Building the Empire and a Gender Quiz

One last endless day working in the sun, and all the major pieces have finally been put together. It is now a chicken empire! I got up before dawn that day and pulled Finn off the roost before he started crowing (or even woke up) to cut the primary feathers on one wing and since then he has stayed put in the run. While I had him in hand I decided to trim down his spurs too. I cut one too close (really only about a quarter of an inch from the tip) and it bled like crazy. With Finn under my arm and a paper towel held over his spur, I rummaged through the kitchen with the other hand looking for the corn starch to stop the bleeding. I’ll have it right in front of me the next time I try this! No corn starch, and I had a horrible memory of having to cauterize this type of wound on a Polish rooster at Hiram using a knife heated on a stove burner (I was not the only one involved in this and we had NOT been told that the spurs would bleed so we just cut them flush to the leg--the poor rooster did survive the ordeal). Luckily the bleeding finally slowed with pressure and I put Finn cautiously into the spa. Gathered up the hens and put them in with him and all was well (although I think it made quite the impression on Finn--despite doing no more than flinching when I cut the spur, he’s been very respectful ever since). Did more before 6:00 am and coffee than most people do all day, but it had hardly begun....

I dismantled the partitions inside the coop that had kept the chicks separated from the adults so they now have the run of the coop. Steve cut a fallen log so I could run the new length of fence through a corner of the woods and we moved the dog kennel into place in front of one of the A-frames. I put broody Flicka in the spa with the others for the day, trying to break her, but no dice. Gave up, put her on 4 eggs (2 from Rachel and two not--we’ll see what Sussex crosses look like) and installed her in the new, deluxe broody coop. It’s a big improvement over Clucky’s dog crate!

It’s been a lot of work and it’s still kind of overwhelming, but they all love their new space. It’s as close to free-ranging as I can get here. Hopefully once the male chicks are sold I will have the right balance to maintain some grass in my back yard. The naturalist in me watches them as if they were wild and I see how they use their habitat. Just like wild birds, they prefer to have some cover, and I usually find them under the trees and in the weedy areas. Nobody just hangs out in the open yard. I think of how I usually see chickens kept in open runs and I think they’d be a lot happier with some habitat. Despite it’s drawbacks, the poultry netting has allowed me enough flexibility to provide that.

The chicks are now over 6 weeks old. Clucky got done with motherhood a couple of weeks ago, so they are on their own. They mix pretty well with the adults, but they tend to hang together--outside under one of the “hawk guards” and they still cram together to sleep in their nest box. They’re starting to spar with each other, and I sure am seeing a lot of boys!

There was never any doubt about Hazel (the gold-laced Wyandotte) with his tree-trunk legs.

Silver (a lavender Orpington) also seems quite masculine, especially next to Blackberry who may be my only pullet.

Dandelion looked like he could go either way for awhile, but sadly (because I wanted to keep a blue-laced red), is male.

Holly (the speckled Sussex), here sparring with Hazel, is also a boy,

.....and I’m not sure yet about the slow-to-mature Barnevelders, but I think Bucky may be a boy as I had thought originally and Acorn a girl.

It’s tempting to pick one or two of the males to keep as a back-up roo in case something happens to Finn, but I think it would be a mistake to plan to keep any. I put them on Craig’s List two days ago, and already someone is interested in Dandelion.