The Cloth Mommy

The chicks arrive 1 day old, and for better or worse, have never met the mama hen who laid them. Although a great many traits have been bred out of modern poultry fowl (including mothering instinct, ability to forage, etc.) the basic need for warmth and something that reflects that back still exists in these chicks.

We have always found that the first few nights the chicks need something aside from the impersonal heat lamp, something to "snuggle" with. A wash cloth or old cloth diaper usually fits the bill. Here you see the chicks bedding down on their wash cloth--change it nightly, because it gets messy.

Coop Renovation or One Big Happy Flock

Our other big news--the entire coop is finally integrated. We cut a hole in the wall separating both coops, and turned the back half into the nesting box/egg laying station, with a separate access for gathering eggs. Initially the roosts were all 2 X 4's but the hens hated this. Every morning we found most of them crammed on one roost that was a tree branch, so we took the 2 X 4's out, and put back in tree branch roosts. The back section has one remaining 2 X 4.

Eggs-citing News!

And now for something completely happy! Here's a comparison pic of the egg laid by Mary, our first hen in the younger girls group to begin laying. This is officially her 2nd egg--yesterday's was even smaller if you can believe it, but our daughter wanted it for breakfast so this morning so I don't have a picture to share.

The first eggs a hen lays are always smaller; compare Mary's egg with the egg in the photo from a mature 1 year old hen. You might remember I wondered about whether Mary was a rooster since lately she seemed, well, generally not nice. Her transition to laying might explain why she took a turn for the worse, personality-wise. (Just the other day, when retrieving her from someplace she wasn't supposed to be, she was flapping at me frantically and I found myself saying, "Mary, you make me want to cook you! Now cut it out!") We noticed a general irritability in the older flock hens as well, right before they started laying. It seems like they know they should be doing something, can't figure out what that something is, and might even be physically uncomfortable until they lay that first egg.

Frankly, it makes sense to me--I can imagine I'd be pretty darn uncomfortable too, and I really don't understand how they lay eggs day in and day out and stay so even tempered!

The Integration Process--An Update

Some folks have inquired recently--how is the integration of the flock going? At this point the little girls are about 16 weeks old, and not quite 3/4 the size of the big girls, so we are still being cautious. Michael tends to be more full steam ahead than I am about these things, so sometimes we find a balance!

What's at risk, they're all just a bunch of small-brained chickens, right? Perhaps brain size is part of the issue, who knows--but the whole pecking order thing is very, very real. One piece of reality is that dominate hens in a flock will keep lower ranking hens from food, and sometimes water. I observed that with our first group of hens, and am seeing it now with this group as well.

So, some days we open up the portion of the young pullets' (that's technically what I should be calling the non-laying juvenile hens, pullets) run so they have access to the mature hens' run. Mostly the mature hens invade and eat all their food, while the pullets run to the back 40, and have to be coaxed back to their coop before sundown. I prefer that we only open that fence on the weekends at this stage, since if the hens are in a "mood" on a very hot day and keep the pullets from water, the pullets could quickly overheat and die. But Michael being more daring likes to mix it up a little!

We are still waiting to see if there are any roosters in the younger group--initially we thought one of our barred rocks, Rocky was a rooster, but now I have my doubts as s/he is pretty darn mellow. However, the New Hampshire (red in color) has become a rather pushy creature, and spends a lot of time running around making odd screeching and squealing tire type noises--which could be the beginnings of learning how to crow!

There are still a few more weeks for any roosters to mature enough to be the strutting, regal and noisy creatures we expect them to be...stay tuned for the next episode!

GREAT MOMENTS IN FLOCK HISTORY

It's a great moment--the first time that both flocks are out in the yard together! It was nearly impossible to get a shot of the hens all together, as the little girls ran away every time I tried to take a picture!

On the whole this was a successful integration experiment--"pecking order" is a very real phenomenon! The older hens ran the little ones away whenever there was a tasty morsel of food to be had, which is part of why we are rearing the flocks separately for the time being. Several weeks back, Michael extended the outdoor run for the little girl so that they have a 10' X 20' swath that just into the big girls run. The 2 flocks are separated by wire, but get to see and hear each other now.

Our experience the last time showed us that it was important to wait until size differences had decreased. We didn't wait as long last time and there were some definite bumps. With the last group (the auracanas and buffs being the youngers, with the black australorps, sex link, and Rhode Island Red being the olders) we noted early on that the younger hens seemed to be chased away from the food bowl--and if our neighbor Mike hadn't found her in time, the lovely Seiji Brown might have died from the rigors of pecking order. That's another story for another blog post, but for today we feel we are on track with a slow integration of the flock.

This time around, with a suspected rooster in the flock, once he is "of age" he will command the obedience of the whole flock, which we hope will make blending the different age groups much easier--he will become the main event instead of the new hens...then when everything is settled, Rocky the Rooster will be going to live in the country with some friends of ours who need a rooster (and can legally own one).

Roosting

It's a milestone when pullets begin to roost, which is what they are doing here on this branch. Our weather lately has been quite chilly, and the chooks have figured out that this is a nice way to keep warm.

Inside the Luxury Chick Nursery

Here are the chicks bedding down after we chased them for 15 or 20 minutes--in the mud and rain mind you. They're just like kids that don't want to go to bed, except they run much, much faster.

This is another view of our friend just to the left of Mary Ann the New Hampshire (red/brown chick)--we've noticed an unnusually large comb on this one, and overall size is larger than the other chicks...

The Night Time Dilemma

Q: How many people does it take to put 6 chicks in their coop at night?
A: 3--one to flush them out, one to herd them, and one to grab them and put them in the coop.

It's not a laughing matter! While the chicks have figured out they can go up and down the ramp of their coop, they have not figured out specifically what to do when darkness falls. Tonight they sat out in the dusk cheeping their loud "Help me! Help me!" cheep. I think we need to invest in a butterfly net or something similar.

Barring that, this is my big piece of advice to pass on to others who may someday have a backyard flock: in the beginning days when you have your chicks, hold them, hold them, hold them, teach them to eat from your hand within the first weeks. Take the time early on because you'll end up with hens that are considerably tamer.

The only difference between this younger group and the hens we have that are all 1 year old, is that I wasn't working full time when we got our first group--so I would bring our daughter home (most days) right after her half day of kindergarten, and she did all the devoted work of taming those chooks. When we would enter their run, they would run to us and jump up on our shoulder if we knelt down, they loved being held, and knew to expect food and snackables from us.

This time around I am working full time and so my daughter had considerably less time available to work her magic with the chickies, and we are seeing a telltale difference. These chicks don't know yet that we are actually the source of all things warm and wonderful, like food, access to the heat lamp, cuddling...

For your reading enjoyment, I've included this link to an article from our local paper about chickens in the urban environment. Please feel free to scout around at the site afterward too, some great chicken cam links!

The Chicks Move in to The New Addition

And the big day is finally here--the weather is cooperative (so far), and Michael finished the lovely Dutch door. Together we quickly set up the fencing, and then after Michael left to do his landscaping accounts, I adapted the fencing to include a somewhat workable entrance point, and then made the ramp. At the base of the ramp you can see Mary, the New Hampshire. Hopefully they remember how to go up the ramp when it rains!

The Roof is Complete

Here is the very nearly finished coop addition--you can see the outline of one of the pallets we used to frame it in. The doors weren't quite done yet--once Michael put them on I reminded him I was interested in Dutch doors, the kind where the top can open independently from the bottom. That might sound like a nit-picky wife request, but at this stage the interior of the coop will still be artificially heated, so a smaller door opening will be necessary to preserve some heat.

Coop Addition Nearly Finished!

Yesterday Michael finished tar papering the roof, put on the shingles, and added the front doors for the coop. We still have to add flashing to the roof and also turn one of the coop addition doors into a dutch door. Hopefully by this weekend the chicks will be out of the house, with their own fenced mini-run.

At this stage, just over 4 weeks of age, the cats shouldn't be able to snag a chick through the chicken wire fencing...

The big girls are still producing about 1 dozen eggs a day--so we have plenty of eggs to sell, still $2 per dozen.

Time to Build an Addition!

When your chicks are doing this, it means they are ready for more luxurious accomodations--outdoors. If we hadn't been rained out this afternoon, Michael probably would have finished putting on the front doors and roofing materials. We are hoping for a dry spell soon!

Side View of the Addition

This is the side view of the new addition. Initially this will house only the new chicks, but eventually we will use a sawzall to cut out the wall separating the two and integrate this into use for the whole flock. It is off the ground, so that eventually we can install a wire-bottom floor, allowing droppings to fall out for easier cleanup. Note the ready-to-use shovel hanging from the main coop!

Chooks at Play

This is a close up of the 4 week old chicks inside the brooder, running too and fro. We had to tape a large rubber ball to the top of the waterer because they kept climbing on top of it and tipping it over. The chicks live with sawdust shavings for their litter at this age--but only pine because the oil in the cedar shavings can kill them.

Example of Indoor Brooder

This is a shot of the brooder inside the house. We start out with a 50 gallon plastic tub, and by 2-3 weeks they outgrow this--the real problem is they can jump out too easily! This wood crate was something Michael picked up someplace, the walls are high enough that the now 4 week old chooks have to work to fly up.

There are advantages and disadvantages to having the chicks in the house with us. The primary disadvantage would be the constant cheeping and peeping, as well as the very fine dust they create from all their scratching. The advantages are ease of climate control, easier to care for them on a daily basis. Additionally, the more time they spend with us at this stage, the friendlier they will be as laying hens.

The Next Generation

In mid-April we got 6 day old chicks, one New Hampshire (a Rhode Island Red spin off), 3 barred rocks, and 2 silver laced wyandottes. We'll be posting more photos as time goes on. This photo is from the chicks first day at home with us.

When they are young the chicks do not have enough feathering to keep warm, and so we provide an indoor "brooder" with a heat lamp. Each week we raise the heat lamp a little farther from the brooder--they start out needing heat of about 90F, and we decrease it by 5F per week. Hopefully they are feathered enough right about the time it gets warm enough to put them outside.