Saturday, September 18, 2010
Just a quick update
Well, Henrietta, aka. "Meanie" is still with us. She seems to be very comfortable with her loner status and if given the chance would become another Carlson house pet. She is very content wandering around our yard, nibbling goodies from the vegetable garden and taking her daily dust baths. No complaints from us really, except that it would be nice to have more than 1 egg a day and I really wish she didn't poop everywhere. She is a chicken and we are not on a farm, so I guess I have to get used to chicken poop in places.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
I forgot to mention.....
that after we returned to Granby, one of the chickens died Saturday, July 24th and the next one died the following Tuesday, the 27th. Sad.
maybe raising chickens isn't my "thing"
Well, we are down to 1 chicken - Henrietta or as she is aptly named now, "Meany."
It happened a few weeks ago when we were in Granby. We had 3 when we left on Friday, July 16th. All was seemingly fine. Saunders and I had come back to Boulder for a piano lesson on the 20th, after which we enjoyed some nice mother-daughter time, then dinner with my cousin Ritchie. We arrived home from dinner ~8pm and Ritchie asked to meet the "ladies." We had let them out of their coop to free range ~3pm that afternoon and by this time they would be enjoying a nice snack in our garden or a dust bath underneath the big tree north of the house. Instead, we found that Henrietta aka Meany had pinned one of them in between our sunroom and the downspout and she was pecking the heck out of her butt, already having done quite a number by the time we came to the rescue. The other hen was pecked and de-feathered in that area as well and both were bloody and obviously hurt. I consider myself fairly resourceful and capable, but I couldn't help but think, "why isn't Brian here to handle this?" Now what? Clearly, we had to separate the injured two from Meany. Out came Tex's dog crate again, which Ritchie and I secured shut with garbage bag twisty ties. We put Meany in the dog crate and the others in the coop, Ritchie called a friend for advice and got the name of the "chicken lady" at Murdoch's in Longmont. They were closed, so it would have to wait until the next morning.
Saunders and I went to bed and I spent a very sleepless night expecting to wake to 2 dead chickens in the morning. Low and behold, they were alive the next morning. Once Murdoch's opened, I called and spoke with Carol. She said that perhaps they craved salt, so put table salt in their water and keep them separated. What she said next disturbed me; give the two injured chickens a bath. "A bath?" Hmmmm, this was NOT on my bucket list, nor was it something I ever thought I would be doing in my lifetime. While not from a large city, I still consider myself a city girl, so once I got over the initial shock that I now had stepped slightly into farmer girl world, I then wondered, "How the hell do you give a chicken a bath?" Next logical step - google it!
As Saunders and I watched a YouTube video of a woman giving her rooster a bath in her kitchen sink, I really wondered if this was all worth it. "Do I really want fresh eggs this much?"
To our horror, this woman then towel dried the rooster and began blow drying the rooster's feathers and the rooster LOVED it.
Clearly, we would not be giving our chickens the royal spa treatment, so out came the gloves, rags, dish soap, bucket and spinach. I filled the bucket with warm water and had the sprayer on the hose set. Saunders was ready with a handful of spinach for our first victim. Too bad all of our hands were occupied because a video of this would be priceless. I grabbed victim No. 1 and threw her in the bucket and with gloved hands I began scrubbing her behind and then rinsed her off with the sprayer, while Saunders fed her spinach. Not really sure whether the spinach made her feel any more secure, but it was worth a try. After the bath, we set her on the concrete for a quick towel- dry and the weight of the water made her fall over! Again, wish we had a camera. Bath No. 2 went much the same way and after a quick dry, let them loose in the yard to air dry.
Now what? We were heading back up to Granby that afternoon and our neighbor was going to be looking in on them. I felt so guilty for this and I knew that I needed to come up with some great thank you gift for them other than 3 fresh eggs each morning. And with the 2 hens badly scarred, only Meany was still laying, so they were not even getting their original, intended allotment. Again, I questioned, is this all worth it?
We went about our day and it was finally time to go and I tried to get a hold of our neighbor to give her the new care instructions. Once she got home, she came over and I went though the "new set- up." She felt that all of this was her fault because she was not letting them free range all day as we had been doing. Instead, she would only let them out while she checked on their food and water. While this may have contributed to their agitation and Henrietta's transformation from lead hen to pecker hen and from Henrietta to Meany, it was certainly not anyone's fault. This happens in the chicken world. I have been told that often when there is no rooster present, one hen make take over as "head honcho." And once a pecker always a pecker. There is no way we can introduce any more chickens into our coop until Meany is no longer.
Now the question is, do we "off" her and get more from Gina in Erie @ Wildfire Farms?
http://www.wildfirefarmsllc.com/index.html
OR just wait and see how she does through the winter and then get chicks in the spring?
The bummer about all of this is we only get 1 egg a day and there is hardly any entertainment value in having just 1 chicken. Chickens are flock animals, similar to the way dogs are pack animals; they like the group mentality, except in this case Henrietta/Meany seems to do just fine all alone. Maybe she will die a lonesome, cold death this winter or maybe she will be just fine. Either way, I am not so far in the farmer girl world that I am going to kill her and have her for dinner. I will become a vegetarian again for sure.
That's all for now, stay tuned to see what happens to Meany.
It happened a few weeks ago when we were in Granby. We had 3 when we left on Friday, July 16th. All was seemingly fine. Saunders and I had come back to Boulder for a piano lesson on the 20th, after which we enjoyed some nice mother-daughter time, then dinner with my cousin Ritchie. We arrived home from dinner ~8pm and Ritchie asked to meet the "ladies." We had let them out of their coop to free range ~3pm that afternoon and by this time they would be enjoying a nice snack in our garden or a dust bath underneath the big tree north of the house. Instead, we found that Henrietta aka Meany had pinned one of them in between our sunroom and the downspout and she was pecking the heck out of her butt, already having done quite a number by the time we came to the rescue. The other hen was pecked and de-feathered in that area as well and both were bloody and obviously hurt. I consider myself fairly resourceful and capable, but I couldn't help but think, "why isn't Brian here to handle this?" Now what? Clearly, we had to separate the injured two from Meany. Out came Tex's dog crate again, which Ritchie and I secured shut with garbage bag twisty ties. We put Meany in the dog crate and the others in the coop, Ritchie called a friend for advice and got the name of the "chicken lady" at Murdoch's in Longmont. They were closed, so it would have to wait until the next morning.
Saunders and I went to bed and I spent a very sleepless night expecting to wake to 2 dead chickens in the morning. Low and behold, they were alive the next morning. Once Murdoch's opened, I called and spoke with Carol. She said that perhaps they craved salt, so put table salt in their water and keep them separated. What she said next disturbed me; give the two injured chickens a bath. "A bath?" Hmmmm, this was NOT on my bucket list, nor was it something I ever thought I would be doing in my lifetime. While not from a large city, I still consider myself a city girl, so once I got over the initial shock that I now had stepped slightly into farmer girl world, I then wondered, "How the hell do you give a chicken a bath?" Next logical step - google it!
As Saunders and I watched a YouTube video of a woman giving her rooster a bath in her kitchen sink, I really wondered if this was all worth it. "Do I really want fresh eggs this much?"
To our horror, this woman then towel dried the rooster and began blow drying the rooster's feathers and the rooster LOVED it.
Clearly, we would not be giving our chickens the royal spa treatment, so out came the gloves, rags, dish soap, bucket and spinach. I filled the bucket with warm water and had the sprayer on the hose set. Saunders was ready with a handful of spinach for our first victim. Too bad all of our hands were occupied because a video of this would be priceless. I grabbed victim No. 1 and threw her in the bucket and with gloved hands I began scrubbing her behind and then rinsed her off with the sprayer, while Saunders fed her spinach. Not really sure whether the spinach made her feel any more secure, but it was worth a try. After the bath, we set her on the concrete for a quick towel- dry and the weight of the water made her fall over! Again, wish we had a camera. Bath No. 2 went much the same way and after a quick dry, let them loose in the yard to air dry.
Now what? We were heading back up to Granby that afternoon and our neighbor was going to be looking in on them. I felt so guilty for this and I knew that I needed to come up with some great thank you gift for them other than 3 fresh eggs each morning. And with the 2 hens badly scarred, only Meany was still laying, so they were not even getting their original, intended allotment. Again, I questioned, is this all worth it?
We went about our day and it was finally time to go and I tried to get a hold of our neighbor to give her the new care instructions. Once she got home, she came over and I went though the "new set- up." She felt that all of this was her fault because she was not letting them free range all day as we had been doing. Instead, she would only let them out while she checked on their food and water. While this may have contributed to their agitation and Henrietta's transformation from lead hen to pecker hen and from Henrietta to Meany, it was certainly not anyone's fault. This happens in the chicken world. I have been told that often when there is no rooster present, one hen make take over as "head honcho." And once a pecker always a pecker. There is no way we can introduce any more chickens into our coop until Meany is no longer.
Now the question is, do we "off" her and get more from Gina in Erie @ Wildfire Farms?
http://www.wildfirefarmsllc.com/index.html
OR just wait and see how she does through the winter and then get chicks in the spring?
The bummer about all of this is we only get 1 egg a day and there is hardly any entertainment value in having just 1 chicken. Chickens are flock animals, similar to the way dogs are pack animals; they like the group mentality, except in this case Henrietta/Meany seems to do just fine all alone. Maybe she will die a lonesome, cold death this winter or maybe she will be just fine. Either way, I am not so far in the farmer girl world that I am going to kill her and have her for dinner. I will become a vegetarian again for sure.
That's all for now, stay tuned to see what happens to Meany.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
miss our 4th chicken
We sure miss Henna. Not only did I enjoy seeing 4 chickens scampering about the yard, I miss the 4 eggs each morning.
We decided not to get anymore chickens this year and will wait until next spring and perhaps get some chicks. Although that seems like a lot of work and I have enough of that already.
We decided not to get anymore chickens this year and will wait until next spring and perhaps get some chicks. Although that seems like a lot of work and I have enough of that already.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
sad, sad day
R.I.P. Henna
This morning we went out to find one of our chickens, specifically Saunders' chicken, dead inside the coop.
Now to clean it up....
This morning we went out to find one of our chickens, specifically Saunders' chicken, dead inside the coop.
Now to clean it up....
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
No Rooster needed unless.......
Hens do not need roosters to lay eggs!! Hens lay eggs regardless of whether there is a male around. The only reason a rooster is needed (see any similarities to the human species, here?) is for reproduction - cute, fuzzy, baby chicks!!!
For cute fuzzy chicks, here is a brief synopsis of the reproductive process.
They have similar reproductive systems to other species; the female produces the eggs inside her body and the male produces sperm inside his body. They mate in a similar fashion to other species; in this case the rooster pens the hen down and climbs on her back and places his cloaca (opening) against hers. After the sperm has gone into the hen's cloaca, it flows up a tube, called the oviduct, toward the eggs. After being fertilized, the egg will travel down towards the hen's cloaca. On the way down the "white" is added to the yolk and as it nears the end of it's journey a soft shell forms around the egg to act as protection. The closer it gets to the end, the larger the egg gets and when it reaches the cloaca, then hen pushes it out of her body and an egg is laid. In this case, it is a fertilized egg! Inside the egg is a speck where the sperm joined the yolk; this speck becomes a baby chick, but only if it is incubated for 21 days. The hen will sit on her egg to keep it warm (incubate) or a farmer with many hens will perhaps keep the eggs in an incubator. The eggs need to be turned to make sure heat gets through to the whole egg.
Hens will begin to lay eggs on their own after they are about 20-22 weeks old. We have 4 hens and we now are at a point where we get 4 eggs a day, usually in the morning. We have one lady who seems to go by her own schedule and she lays her egg a few hours after the other three have done their duty. My son will wait outside the nesting box for a hen to lay her egg. The problem is he likes to open the door a lot and "check- in" on the progress. He is patient enough (and probably annoying enough to the hen on duty) and soon he walks in with a warm brown egg. Well worth the wait. So far we have used the eggs for our morning breakfast, but today I plan to try then out in a cupcake recipe.
Many people like the idea of a REALLY fresh egg and others are a bit turned off by it. For those who may be turned off by it you will be happy to know that there are two separate ducts; one for eggs and the other for waste, but one shared exit. Waste never comes into contact with egg, due to duct design. The eggs we get look as if they are right out of your grocer's refrigerated section.
For this post, I used information from the following sources:
Ridout, Ronald and Michael Holt. The Life Cycle Book of Chickens. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap 1974.
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/ZebraDirectory/chickhome/index.html
For cute fuzzy chicks, here is a brief synopsis of the reproductive process.
They have similar reproductive systems to other species; the female produces the eggs inside her body and the male produces sperm inside his body. They mate in a similar fashion to other species; in this case the rooster pens the hen down and climbs on her back and places his cloaca (opening) against hers. After the sperm has gone into the hen's cloaca, it flows up a tube, called the oviduct, toward the eggs. After being fertilized, the egg will travel down towards the hen's cloaca. On the way down the "white" is added to the yolk and as it nears the end of it's journey a soft shell forms around the egg to act as protection. The closer it gets to the end, the larger the egg gets and when it reaches the cloaca, then hen pushes it out of her body and an egg is laid. In this case, it is a fertilized egg! Inside the egg is a speck where the sperm joined the yolk; this speck becomes a baby chick, but only if it is incubated for 21 days. The hen will sit on her egg to keep it warm (incubate) or a farmer with many hens will perhaps keep the eggs in an incubator. The eggs need to be turned to make sure heat gets through to the whole egg.
Hens will begin to lay eggs on their own after they are about 20-22 weeks old. We have 4 hens and we now are at a point where we get 4 eggs a day, usually in the morning. We have one lady who seems to go by her own schedule and she lays her egg a few hours after the other three have done their duty. My son will wait outside the nesting box for a hen to lay her egg. The problem is he likes to open the door a lot and "check- in" on the progress. He is patient enough (and probably annoying enough to the hen on duty) and soon he walks in with a warm brown egg. Well worth the wait. So far we have used the eggs for our morning breakfast, but today I plan to try then out in a cupcake recipe.
Many people like the idea of a REALLY fresh egg and others are a bit turned off by it. For those who may be turned off by it you will be happy to know that there are two separate ducts; one for eggs and the other for waste, but one shared exit. Waste never comes into contact with egg, due to duct design. The eggs we get look as if they are right out of your grocer's refrigerated section.
For this post, I used information from the following sources:
Ridout, Ronald and Michael Holt. The Life Cycle Book of Chickens. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap 1974.
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/ZebraDirectory/chickhome/index.html
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Up at Bat
I think all the ladies have begun to step up to the plate; we are getting 4 eggs every day. I never knew how much joy I would get from having chickens. Not only do they produce fresh eggs daily, but they are a great source of entertainment. I feel most connected to my hen, Henrietta. I like to believe that she senses this connection as well. I think it is because we are both rather opinionated and pushy at times. She is definitely the CEO of the group and the others wait for her approval before diving into something new.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
At the beginning of this year, we decided to get some hens so that we could enjoy fresh eggs on a daily basis. I contacted a friend of ours about their modern coop. This coop was too cool to pass up. The coop is from the UK and travels to the US via ship, then Greyhound bus to your local station. The coop arrived April 6th and our 4 hens were expected to arrive the last week of April, ~ the 29th or 30th. This is good because we need to assemble the coop.
So, on April 11th, we open the 5 large boxes and begin to haul all the parts outside to assemble the coop together as a family. We soon discovered most of the hardware, or as Clare, the lovely English woman calls them - the bits and bots, had not arrived with the coop. It was Sunday, there was nothing we could do and unfortunately the parts were coop specific and they were coming from England. Monday morning first thing, we called and e-mailed, e-mailed and called.........In another part of the world, a volcano had erupted in Iceland on . The eruption created, among many other things, an ash cloud over the UK and much of Western Europe grounding planes for a week or more. No bits and bots and then.......
We received the call that the hens were at the post office - it is April 22nd!!!
So, what are we to do with 4 hungry, thirsty and travel weary hens?
First, we tried to take them over to our friends coop, but their two more mature hens showed them who was boss. It's aptly called a pecking order. After almost losing one in their next door neighbors bushes, we got all 4, transferred them back home and put them in our large dog crate.*
The hens were sure to think they had landed in hen purgatory, but 4 long days later, the bits and bots arrived and we assembled the coop.
*Said dog crate is not being utilized by said large dog because he breaks out of it, even reinforced.
So, on April 11th, we open the 5 large boxes and begin to haul all the parts outside to assemble the coop together as a family. We soon discovered most of the hardware, or as Clare, the lovely English woman calls them - the bits and bots, had not arrived with the coop. It was Sunday, there was nothing we could do and unfortunately the parts were coop specific and they were coming from England. Monday morning first thing, we called and e-mailed, e-mailed and called.........In another part of the world, a volcano had erupted in Iceland on . The eruption created, among many other things, an ash cloud over the UK and much of Western Europe grounding planes for a week or more. No bits and bots and then.......
We received the call that the hens were at the post office - it is April 22nd!!!
So, what are we to do with 4 hungry, thirsty and travel weary hens?
First, we tried to take them over to our friends coop, but their two more mature hens showed them who was boss. It's aptly called a pecking order. After almost losing one in their next door neighbors bushes, we got all 4, transferred them back home and put them in our large dog crate.*
The hens were sure to think they had landed in hen purgatory, but 4 long days later, the bits and bots arrived and we assembled the coop.
*Said dog crate is not being utilized by said large dog because he breaks out of it, even reinforced.
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