Updated Chickens

It was an interesting Christmas. We got approximately 8 inches of the soft fluffy stuff. The lower picture is of the tree branch that fell across my chicken fence and clothes line. The top is between the patio and the coop.

I have a whole new crop of chickens. A cat got into the coop and decimated most of the original birds. I now have 4 roosters, one I raised from an egg and believes I'm his mother. 2 others I bought as 'hens' from the county fair. Another was given to me when all I wanted was the hen. The lady wouldn't let me have her unless I took him too. Seemed she thought they were kissing kin or something. As soon as he saw all the other hens he lost interest in her right away.

I have a total of 13 chickens. I'm getting between 3 and 6 eggs a day. 

I have a light on them from midnight to 7 every day. I understand extending the daylight hours is all it takes to kick up production during the winter.

Chickens, Everywhere Chickens

I took Red's picture in the chicken coop because otherwise he wouldn't let me get close enough to get a good shot of him.
He's healthier now and back to his old rooster ways, chasing hens and having a gay old time. The speckled rock hens are so different from what I expected, they remind me of the dinasaurs that chased Sam Neil et al across that open field in Jurassic Park. They are the long leggiest chickens with these big loopy tails almost like Red's. (I'll have to post some pictures of them soon.) His was green though and theirs are speckled of course. His tail still hasn't recovered.
They are more pets than barn animals. They let me pet them and reach under and grab eggs without raising a feather.
I'm getting a lot of eggs from them now that the "specks" are producing. Keeping them and the wild birds fed is not cheap. Red keeps them home for the most part, although he does have his 'favorite'. I have no idea what makes one hen more attractive over another. They all look like little fat hens of all kinds of breeds. Fancy is not a factor. I have the Americanas and he treats them just like the others he's not so hot on.

Update June 9, 2010

A lot has happened since I last posted to this blog. A cat killed 7 of my chickens by just wringing their necks. It almost killed Red but I got to him and saved his butt by taking him into the kitchen, washing as much blood off as possible and putting him on a heating pad and covering him with towels.
I really thought I might lose him. He didn't move for 2 days. I felt him to see if he was responsive and breathing. He finally woke up and then it took a couple more days before he left the confines of the plastic trunk I'd borrowed to put him in. It was pretty funny having a big ol' Red rooster walking around the house. I had to finally take him outside (although I really didn't want to) but the house started to smell like a barn.
2 1/2 months later after being successuflly returned to the pen, he crowed for the first time. What a beautiful sound.
A friend bought 6 speckled rock chicks 9 days old to replace the 7 that were killed. I think they are starting to lay now. I got a little pullet egg out of the nest today. Production is coming back.
Been busy with the election here in Hot Springs and haven't spent as much time doing this as I wanted to so maybe now that it's over (until November !)...
More later

My Araucauna pullets

I bought 3 new Auraucana (sp) pullets to bring my production back up and reduce the average age of my hens. I wasn't getting the numbers that I had been getting. I talked to a guy at the county fair that just ended and he said hens best production is only about 18 months. My hens are well over the hill by that standard. My leghorn lays very infrequently and she's the only one that I'm sure of as far as age is concerned. She was my first so she's well over 3 years. Anyway, I tried buying some Rhode Island red hens but the kids showing them didn't seem interested in selling this year.
I don't know if the economy is causing the lack of participation or kids aren't as excited about raising animals as previous generations. I know the rainy weather we've been having the last 3 weeks put a damper on the people showing up at the fair.
Oh well, I have new "Easter egg" layers. Got my first blue eggs the day after I brought them home.

Wet and rainy

It's been a really wet summer here. I was looking at my chickens the other day and they were huddled in the coop trying to stay dry. I got to admit, they are NOT stupid. Whoever thought they were just doesn't know his chickens.
We are over 16 inches above average for the year and more to come. I guess global warming is doing its dirty work everywhere. No rain (about 6 inches only) so far in Washington state where adding a sundeck to your house is considered a poor investment because it rains so much you'd never get to use it.
Back to the chickens. I was giving them some water with the garden hose and decided to see what would happen if I sprinkled them. They headed straight for the coop. Chickens obviously have enough sense to get out of the rain. Unlike some of the people I know.
I had to cut the wing feathers of one of the hens. She decided my garden was a better place to scratch than the space allotted for that. She's the first to "fly" the coop so when I saw her out scratching I thought I might have left the gate open. If I had, I would have had ALL the chickens in my garden. Red usually keeps them close to home so her taking off was not to be expected.

End of June

Here 'tis the end of June already. My chickens are getting back into the laying mode. They took time off to brood. Unfortunately, the eggs I gave them to hatch were infertile. Too many hens for Red to do justice to all. Maybe next year...

The weather is hot and I have set up 3 water tanks for them to drink from. I understand that a chicken may just die of thirst if it is too far from a water source. Since I had increased the size of the pen I decided that water at both ends was a good idea. Chickens look like dogs when they are hot. They stand around with their mouths open and their wings spread away from their bodies. Feathers must be hot

They also enjoy dust baths as the temperature soars. I would too if that's all I had. I turned the garden hose on them trying to give them a break and they ran to the coop thinking it was starting to rain. So quit that as a bad idea.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Seems this year we went from winter to summer in 60 seconds. I don't think we had a Spring. My chickens are dusting themselves off by rolling in the dirt and hanging their mouths open. I guess they don't sweat like we do. They have drank an inordinate amount of water daily. I can hardly keep the water pail filled.

My eggs didn't hatch so I guess Red wasn't as fertile as I thought. I have too many hens for him to "do" everybody I guess.

He got sick so I took him to the vet. What a shock when I got the bill! I guess vets think chickens are like the family dog. I told them that was the most expensive chicken and dumplings I ever had. Just to forewarn you- vets are not free.