The Broody Bunch

I always like to start with the bad news.  That way I have the good news to lift me up at the end.

Bad News:

Whilli called a couple of days ago to let me know that a fox had gotten into the chickens.  She lost 3 and I lost 2.  My original 6 girls are safe but I lost one of the Barred Plymouth Rocks and one of the Easter Eggers.  Initially, she thought I’d lost both Easter Eggers which really upset me because I was really looking forward to seeing what color eggs they would lay.  They should begin laying very soon.  But I still have one of them.  I’ve lost a total of 4 chickens of the 8 that I brought home in the spring.

Good News:

I bought a chicken coop yesterday and it will be delivered on Saturday.  A couple of months ago Whilli purchased a small building/shed to sell her wares out of at the end of her driveway.  Knowing the difficulty that I’ve been having in locating a chicken coop, she called around to find out who had built her building.  She came up with a name and phone number and then called the man to see what his rates were.

He called me immediately after talking to Whilli to let me know that he had an 8×8 building available right now.  It was originally built as a playhouse (no surprise) but had good ventilation and would make a fine chicken coop.  What’s more is that I could purchase the coop, have it delivered and leveled all for the same price as ordering the coop from Ohio.  But now I won’t have to build it myself, or level it myself.  This man, Lufkin Toys, even asked if I needed any modifications made.  The only thing I asked for was a chicken door in the front.   He’s going to add the door before delivery!

I’m very excited to have such a nice building for my chickens.  As soon as GH and I can get the fencing in, my chickens are coming home!

It’s amazing to me how hard it is to find pre-fabricated chicken coops.  Chickens are not rare, but for whatever reason, housing for them is.

The quote to have a coop built was obnoxiously high… I thought.  But upon looking around I’ve found that sheds and outbuildings are expensive.  It really makes me wish I was more handy with wood and tools.  I located one coop pre-built locally and I stopped by today to look at it.  It was very cute and designed specifically for chickens’ needs, but it measured only 4′x6′.  It could have held 4-6 chickens, but definitely not 12.

I stopped at Home Depot and looked at the sheds they have there on display.  They were only slightly cheaper than the quote from the builder and could be delivered for free.  The problem with sheds is that they aren’t made for chickens.  I would have to modify it for a chicken door, proper ventilation, nesting boxes and a roost.  It just adds to the cost and frustration.

I took my search to the internet and didn’t fair much better there.  A prefab chicken coop just isn’t readily available.  Especially one that can hold more than 4 chickens.  Apparently there are only two types of chicken farmers, commercial and urban.  Either you’re supposed to have hundreds of chickens or less than 4.  Everyone wants to sell me plans, but not the four walls that I need.  I resorted to looking for sheds again, and even playhouses that could be modified.  The cost was comparative but still with modifications needed.

Then I happened to find a site that offers some hope.  Little Cottage Co at www.cottagekits.com.  They sell playhouses but they also offer a few options for chicken coops; two that might actually fit my needs.  I could order a coop pre-built or a kit to build myself.  Both are within $150 of each other.  A major factor to consider will be shipping.  Since Little Cottage Co. is based out of Ohio shipping could differ greatly between packages.  I’ve sent off an email inquiring on shipping charges to Maine.

My girls are still doing well at Whilli’s.  Faith is molting.  She’s embarrassed to be seen in public looking half plucked.  Whilli finished harvesting her tomatoes and has now let the chickens out of the coop to free range.  My older six are among them.  They’ve taken to roaming and stay with their adopted flock.  It’s funny that they still remember me.  When ever I come to visit, they are all on my heels looking for a pat or something good to eat.  I can’t wait to have them home.

Not long after my last post in 2009, we had a dog attack on the chickens. One chicken, Dolly, was badly wounded in the neck and we thought she might die. A close friend of ours came out to clean her up. It was gruesome and I really had a hard time keeping it together. We had to separate Dolly from the other chickens to keep them from pecking at her wounds. Surprisingly she made a full recovery and even started laying eggs in her tiny crate! She wasn’t the first to give us an egg, but it was definitely a good sign.

In November, on Thanksgiving day, we had gone to a relatives for the holiday meal. Upon our return, I realized that we were missing a chicken. One of the Reds was gone. There were no signs of distress, no feathers, no tracks in the snow, nothing. I thought she might have slipped out of the run and looked for her for the next few days, but to no avail. She never did return.

Down to 6 chickens from the original 8. In the spring, it was necessary to reintroduce Dolly to her flock. The problem was that having been separated from the others for so long, she would not be remembered and they would consider her a new chicken and thus a threat. I took Dolly out to the coop a few times so the others could see her. She was excited to be among comrades but they eyed her with suspicion. Patsy had become the lead chicken and was intent on putting Dolly in her place. A decided peck on the head from Patsy, sent Dolly squawking and seeking refuge. She jumped onto my lap and and hid in my arms from Patsy. I decided it wasn’t time for her to go back yet.

Not long after that, I had gone into check on the hens after dark. Always counting heads, I noticed that Patsy was missing. I looked around outside in the snow and found lots of chicken tracks leading around and around the coop and finally into the trees. I called to her but didn’t get any response. It was disappointing to say the least.

The next day after returning home from work, I heard a clucking coming from the trees. I walked out into the snow, clucking to her. She answered and finally I saw her wandering among the brush. She was agitated and looking ruffled. I went to the coop and grabbed a handful of pellets and scattered them close to the coop door. After recruiting Young Master and Little Maiden to help, I sat in the snow with pellets on my lap, hoping to coax her closer. It was a slow process but I was finally able to get a hand on her. The kids swung open the door and I tossed Patsy inside. She was obviously upset about spending the night out in the cold. Then it occurred to me that this would be a perfect time to add Dolly to the group, while Patsy was out of her element. It worked, both chickens were so eager to get food and warm up, that neither noticed the other long enough to get upset about it.

And so the spring and summer progressed with 6 happy hens. Laying and scratching happily. We decided that it would be a good idea to order a few more chicks. This time I ordered from MyPetChicken.com. I was able to get the breeds that I wanted which were Barred Plymouth Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, and Easter Eggers. I ordered 8 chicks total. When they arrived 1 chick was DOA and one more died two days later. I was down to 2 of each breed. They seemed to thrive and got used to handling quickly. With the exception of the Easter Eggers, they are very friendly.

Then it happened. In June we were forced from our home because of foreclosure. The loss of a job and the slowing economy forced us into the situation. Our hens found themselves stuffed into two cardboard boxes and the chicks in another and carted off to Willhi’s house. She very kindly offered not only a home to our chickens but to us as well in our time of transition. A week long stay in her camper was enough time to find a house to rent on a nice piece of property.

It’s September 2010 now, and we are settled in fairly well. Our landlady has been very nice to allow us to build a coop and bring our 12 chickens back home. The chicks have grown so much and should start laying sometime next month. I can’t wait to have fresh eggs again.

I think I’ve found someone who will be able to build the coop for me. It’s a matter of drawing up the plans and scraping the money together. If all goes well, my beautiful flock will be home before snow flies!

We’re going away again.  This time for 4 and a half days!  I feel better with the feeder that the chickens have now.  And our last absence went well.

On Monday all four of us are going to camp.  Young Master and Little Maiden are campers and GH and I are staff.  We’ll come home from the campground Friday afternoon.

I want to put some windows in the coop for extra ventilation and maybe I can work out an automatic waterer.

I just switched the chickens over to grower pellets instead of crumble.  I was told there’s less waste with pellets.  Well, as of yet, I haven’t seen any of the chickens eat them.  I mixed the pellets with left over crumble in hopes that they would adjust quickly.  It looks like they’re scratching the pellets out onto the floor and just eating the mash.  By the time we leave for camp the chickens will be on just pellets.  Will they eat them if they get hungry enough or will they starve with food all around them?  I wish I knew.

We installed the new feeder for the chickens today.  It’s simple and cheap but it works great!

I can’t take credit for the idea.  I saw it on another chicken website.  But I immediately liked it because it’s just what I’ve been needing.  An inexpensive, gravity fed feeder than can hold a lot of food.

The feeder is made of 4 inch PVC pipe.  It starts with a 2 ft straight pipe.  Then a 90 degree elbow followed with a 45 degree elbow.  It’s hung with galvanized hanger tape.  In all, the feeder cost about $23.00.

Because the piping isn’t holding liquid, just feed, there was no need to seal the pieces.  They fit snuggly together.

We hung the feeder so the lower opening is about the same height as the chickens’ chin.  That way they can reach it easily but can’t really bill out the food.

The chickens love it!  Two of them can eat at it comfortably at the same time.  But they seem to take turns and share pretty well.  And if someone gets impatient she just jumps up on the elbow and claims her turn!

We’re leaving later today for a long weekend in Connecticut!  We’re planning on being back home in time for Sunday evening service at church.  I’m leaving the chickens home alone…

The weather report says that it’s supposed to rain here all weekend.  That’s actually good because I won’t have to worry about the chickens getting too hot.

I didn’t have time to make the new feeder and waterer that I wanted so I had to improvise.  GH cut three holes around the top of a large plastic container.  I filled it with chicken food and put the cover on it.  Then I turned it upside down on an inverted burner cover.  The food spilled out nicely!  I figure that even if they bill out all the food, they can just scratch for it.

The current waterer is big enough to hold enough water for three days but it often gets knocked over or filled with shavings.  So as a precaution, I’ve filled a large tub with water and put it in the run.  It’s too heavy to get knocked over and with all the rain, it shouldn’t ever be empty!

That brings me to my biggest concern.  I’m going to have to leave their run open.  We’ve never had any signs of predators but there’s a first for everything.  I did tighten the fencing on the front door with the staple gun so that it’s not just tacked up with nails.

There’s not much more I can do for them now.  But I’m a believer in faith and prayer.  I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve prayed for their safety here at home as well as our safety on the road!

Today I bought some Grower crumble to mix with the chick starter mash.  I think I’m a bit late in changing their feed but they seem to be healthy.

I’m going to start gathering materials to make my chickens a new feeder and waterer.  They’ve really outgrown the feeders that I bought when they were chicks.  Plus, I’m going away for a week in August and I need to find a way to keep them fed.  I haven’t found a baby sitter yet.

Other modifications need to be made to the coop soon.  That includes removing the shelf, moving up the roost, making windows, and adding nesting boxes.  My girls are growing up, and I can’t believe how quickly!

I wasn’t really attacked by a chicken but she did draw blood.  I was a bit late this morning opening up the coop for the chickens.  I expected them to be up and scratching at the feeders already.  When I opened the front door of the coop, two chicks flew down from the shelf where they had been roosting and right out the front door by my feet!

I was able to guide one of them back into the coop immediately but the other chicken got by me.

I turned to grab her but she jumped and squawked and I ended up with just tail feathers!  I jumped again and she fluttered and again I only grabbed her tail.  I held fast while trying to get a better hold of the squawking, flapping chicken!  I finally managed to toss her back into the coop but not unscathed. 

I have a scratch on my finger and wrist that bled from chicken feet and I scraped my shin on who-knows-what.

The coop was in an uproar!  I quickly checked the food and water and opened the hatch.  Then I turned my back and walked away to go lick my wounds.

P.S. I also had a wonderful time at the ladies’ ice cream social last night.  Rose’s flower garden was a beautiful setting.  By the way, does anyone bring hostess gifts anymore?  I always try to bring something for the hostess to thank her for all her hard work, but I was the only one out of 12 women.  Am I old fashioned or just a goody-goody?

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I’m not exactly mechanically inclined but I am creative.  And my chickens’ health is important to me.  So when I checked on my chicks yesterday afternoon and found them listless and panting, I knew something had to be done right then!

Chickens can suffer from heat exhaustion.  Especially the dark breeds like my Rhode Island Reds.  To cool off, the chickens will stand with their wings drooped down and held away from their bodies so the air can circulate.  If that doesn’t do the job then they will open their mouths and pant like a dog.  If that doesn’t do enough to help them, they will faint from the heat.  If you find a chicken in this state, you may be able to revive it with a cool bath.

I knew that if my chickens were panting that the heat could become dangerous quickly.

I gathered a piece of leftover fencing and nails from the garage.  I opened one door of the coop and tacked the fencing to the inside of the door frame.  The fencing didn’t quite reach the ground.  I found a scrap of T1-11 and tacked the bottom of the fencing to that.  When the opposite door is closed, it overlaps the fencing.  Then I hung a clip fan on the shelf to try to keep the air moving.

It’s not exactly secure but the chickens haven’t tried to test it.  I still close all of the doors at night to keep predators out.  At least my chicks are much cooler during day now. 

No baked chickens today!

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Finally we’ve had a couple of days that I might call typical summer days.  Blue skies, sunshine, and heat.  Young Master and Little Maiden even got some pool time this morning at work.  (One of the perks of being a housekeeper!)

The chickens are surviving the heat alright.  The coop gets a bit stuffy during the afternoon.  I know there’s not enough ventilation so I’ve been going out and opening the big front door for a while.  I have to sit and guard it so no one escapes.

I really need to cut some windows in the back of the coop to open things up a bit.  But we tend to not be mechanically inclined around here so we lack the tools needed for that project.  Maybe I can come up with Plan B tomorrow.

I remember Willhi telling me once to be sure to put the chicken roost higher than the nesting boxes because chickens will always roost on the highest point.  Having the nesting boxes lower than the roost prevents them from messing on their eggs when they start laying.

Good advice.  What I didn’t consider is the shelf in the coop that I keep the bales of shavings on.  It’s over my head.  But that’s where I’ve found all of the girls sleeping these last two nights when I went out to close up their run.  On the shelf and even on top of the shaving bales.

I hope they don’t try to lay any eggs up there.  We’ll have scrambled eggs in short order!

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