Archive for the ‘Chickens’ Category

We got all the chicks out in the chicken tractors so we cleaned out the brooders.  Later, I was mulching the potatoes when I saw the laying hens and some goats picking through the pile we made.

compost turning

As we emptied the brooders I made a mental note to spread the pile out so that it didn’t kill the grass underneath.  However, before I got back to it the chickens and goats were having fun investigating.  Dust was flying as the chickens scratched and pecked at things.  There was plenty of chicken feed that had spilled and was mixed in with the wood shavings.  The chickens as well as the goats were happily cleaning it up.  I thought to myself how nice it was to have other farm residents who not only helped out occasionaly but actually benefited from their contribution.

On Thursday we went to get our chicks for raising to broilers.  What a great thing at Easter time!  Most people just have Peeps.  We have real chicks!!

250 Jumbo Cornish Cross and 15 brown egg-layer pullets now send a chorus of cheeping from our old wooden garage.  In two weeks, they’ll be in their “awkward teenage” stage and we’ll take them to the chicken tractors in the field, so they can feast on new grass and bugs!!! Yum!

In the first week of June, the broilers will be in the four to six pound range and ready for butchering.  Our chickens are plump, clean, and grass-fed!  If you are interested in ordering, give us a call and we’ll notify you of the butcher date.   Or come see us at the Cabool Farmers’ Market every Wednesday afternoon, starting April 14th.  We’ll have a sign up sheet there.

We’ll also have our green and brown eggs from our free-range chickens, and Janelle’s fresh baked artisan bread.  Come and see us soon!

Meet Duke.  He’s our one and only Delaware.  Isn’t he dashing?

He got his name because Janelle likes alliteration and she needed helping remembering what breeds the roosters are.  Duke came to us last fall, when we bought him from our neighbor Teri, along with Rico, the Rhode Island Red and Hank, the New Hampshire. This was before we realized that we had several roosters among our Ameracauna pullets.

We like Duke.  He’s the tamest of our six roosters and doesn’t scare away from humans easily.  He likes to stand on one leg, much more than our other chickens.  Among the fellas, he’s the least aggressive with the hens.   To our dismay, the other roosters seem to pick on him quite a bit.  But to us, he’s the best.

Today we got our first egg from one of our Ameracauna hens…and it was green!  We’ve been anticipating this for awhile now, but didn’t expect them to start laying on one of the coldest days of the year.

Our first green egg!

If you’re not familiar with green eggs (or blue, depending on what color YOUR eyes see), they are quite normal, for particular chicken breeds.  The Ameracauna breed is a branch of the Aracauna, which lays “easter eggs”.  Don’t worry, unlike the Dr. Seuss green eggs, these eggs are just green on the outside.

Our laying hens spend their nights in a movable chicken coop on wheels.  Outfitted with a rubber grid-like flooring with holes, the ground below the coop gets fertilized with the manure that falls through.  Periodically, we move the coop so that different areas can be fertilized.

Every once in awhile, we move the roaming chicken coop a little too far, and the chickens have a hard time finding their house at the end of the day.  When this happens, we literally have to herd chickens.  Not an easy or fun task.  Should you ever find yourself in the unlucky role of playing chicken herder, keep the following things in mind:

1. In order to successfully herd chickens, you need more than two people and possibly more than three.  If you think you can handle those chickens alone, you would be wrong.

2. Branches or sticks help.  Although you may be tempted, these are not for hitting the chickens, but for waving around wildly to make yourself seem bigger.

3. Wait until sunset, when the chickens are looking for their roosting place.  But don’t wait too long, because when it gets dark, they just sort of stop functioning and hunker down for the night.  If it does get too dark, see Tip #7.

4. If you break the herding circle to run after a single chicken that has gone in the wrong direction, you should fully expect that the rest of the chickens will follow.  At that point, it’s a little like watching a set of dominoes topple over.

5. Make sure young children aren’t within earshot, because there will be lots of swearing.

6. Chickens will not be rushed.  Generally, they just wish you would go away and leave them alone.

7. If all else fails, wait for the chickens to roost (hopefully on a fence or low branches) and then catch them one by one and put them in the house.