Warning: Fowl Post

Spring has sprung,

and there's a whole bunch of new additions to the coop.

The fowl influx started on Easter with the purchase of 2 ducklings.

That's what happens when you have a grandkid.

On the right we have Scooby-Doo,

and on the left is Shaggy.

Shaggy was named something else by my son, 

but was renamed by the grandson.

This past Saturday I ventured out to the Poultry Swap

 to get some new pullets.

The grandson had some specific requests for new hens.

He wanted an orange chicken

and a green chicken.

He was happy to settle for one that laid green eggs 

after I explained there weren't any green chickens.

So I picked up a Buff Orpington that has been named Velma.

And I got an Easter Egger that has been named Fred

(I'm sure you can tell the grandson's current interest, 

though I'm a Scooby fan from way back).

Let's hope that Fred not only lays green eggs, 

but doesn't live up to the name and lays eggs period.

To finish my purchases, 

I picked up a pearl colored Cochin, a white crested black Polish

and 2 speckled sussex pullets.

AND....

a turkey.

This little guy is a Black Spanish heritage breed turkey.

It's one of the oldest turkey breeds and is in danger of disappearing.

So he will not be eaten.

Or she whatever it is.

Currently the turkey has no name,

but I'm sure I'll think of something eventually.

 So far, the lone hen I already had 

(named Donner because she's a cannibal)

is getting along with everyone.

There is some pecking going on,

but over all I think she's happy to have friends. 

Hopefully everyone will manage to got get eaten or pecked to death.

Chicken Dip

Camilla takes a dip to cool off in the 90+ degree heat.

When it's hot outside,
don't forget about your feathered friends.
Make sure you offer fresh water,
frozen treats
and if they're showing sizes of being over heated,
dip them in a bucket of cool water.
Most of my girls enjoy the dip!

Introductions

A little over a week ago, 

I went to the Maryland Poultry Swap & Farmer's Market

to find some new fox food chickens.

I didn't want to start over with chicks again this late in the year,

so I opted to try to find pullets or hens at the swap.

I wish I had taken the time to snap some photos from the swap,

but honestly, my focus was on finding some chickens.

I'm hoping to go back in September when I'm not so hyper-focused on one goal.

The first chickens I purchased were a pair of 

Plymouth Barred Rocks.

I enjoyed the ones I had before

and I was pleased to be able to grab these two.

(seriously, you have no idea how nuts it is to buy chickens at a swap)

They've been named Thelma and Louise because when they were introduced

to the rest of the flock, Zombie tried to assert her authority and these two gals promptly 

ganged up and whooped Zombie's butt.

Also, Louise still has a handcuff on her ankle

(she's banded).

Thelma

Louise

Along with the two rocks, I also grabbed an Orpington.

She's not quite egg laying age yet, but she will be soon.

I've named her Camilla after Gonzo the Muppet's great love.

Camilla and Gonzo

I wasn't sure that my Camilla had much of a personality 

and didn't think much of her at first

but watching her while I was working on the coop

changed my opinion.

She spent a great deal of time chasing moths, butterflies and bees.

It was quite comical.

When we purchased the rocks and the orpington,

we found out the lady we purchased them from was actually about 20 minutes from our home.

So we drove an hour and 15 minutes to buy chickens from someone 20 minutes away.

The next to join the flock was a black Brahma.

I always like the white Brahma I had named Squatch

(who was tragically killed by a fox a while back).

This guy has several names at the moment.

My son started with Vulcan, then started thinking maybe "Dark" Vader

and my cousin (who joined me at the poultry swap) and I are partial to Hecate.

(Pronunciation for Hecate- Greek: hec-KAH-tea Shakespeare: Heck-et)

Then I needed one more pullet/hen to finish my shopping.

I came across this blue laced Barnevelder

and since the price was right and it was an unusual breed

I grabbed one.

This is Pansy.

She isn't named for the flower, she's named for being, well, a pansy.

She shrieked so loud in the car

I was certain she was being pecked to death in the box.

So I unbuckled, climbed into the back and opened the box.

She was fine but promptly flew out of the box and around the back of the car

before I was able to grab her.

She screams bloody murder every time I enter the coop

and flaps around like a nut running from everything.

I've tried telling her the sky isn't falling, but it does nothing to settle her down.

Pansy and Hecate Vader Vulcan

So, you'd think my chicken shopping adventure would be done.

But, no.

I caught sight of some Silkie chickens and had to have one.

And with that chicken math 

(if you lose 1 extra large jersey giant that means you have room to add an extra bantam chicken)

I talked the hubby into getting

just one more.

This is Yeti.

Of course, as luck would have it, 

Yeti ended up with eye infections.

She's in the chicken hospital and looks to be making a recovery

(I hope since she's my new favorite).

So those are the new chicks on the block.

Plus Zombie, Royal Farms and Lenore

that survived the Great Chicken Massacre of Silver Run.

R.I.P. Chickens

My original 6 chickens 3 years ago

 As if life were stressful enough for me these days,

I lost the last two hens from my original 6 chicks.

And I lost them during my son's family birthday party.

It was definitely a downer.

Seems a fox got my Buff Orpington Bertha down by the barn.

The other 4 older hens scattered toward the house.

Two went to the coop,

Martha Stewart, my Araucana, ran toward the house.

The fox got her next to our deck.

So I'm down 2 layers

until the other pullets get older

(not till August/September time frame)

and I won't have any more green eggs.

Bertha in the Garden

Bertha looking for a treat

Martha Stewart is the chicken on the right

 Now the remaining chickens are locked up.

Penny is still at my house, 

though I'm growing tired of having her there 

in such tight quarters.

I guess there will be more chickens

since we put all that money and time into making the coop bigger.

But honestly, with everything going on, I don't know if I have the heart to bother with more.

Renovations

Yesterday was a beautiful day in our neck of the world
and since an injury has me sidelined from the gym and from my usual hike training,
I figured it was time to lay out a plan for the coop renovations.

Because I brought home 1 chick more than I was supposed to intended,

and 2 of the new chicks are Jersey Giants- the largest breed of chicken,

it was evident that we needed to make the coop a little larger 

to accommodate all the girls comfortably.

I had already planned to redo the run of the coop by making it the same height as the coop itself.

This would let me enter the run to clean it

and allow me to hang a waterer

and add some perches.

The plan has morphed into adding  1 1/2 feet to the existing coop

(which requires cutting large openings in the existing wall), 

adding 1-2 windows 

(which may require the need to relocate a support beam

and/or the existing perch)

adding 2 feet to the run

making the run the same height as the coop

and replacing the small door with a door big enough

for me to enter the run.

My husband is thrilled.

Bertha was interested in the goings-on 

and came to check it out.

Truthfully, I'm pretty sure she was looking for me to give her food.

Over the weekend they got some strawberry pieces

and that means (to them) that I might have strawberry pieces each time I come to the coop.

She and I had a talk about being nice to the new arrivals when they move in

as she is the boss of the coop.

She might have a run for her money 

as one of the new Speckled Sussex pullets is asserting her authority in the brooder.

We might end up with 2 rival chicken gangs like 

the Sharks and the Jets.

If I see any of them snapping their fingers

and singing I'll let you know.

Sunday Chickens

This past Sunday I left the girls out for a bit while I cleaned out the coop.

They headed straight over to the angel in the garden.

Guess they knew what day it was.

Throwback Thursday

My first flock of pullets.

Today I only have 2 of the original 6 pictured above:

1 of the Buff Orpingtons 

and the Araucana.

I miss my Barred Rocks.

Might just need to get a couple more.

Wordless Wednesday

Someone is Eating the Sun!

As a kid, I enjoyed reading a book called Someone is Eating the Sun

It's about some farm animals that freak out because the sun is disappearing.

They think someone is eating it, only to learn at the end of the book that it's just a solar eclipse.

  It starts off with Hen who is picking at corn when she notices

 the sky getting darker and she takes off with a 

"flippity flap and a flutter".

Lately the chickens have been randomly taking off with 

a flippity flap and a flutter 

and I think about that book every time.  

Only my chickens are running for no apparent reason.

Bathing Beauties

Chickens like to take dust bathes.  

Here Bertha and Martha Stewart choose the area right next to the tomatoes to bathe

Brooding

One of my orpingtons has gone broody.  

She spends all day and night trying to hatch unfertilized eggs, 

bless her little chicken heart.  

She growls whenever I open the nest box, and attempts to take a chunk of flesh 

(especially from the dog Bailey).

Chicken Hawks

Okay, so this isn't really what a chicken hawk is.

And while this might be your idea of a chicken hawk based on your childhood cartoons, 

this isn't really one either.

Chicken hawk is a term used for 3 different hawks:

Cooper's Hawk

Short Shinned Hawk

and a 

Red Tailed Hawk.

Of the 3, only the Red Tailed hawk actually makes a meal out of a free range chicken.

A few weeks ago, 

I lost one of my Buff Orpingtons.

Nothing was left of her except a pile of pumpkin colored feathers.

There was speculation over what might have taken the bird for its dinner.  

A fox was the frontrunner as a suspect as I had heard them barking in the night, but 

after a close encounter the dogs had with a skunk, I thought perhaps that was the culprit.

Then, one day I'm watching the birds at our bird feeder in the back yard.

I notice the chickens running at break neck speed towards a cedar tree in our fence line.

At first I thought nothing of it.

Those chickens run everywhere.

Then I see a large brown bird swoop down towards the hens as they're running.

It was the local red tailed hawk. 

I ran out the back door, waving my arms shrieking

"Don't you eat my chickens!"

(Thank GOD there was no one there with a camera)

The hawk flew off and I counted the hens.

One was missing.

I looked over towards the coop to see the missing chicken stepping out clucking as if to say

"Where the heck did everyone go?"

I ran over (hearing the shrieks of the hawk still nearby) and pushed her back into the coop.

I turned to go get the other chickens only to see them running at high speed back to the coop

screaming, "We're coming! We're Coming!"

Ok, maybe they weren't screaming, but if they were capable of speech, that's what they would have said.

Now the girls are spending a little more time in lock down.

Oh, they get out, just not on any kind of set or regular schedule-

the same thing the police tell you if you think someone is watching you.

They aren't happy about it.

Especially Bertha here.

I expect to find her one morning dragging a tin cup across the wire.

RIP Scrawny Chicken

Matilda the buff in the back left

About two weeks ago, 

my mother asked if I had counted the chickens.

Immediately, I knew I'd be missing someone.

Turns out there was a pile of orange feathers near the barn

and I was missing a buff orpington.

While sad that I lost a chicken,

it at least was the scrawny one named Matilda

and not Bertha who has personality in droves.

Play Ball

Our chickens know how to umpire a game of baseball

The Barking Fox

Lying awake last night, I heard the barking of a fox.  It's a distinct sound, similar to a yappy little dog and yet not like a dog.  Sometimes it even sounds like a cat. Have a listen here.

 I worry about those chickens of mine. They're not only my own personal egg factory, they're pets with distinct personalities. They chase the cat, they chase the horses and while they don't chase the dogs, Big Bertha has been known to peck my chocolate lab on the nose from time to time. 

I think Bertha thinks she can take just about anything.

Winter

First snowfall of the winter- The Apple Tree

Love those country traffic jams

Big Bertha has to check everything out.

Gibbs the cool cat

Farm Chic

Boots for the stylish Chicken Herder

My mom bought me these boots last fall.  

I was looking for something that was waterproof and easy to slip on for those early morning and late night dog walks.  

It was the rooster weather vane design that really got my blood pumping in regards to keeping chickens. 

 I could see myself walking out to my chicken coop to feed my chickens wearing these boots.  

The idea of feeding chickens in my magenta boots with gold rooster weather vanes

 lead to reading this book.

Which in turn lead to chickens

And now I spend my early morning and my late afternoons walking to the chicken coop 

and stylin' in my magenta boots.

Best when paired with lime green athletic shorts and a purple shirt.

We Got Eggs

My son checked the coop a couple of days ago and discovered this egg sitting on the ladder to the run. 

 I'm glad I included that cozy nest box in the coop design.  

Since then, we've had an egg a day.  

Those other cluckers better get busy!

The Coop

This is the final product (minus the painting and a few other finishing touches).

The view from the back shows the external nesting box with hinged lid for easy egg collection.  

Making the nest box external freed up floor space for the chickens.  

The nest box is 1'x2' divided into 2 12"x12" boxes.

The view inside the coop shows the roosting bar, nest box and vent holes. 

I used 1/4" wire mesh to fence in the run and cover the vent holes.  

Most people would assume you should use chicken wire on a chicken coop.  

However, the holes in chicken wire are large enough for predators like raccoons to stick their arm through.  It's also easy to break chicken wire with your hands.  

Imagine what a dog's mouth could do! 

The Best Little Henhouse in MD: Good Lays Here

There are a couple of points I'd like to stress regarding chicken coopage:

1. Have your coop before you get your chicks.  This might seem silly (which is what I thought) since you're getting baby chickens, but those babies grow up fast and when they get big enough, you'll want them out.

2. Ready made chicken coops are expensive.  You can find a few in the $300 range online, but the quality is iffy.  Best bet in my opinion- build it yourself.  Better yet, get a boyfriend/girlfriend who is handy and knows their way around a saw and let them build it for you (which is precisely what I did).

First, I came up with a plan.  I researched coop designs, found one I liked and altered it for my personal needs (original plans found at The Tangled Nest). The coop design is a 4'x4' floor plan and 3' high.  The coop stands 2' off the ground and the area under the coop is enclosed with heavy wire mesh to provide a run that extends an extra 4 feet past the coop (so the run is 4'x8' and 2' tall).

Next you need to figure out the amount of lumber you need.  Don't quote me here, but I think we used 16 2x4's, 2 1x4's and 2 sheets of 4'x8' plywood siding.  We salvaged 2 large pieces of plywood for the roof and floor and also used left over shingles for the roof. After the wood, heavy screen and all the hardware, I spent about $200.  You could certainly spend less than that if you aren't worried about how the coop looks.  Since my coop sits within sight of the house, it was required to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible, and because I didn't have to buy plywood for the roof and floor, I was able to spend extra on the wood for the sides of the coop.

All that's left is for you (or your significant other) to take the plans and turn them into an actual coop.

Making the first cuts

If your chickens are able to operate power tools like mine are, that's a plus too.

Couple of the girls checking on the progress

All framed up

Working on cutting the sides

Finally looking like a coop

Stayed tuned for photos of the completed structure!