Category: Chicken

success with a broody hen

Our broody hen kept brooding.  Each night I would remove her from the eggs she was safeguarding and, after a quick sup, she would go back to the nesting box.  And so it continued night after night for a week.   Our research indicated that if she was kept in a place where her underside was cool, she might desist.  I located and positioned 6 cinder blocks on top of which I placed the wire cage we had used when they were newly born.  Since the bottom of the cage was a solid removable tray, which Read more [...]

late freeze, black locust, a broody hen, frass and swarm lure

The average date for last spring freeze where I grow  should be after March 30 and before April 10 based on a map provided by the National Weather Service.  On April 16 the temperature in our area fell to 30 deg F and caused some damage.  The potato plants suffered - the volunteers on the ground surface were almost wiped out - While the potatoes I had planted in a trench had less extensive damage - I was concerned about my apple trees some of which are in blossom but they seem fine Read more [...]

at last some growing activity

The occasional cold temperatures in March dissuaded the plants from growing.  This was evident from an experiment with peas.  I moistened the peas and those which appeared to be growing the fastest I planted outdoors and  the remainder I planted in a soil container in the greenhouse.  Until a week ago very few of the peas planted outdoors had broken surface.  Those in the greenhouse grew steadily.  Today I transplanted the greenhouse peas. Of course the daffodils are out and my comfrey Read more [...]

goodbye Gus!

I have mentioned that Buffy, our Buff Orpington rooster, takes good care of his girls and that on two occasions I incubated eggs successfully.  The incubator takes 7 eggs and each time there were 4 viable chicken and each time it was 3 hens and one rooster.  And each time, as the young rooster grew up, friction developed between dad and son, and son and all the hens. We are very lucky to have a chicken enthusiast down the road from us who happily took Buff, the first young rooster and we see Read more [...]

some winter tasks

charging the Takeuchi After some cold nights (12 below freezing) my Takeuchi bobcat refused to start.  Cold and tired battery.  The best way to charge the battery is to pull the cab forward on its hinges and then you have direct access to the battery.  It is heavy and best done with an assistant.  In the past I had an anchor point in front of the Take and winched the cab forward.  However, there was no anchor point for the Take this time just a 2,400 gal rainwater tank.  The last time I Read more [...]

growing update 0822

Good news - my squash have not (yet) been visited by the dreaded borer and are growing rampaciously. So I have a new pest to respond to and I have set a live trap with some enticing carrots to try catch the rabbit.  A more tedious, though inevitable response will be to better secure the growing area and the fence which surrounds it.  Here is a welcome visitor. My most productive bed which is just 4ft by 4ft and was an afterthought, in addition to pumping out tomatoes and cucumbers Read more [...]

hatching chicks

My second round of hatching chicks In my May post I described my process for hatching chicks.  I hatched 5 chicks from 7 eggs using a Brinsea incubator.  I did not mention that one of the chicks had part of its intestine protruding, presumably could not digest food, and died 2 days later.  The 4 remaining chicks grew at a steady pace and are now almost the size of their mothers.  It appears they are all hens. I began chicken keeping with 8 purchased (1 rooster and 7 hens) and 6 gifted Read more [...]

goodbye Red

I inherited Red from departing neighbors.  She had been rescued from a commercial hatchery and came with a snipped beak.  She was the smartest of them all.  In the early days I borrowed her and some of her companions to help prepare the vegetable growing area and she would hover close to my digging implements to examine and gulp down whatever edibles I unearthed - whilst the other chicken stayed as far away from me as possible.  And when she and the others were given to me, it was Red who first Read more [...]

“spa treatment” for Red

Of the 6 chickens inherited from my neighbor, Red has always been my favorite.  On one occasion I borrowed them to assist in the new vegetable area.  5 huddled in the furthest corner, Red came up to where I was forking up the soil and she focused on each upturning and snatched any worms or grubs that were unearthed.  I was told she was rescued from a commercial operation and that was why her beak was snipped - to minimize damage amongst stressed confined birds.  The bigger birds respected her Read more [...]

hatched chicks

We have a Buff Orpington rooster and 8 hens, one of which is his sister.  Because most nights I am away from the property I have an automatic coop door opener (design specs elsewhere on this website).  Most nights I lock them in but, when I can't neighborhood kids earn pocket money doing so.  And when they can't a neighbor obliges and I will offer, though she doesn't always accept, a dozen eggs.  She used to keep guinea fowl and she mentioned to me that all the eggs I had given her were fertilized.  Read more [...]