Sweet heart say hi to Mirjam

Little chickens in their pen

Now the bad news.

Predators struck while Steve and I worked in Florida. Selin called about a week in.
"Mom, I have bad news. Gracie is dead. We couldn't find her last night when we put everyone in. We looked around this morning and found her half eaten body about 50 yards below the banties house..."
My dear Gracie. She was my crazy, sweet, leghorn who I sparred with over her egg laying. When I heard her making her laying sounds I would track her down. She would come right over and and let me scoop her up without complaint. I'd carry her to stir and lock her in till she laid. She just liked privacy. Left on her own she preferred to nest in wall nooks or in the brush. That is where I suspect the creature nabbed her.
A few days later.......
"More bad news."
"Oh no. Who is it this time?"
"Lulu and Gimpy. We can't find any trace of them. Lulu was probably doing her own thing like usual. Gimpy was probably guarding her and it got both of them. I'm sorry."
"It is not your fault. We should have locked them in. Start locking the banties in the the run till we sort this out."
This started the bantie schlep that I will tell you about later.
At this point I was gloomy. I couldn't do anything about it. I just had to wait and hope, which turns out to be a loosing strategy.
"Oh gee, who is it now?"
"Well, we found a black star on the side of the road. Someone hit her with a car and left her. And the other one is Dahlia."
" Not my Dahly girl. My buddy. I should have known. She was Gracie's shadow. She was probably looking for her. I can't take any more of these calls."
If you are keeping count, we are up to five over a period of about two weeks.
The night we got home I did a bed check and counted 35 big chickens which means 2 more victims. 5 banties present and roosting.
The creature took the last two, a black australorp and a black star, two days before we returned. So I lost a total of seven.
"Starting tomorrow we are locking them all in. They won't like it, but at this rate they'll all be dead."
So for the last two weeks the girls have been restricted to base. Yes, just like Chicken Run. We doubled the size of their protected run and I have electric fencing arriving tomorrow. Total for the fencing $520. Peace of mind, priceless.

Assimilation

The newbies share the banties' house. The banties are not happy. Ginger is squawking "Back off sister!".

Video of newbies at bedtime

Wow! I have been away from my blog for a long time. So much to tell, but not tonight. I have good news and bad. Tonight just the good. Last Friday I picked up 11 new 7 week old chicks to add to the flock. 6 Speckled Sussex, 4 Easter Eggers, and I Spitzhauben. I'm working on names. They are sharing the banties house, much to the dismay of the banties.

Video of Angel, Lulu and Big Mama at the spa

I have not posted for a while because spring just knocked my routine to bits. The temperature has been in the 80's and 90's believe it or not, so I have been out raking and gardening. When I came in from gardening this morning the girls were bathing up a storm.

Picture of hen on a puppy

This is so great!

video of continuing walk

I am finally getting around to resuming the walk. Has been a little hectic around here. Sorry for the delay. Enjoy!

Video of morning walk

Another walk! Meet the chicken protectors,Miss Daisy, Mattie, Fischer, and Grizzly. Miss Daisy is my dog. The others live at neighboring houses. Their humans are not always able to walk them so I collect the dogs each morning and take them along. They all know the routine and behave themselves. I have taught them that my chickens are off limits. They listen to me because I am their pack master and they don't want me to exclude or banish them from the pack. They often come to visit and mingle with the chickens. Their scent and presence is all over our property and is what I think keeps the girls safe. Keep your fingers crossed.

Video of Ginger being left behind

The Banties were out front this morning when I came home from the walk. They decided to beat feet when I started filming them. I noticed Bullet hanging back, looking back, and then I realized Ginger was left behind. Bullet did not want to leave her but finally decided he had to and fled.

When Ginger finally caught up they reconnoitered and headed out to greener pastures. Ginger lagged behind again, but this time they rounded her up and made sure she she stayed with them.

Video of Lulu coming to visit

Lulu loves to be outside. She and the other bantams mostly stay in the lower yard but occasionally come up for a visit and to check out what is happening.

Video of hens in their nesting boxes

So , this is for everyone who wants to know where the chickens sleep and where they lay eggs.

Part IV of How.......

At this point I am still only talking virtual fuzzy bottoms. (That's what we in the inner chicken circle call baby chicks.) The first batch was due to arrive via the post office in two weeks. Now was the time to finish the coop. I have to digress here a bit and explain about the coop.
Steve and I have been married for a long time. He accommodates and supports my follies (not how I think of them, but how everyone else does) with his manual labor not just lip service. So to minimize the time he would have to invest in this project I looked around for the easiest and least expensive structure to make into a coop.
We have a small shed below the house that was the original coop. We modified it for a hot tub when the chickens were no more. When the hot tub was no more we turned it into a garden shed. That would work, but it would be difficult to get to in the winter and have no cleared place for a chicken exit.
We have a barn/garage with two vehicle bays and a side shed. The bays are deep enough to house a car and 8 or 10 feet of storage. That storage space already had two walls and a roof. We only had to add two walls, a door, a ceiling, roosts, and nesting boxes, and the garage opened to the driveway that is clear all winter. I proffered my plan to Steve.
Turns out he had come to nearly the same conclusion the difference being that he thought the shed adjacent to the bays would be better. It has a window, concrete floor, electricity and a water hydrant. I had thought of that but had not dared to suggest it. Phew! That went pretty good.
At this point two weeks before the chicks' eta we had cleared and cleaned the space, and Steve had rough framed the walls and ceiling using mostly salvaged materials. I primed and painted 7 sheets of 1/4 inch luan that we also had on hand. (Being in construction and having a barn=lots of junk hanging around.)

Video Snowshoe back up the hill

So now I will bring you back up the hill. This is one of our walks that takes about and hour.

Part III of How.......

So 17 chicks. Then I started thinking about how many eggs I would get. If I had 17 layers then I conservatively would get 9 or 10 per day. Well that is more than we needed yet really not enough to sell. Our coop was big 7 1/2 by 9 with a 71/2 ceiling. Would hens generate enough heat to keep themselves warm? Maybe I should not have agreed to give any away. I should have kept them all! Can't go back on my deal. What to do? Back to the web.
Turns out that Ideal does not have a minimum order of 25. Perfect. "I will just order another 12 to replace the ones I am giving away." This time 5 Golden Lace Wyandottes, 4 Australorps, and 4 more Easter Eggers. Oh, thats 13. 12, 13, what's an extra chick at this point?
I placed my order. They would arrive 1 month after the first batch. Okay.
So while I was waiting for the newbies I went back to Ideal's website to check on a few things and noticed something that I had missed. You can order fewer than 25, but they will put as many male chicks in as they think necessary to keep the others warm. This is not good. I decided that I would just add more pullets to the order instead of the roosters.
"Hello, this is Lucy. How can I help you?"
"Hi Lucy. I have an order coming in a couple of weeks and I was wondering if you could tell me how many roos you would be adding for warmth?"
"Let me see. Going to Vermont in September....probably about 10."
"TEN? Ten roosters?(OMG 10 roosters) I don't want ten roosters. Can I order some pullets instead?"
" Well, let me see what we have. Well, the only thing I have are ducks or a bantam assortment."
"I don't want ducks, so it looks like bantams. They are straight run, aren't they?"
"Yes Mam. Just the way nature makes them."
"Well at least some of them will be pullets so I am better off. So please add 10 bantams to my order."
So now I am up to 30 standards and 10 bantams. Maybe I'll get 20 eggs a day that I can sell and we'll keep the bantam eggs for us. And 40 total will keep the coop warm. All is well.

Video:Taking you on a snowshoe.

I thought you might like to come along on our morning walk. This was about a month ago now, just after a fresh 6 inches of powder.

Video March 15, 2009 Thumby's Complaint

Part II of how I acqired 49 chickens...

Minimum order 25. At this point the practical me is saying "Turn back now Dorothy!"
Unfortunately or fortunately, the practical me has never had much luck. Not a chance. All I had to do was find a couple of people who wanted to share the order. I could keep ten and they could have the rest. In a short while I found my enablers and was back on McMurray's web site.
Now the dilemma of what to chose. They had an offering that seemed to solve this problem. It was called the Rainbow layer assortment. The mix would be made up of 5 breeds of 5 chicks each. They would be chosen from the brown, white , and tinted egg varieties. Hence the name, Rainbow Layers. Lovely. But wait. What if they don't give me any that lay blue eggs. And I really like the Barred Rocks, oh and the Ancona and the Black Minorca, and I have to have Silver Laced Wyandottes. I ordered 31 pullet chicks. (Hens under 1 year)
Now I am commited to 2 chicks from Ellen and 15 that I ordered. 17 chickens.

Egg count March 13, 2009

I lost track on a daily basis so here it is for the week. I sold 6 dozen eggs to neighbors and 7 dozen to the Upper Valley Coop. I used a dozen and have 18 in the fridge one of which is over 3 ounces. Just to give you a reference point, a jumbo egg is 2 1/2 ounces. This is one big egg. I'm not sure but I think maybe it is Bad Betty's. That would explain a lot.
15 1/2 dozen eggs for the week.

Part I of how I aquired 49 chickens and where they sleep

Back in the halcyon days of early summer 2008 for some reason I thought about the chickens we had years and years ago. Fond memories. At the time we had a front yard fence that our kitchen window perfectly framed. The girls, no roosters, assembled on the fence and watched us eat our breakfast as they waited for theirs. Very sociable creatures, they followed me around, allowed me to pick them up and chat and they gave us eggs! That was all I remembered.
So I began visiting my neighbor who has 6 or 7 chickens and asking her questions. I admitted that I was thinking about getting a few. The door opened a crack.
A few weeks later..........
Ring, ring "Hello."
"Tina, it's Ellen. 5 eggs hatched. I only want to keep 3. Want the other 2?"
Just sort of sticking my toe in that water. "Sure."
Two chickens. Two chickens, maybe an egg a day. Two chickens that I must feed and water and house and protect and maybe an egg a day. How many did we have before? 12. I think we had 12.
"Ellen, where did you get your chickens?"
"Ideal. Ideal Poultry on line."
Ideal.
Ideal has over 100 breeds of standard chickens, Barred Rocks to Silver Spangled Spitzhaubens. That does not include Bantams or meat birds. Just to see, I googled other hatcheries and found Mac Murray's. Oh the pictures and descriptions, and they are only 2.50 each.
Minimum order: 25

March 11, 2009 weather and egg count

Yuck! Yesterday 22 eggs.

Video March 9, 2009 Lulu Speaks

Video weather report March 9, 2009

Just when we thought...............

March 8 weather and general egg count

Yesterday and today the temps have been in the 50's. Fabulous except for the mud bog on the killer-diller. Up to about 24 eggs/day. Lots of new layers on board.

Video March 5 Good Morning Big Girls

March 5 weather

Yesterday was another chilling day, but today is sunny and in the 20's. Just heading out for a walk.

Yesterday's egg count

Two days in a row 22 eggs.

Good morning Video

Every day and night I sing to the girls to reduce their stress. I move slowly and talk softly. You can see how calm they are as a result.

March 2 and 3 weather

Yesterday was brutal. Only in the teens, but with the wind and snow it felt like zero. Today the snow has stopped and the sun is out, but the temp is still in the single digits. Had a lovely snowshoe though through the woods and across the field.

March 2, 2009 Egg Count

Wow! 23 eggs today.

Preparation H Part II

So back to Thumby's butt.
Thumby was making all the pre-laying egg noises and searching out dark corners and all sorts of private places. She came to me for assurance as did the others and I picked her up, calmed her, and put her in a nesting box. After a few days of this I was getting worried. Newbies can have all kinds of problems, such as tumors, internal laying, Salpingitis, and finally, a prolapsed oviduct AKA blowout or pickout. Here I quote from Gail Damerow in"The Chicken Health Handbook".
"...pickout is a condition in which the lower part of a hen's oviduct turns inside out and protrudes through the vent. Prolapse occurs most often when a hen starts laying at too young an age, is too fat, or lays unusually large eggs. Caught in time, the prolapse can sometimes be reversed by applying a hemorrhoidal cream(such as Preparation H) and isolating the hen until she improves. Otherwise, the other chickens will pick at her vent, eventually pulling out her oviduct and intestines and causing the hen to die from hemorrhage and shock." Oh no, poor Thumby. We had noticed that her bare butt was bigger and redder than usual not unlike that of the unfortunate baboon.
I flew out out the door to save her and arrived at the barn just as she bent over and sure enough, someone pecked her butt. I scooped her up and put her in sick bay until I could get everything ready. I gathered a small tub, Epsom salts, mineral oil, towels, hair dryer, and went in search of Preparation H. I checked all the likely places in the house and came up empty. What to do? The nearest place to buy it would mean an hour round trip of traveling in the car. Neighbors? Only for the love of Thumby.
"Hello, Barb? This is a little strange, but do you have any hemorrhoidal cream? I need it for my chicken etc...."
"You mean like Preparation H?"
"Yes."
"No, but you should call Carol."
" I can't call Carol. I'll just go buy some."
" Don't be silly. Call her. She's a doctor and she has llamas."
"Okay, I'll call Carol."
No answer at Carol's house. Thumby waiting in sick bay is getting cranky. I decided to proceed with the warm soak and delay the procurement of Preparation H.
After her Epsom salts soak, rinse in glycerin, towel and blow dry, and application of mineral oil to her posterior, thumby was quite mellow and more than willing to nap in sick bay. I tried Carol again.
"Hello," oh crap "David?...This is Tina. Is Carol there?"
"No, she was called to an emergency. She should be back soon. Shall I have her call you?"
All right, I told my self, grow up, buck up.
" No, here's the thing. Do you have any Preparation H? You see I have this chicken....."
"Hold on a minute and I'll go look......................Tina, I found an unopened tube."
I made the 10 minute round trip to Carol and David's to exchange the PH for a dozen eggs. Gallant David met me straight faced at the door with PH in hand and an air of understanding concern. Thank you David. We have lovely neighbors.
Thumby was so relaxed at this point that nothing fazed her. I dosed her inside and out and put her back in sick bay again. After a few hours I decided that I had to release her and monitor the situation. She stretched and did her best to fluff. She looked at me as if to say, "Are we done here?" then marched back to her peeps. Nobody pecked her. As a matter of fact, nobody came near her. I think PH must be a chick repellent because Thumby's butt was still bright red. A couple more hours passed and her butt looked better and still no pecking so I decided that she was safe.
I dosed her again the next day. The next day she laid her egg and I gave a hallelujah amen.
Thumby is doing just fine and I don't really know if she was ever in serious trouble. However I now have the tube of Preparation H in the medicine box just in case.

Picture of Yesterday's eggs

March 1 Egg count

21 eggs today

Egg Count Feb. 27, 2009

17 eggs today

The Preparation H Story Part I

By popular demand I am retelling this saga.
About a month ago my chicks from the August hatching started to lay. Laverne, a Silver Laced Wyandotte was first. After making a lot of loud squawking she just marched into the coop, hopped in a box, and laid a precious miniature brown egg. I was so excited. The first egg, and she was so smart. She just knew what to do and that was that. Piece of cake.
The next was Gracie, a Brown Leghorn. She was a nut case. She flew up on the framing in the barn and tried to nest on a shelf. I got a ladder, brought her down, and put her in a sanctioned laying box. She seemed settled. I left. She left. We did this three or four times until she won and laid in the barn on the framing.
However, I was ready for her the next day. Hens generate eggs every 25 hours. She laid the first at 10, the second would come at 11. Well she skipped a day. The next day I was ready. She started squawking at about the right time. I ushered her into the coop and a box. She stayed this time and laid her little white egg. All right I thought. Two down. Only 45 more to go. I can do this.
Zsa Zsa, who you have already met, was next followed by Muffy an Easter Egger, Eva, Shirley, Buffy, and Dahlia. No problem. Then came Magda, AKA Thumby. Thumby is short for Thumbelina.
In the beginning Thumby was just like her sisters Zsa Zsa and Eva. But after a couple of weeks she stopped growing. Her feathering was(I'm being kind) meager . I worried about her. She was sweet and spunky and clueless about her size. She fought for and won worms. More than once I saw stampeding chickens bowl her over. She bounced back up, shook it off and rejoined the chase. I love that chicken.
Thumby has grown. She is about 2/3 the size of her sisters. Her feathering is better, but still a little sad especially on her bottom. So now we come to the Preparation H part of the story.
To be continued.

Today's picture

I took this portrait of Hawkeye when he was 8 weeks old.

Today's weather

Nice and warm. In the 30's. Maybe we'll see 50 today. Fog is thick. When I was in the fields snowshoeing I was in an earthbound cloud.

Today's egg count

16 eggs today

Jack's visit

I liked collecting the eggs. I put them in a basket. There were 9 eggs. They were in the nesting boxes. They were orange , green, and white. Laverne was still laying. I asked Tina to check under her to see if she had an egg. There was an egg, but it was not warm, so it was not Laverne's.
Then we went all the way down the hill to the small chickens. We found a little brown egg in the corner and I picked it up. There was a soft black chicken named LuLu. I am 6 years old.

Matilda is no more

My friend Mirjam lost her lovely Black Australorp, Matilda. First Mirjam thought it was a coyote and her cubs, then perhaps a bobcat. But the tracks were quite small so it was probably a fox. She was able to follow their trail and recreate the scene. She found only a few feathers so she guessed dear Matilda's death was quick.
She also lost her roo, Leo that day. Leo had been attacking men, primarily her husband, Dan, and also was de-feathering her hens while he deflowered them. He just left a wake of stress wherever he strutted. After much angst Mirjam agreed that Leo had to go. Dan saw to Leo's end humanely while Mirjam was at work.
These chickens are our friends. We take their deaths hard and are reminded that we are just hobbyists and not farmers.

Thumby, Lilith, and Stir

While I was setting up the chickens feed and water this morning I saw Thumby making a beeline for stir. If you remember, I put her in there the other day to lay. Well I guess she remembered and liked it better than the nesting boxes. I followed her over and opened the door for her. She walked right in and made herself at home. I should explain that stir is a large dog crate. It has lots of loose fresh hay in it, and a blanket over the top and sides to cut down on drafts and light. It is also far away from the madding crowd, so quite private. After a bit the crate was empty except for Thumby's lovely medium sized pinkish brown egg.
Lilith was up to her usual frantic behavior. She had just flown up on a pile of something in the back of the barn. I knew I could catch her there and I did. She is now in stir with the door closed. We'll see how this works.

Today's video

The chicks fascinated Daisy. She was with me for every minute of their care. I let her know that these were her babies. She had to protect them, not eat them. She understood. Now she mingles with them and I think helps keep away predators.

Today's Picture

Weather

25 degrees. Yippee! feels like spring.

Yesterday's egg count

16 eggs today

Today's video

The gang loves their veggies and yogurt.

Today's photo

Lulu and Angel are watching the sun go down. Lulu is a Black Silkie Bantam and Angel is a White Frizzle Bantam. The other Bantams are Bullet, Lenny, Squiggy, Gimpy, (roos) and Ginger, Babs, and Big Mama.

weather report

12 degrees this morning. It did not feel that cold. Perhaps it is because the temps are supposed to rise and be in the 30's. That would be great because I clean the coop today. Every few days I wash down the roosts and walls. I've been using a product made by a company called Care Free Enzymes. They have an Egg Wash, Barn Oder and Manure Eater, a Poultry Water Protector that you put in their water, and a Poultry Protector for cleaning. This stuff is great. I scrape off the big hunks and then spray on a solution of the Protector and water and let it sit for a few minutes. Anyone who knows chicken poop, knows how tenacious it is. Well this stuff eats right through it so I can just wipe everything with a damp cloth. If it does get into the 30's everything is a little easier because it won't freeze as soon as I spray it.
The other part of my routine is to turn the bedding. I am using the deep bedding method for the coop and though this is supposed to compost as it goes I find that ammonia fumes do build. So when I toss the bedding I spray on the Oder and Manure eater. 40 chickens make a lot of poop and pee but this takes care of it.
Other chemical products are available for these purposes but I don't want to expose the chickens to them. I am not using antibiotics or vitamins and I feed them Green Mountain Organic Layer Mash. All of the above products use enzymes which are earth and animal friendly and organic. My plan is to keep the coop as clean as possible, give the flock plenty of fresh air and ranging space and supplement their feed with fruit vegetables and yogurt. I don't think you can skimp here. You know, garbage in, garbage out.

Zsa Zsa, Eva, & Magda

Zsa Zsa, Eva, & Magda (AKA Thumby) are the three Barred Rock Sisters.

Update on Lilith

So I went out after about a half hour and released the Black Star. She ran straight to the coop. When I opened the coop door I found it vacated. I had not latched it so it must have blown open enough for the girls to exit. At that point I decided Lilith was on her own. A few new sitters came in and the Black Star renewed her shenanigans. So back she went to stir.
At that point I left with the dogs, Daisy, Figaro, Mattie, and Grizzly, for an outing on snowshoes. We met Barbara (owner of Bailey's Mills B&B) and went for a loop through the field and down to Faerie Land. It was about 1 1/2 hours by the time we got back.
By then Betty, (I just named her) had laid her egg and went back to the gen pop. After the last egg gathering I had three white eggs for the day. I only have three white egg layers, Gracie, a Brown Leghorn, Dahlia, a Black Minorca, and Lilith, the Ancona, so Lilith must have gone back on her own. Good job girls.
However, Magda, AKA Thumby, was now in distress. She was checking out nooks and shelves, everywhere but the nesting boxes. Into stir she went and a little while later she produced a lovely medium sized almost pink egg. 18 eggs so far. Pretty good haul.

Daily egg count

18 eggs today

Egg laying drama

Lilith, the Ancona, is ready to lay. Her comb is fully developed and very red. She is also making all the loud, agitated, squawking noises that they all make when it is their time. I escorted her to the nesting boxes to make sure that she didn't find some dark corner to lay in. I kept an eye on progress as I turned the bedding. One of the problem Black Star girls came in and started her hogging routine. She cases the joint and then jumps in a box already occupied. If she succeeds in driving out the sitter she moves in for a short while and then repeats her behavior all over again. She drove Lilith out and sppoked her. So I relocated Black Star to the holding pen, or stir, as we call it, put Lilith back in her chosen nest and closed the door to the coop. In a few minutes I'll check on everyone and decide whether or not to open things up again.

Cold morning

15 degrees here this morning. Sunny though. Should be fine for the girls and boys. Will know shortly.

Daily egg count

Today's egg count: 16

Today's picture

As soon as Steve started working on the new nesting boxes, Zsa Zsa hopped up and oversaw the operation. She was there for the whole time checking dimensions and decor. When Steve finished she watched him install them, then nested in one and laid her first egg.

Chickens in the snow

Yesterday we got about 12 inches of snow. My husband is out clearing the driveway/ barnyard now. The girls know what snow is, but they are out of their depth here. I watch my husband open the coop door. The chicken jam begins. They get to the threshold, take one look and do a 180. Immediately we have a 40 chicken pile-up. New leaders emerge and give it another look. At the threshold they consider their options, fate, path? Some take the leap of faith and hop into the white abyss. Some decide to fly over the white stuff, overshoot and poof into a snowbank. I need to rescue and relocate these, but by now everyone else has formed a parade and have made it to safety. Just another day at the Best Little Hen House in Vermont.