Freeing the "Dirt Chickens"

Flicka and Zen and their two new babies Elizabeth and Marie spent the 3 weeks since hatch in the dog kennel/A-frame broody suite. It looked like a lot of room and technically it was, but within a few days the mommies had torn up all the sod looking for goodies and the run was reduced to a dust/mud pit depending on the weather. I put in a half pallet just to give them something to stand on besides the mire. The chicks, especially Elizabeth are still pretty small and I would have liked to leave them in the run for another week until they got big enough to not be tempted to run through the openings in the electronetting, but last weekend I had the opportunity to stay home all day to monitor things (a rarity) and the weather was nice so I sprung them.

They didn’t rush the gate like Clucky and her brood did. The moms are protective and the babies are shy of me because I haven’t spent any time with them. (Since the end of last month I’ve been dealing with a fairly virulent allergy to something in the dirt in the chicken run, presumably mold. The allergist says it won’t kill me but that it could get worse with repeated exposure, so I’ve been limiting my time with the chickens, waiting for a hard freeze). So anyway, I went back inside and left them to sort it out. A while later I glanced out the window and saw that the hens had gotten out, but the chicks were still inside. I went out to wrangle, caught Elizabeth and released her, but couldn’t get my hands on Marie. I finally trapped her in the A-frame and opened up the nestboxes in back so she could get out.

Once out, they enjoyed their day. The other chickens left them alone and they scratched around and sunbathed. When I brought the scratch out in the afternoon both mommies joined the rest of the stampede leaving the babies screaming out of sight back behind the coop. Flicka came to right away and went charging back to them, but Zen finished her snack first. Some mothers are better than others!

My plan was to have them move back to the main coop so I can clean up the A-frame and re-seed the kennel run. I put their food and water out for the day and at dusk came out to wrangle them in. It turned out that I didn’t have to--Marie went in through the compound with Flicka and Elizabeth managed the series of leaps up the steps through the main door long after Zen went in. So now I have 13 chickens all in one coop. We may have to make some more roosts, but they should all fit.

Goodbye to Hazel

My friend and chicken mentor Nancy lost her black Jersey Giant rooster this week. An enormous bird, he disappeared off her fenced property without a trace. He was one of those “good roos” and was much loved. Hazel, named for the Watership Down rabbit leader, will now get the chance to take his place, although he will have a Sussex rooster from the same hatching as Finn and Rachel to contend with. With more than 30 hens to share, they will probably be able to work something out! I’m very happy he’ll get to have a good free-ranging life instead of ending up as someone’s dinner.

Clucky, the Orpington on the left has snapped out of her broodiness

Last weekend I (reluctantly) set Clucky on 5 of the eggs I got from my neighbor and placed her in a bucket in the kennel with the two mommy hens and their chicks (the mommies have claimed the nest box area). She settled in and Steve reported that all was well the next morning, but by the time I returned from work Clucky was pacing the kennel hollering to get out. I thought she had broken, so went in to retrieve the eggs and found them smoking hot. So I waited a bit and she went back on the eggs. In the evening, I found Clucky outside pacing again and Flicka setting on the eggs (with the new chicks underneath her her as well), apparently in broody mode again (or still). I didn’t see this coming! So I gave up, released Clucky from the kennel, and pitched the eggs because I didn’t want to have to make a decision right then about where and how to set them. I blocked the nest boxes that night because I’m trying to get the babies to start using the roosts to sleep, and that was apparently the final straw. By the next afternoon, Clucky had rejoined the others, no longer broody. This is a relief for me--I’d like to start whittling the numbers down a bit.

Oops!

Just when I thought I had the babies figured out I failed not only the gender quiz, but the breed quiz too! I had thought from the beginning that Hazel was one of the Wyandottes based on his coloration as a chick, but as he grew, he looked less and less like Dandelion and what I thought a Wyandotte should look like. When it became clear he was developing a single comb I thought it was just a result of some cross to a single-combed breed in his background, but I was troubled because that meant I couldn’t sell him as a Wyandotte.

The day after I noticed this, I was idly gazing at Acorn (a dark-colored, shy bird that I usually see from a distance under cover) as she spread her wing and I thought “Wow, she’s a BLR Wyandotte,” and it all became clear.

This means that Hazel is actually a Barnevelder, and now that I know and he has matured a little more, he’s looking quite handsome with a lot of lustrous black plumage.

This also means that Bucky is a Barnevelder pullet--obviously female next to Hazel.

Also, if Acorn with her dark charcoal lacing is blue-laced, that means that Dandelion with his light lavender-colored lacing is a splash-laced. I found all this out in the nick of time as he was to be sold a few days hence. I emailed the buyer and sent pics and luckily he was still interested in Dandelion. He also offered to buy Acorn and I let her go with the promise of being able to buy future hatching eggs from him.

So back to the gender quiz--both lavenders are now looking similar to each other and now I think they are girls.

Holly, the Sussex is still looking like a boy to me, but at this point I wouldn’t swear to it!

Meanwhile, about a week after I set Flicka on her eggs in the new A-frame deluxe broody suite, Zen went broody again (after breaking the first time). I gave in and put her next to Flicka and gave her two of Flicka’s eggs so they’d both hatch out on the same day. My friend Nancy set a bunch of Sussex-cross eggs earlier this summer and all her chicks look like Sussexes, so I expected to see mottled brown babies.

Mine hatched two days ago--one black chick, Marie (offspring of Zen I think based on the head markings).....

.....and one beautiful buff stripey chick, Elizabeth, clearly of Orpington descent, both probably doomed to roosterhood now that they’ve been given feminine names!

So far Flicka and Zen seem to be sharing nicely, but I will keep my eye on them over the next couple of days.

I was thinking we might be at the end of the broodiness, but now Clucky is trying again. I was going to try to break her, but then was offered a dozen hatching eggs (of undisclosed but brown egg-laying breeds) from someone up the road who made a special effort to collect them. I might set 4 or so if I can integrate Clucky into the broody suite with the new moms without strife. I keep hearing about “chicken math” where people keep acquiring chickens as they get interested in different breeds, but my own hens are bent on reproduction. I have enough chickens!

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.

Something New Everyday

Finn's new hobby

At four weeks old the chicks were released from the inner compound during the day and now they confidently range throughout the outer enclosure, at first watched over by Clucky and now largely on their own. Clucky has gone back to roosting with the adults in the past week, abandoning the nestbox to the chicks. Initially there were a few conflicts and open battles with the other hens, notably Zen, but Clucky prevailed. I wasn’t sure how Finn would treat the chicks, but he has been a good dad, accepting them into his flock with good humor. He even joined Clucky in battle against Zen, subduing her and helping to chase her off, and now all is peaceful. It’s gone well enough that this weekend I plan to remove the partition inside the coop and let young and old mix.

Hazel

Dandelion

Holly

Blackberry

Silver

Acorn

After a few days in the brooder, Buckthorn’s wounds healed, but he still seemed droopy and subdued. Instead of bringing another chick in with him to keep him company, I thought to put him in the dog crate out in the outer enclosure during the day so he wouldn’t be so isolated. This worked for about 10 minutes until he discovered the big opening I had missed in front of the crate and walked right out. I wasn’t going to be able to catch him easily and this was in the late afternoon, so I hazed him over to join the others. He blended in unnoticed so I decided to leave him with them unless they started picking at him again. He’s still out there, and although he still does not have his siblings size or energy, he seems to be accepted and definitely happier out of the brooder.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of last week, Flicka went broody. I’m still stressing out over having so many new chicks so I’ve decided to break her if I can. I spent last week booting her off her nest and taking her eggs to no avail. I thought a weekend by herself in the spa might do the trick so last Saturday I set set her up out there. She seemed more or less OK with it but Finn immediately started fussing, calling her and pacing the fence. Before I knew it, he flew out of the enclosure and went marching over to her. I gave up, brought her back, with Finn accompanying us, and put them both back in. I’m not sure yet what Plan B will be.

Having gotten that small taste of freedom, yesterday Finn flew out again and this time tried to call the hens over with him. They weren’t about to get near the fence and I don’t think they comprehended that they could fly over if they chose. So they gathered around inside while he called from outside. I got him back in by waiting until almost dusk, opening up the fence and dumping a bunch of scratch (read candy) just inside. The girls jumped on it and Finn marched right back in. It’s just as well I ordered additional fencing to enlarge their area, and Saturday when I install it all the adults will spend the day in the spa. When I get my hands on Finn I’ll clip his wing and hope for the best, but it may just be a matter of time before something gets him, especially if he ends up roosting in trees instead of returning to the coop every night.

Growing Pains

One afternoon not so long ago I gazed out at my chickens happily roaming their enclosure and I felt that I had got it right. No aggression, the grass, if not thriving at least surviving in the outer run, no one pacing the perimeter looking for greener pastures. Ahhh.......

Then Clucky went broody and I figured having a hen raise a couple of chicks wouldn’t be that hard. And now my numbers have doubled (although luckily Zen has broken and Rachel decided it wasn’t a good idea anyway, so hopefully we’re done for the year). To accommodate this, and other eventualities, I ordered two small A-frame coops and another strand of electric fence. All the components are here, but lots of work will be required to get it all set up, and honestly, just getting the spa together has taken all summer (and while now workable, it has yet to be completed). My vision is to add the fence to the existing one to double the enclosure space during the summers and remove it in the winter (when the chickens are more coop-bound anyway) to allow access to the propane tank. I have one A-frame set next to the main coop and the dog kennel will be attached to it next to, but separate from, the inner compound. This will be for broody hens and birds that are part of the flock but need to be kept separate. The other A-frame is in the back corner of the yard, and this will be used with the spa whenever I have an ill or quarantined bird. Meanwhile, the spa can be used for its intended purpose which is to move around the yard and provide greens and a diversion for whomever I put in there.

Last Saturday morning I was out in the run with the babies and noticed that Buckthorn, one of the little Barnevelders, looked slightly droopy. All the others were running around, but he was sleeping. After a bit, he came to and ran to the others, so I stopped worrying. The next afternoon, we arrived home to find him suffering from bloody diarrhea and his neck pecked bare by his siblings. I put him in the brooder on the porch and treated his wounds with Blu-Kote (it is and it does--I still have it on my hands), and his coccidiosis with medicated chick starter and neomycin in his water. He seemed pretty miserable after the Koting (which must really sting), and I worried that he might not make it through the night. He survived but he hasn’t exactly bounced back. He seems less ill though so I slipped him under Clucky with the rest of the chicks last night, and all are spending the day in the spa. He isn’t being overtly picked on (he’s still pretty blue), but he stands out from the rest as being mopey. He’ll be going back into the brooder tonight.

The rest of the kids are enjoying their vacation from the desert of dirt and wood shavings that is the inner compound. None of them are tame--Clucky’s been a good mom and I have been too busy these last couple of weeks to spend any time with them. I also had to spend the first few weeks wrangling them back inside the coop every night, first when Clucky decided to have them all sleep outside with her, and then later when she started going into the coop for the night with some of the chicks leaving the rest, unable to comprehend the ramp, to scream outside. Now they can all negotiate the ramp, but I’m viewed as big trouble! It was quite the rodeo this morning trying to get them into the spa.

They’ve all been named and now since Bucky’s misfortune I can also tell them all apart! Gender is still a mystery, although I feel Hazel here is definitely a boy. He’s a hulk, noticeably bigger and heavier than the rest and he stands very upright. He had the gall to bite me a few days ago when I was wrangling him inside for the night. He’s one of the Wyandottes--not the blue-laced red that I ordered, but a gold-laced. Blue does not breed true, and two blue-laced parents will produce 50% blue-laced, 25% gold-laced (the lacing is black), and 25% splash (mostly white)-laced which is what I think Dandelion is. If Hazel and Dandelion end up being male and female, I could breed them together and end up with all blue-laced--a consideration for later! Dandelion was initially the runt of the group, but just in my short time with them this morning, has shown himself to be the most fearless of the bunch--at least of me. He was happy to approach me more closely than the rest even though I came without treats.

The two lavender Orpingtons are very similar except in size. Silver’s the bigger of the two and Blackberry’s the smaller one with the puff of a tail. Silver’s showing the most interest in pecking at Bucky’s neck, but not really in an aggressive way.

Acorn is the other Barnevelder. She seems shy and quiet. The breed is known for docility and if either one of these two end up being roosters, he would be the one I would consider keeping as a back-up for Finn (or a replacement if Finn continues on his feisty trajectory).

Holly is a speckled Sussex, the offspring of Finn and Rachel. He was from one of the two “safety eggs” I set under Clucky just to make sure something would hatch if the other eggs didn’t survive the transport. Shows what I know--the other Sussex egg didn’t hatch! Already outgoing like his parents, Holly is very fast. He was the last one I was able to round up this morning. If he ends up being a she, I’ve promised her to Nancy who only ended up with two Sussex pullets out of six from our original order, and has recently lost one of these.

So I’m feeling stressed, but all is basically well. I’m not happy about having to maintain three separate groups of chickens, but I’m working out the logistics. Once all the enclosures have been finished, it will go more smoothly.

The First Death--Warning! Disturbing story

Ever since I started with the chickens last fall, I have been expecting that one of them would die at some point. From the first, when I had the chicks shipped in the late fall, and throughout the cold, relentless winter I worried that they would succumb to the weather, but they never seemed to be too bothered. I only found out about Marek’s disease after it was too late to vaccinate, and I have worried about that ever since but so far they have been fine. I was prepared for Clucky to have an unsuccessful hatch or to lose a couple of chicks while we both got the hang of things, but they’re all doing well. I worried from the beginning about predation, but aside from the neighbor’s dogs, and the odd whiff of skunk, I have seen neither critter nor raptor. The only casualties so far have been Clucky’s two unhatched eggs.

I’m a soft heart when it comes to animals, and I try to provide well for my pets. A few years ago when my aging cats were all ill, it was an unusual week when I wasn’t at the vet’s for something. My remaining cat gets hypoallergenic food and allergy shots. I do poison the mice in the attic, but if the cat finds one alive I release it back outside. I went over the top with the chickens, thinking of them as pets, and trying to come up with a plan that would allow them to have a nice safe coop and run with some space without impacting the habitat that my property has become too much. I’ve been spending the weeks since Clucky and Zen went broody obsessing over the logistics of keeping two broods of young chicks in the facilities that I have.

We’ve sweated the details--we insulated the coop against cold and heat, strung flagging up to deter hawks, and installed the electric fence to keep chickens in and critters out. I stopped feeding my wild birds when the chickens moved outside because I didn’t want to attract hungry critters. I bought an axe for eventual chicken euthanasia (because I’m not planning on bringing a chicken in to my small animal vet to be put to sleep). I know the fence can be a hazard, and I’m keeping Clucky’s chicks in the inner compound until they are too big to be inclined to try to get through it. I’ve seen it work correctly when it shocked a dog last February and sent it running off. I’ve seen the chickens get zapped occasionally too, and they respect it without appearing to fear it, leaving a foot-wide belt of grass untouched along it. But I was not prepared for what actually happened.

I went out Saturday evening to close up the coop and heard the fence snapping in the back corner. It does this when weeds or grass contact it, so I didn’t think much of it, but when I was done with the chickens I went back to investigate thinking a fallen branch was leaning against it or something. What I found was a dead adult opossum entangled in the fence. He had gotten inside the fence somehow (possibly by going under it since the bottom strand contacts the ground and is not electrified). He got trapped on his way out, getting his head through one of the lowest openings and then not being able to continue out or to pull back. He was dead, but there were signs of struggle, and he was caught so tightly behind his jaws that if I had been alone, I would have had to cut the fence to get him out. As it was, Steve worked him out and left him in the ravine for my resident vultures. What a terrible death. I only hope it was fast. It happened during the afternoon sometime; we were inside with the windows open and heard nothing from the possum or the chickens. I told Steve I would have felt better if he had gotten in, killed a chicken, and gotten out again. At least then it would have been clean.