breed because of their confident and calm personality, and are bigger. but they also make the best pet chickens for children because of their confidence. RIRs are usually more skittish, but submissive. Ameraucanas can be flighty (also called "playful"), but make great pets too and lay blue/green eggs. and barred rocks & buff orpingtons are commonly know

n as garden

buddies and are usually very friendly. jersey giants are usually bred for meat because of their size but not in commercial farms because they are "slow growers" compared to others commercial breeds, they are friendly and good natured.

breeds i recommend as friendly backyard chickens:

-wyandotte*

-sussex

-faverolle*

-australorp*

-delaware

-dominique

-easter egger (not recognized as pure bred)

-java

-maran

-new hampshire red

-plymouth rock*

-brahma*

-jersey giant

-ameraucana*

-rhode island red*

-star ("sex-link")

-polish

-cochins*

-silkie*

-sultan

7 eggs a day!

if you have chickens, you will notice by now that you are getting more and more eggs everyday. the girls are back! so you will notice in the fall/winter that you dont get many or any eggs at all, for me it was 0-2 eggs out of my 7 chickens a day-which is not nearly enough for our family. you will also notice that the girls will lose their feathers on their neck, sides, tail, and underneath. this is called molting. hens wont lay when they are molting. you may also notice that they look a little thinner (which is fine because they dont have an egg in them, and they are not eating as much during this time), and just plain ugly-and they know it! they wont be as freindly or want to be held, they get very self conscience of their appearance. and this is fine, dont force them to do anything they dont want to, because it will only increase their stress level. they will look like this a couple months out of the year. the younger hens-or pullets- may not molt at all or have an extreme molt that lasts very long or short. so expect the first year to be...abnormal. the reason the chickens molt is so they lose their old feathers and get new ones, like a reptile shedding its skin.
but when they get their new feathers, they are so pretty and super soft! and slowly you will notice that you will be getting more and more eggs a day. i am getting between 4-7 eggs a day now which is really good. we have so many extras! so our neighbors get happy too when the girls start laying again :)
so depending on if you and/or your family are big egg eaters you may or may not need to buy eggs from the store when the chooks are molting. you should realize that getting eggs from the store isnt part of the natural process of growing your own food. the chickens who lay these eggs are starved and forcefully treated to molt quickly and then continue to lay eggs which is very stressful for them. animals, like plants are seasonal, so its okay to not eat eggs for a couple months.