Hello everyone - I have decided to move my blog over to Wordpress. The new address is lisahaschickens.wordpress.com. It has all the old stuff plus a new post! Also, I am working on the formatting and redoing some things, so bear with me. I apologize for any inconvenience. Hopefully this move will make for a better blog experience for all of us!
See you there,
~Lisa
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Teeny Tiny Tail Tufts
(Mystery Chick shows you her(his?) tail tuft)
Well, it is day four and all is well at Lisa's Chicken Shack. I am sad to report that the One Sicky Little Chicky did give up the ghost eventually yesterday after a long and hard fight. But, hey - that's nature. I only wish it hadn't dragged on so long - that was the most stressful part. That's all I'll say about sad stuff - moving on.
Everybody else appears well at this time. I was worried a bit for a while because starting last night and through most of today, they have spent much of their time sleeping. Before then, they only seemed to sleep for short periods and spent most of their time eating, drinking and playing. I tried not to let panic set in because both of our losses so far have started out as overly-sleepy babies. In an attempt to see if this was a bad sign, I resorted to my usual tactic of internet research and found a nice question and answer site called www.feathersite.com. On it, site owner says he gets many questions from concerned amateurs about whether it is bad that chicks are sleeping a lot. He said it's totally normal - remember, they are babies and need lots of sleep. So, I decided to think of them like human babies in fast-forward. At first, they needed to eat and drink quite often and so would catch frequent, short naps. Now that they're older, they are more efficient eaters and so can sleep "through the night," so to speak. This was the most common site for me through last night and much of today:
Since I've got this picture up, I'll mention this: today I read that you are supposed to be able to "color sex" Cuckoo Marans from birth. Apparently usually males are lighter, more silvery with less-defined head spots, while the females are usually closer to true black in color with strongly-defined head spots. This is not always true, but mostly. So, I ask you - can you see a difference between any of them? The above picture has five of my six in it. I guess some are a little lighter than others, but none are really "silvery" and none are really "true black," are they? I am now a little worried that I have all of one sex. If you go here and scroll down to the second picture from the bottom, it shows you what the difference is supposed to look like. If mine are all females, that would be fine, but I seriously doubt it. If anything, hatcheries would err on the side of giving you more males (though theoretically they didn't sex them at all and so they wouldn't be able to choose). I really want at least one female so I can have chocolate-colored eggs! Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Anyway, they are still growing like weeds and today's themes are tailfeathers and better pictures. This morning for the first time, little teeny tufts of tail fluff were visible on some chicky tushies. By this evening, most of them have them. I'm not kidding when I say they change by the hour! By earlier this afternoon, one Marans chick (today I have learned that "Marans" is both the plural AND the singular term)had visible the beginnings of two real tailfeathers. By this evening, another Marans plus the Cool-Looking One (an Amer.) had them too. A few minutes ago I went up for a photoshoot in an attempt to show you some tailfeathers and I definitely scored some of my best pics so far. I have been using the flash and it helps a TON. I really hope it's not giving them brain damage or something else equally horrible. They don't seem to mind as far as I can tell.
(Marans chick with visible tailfeathers, rather than just fluff... if you click on the image for the larger version, you should be able to see them)
(A Buff Orpington and Mystery Chick have some dinner with newly-visible tail tufts)
(the Buff Ameraucana hams it up for the camera and shows off her long, light wingfeathers and a hint of a tail tuft)
(a little love between sisters, Owl (top), and Big Scary One, who is turning out to be not so scary...)
(Hello, Gorgeous! Cool-Looking One, our darkest Ameraucana, is pretty for the camera, showing us her lovely, developing wingfeathers and a prominent tail tuft)
(finally a good, clear picture of a Marans' comb)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Cocks' Combs & The Taming Process
After two gloomy posts in a row, I do want you to know that all in all, the babies are doing quite well. As I mentioned before, it is extremely rare for an entire batch of chicks to make it to adulthood, so we shouldn't dwell on the negatives.
Combs
It is unbelievable to me how quickly they are growing - they literally change by the hour. Their wing feathers are very noticeable now on all of them. By yesterday afternoon, we could see the beginnings of little combs growing on three of the Marans. The best picture I could get of it is above. If you squint and look really closely, you might be able to see the little, tiny ridge of bumps forming in a line down his beak. Below is another picture - I really don't think you can see it in that one, but it's still cute so I thought I'd post it anyway.
Now, we've established that I've never had chickens before and that all my knowledge has come from books and websites and a little from my parents. We have also established that it's nearly impossible to distinguish the sexes of young chicks and even experts are accurate only 80% to 90% of the time. However, I have read that sometimes defining characteristics begin to show themselves on certain breeds within the first week of life. Since the Marans were stright run and I have six of them and three of the six are distinctly showing comb growth while the others are distinctly not, I am going to guess that one group of three is one sex and the other group of three is the other. Only time will tell, but I am placing my money on the ones with combs as cockerels (boys). Apparently some breeds that are particularly good for egg-laying develop early combs in pullets (girls) as well, but since this group is definitely half and half now, I'm guessing it's a defining characteristic. Cockerels generally develop combs and wattles before pullets. So there you go. I will keep you posted.
Taming
I have to apologize for the mostly terrible pictures so far. The red heat lamp makes for terrible lighting and I can't seem to get them out from under it much anymore, much less pick them up and hold them. I have used flash to make the pictures much better, but I'm afraid that the flash scares them even more. The babies are naturally terrified of gigantic, noisy, lumbering creatures such as ourselves. This I knew, but in all my reading I've never come across specific instructions for taming them. They all just said that chickens generally make for good pets and they will get used to you and think of you as their "mama" and follow you around and some will even enjoy being held and petted. In light of this, I just assumed that if I picked them up, they would quickly calm down and realize that my hand was a nice, warm, comfy, safe place to hang out. I was wrong. You know how in Monday's post I said that all of them except the Ameraucanas seemed not to mind being held? Yeah, scratch that. Once they were about 24 hours older than that, and bigger and feeling more recovered from their trip through the mail, they were all terrified of me. Now if I do anything like lean over the brooder or reach in to pick up a feeder or waterer, this is what happens:
They all run screaming into one corner and smash each other up against the walls in terror. Now when I catch one (if I can), in order to clean off it's bottom, it screams bloody murder the entire time and tries its darndest to leap from my hand. Clearly death would be better than being held by me. This was upsetting me... was I doing something wrong? Did I inadvertantly handle their first days in a way that scarred them for life? Help! Well, so I finally decided to research the subject online. There is surprisingly little info out there on this topic and it is not so easy to find because any Google seach with the word "chick" in it is bound to bring up about 90% porn. But, in the end, I found a little amateur site made by a nice young girl who grew up raising backyard chickens with her dad. Go here if you would like to check it out.
It turns out that this is all normal behavior for chicks that you did not hatch yourself. The key is to get them used to your hand and to reward them for coming to you when you call. The first few days are tricky because the babies really can't eat anything but chick crumbles, so you can't really offer them anything more exciting as a treat. Still, I have already made good progress by holding some crumbles in my open hand and placing it in the brooder. Every time I move my arm into or out of the box, they are terrified. BUT, most of the soon figured out that my hand held food (albeit the same food that is in their much-less-scary feeders only inches away) and they happily hopped over and started eating from my hand. This is a step in the right direction.
It is interesting to me that it seems to be the same chicks each time that are willing to come over and eat out of my hand. It is three of the Marans, one of the Buffs, the Buff Amer., the Cool-Looking One, the Amer that I am temporarily calling "Owl" (because that's what she (he?) looks like), and sometimes the Mystery Chick. By the way, in the picture above with all the chicks huddled together, you have a great view of the color difference between the Mystery Chick and the other Buffs. He/she is a totally different color. Anyway, one of the Marans is now the boldest and hardly moves away when I lower my arm into the brooder and he doesn't hesitate to come start eating from my hand. He also like to hop on and stand on my hand and peck at my ring because it's nice and shiny.
So, I am excited. Since they got their first grit today, they should be able to have treats other than crumbles starting tomorrow, I think. Grass clippings, foods in the cabbage family, and bugs - particularly earthworms - are supposed to be favorites and OK for them to eat at this young age. In theory, they will be far more thrilled with the treats than the crumbles and will quickly learn to run to me rather than from me in order to get the treats. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted!
Learning To Be Chickens
It is also incredible to me how quickly they are learning to act like big chickens. Several of them have discovered the long-standing favorite chicken pastime of scratching - and BOY do they love it. The ones that do it will stand in a spot and scratch at high-speed with all their might until they have flung wood shavings all the way across the brooder and into the feeders and waterers and all over their friends. I went upstairs just before lunch today to find that a group of three of them had been busy scratching at a single spot on the floor. They had managed to dig a large hole all the way down to the cardboard and were busy scratching and pecking at the cardboard floor, disappointed that they couldn't go any deeper. At this point I have to reiterate that so far all the hype has been true - chickens are great entertainment.
One Sicky little Chicky
So it's day three and that means no more sugar in their water (just vitamins and electrolytes at this point) but they do get to try baby grit for the first time! This morning when I woke up, they were all still alive, thankfully. Also, the one Maran which I previously thought was looking pekid seems to have perked up and is doing just fine. However, I have a new concern and I think this one is pretty valid. First thing this morning, one of the Buff Orpingtons (pictured above) had a large amount of waste stuck to her behind. She was just a little too easy to catch so I could clean her off and she didn't protest quite enough for my liking.
(a picture of her behind a few hours after I cleaned her off - tthere's still a lot of manure there, but she can eliminate at least)
Unfortunately, since then I have not seen her eat, drink, or do much besides stand under the light all fluffed up. I have read that that is a sure sign that a chicken is not feeling well. I'm not sure what more I can do for her. I have picked her up and made her drink three times (if you stick their beaks in the water, they instinctively take a gulp) which seems to temporarily perk her up, but not for long. I fear we may lose her. Keep your fingers crossed, but it's not looking good.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Nothing in Life is Certain Except...
Sadly, we lost one of our babies sometime overnight. This is to be expected, but it's still no fun. Not all baby chicks are slated to make it to adulthood, and they are particularly vulnerable when they are tiny like this. I had my eye on this particular little guy since yesterday afternoon - he/she didn't look so great to me. He/she wanted to sleep more and eat and drink and play less than his broodermates. Those were not good signs, but I kept hoping. Whenever I'd pick him up, he'd perk up and move around and even eat or drink a bit - but it wouldn't last. Anyway, it was one of my seven Cuckoo Marans, so now there are six. There is one more Maran that isn't looking top-notch, so I'm not going to get too attached, but here's hoping.
Everybody else is looking quite well. Last night by the time we went to bed they were pretty quiet and mostly sleeping. At 6:15am this morning, they were all up and eating and drinking and peeping (except the dead one and the sleepy one). I removed their fallen friend, emptied, scrubbed, and refilled their waterers, and checked them for pasting up.
Pasting up is a condition that can happen during shipping or in the following week or so. It is where the babies have loose droppings and they build up in the down on their rear ends and then it dries and hardens. This is dangerous because it blocks the vent (a chicken's rear end "exit" - used for pooping, laying eggs, breeding, etc.) and then they can't eliminate, get backed up, and die. I found two chicks this morning with a concerning amount of buildup and I cleaned them off. A few others had a small amount back there that isn't a problem yet, but I will keep an eye on them.
Their new favorite game seems to be "kill the thermometer." I have a simple glass thermometer attached to a piece of cardboard that lives in the brooder to monitor the temperature for the babies. I periodically move it around to various parts of the brooder to check the temperature at a given spot. This morning I put it in the middle under the light. The babies then proceeded to hop all over it and try to peck it to death. Five or six at a time would all crowd on top of it and start attacking. This very much seems to amuse them. A couple of them have also taken to attacking the walls of the brooder, pecking as hard as they can at various points on the walls. Some parts of the cardboard give a little when they do this... others do not. They seems to get very mad at that stationary parts and shriek at them. They are quite pleased with themselved when they get a wall to move a bit, though, peeping contentedly as they peck it over and over again. It really is quite entertaining to watch.
(a lone game of Kill the Thermometer - the others were too scared of the camera to keep playing)
I also remembered this morning that I once read that the babies like something soft in which to snuggle up and take a nap. I've read that stuffed animals or old blankets or wash cloths will do fine. So I tossed a clean white terry cloth in there and they seem to love it. The most aggressive ones like to climb to the highest point on it (probably and inch and a half high) and stand on top and look down at everyone else. The others like to snuggle down into it and take naps. Very cute.
(playing King of the Hill)
(nap time on the snuggly towel)
By 7:00am the sky was light and the babies all simultanesouly decided it was time for a nap. I was sitting there watching them and within a minute they all went from running and playing to lying face-down on the floor, asleep. It's hard work being a baby!
Everybody else is looking quite well. Last night by the time we went to bed they were pretty quiet and mostly sleeping. At 6:15am this morning, they were all up and eating and drinking and peeping (except the dead one and the sleepy one). I removed their fallen friend, emptied, scrubbed, and refilled their waterers, and checked them for pasting up.
Pasting up is a condition that can happen during shipping or in the following week or so. It is where the babies have loose droppings and they build up in the down on their rear ends and then it dries and hardens. This is dangerous because it blocks the vent (a chicken's rear end "exit" - used for pooping, laying eggs, breeding, etc.) and then they can't eliminate, get backed up, and die. I found two chicks this morning with a concerning amount of buildup and I cleaned them off. A few others had a small amount back there that isn't a problem yet, but I will keep an eye on them.
Their new favorite game seems to be "kill the thermometer." I have a simple glass thermometer attached to a piece of cardboard that lives in the brooder to monitor the temperature for the babies. I periodically move it around to various parts of the brooder to check the temperature at a given spot. This morning I put it in the middle under the light. The babies then proceeded to hop all over it and try to peck it to death. Five or six at a time would all crowd on top of it and start attacking. This very much seems to amuse them. A couple of them have also taken to attacking the walls of the brooder, pecking as hard as they can at various points on the walls. Some parts of the cardboard give a little when they do this... others do not. They seems to get very mad at that stationary parts and shriek at them. They are quite pleased with themselved when they get a wall to move a bit, though, peeping contentedly as they peck it over and over again. It really is quite entertaining to watch.
(a lone game of Kill the Thermometer - the others were too scared of the camera to keep playing)
I also remembered this morning that I once read that the babies like something soft in which to snuggle up and take a nap. I've read that stuffed animals or old blankets or wash cloths will do fine. So I tossed a clean white terry cloth in there and they seem to love it. The most aggressive ones like to climb to the highest point on it (probably and inch and a half high) and stand on top and look down at everyone else. The others like to snuggle down into it and take naps. Very cute.
(playing King of the Hill)
(nap time on the snuggly towel)
By 7:00am the sky was light and the babies all simultanesouly decided it was time for a nap. I was sitting there watching them and within a minute they all went from running and playing to lying face-down on the floor, asleep. It's hard work being a baby!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Meet the Babies
I was originally planning on writing an entry about my chick choices prior to delivery, but again, I was surprised by their arrival this morning. So, I'll give you a quick run down right now.
I have to admit that I have drooled over the online chick catalogs for years now. Silly, I know. But they all seem so exciting and exotic that it's hard for me to not want a few of EVERY kind. I am my father's daughter. There are large and bantam (small) sizes of most breeds with a few "giants" (which are particularly huge and have no bantam equivalent) and a few "true bantams," which only come in the small size. There are fat ones and skinny ones, ruffled (called "frizzled") ones, silky ones, crested ones, feather-footed ones, and ones with super long tail feathers. There are mean ones, wild ones, tame ones, comical ones. There are bad layers, ok layers, good layers and great layers. They lay brown eggs, blue eggs, white eggs, green eggs, pink eggs, and the mysterious "tinted eggs." Every place I've looked in all of my research talks about birds that lay "tinted" eggs. I still have not found one definition of "tinted." I take it to mean, simply, "not white." But, when a bird lays, brown or blue/green eggs, it is specified. I have no clue what "tinted" means. If anyone knows, please share!
Anyway, my first instincts are to dive in head first - buy chicks without having a coop or anything else ready, and buy a whole assortment of crazy, exotic kinds. BUT, after much thought and with much restraint, I have restricted myself to three breeds: Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas (not to be confused with Araucanas), and Cuckoo Marans. I will now introduce you to the breeds and to my babies.
Buff Orpingtons
Orpingtons originated in England in the 1880s. They were originally developed as a good dual-purpose breed, which means they are good for both eggs and meat, and the original color was black. In the 1890s, a buff (gold-colored) strain was developed and it is now the most popular color of this breed. They are a popular breed for home flocks because of their mild dispositions and excellent mothering and foraging abilities. They also are very cold-hardy and will continue to lay through the winter. Their color is generally a true, metallic gold and is quite striking.
I have decided to go with all heavy breeds for now - no banties. I am in the mood for some calm, friendly pets that are easy to handle. Bantams are by nature flightier and more independent - maybe I'll add some to the flock next year. Anyway, I chose them because I love the buff color and the large, fluffy look of the Orpingtons. I believe that I have four Buffs up in my brooder at the moment. I ordered them all as pullets and there was a total of 9 delivered, but the sexing is only about 90% accurate, so there's a good chance one will be a rooster. I gave five of them to the woman who split my order with me. We shall see as they grow. When I say that I "believe" that I have four, it is because there are two more yellow, fluffy chicks in the brooder, but I believe one is an Ameraucana, and I believe the other is my mysterious "free rare breed chick" which McMurray Hatchery provides with each order of 25 chicks if you want it (of course, I did).
I had trouble getting decent pictures of the babies as the light was not great and I had to hold them in my hand to get a good angle.
(buff orpington chick. all four look pretty much identical at this point.)
The babies are already starting to show their personalities, and the Buff chicks are my middle-of-the-road chicks. They are perky and happily run around the brooder, eating and drinking, but they aren't very aggressive. They will hop a bit on the meeker Maran chicks sometimes. When I pick them up, they seem fairly contented to sit in my hand.
Ameraucanas
The breed that is called "Ameraucana" is a new breed that has only recently been recognized at some shows. This is because it is generally considered a "mongrel" cross between a true Araucana and some other undiscolsed breeds. Like the Araucanas, they generally lay blue or green eggs... but because of the uncertain lineages, they can also lay pink, white, cream, brown, olive, or even gold-colored eggs. They are often called "Easter Eggers" because of this. A true Araucana is a different thing - it is the original breed discovered in South America in the 1930s. They are very distinctive because they are missing their last vertebra and thus do not have tails, which makes them quite odd-looking. They also lay strictly blue/green eggs - no other colors. They are an extremely rare breed and are almost impossible to find from anywhere but small, specialist hobby-breeders. Most hatcheries that market "Araucanas" are actually selling Ester Eggers or Ameraucanas. If you are not looking to show birds (which I am not), then Ameraucanas/Easter Eggers are a great breed to have.
This breed is much like their eggs - they come in all colors. Anything from solid black or white to multicolors, stripes, lacing.... anything. As Forrest Gump said... "You never know what you're gonna get." I think that's half the fun.
Speaking of fun, the Ameraucana personality is general described as "fun" and "comical." This part I have seen already. These are definitely the clowns of the brooder. There is one we currently call "the big scary one" because it is way bigger than the rest of the chicks and has bold black eyeliner and a mean look on its face. This chick spends about 99.9% of its time standing on the heads of other chicks with its feet shoved in one or more holes of the feeders and eating constantly. Periodically it hops down and dashes at top speed across the brooder to the waterers, takes a gulp or two, and then high-tails it back to the feeder, climbing back atop its nearest comrades. Feeding is serious business for this baby. There is another one that we call "the cool-looking one" because its coloring is very different from all the chicks. This one likes to play games. It will pick up a piece of bedding or gro-gel (a supplement they get for their first 24 hours) and walk up to another chick and taunt it with its newly-acquired toy and then dash away in hopes of a game of chase. It often gets its way and it is endlessly entertaining to watch.
The other part of the Ameraucana personality is that they are supposed to be "calm and friendly." I have to say, this part I do not see yet. These were the last of the chicks to finally settle down for a nap - probably five hours after all the others - and they are by far the most active and likely to bully the other chicks. They also have no interest in being picked up at this point - they peep at the top of their lungs like I'm torturing them, try to constantly jump out of my hands, and every single time I've picked one up it's pooped on me. This is something I'll have to work on.
I ordered 9 Ameraucanas and I believe only 8 were shipped (they sent me an extra Buff and an extra Maran to make up for it). I ordered all pullets and gave three to the lady with whom I split the order, so I have five left.
Although they all do look a bit different, I had a very hard time holding them for pictures. This is the best I could do.
(this is what three of my five look like, coloring-wise, but they are all disinct. unlike with the Buffs, I can tell them all apart already)
There is also a buff-colored chick that I think it an Ameraucana because it has slightly puffy cheeks (characteristic of the breed) and darker gold bars down its back, unlike the Orpingtons.
(buff-colored Ameraucana chick)
The fifth Ameraucana is The Cool-Looking One that likes to play games. It is a dark, chocolate brown with a black saddle and head.
(The Cool-Looking One)
I also tried to get a picture of the Big Scary One, but it protested by far the most, so the shot is blurry.
(The Big Scary One)
Cuckoo Marans
My third breed is the Cuckoo Maran, which is an old French breed that is nicknamed the "chocolate egger" because it is a good layer of dark brown/terracotta-colored eggs. I thought that was too cool to pass up. Cuckoo is actually the name of the color, and Marans come in several different colors. "Cuckoo" is what Americans would call "barred," like a Barred Rock. They have small black and white striping over their entire bodies.
Marans are also supposed to be calm, friendly birds that tend to be at the bottom of the pecking order. This has proven true so far as well. They tend to be the meekest in my brooder, getting pecked and walked-on, and they are also the smallest. The chicks are all characterized by light, cream-colored patched on the tops of their heads and some have them elsewhere on the body as well. Otherwise they are solid black. These babies are also happy to be picked up and held and the like to take frequent naps.
I ordered 8 and got 9 delivered. I gave two to the lady and so I have seven left. For some reason, the Marans were only available as straight-run, which means not sexed. So, theoretically, half of them are boys. We will not be able to tell until they are a few weeks old. Once they are old enough to be distinguished, I found a man who is interested in all the boys that I don't want to keep. This is good news because we don't need more than one or two roosters at the house and there's a chance that one or two of the others are roosters as well (statistically).
(Maran chick - all seven that I have look very similar, but I'm starting to be able to tell them apart)
Mystery Chick
Lastly we have our "free rare chick" that McMurray offers with each order of 25 or more chicks. I couldn't pass that up. It is the hatchery's choice of sex and breed and they do not tell you what you are getting. So, we'll just have to wait and see. I believe mine is one that looks much like the Buff Orpington chicks, but is smaller and lighter, more silvery yellow than their gold color. I'll keep you posted on my guesses as to what it is. I tried to look around online for chicks that looked like that but it was too hard to tell at this point. If it turns out to be a girl (unlikely since hatcheries are generally overflowing with boys) and it keeps its current coloring, I will name it Sylvia.
(Mystery Chick)
Ok, that's it for now. I am planning to pick out a couple of chicks to photograph once a day so that we can keep track of their growth and then maybe I'll put up a post with all the pics in order so we can really see the progression. Yay babies!
I have to admit that I have drooled over the online chick catalogs for years now. Silly, I know. But they all seem so exciting and exotic that it's hard for me to not want a few of EVERY kind. I am my father's daughter. There are large and bantam (small) sizes of most breeds with a few "giants" (which are particularly huge and have no bantam equivalent) and a few "true bantams," which only come in the small size. There are fat ones and skinny ones, ruffled (called "frizzled") ones, silky ones, crested ones, feather-footed ones, and ones with super long tail feathers. There are mean ones, wild ones, tame ones, comical ones. There are bad layers, ok layers, good layers and great layers. They lay brown eggs, blue eggs, white eggs, green eggs, pink eggs, and the mysterious "tinted eggs." Every place I've looked in all of my research talks about birds that lay "tinted" eggs. I still have not found one definition of "tinted." I take it to mean, simply, "not white." But, when a bird lays, brown or blue/green eggs, it is specified. I have no clue what "tinted" means. If anyone knows, please share!
Anyway, my first instincts are to dive in head first - buy chicks without having a coop or anything else ready, and buy a whole assortment of crazy, exotic kinds. BUT, after much thought and with much restraint, I have restricted myself to three breeds: Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas (not to be confused with Araucanas), and Cuckoo Marans. I will now introduce you to the breeds and to my babies.
Buff Orpingtons
Orpingtons originated in England in the 1880s. They were originally developed as a good dual-purpose breed, which means they are good for both eggs and meat, and the original color was black. In the 1890s, a buff (gold-colored) strain was developed and it is now the most popular color of this breed. They are a popular breed for home flocks because of their mild dispositions and excellent mothering and foraging abilities. They also are very cold-hardy and will continue to lay through the winter. Their color is generally a true, metallic gold and is quite striking.
I have decided to go with all heavy breeds for now - no banties. I am in the mood for some calm, friendly pets that are easy to handle. Bantams are by nature flightier and more independent - maybe I'll add some to the flock next year. Anyway, I chose them because I love the buff color and the large, fluffy look of the Orpingtons. I believe that I have four Buffs up in my brooder at the moment. I ordered them all as pullets and there was a total of 9 delivered, but the sexing is only about 90% accurate, so there's a good chance one will be a rooster. I gave five of them to the woman who split my order with me. We shall see as they grow. When I say that I "believe" that I have four, it is because there are two more yellow, fluffy chicks in the brooder, but I believe one is an Ameraucana, and I believe the other is my mysterious "free rare breed chick" which McMurray Hatchery provides with each order of 25 chicks if you want it (of course, I did).
I had trouble getting decent pictures of the babies as the light was not great and I had to hold them in my hand to get a good angle.
(buff orpington chick. all four look pretty much identical at this point.)
The babies are already starting to show their personalities, and the Buff chicks are my middle-of-the-road chicks. They are perky and happily run around the brooder, eating and drinking, but they aren't very aggressive. They will hop a bit on the meeker Maran chicks sometimes. When I pick them up, they seem fairly contented to sit in my hand.
Ameraucanas
The breed that is called "Ameraucana" is a new breed that has only recently been recognized at some shows. This is because it is generally considered a "mongrel" cross between a true Araucana and some other undiscolsed breeds. Like the Araucanas, they generally lay blue or green eggs... but because of the uncertain lineages, they can also lay pink, white, cream, brown, olive, or even gold-colored eggs. They are often called "Easter Eggers" because of this. A true Araucana is a different thing - it is the original breed discovered in South America in the 1930s. They are very distinctive because they are missing their last vertebra and thus do not have tails, which makes them quite odd-looking. They also lay strictly blue/green eggs - no other colors. They are an extremely rare breed and are almost impossible to find from anywhere but small, specialist hobby-breeders. Most hatcheries that market "Araucanas" are actually selling Ester Eggers or Ameraucanas. If you are not looking to show birds (which I am not), then Ameraucanas/Easter Eggers are a great breed to have.
This breed is much like their eggs - they come in all colors. Anything from solid black or white to multicolors, stripes, lacing.... anything. As Forrest Gump said... "You never know what you're gonna get." I think that's half the fun.
Speaking of fun, the Ameraucana personality is general described as "fun" and "comical." This part I have seen already. These are definitely the clowns of the brooder. There is one we currently call "the big scary one" because it is way bigger than the rest of the chicks and has bold black eyeliner and a mean look on its face. This chick spends about 99.9% of its time standing on the heads of other chicks with its feet shoved in one or more holes of the feeders and eating constantly. Periodically it hops down and dashes at top speed across the brooder to the waterers, takes a gulp or two, and then high-tails it back to the feeder, climbing back atop its nearest comrades. Feeding is serious business for this baby. There is another one that we call "the cool-looking one" because its coloring is very different from all the chicks. This one likes to play games. It will pick up a piece of bedding or gro-gel (a supplement they get for their first 24 hours) and walk up to another chick and taunt it with its newly-acquired toy and then dash away in hopes of a game of chase. It often gets its way and it is endlessly entertaining to watch.
The other part of the Ameraucana personality is that they are supposed to be "calm and friendly." I have to say, this part I do not see yet. These were the last of the chicks to finally settle down for a nap - probably five hours after all the others - and they are by far the most active and likely to bully the other chicks. They also have no interest in being picked up at this point - they peep at the top of their lungs like I'm torturing them, try to constantly jump out of my hands, and every single time I've picked one up it's pooped on me. This is something I'll have to work on.
I ordered 9 Ameraucanas and I believe only 8 were shipped (they sent me an extra Buff and an extra Maran to make up for it). I ordered all pullets and gave three to the lady with whom I split the order, so I have five left.
Although they all do look a bit different, I had a very hard time holding them for pictures. This is the best I could do.
(this is what three of my five look like, coloring-wise, but they are all disinct. unlike with the Buffs, I can tell them all apart already)
There is also a buff-colored chick that I think it an Ameraucana because it has slightly puffy cheeks (characteristic of the breed) and darker gold bars down its back, unlike the Orpingtons.
(buff-colored Ameraucana chick)
The fifth Ameraucana is The Cool-Looking One that likes to play games. It is a dark, chocolate brown with a black saddle and head.
(The Cool-Looking One)
I also tried to get a picture of the Big Scary One, but it protested by far the most, so the shot is blurry.
(The Big Scary One)
Cuckoo Marans
My third breed is the Cuckoo Maran, which is an old French breed that is nicknamed the "chocolate egger" because it is a good layer of dark brown/terracotta-colored eggs. I thought that was too cool to pass up. Cuckoo is actually the name of the color, and Marans come in several different colors. "Cuckoo" is what Americans would call "barred," like a Barred Rock. They have small black and white striping over their entire bodies.
Marans are also supposed to be calm, friendly birds that tend to be at the bottom of the pecking order. This has proven true so far as well. They tend to be the meekest in my brooder, getting pecked and walked-on, and they are also the smallest. The chicks are all characterized by light, cream-colored patched on the tops of their heads and some have them elsewhere on the body as well. Otherwise they are solid black. These babies are also happy to be picked up and held and the like to take frequent naps.
I ordered 8 and got 9 delivered. I gave two to the lady and so I have seven left. For some reason, the Marans were only available as straight-run, which means not sexed. So, theoretically, half of them are boys. We will not be able to tell until they are a few weeks old. Once they are old enough to be distinguished, I found a man who is interested in all the boys that I don't want to keep. This is good news because we don't need more than one or two roosters at the house and there's a chance that one or two of the others are roosters as well (statistically).
(Maran chick - all seven that I have look very similar, but I'm starting to be able to tell them apart)
Mystery Chick
Lastly we have our "free rare chick" that McMurray offers with each order of 25 or more chicks. I couldn't pass that up. It is the hatchery's choice of sex and breed and they do not tell you what you are getting. So, we'll just have to wait and see. I believe mine is one that looks much like the Buff Orpington chicks, but is smaller and lighter, more silvery yellow than their gold color. I'll keep you posted on my guesses as to what it is. I tried to look around online for chicks that looked like that but it was too hard to tell at this point. If it turns out to be a girl (unlikely since hatcheries are generally overflowing with boys) and it keeps its current coloring, I will name it Sylvia.
(Mystery Chick)
Ok, that's it for now. I am planning to pick out a couple of chicks to photograph once a day so that we can keep track of their growth and then maybe I'll put up a post with all the pics in order so we can really see the progression. Yay babies!
Chick Chick Chick Chick Chickies!!!!
To my utter astonishment, this morning at 7:07 am our phone rang. This time of year, it is still dark until about 7:30 am and I was still asleep. The phone woke me and I stumbled out of bed to find the phone. I got there just in time to look at the caller ID and see that it was a "private number" (blocked), so I assumed it must be a wrong number. But, I decided to check the voicemail just in case since it was such an odd hour. The fact that it could be the post office with my chicks did not even cross my mind. How could they be there first thing Monday morning? That means they would have had to either travel through the US mail on Sunday (fat chance of that), or they had to sit somewhere in their box, cold and alone over the weekend. Besides, the hatchery said "sometime during the week of February 9th" - I really didn't think that before dawn on Monday morning was an option.
Anyway, I checked the messages and heard,::peep peep peep:: "Hi, Lisa, this is Kathy at the Post Office and I'm calling to let you know that your baby chicks have arrived. The window opens at nine."::peep peep:: ::click:: No way. Not possible. They're here?! They're here!!! Holy crap they're here!!! It took my sleepy brain a minute to wake up enough to realize that it wasn't a dream. My next thought was - which Post Office? I'd done research ahead of time on this topic and realized that there were many post office options around us, but I figured that I would get a notification email that the chicks had shipped and THEN I could call around to the various post offices to figure out where they'd end up. Since their arrival preempted my chance to do this, and Kathy from "the post office" didn't mention in which post office she was located, I was at a loss. Long story short I ended up calling five different post offices to no avail. But, the main branch said they would try to track them down for me and they eventually did. They were very nice. Turns out the branch where the birds went was the one place I called over and over and never got an answer at all. Go figure.
At this point, I still had about an hour and a half until the "window opened" so I dashed about like a maniac, filling my makeshift brooder with wood shavings (luckily purchased yesterday from the feedstore for just such an occasion), turning the heat lamp on to heat up the booder (set to 90-95 degrees under the lamp during my preparations yesterday as well), mixing up their special "arrival water" concoction of electrolytes (called Quick Chik) and table sugar to fill their baby waterers, and filling up their feeders with my organic chick starter feed (also called crumbles). I have to tell you that I was FREAKING OUT. I was so surprised that they were already here, plus I am still recovering from the multiple mightmares I've had in which my chicks arrive and I'm not ready for them and they all die one by one as I run around trying to get them food and water.
(my brooder. It is a 2'5"x 4'4" cardboard box with a 250 watt heat lamp hung about 18 inches from the floor, filled with wood shavings (not cedar), and 2 one-quart waterers and 2 one-quart feeders, both propped up on two by fours in order to minimize spillage. The chicks are already in it at this point. I wanted to get a shot before they were in there but it all happened too fast!)
When it was all ready, I headed down to the appropriate branch to arrive right at 9:00am. I got there at 9:04am and there were already five people ahead of me in line. As I waited, I could hear my babies peeping desperately from somewhere inside the mail room.
PEEP PEEP PEEP!!! PEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!
As I waited for what felt like an eternity for each person to be helped, the babies would periodically stop peeping. This set me into full panic mode every time. Oh great - they've been in this box for days already, they're freezing and starving, and now they've gone quiet! I just kept picturing the babies' dropping dead one by one as the minutes ticked by while I waited. Besides, I have been doing a ton of reading and everything I've read has said that I can most certainly expect some dead babies on arrival. The trip through the mail is not an easy one, and it's worse in late winter when it's coldest out. Sometimes they're all dead... if not, you lose quite a few soon after you get them home.
When my turn finally came, the seemingly deadpan man at the window broke into a smile when I told him I was there to pick up some chicks. "Oh yes! Yes you are! They're right here! They've been waiting for you. Take good care of them and enjoy them." When I took my box back out past everyone else in line, most of them were smiling too. Those cute little peeps really seemed to lighten the mood in the fairly dreary post office.
My first thought when I saw the box was how could it possibly hold 26 chicks? It's so small! As I drove home, the peeps escalated each time I hit the breaks, accelerated, or turned a corner. They quieted quite a bit when I turned the floor heater up to 90 degrees and put their box right under it. When I finally got home, I was prepared for the worst... but when I opened the box a living, breathing, peeping mass peered back at me. It looked like most of them made it! Amazing. I still assumed I'd find a few dead ones underneath the live mass. I felt like I was racing time as I picked up each chick, checked its rear end for "pasting up" (more on that later) and then shoved its beak in the drinking water before letting it go. I was still convinced that they would start dropping dead from stress at any moment. But, miraculously, when I finished the task, I had 27 live babies, 0 deaths.
(here they are - I think you can see about 25 of the 27 here. they really don't like to stand still so I never could get all 27 in one shot.)
During all this time, I had been communicating with a local woman who was planning to split my order with me. I had them at the house less than two hours before she showed up, and I have to tell you - it wasn't easy giving some of them away to her. Brian and I both already felt like they were OUR chicks and didn't know how we would choose which to give away. Besides, by the time she arrived, they had all just figured out the feeders and were chowing down happily and snug and warm and hydrated. The woman said she wanted anything we didn't want to keep (and she would pay me for them), so I picked out ten chicks for her, stuck them in a box, handed them to her, and tried not to look back. So now, here I sit, with 17 chicks left. They are all happily peeping away (the happy peeping sounds distinctly different than the distressed peeping), eating, drinking, pooping, playing, sleeping, and bugging each other.
(having a drink at the chick founts)
(eating from the baby feeders - they are real piggies!)
(milling about under the heat lamp and scratching at the feed that I scattered on paper towels - this is only for the first day until they figure out the feeders. The paper towels are slippery and if left in there too long can cause leg problems)
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Preparations - the Fun Stuff!
All of this reading and research has finally allowed me to get to the more exciting preparations of building the coop (ok, having it built) and ordering the chicks!
We are indeed using the existing shed to convert into a coop. It is about 10' x 16' and seems sort of hastily slapped together. For months we had planned on doing the construction ourselves, then we came to our senses and realized that not only do we have next to no construction experience, know-how, or ability, we also simply didn't have the time. Even though we both work from home, at this time of year at this latitude, the sun comes up around 8am and goes back down well before 5pm. We would be working during all daylight hours during the week, which would only leave us non-rainy/snowy weekends. It would take us forever. Maybe longer. Anyway, we looked around and found several local places that will build you a custom chicken coop. We finally settled on an out-of-work construction worker who was selling homemade chicken tractors on Craigslist and also can build custom coops.
For the past few weeks (yes, weeks) he has been here, building our "chicken mansion" (as he and his wife have dubbed it). It is definitely quite the project. But, all my research has made me aware of the myriad potential pitfalls and dangers of chicken raising. This thing needs to be a FORTRESS or we're going to be feeding the local wildlife lovely free-range chicken dinners on a regular basis. It needs to be completely enclosed - hungry creatures will come at it from all angles - racoons will dig under fences, climb over them, reach through them ("Living with Chickens" has a lovely story about a racoon that ate a chicken THROUGH the chicken wire bite by bite...), and break in through flimsy siding. Hawks and eagles and owls will swoop down from the sky and take off with your chickens before you can blink. Rats and mice will nest under the coop and gnaw up through the floorboards to get to chicken feed and eggs. Even song birds will fly into the coop to eat the feed and leave behind nasty diseases. Chickens are nothing if not helpless without human intervention (after all, they wouldn't even exist if it weren't for us) and chicken is everyone's favorite meal.
So, we're really going for it when it comes to security. Inside, Kurt (the builder) floated a new, solid plywood floor on top of the existing old, rotting boards. He also built new plywood walls inside the old ones (this does double duty in that it also provides an insulating dead-air space that will help keep the coop warm in the winter and cool in the summer). Outside, we have surrounded the entire building and run area with a one-foot-deep, six-inch-wide trench of concrete. This is to deter digging under the fence or building. Into the concrete we sunk vinyl-dipped galvanized half-inch square hardware cloth (mice fit through one-inch chicken wire and so do racoon hands), which will be stapled to the bottom of the shed all around (the shed is several inches off the gound supported by concrete pylons). This is to stop those pesky rats' nests under the coop that I keep reading about.
(here you can see the concrete in the trench and the wire that is in it, along with the south-facing window and chicken and rooster doors)
(here is a close-up of the wire - you can see how we will attach it to the bottom of the building)
As for the other features, the run will be the same width as the coop (10 feet) and about 15 feet long with a hardware cloth roof high enough so that we can comfortably stand inside it (I think about 7 feet high). The run should be done this week. It will be framed in 100% cedar. No pressure-treated wood will be used inside or outside the coop. Organic standards say that chickens may not ever come into contact with pressure-treated lumber during their lifetimes. This is because the wood is treated with chemicals that leach dioxins into the soil, which in turn gets into the chickens through contact, and through eating bugs and plants that have gotten it from the soil. Dioxins are a broad category of lipo-phyllic (fat-loving) compounds that build up in our (and all animals') fat over time and cause a whole range of health issues including infertility and birth defects, as well as being listed in the category of "highest risk" for carcinogens (cancer-causers) by the FDA. Other sources of dioxins in our diets are plastic food and drink containers, non-organic foods, and the anti-bacterial agent, "triclosan," which is used in everything from toothpaste and handsoap to baby toys.
Inside at the center of the run will stand an old post that was left in the shed when we bought the property, off of which we will attach branches which we've trimmed from our trees to use as natrual perches and a source of amusement for the birds when they are closed in the run. We will also have a "human door" in the run which we can use to get inside the run as well as to let the chickens out to free range when we are around to watch them.
As for the coop itself, we have two chicken doors that open into the run, drawbridge-style, along with a rooster door at the top near the roof so that he can whatch his ladies from above. These doors are all controlled by a fancy but iffy mechanism that is the brainchild of our builder. I explained to him that I'd seen a lot of coops online that had a way to open and close the chicken doors from outside the run and building... that way you can just walk out in the morning and let the girls out without climbing into the run or coop. Mostly these mechanisms have been a simple string to pull or stick to push, which I tried to explain, but our builder wanted to get fancy. It's a pretty cool way to do it (turn a crank to open or close all three doors at once), but I feel like it's going to break at any moment. If that day comes, I think Brian and I will just fashion something simpler ourselves. The builder had fun with it and he didn't charge us for all the time he spent working it out because he knew it was excessive. He is SO excited about it and really hopes we love it and I won't tell him otherwise. Besides, we DO love it as long as it works!
(here you can see the crank and the open drawbridge doors below the south-facing window. the rooster door is above)
As I have already mentioned, we had him install a south-facing window. From what I can gather from all my reading, this is a key element to a coop. This allows for a maximum amount of daylight into the coop which keeps it warm in the winter and keeps the ladies laying (the egg-laying mechanism is triggered by hours of daylight). It also opens to allow for cross-drafts in the summer to help keep it cool. We got a used window from the rebuild center. I think any window that opens will do. Also, please note that since our window is like a bay window, there is an inside ledge on which chickens might perch and poop. Apparently they will make a point of perching on anything and everything they can and pooping all over it. Therefore, we will be blocking off that window ledge with chicken wire - because we don't want a poopy window!
Inside, we have split the room in two - one half for the chickens and the other half for storing chicken and garden stuff. The wall is simply made of more hardware cloth with a door for human access.
(here is a view from outside looking in - as you can see, it is still a construction site)
(left side of dividing wall, with human door - as you can see, the door is one foot off the ground so that when you open it, no chickens can easily come dashing out)
(right side of dividing wall through which you can see the ramps and nesting boxes)
In the area for the chickens, it is a bit like a chicken funhouse. We have numerous perches all over the place - high, low, and in between. Most are 2x4s with rounded corners that are sanded down... most of my research tells me that that is the most desirable perch set up for chickens when given a choice, though anything will do. We also have a few 2x2s since apparently some chickens prefer narrower perches. We also have ramps up the dividing wall that will provide amusement and also easier access to the higher nesting boxes, along with a ramp up from the highest perch to the rooster door so that his highness can have an easy route up and down from his high throne.
(perches)
(perches to rooster ramp and door)
(ramps on dividing wall to nesting boxes with narrow perches above)
The last two features that I will mention here are practical features. We have tweleve nesting boxes along one wall. Yes, I know tweleve is a lot, but Kurt was determined to give me tweleve and I guess too many is better than not enough. I have read that you should have one nesting box to every 2-5 hens. No one seems to agree on this one. Since I plan to have 8-12 hens that's somewhere between 2 and 6 boxes. I definitely don't need 12, but who knows... maybe I'll get more down the line? Anyway, the boxes are 14" wide and high and 12" deep with a 4" board across the bottom of the opening so that the eggs don't roll out. This is the recommended size for the large, heavy breeds, which is what I'm getting. 12"x12"x10" is recommended to lighter and banty breeds. Hopefully those breeds will be OK with the larger nests as well because I might get some in the future and I'd hate to have to build MORE nests! The nests are mounted on the same wall where the crank is located (see above) and will eventually have doors that open to the outside so that we can easily collect eggs without having to go inside the coop. They also have a perch bar that runs along the front of them so that the girls can shake off and eliminate before entering the boxes. This is apparently an important feature.
(nesting boxes)
Lastly we have the "poop door." This is my favorite feature (at least in concept). It is a floor-level hatch the opens outward so that I can simply sweep the soiled bedding and poop directly out the door and into a waiting bucket. It will then be dumped in the compost pile, of course.
(poop door)
OK, that's all the info on the "Coop De Ville" - next entry I will talk about my chick order.
We are indeed using the existing shed to convert into a coop. It is about 10' x 16' and seems sort of hastily slapped together. For months we had planned on doing the construction ourselves, then we came to our senses and realized that not only do we have next to no construction experience, know-how, or ability, we also simply didn't have the time. Even though we both work from home, at this time of year at this latitude, the sun comes up around 8am and goes back down well before 5pm. We would be working during all daylight hours during the week, which would only leave us non-rainy/snowy weekends. It would take us forever. Maybe longer. Anyway, we looked around and found several local places that will build you a custom chicken coop. We finally settled on an out-of-work construction worker who was selling homemade chicken tractors on Craigslist and also can build custom coops.
For the past few weeks (yes, weeks) he has been here, building our "chicken mansion" (as he and his wife have dubbed it). It is definitely quite the project. But, all my research has made me aware of the myriad potential pitfalls and dangers of chicken raising. This thing needs to be a FORTRESS or we're going to be feeding the local wildlife lovely free-range chicken dinners on a regular basis. It needs to be completely enclosed - hungry creatures will come at it from all angles - racoons will dig under fences, climb over them, reach through them ("Living with Chickens" has a lovely story about a racoon that ate a chicken THROUGH the chicken wire bite by bite...), and break in through flimsy siding. Hawks and eagles and owls will swoop down from the sky and take off with your chickens before you can blink. Rats and mice will nest under the coop and gnaw up through the floorboards to get to chicken feed and eggs. Even song birds will fly into the coop to eat the feed and leave behind nasty diseases. Chickens are nothing if not helpless without human intervention (after all, they wouldn't even exist if it weren't for us) and chicken is everyone's favorite meal.
So, we're really going for it when it comes to security. Inside, Kurt (the builder) floated a new, solid plywood floor on top of the existing old, rotting boards. He also built new plywood walls inside the old ones (this does double duty in that it also provides an insulating dead-air space that will help keep the coop warm in the winter and cool in the summer). Outside, we have surrounded the entire building and run area with a one-foot-deep, six-inch-wide trench of concrete. This is to deter digging under the fence or building. Into the concrete we sunk vinyl-dipped galvanized half-inch square hardware cloth (mice fit through one-inch chicken wire and so do racoon hands), which will be stapled to the bottom of the shed all around (the shed is several inches off the gound supported by concrete pylons). This is to stop those pesky rats' nests under the coop that I keep reading about.
(here you can see the concrete in the trench and the wire that is in it, along with the south-facing window and chicken and rooster doors)
(here is a close-up of the wire - you can see how we will attach it to the bottom of the building)
As for the other features, the run will be the same width as the coop (10 feet) and about 15 feet long with a hardware cloth roof high enough so that we can comfortably stand inside it (I think about 7 feet high). The run should be done this week. It will be framed in 100% cedar. No pressure-treated wood will be used inside or outside the coop. Organic standards say that chickens may not ever come into contact with pressure-treated lumber during their lifetimes. This is because the wood is treated with chemicals that leach dioxins into the soil, which in turn gets into the chickens through contact, and through eating bugs and plants that have gotten it from the soil. Dioxins are a broad category of lipo-phyllic (fat-loving) compounds that build up in our (and all animals') fat over time and cause a whole range of health issues including infertility and birth defects, as well as being listed in the category of "highest risk" for carcinogens (cancer-causers) by the FDA. Other sources of dioxins in our diets are plastic food and drink containers, non-organic foods, and the anti-bacterial agent, "triclosan," which is used in everything from toothpaste and handsoap to baby toys.
Inside at the center of the run will stand an old post that was left in the shed when we bought the property, off of which we will attach branches which we've trimmed from our trees to use as natrual perches and a source of amusement for the birds when they are closed in the run. We will also have a "human door" in the run which we can use to get inside the run as well as to let the chickens out to free range when we are around to watch them.
As for the coop itself, we have two chicken doors that open into the run, drawbridge-style, along with a rooster door at the top near the roof so that he can whatch his ladies from above. These doors are all controlled by a fancy but iffy mechanism that is the brainchild of our builder. I explained to him that I'd seen a lot of coops online that had a way to open and close the chicken doors from outside the run and building... that way you can just walk out in the morning and let the girls out without climbing into the run or coop. Mostly these mechanisms have been a simple string to pull or stick to push, which I tried to explain, but our builder wanted to get fancy. It's a pretty cool way to do it (turn a crank to open or close all three doors at once), but I feel like it's going to break at any moment. If that day comes, I think Brian and I will just fashion something simpler ourselves. The builder had fun with it and he didn't charge us for all the time he spent working it out because he knew it was excessive. He is SO excited about it and really hopes we love it and I won't tell him otherwise. Besides, we DO love it as long as it works!
(here you can see the crank and the open drawbridge doors below the south-facing window. the rooster door is above)
As I have already mentioned, we had him install a south-facing window. From what I can gather from all my reading, this is a key element to a coop. This allows for a maximum amount of daylight into the coop which keeps it warm in the winter and keeps the ladies laying (the egg-laying mechanism is triggered by hours of daylight). It also opens to allow for cross-drafts in the summer to help keep it cool. We got a used window from the rebuild center. I think any window that opens will do. Also, please note that since our window is like a bay window, there is an inside ledge on which chickens might perch and poop. Apparently they will make a point of perching on anything and everything they can and pooping all over it. Therefore, we will be blocking off that window ledge with chicken wire - because we don't want a poopy window!
Inside, we have split the room in two - one half for the chickens and the other half for storing chicken and garden stuff. The wall is simply made of more hardware cloth with a door for human access.
(here is a view from outside looking in - as you can see, it is still a construction site)
(left side of dividing wall, with human door - as you can see, the door is one foot off the ground so that when you open it, no chickens can easily come dashing out)
(right side of dividing wall through which you can see the ramps and nesting boxes)
In the area for the chickens, it is a bit like a chicken funhouse. We have numerous perches all over the place - high, low, and in between. Most are 2x4s with rounded corners that are sanded down... most of my research tells me that that is the most desirable perch set up for chickens when given a choice, though anything will do. We also have a few 2x2s since apparently some chickens prefer narrower perches. We also have ramps up the dividing wall that will provide amusement and also easier access to the higher nesting boxes, along with a ramp up from the highest perch to the rooster door so that his highness can have an easy route up and down from his high throne.
(perches)
(perches to rooster ramp and door)
(ramps on dividing wall to nesting boxes with narrow perches above)
The last two features that I will mention here are practical features. We have tweleve nesting boxes along one wall. Yes, I know tweleve is a lot, but Kurt was determined to give me tweleve and I guess too many is better than not enough. I have read that you should have one nesting box to every 2-5 hens. No one seems to agree on this one. Since I plan to have 8-12 hens that's somewhere between 2 and 6 boxes. I definitely don't need 12, but who knows... maybe I'll get more down the line? Anyway, the boxes are 14" wide and high and 12" deep with a 4" board across the bottom of the opening so that the eggs don't roll out. This is the recommended size for the large, heavy breeds, which is what I'm getting. 12"x12"x10" is recommended to lighter and banty breeds. Hopefully those breeds will be OK with the larger nests as well because I might get some in the future and I'd hate to have to build MORE nests! The nests are mounted on the same wall where the crank is located (see above) and will eventually have doors that open to the outside so that we can easily collect eggs without having to go inside the coop. They also have a perch bar that runs along the front of them so that the girls can shake off and eliminate before entering the boxes. This is apparently an important feature.
(nesting boxes)
Lastly we have the "poop door." This is my favorite feature (at least in concept). It is a floor-level hatch the opens outward so that I can simply sweep the soiled bedding and poop directly out the door and into a waiting bucket. It will then be dumped in the compost pile, of course.
(poop door)
OK, that's all the info on the "Coop De Ville" - next entry I will talk about my chick order.
Preparations - the Boring Stuff
I am doing my best not to go into this blindly. I do have a tendency to dive into things headlong before thinking them through - especially when it comes to animals. Last summer when we moved in here, my parents came up for a visit. We had been in the house less than two weeks, had no furniture, and were living out of boxes. Still, my dad took one look at the shed that came with the property and said "this would be easy to make into a chicken coop! Let's go get you some chicks!" Despite my feeble protests that we weren't ready for such an undertaking, my dad had looked up the addresses of three different feed stores in the area and we were on our way to buy chicks within the hour. Luckily, they had all recently sold out of chicks for the season. That's not to say that I wasn't disappointed (I really, truly can't help myself), but it really wouldn't have been the best idea at the time.
Since then, however, I have kicked my research and preparations into high gear. I have spent much of my free time researching breeds, poring over hatchery websites, reading hatchery reviews, looking for local chick sources, reading chicken blogs and other informative websites. I also bought three different chicken books and read them all cover-to-cover in order to get a good idea of all the details. The books I have are "Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide," "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens: Care, Feeding, Facilities," and "Living With Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock."
"Chickens in Your Backyard" was written in 1975 and so is the oldest of my three books by far, but if I had to pick one to recommend at this point, it would be the one. It has no pictures, save for a few amusing illustrations, but it is a very entertaining read while still covering all the pertinant topics in a clear, concise manner and the big bonus is that it's written by regular people (not chicken farmers or fanciers/showers) who had chickens at home. This means that they actually hit on a few helpful points that the pros seem to skip in the other books. You feel like you could actually raise some chickens when you're done reading it.
However, the other two books have their positive points as well. "Living with Chickens" was published in 2002 and so is the most current of my books (some of the info does change with the years, though the basics all stay the same). It is written by people who belong to the Vermont Bird Fanciers Club, and so is filled with beautiful colorful photographs and is a really quick read. The "Storey's Guide" is from 1995 and is by far the most comprehensive and technical of all the books. It contains all information not just for a small backyard flock, but also for large-scale commercial production. And it leaves all feelings out of it. For example, it briefly and matter-of-factly tells you to "cull" less-than-perfect chicks and birds, as well as to "cull" layers after 2-3 years. This is a very different approach than the other books which are really just for the backyard enthusiast. They both tell you how to kill, butcher, and dress chickens for meat, but they approach the topics of dealing with ill or deformed birds or under-performing layers with a bit of sensitivity and they give you a few ideas - like letting them live to old age and taking sick bird to a vet. There is no simple commaned to "cull." Anyway, it is definitely a valuable book because it is so comprehensive.
Since then, however, I have kicked my research and preparations into high gear. I have spent much of my free time researching breeds, poring over hatchery websites, reading hatchery reviews, looking for local chick sources, reading chicken blogs and other informative websites. I also bought three different chicken books and read them all cover-to-cover in order to get a good idea of all the details. The books I have are "Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide," "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens: Care, Feeding, Facilities," and "Living With Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock."
"Chickens in Your Backyard" was written in 1975 and so is the oldest of my three books by far, but if I had to pick one to recommend at this point, it would be the one. It has no pictures, save for a few amusing illustrations, but it is a very entertaining read while still covering all the pertinant topics in a clear, concise manner and the big bonus is that it's written by regular people (not chicken farmers or fanciers/showers) who had chickens at home. This means that they actually hit on a few helpful points that the pros seem to skip in the other books. You feel like you could actually raise some chickens when you're done reading it.
However, the other two books have their positive points as well. "Living with Chickens" was published in 2002 and so is the most current of my books (some of the info does change with the years, though the basics all stay the same). It is written by people who belong to the Vermont Bird Fanciers Club, and so is filled with beautiful colorful photographs and is a really quick read. The "Storey's Guide" is from 1995 and is by far the most comprehensive and technical of all the books. It contains all information not just for a small backyard flock, but also for large-scale commercial production. And it leaves all feelings out of it. For example, it briefly and matter-of-factly tells you to "cull" less-than-perfect chicks and birds, as well as to "cull" layers after 2-3 years. This is a very different approach than the other books which are really just for the backyard enthusiast. They both tell you how to kill, butcher, and dress chickens for meat, but they approach the topics of dealing with ill or deformed birds or under-performing layers with a bit of sensitivity and they give you a few ideas - like letting them live to old age and taking sick bird to a vet. There is no simple commaned to "cull." Anyway, it is definitely a valuable book because it is so comprehensive.
At this point, It's more like Lisa WILL have chickens...
Today is February 8th, 2009 and according to Murray McMurray Hatchery, my order of chicks will arrive at the post office "sometime during the week of February 9th." So, while the title of my blog isn't exactly accurate yet, I am hoping it will be within a few days.
In the meantime, I will give you some background. We moved up here to the northern part of the Willamette Valley (famous for pinot noir the world over) in Southern Washington, just north of Portland, Oregon about eight months ago. We bought our first house on 2.5 acres with the hopes of starting all sorts of fun agricultural projects that will also aid us in becoming more self-sufficient and living greener. This blog is just going to focus on the chicken project, though I have plans to write about our gardening endeavors on another blog. We'll see if I can keep up with both of them.
I'm not exactly sure when I really first started to get the "chicken itch," but we can blame the how largely on my family. My dad, grandfather, brother, and I all share a gene which seems to make us want to have everything for a pet and to "raise things." From the day we're born, it seems, we want nothing more than to pick up and befriend every living thing (sometimes this works out better than others). Between all of us over the years, we have had dogs, cats, fish, rabbits, chickens, guinea fowl, horses, cows, snakes, lizards, pigeons, rats, mice... even a deskunked skunk and earthworms... and that's just to name a few. My brother, when he was a baby, even used to catch houseflies in his fingers and hold them and stroke their wings and say, "he is my pet!" I swear they wouldn't even fly away. It was like they liked him. Anyway, my mom is no innocent here either; though she is not as enamored with having everything living thing for a pet ("those snakes are NOT living in my house."), she sure does like chickens. My parents kept chickens when I was very young (I remember them but just barely) but haven't had them now for over twenty years. Despite this, my mom has a "fancy chickens" calendar in her house most years and subscribes to "Backyard Poultry" magazine. She constantly dreams of the day when she will have the opportunity to have them again. So, it is safe to say that I generally like pets.
Things only got worse when a few years ago, I moved to my family's ranch property in northern California. A little ways down the dirt road lives Todd, the local boutique chicken and hay farmer. He used to be a "bigwig in the corporate world" (his words) and one day called it quits, took off on a few adventures, and then settled on the family walnut farm to live in a modular home and raise hay and chickens. Who knows. All I know is that, though he sells most of his eggs to fancy restaurants in the area, he also keeps an old refrigerator on his front porch that he keeps stocked with eggs, a sign that says "$4/dozen," and a bowl of cash so that you can make change. Once I discovered this, it is where I got all my eggs, and I can tell you now that they are the best eggs I've ever eaten. Hands down. They are all different shapes, sizes, and colors because he periodically buys chicks of various rare breeds in both large and bantam sizes and then lets nature take its course as the birds free range in his garden and yard and his family's walnut orchards.
The other day, I was down for a visit and we stopped to get some eggs from Todd. In one of the dozens, there was a huge, oval, very pink egg. I asked him what kind of chicken laid the pink eggs (I want some of those at my house!), and he said, "ooohhh.... that's probably... uh.... Ameraucana crossed with a New Jersey Giant. That's Ameraucana, not Araucana - there's a difference you know! Anyway, my chickens get all mixed up after a while because I don't try to keep them purebred so you never know what you're gonna get." How cool is that?
Anyway, point is, my love of growing my own food, keeping all kinds of animals, and my experience with eating Todd's eggs have all added up to my own obsession with getting a few chickens. And now we finally have the space and the opportunity.
In the meantime, I will give you some background. We moved up here to the northern part of the Willamette Valley (famous for pinot noir the world over) in Southern Washington, just north of Portland, Oregon about eight months ago. We bought our first house on 2.5 acres with the hopes of starting all sorts of fun agricultural projects that will also aid us in becoming more self-sufficient and living greener. This blog is just going to focus on the chicken project, though I have plans to write about our gardening endeavors on another blog. We'll see if I can keep up with both of them.
I'm not exactly sure when I really first started to get the "chicken itch," but we can blame the how largely on my family. My dad, grandfather, brother, and I all share a gene which seems to make us want to have everything for a pet and to "raise things." From the day we're born, it seems, we want nothing more than to pick up and befriend every living thing (sometimes this works out better than others). Between all of us over the years, we have had dogs, cats, fish, rabbits, chickens, guinea fowl, horses, cows, snakes, lizards, pigeons, rats, mice... even a deskunked skunk and earthworms... and that's just to name a few. My brother, when he was a baby, even used to catch houseflies in his fingers and hold them and stroke their wings and say, "he is my pet!" I swear they wouldn't even fly away. It was like they liked him. Anyway, my mom is no innocent here either; though she is not as enamored with having everything living thing for a pet ("those snakes are NOT living in my house."), she sure does like chickens. My parents kept chickens when I was very young (I remember them but just barely) but haven't had them now for over twenty years. Despite this, my mom has a "fancy chickens" calendar in her house most years and subscribes to "Backyard Poultry" magazine. She constantly dreams of the day when she will have the opportunity to have them again. So, it is safe to say that I generally like pets.
Things only got worse when a few years ago, I moved to my family's ranch property in northern California. A little ways down the dirt road lives Todd, the local boutique chicken and hay farmer. He used to be a "bigwig in the corporate world" (his words) and one day called it quits, took off on a few adventures, and then settled on the family walnut farm to live in a modular home and raise hay and chickens. Who knows. All I know is that, though he sells most of his eggs to fancy restaurants in the area, he also keeps an old refrigerator on his front porch that he keeps stocked with eggs, a sign that says "$4/dozen," and a bowl of cash so that you can make change. Once I discovered this, it is where I got all my eggs, and I can tell you now that they are the best eggs I've ever eaten. Hands down. They are all different shapes, sizes, and colors because he periodically buys chicks of various rare breeds in both large and bantam sizes and then lets nature take its course as the birds free range in his garden and yard and his family's walnut orchards.
The other day, I was down for a visit and we stopped to get some eggs from Todd. In one of the dozens, there was a huge, oval, very pink egg. I asked him what kind of chicken laid the pink eggs (I want some of those at my house!), and he said, "ooohhh.... that's probably... uh.... Ameraucana crossed with a New Jersey Giant. That's Ameraucana, not Araucana - there's a difference you know! Anyway, my chickens get all mixed up after a while because I don't try to keep them purebred so you never know what you're gonna get." How cool is that?
Anyway, point is, my love of growing my own food, keeping all kinds of animals, and my experience with eating Todd's eggs have all added up to my own obsession with getting a few chickens. And now we finally have the space and the opportunity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)