Monday 13 August 2018

Not out of Control... Yet

Thank you so much for the comments on the new four hens (?). I have joined a site called Backyard Chickens. It is chock full of great info, ideas, and forums where chicken owners can ask questions, share advice... So, I posted a couple of pictures of the new girls and asked what breeds people thought they were. A lot of the same names came up as some of you suggested (good job, bloggers!!). But alas, a guy let me know that my big one (black / brown mottled feathers) is undoubtedly a rooster. I really hope not. I've had roosters in the past.

The first rooster we had came as a package deal with a little banty hen. He was beautiful, but had "little man syndrome". His name was Rusty, a la The Friendly Giant, for all of my Canadian bloggers.  He was a nasty piece of work. Hated me, hated my son's little red rubber boots, just a horrid little animal. He was rehomed down the road at a farm that had a whole bunch of chickens.

Then the next rooster we had also came as a package deal with a beautiful hen. She was black and white, as was he. He was a gentle giant. He never crowed for the longest time. Then one day we heard him crow and it was astounding. It was like an old fashioned crow, deep and throaty, like a country western singer might put forth, the kind you'd hear in the back ground of an old black and white movie set in the west where homesteaders were carving out a life... you get the idea. His name was Pepper and his "wife" was Salt. Unfortunately, Pepper slowly lost his sight and at the end, just stayed in the coop. He was still eating and drinking but I felt sad for him. Then one fateful, horrible night, a skunk got in the coop (we hadn't closed up it when we normally did because we were out for the evening) and killed Pepper. I didn't even know skunks would do that. It was traumatizing.

Our third rooster was actually three roosters. We bought a "package" of four pretty little buff brahma chickens (at the same big farmer's market where we got all the other rooster deals) and this fiasco ended up being three roosters and one hen. (The three tenors, the three amigos, whatever you wanted to call them) They were fun. You could crow at them and make them crow back at you. They were small, but not feisty. But seriously, nobody needs three roosters. (For the uninformed, you don't need a rooster at all. Chickens naturally lay eggs regardless. Having a rooster just means the eggs can be fertilized and possibly hatched out as chicks).

Anyway.... to get back to the story at hand, the four little birds still weren't interested in going out into their run and after all the work of clearing branches, pulling giant weeds, making the chicken bench, and raking tons of wood chips, I was determined to have them go out and see what they were missing. I managed to catch the biggest of the four and placed it just outside the coop on the little ramp that goes down from the chicken door. It took a few steps down and so that started the process. It called out several distress calls ("Hey!! I'm out here alone! Hey you guys!!) and then one by one the others came out. Within a few hours, they had dug a small chicken sized hole to act as a dust bath and had a roaring good time. I introduced them to the joys of watermelon rinds and they drank water from the outdoor water pan.




Happy happy, cheep, cheep, cheep (they don't cluck yet, they're too young).

But... here's the thing. I really wanted laying hens. With these little ones I will have to wait probably another three months before any eggs are laid. I've already had a five year hiatus from hens. Husband already spent a lot of time making this coop into something great again (This Old Coop, The Coop Mahal...) and I felt things weren't exactly what I envisioned.

Before the weekend, I had been in email contact with a fellow in a town about 45 minutes from here who was selling all six of his young laying hens. He was relocating and didn't want to take them with him. I had offered to buy them, but he was going away for the weekend and I didn't have an appropriate vehicle in which to load up chicken cages, so I had to pass on the purchase. Another person was coming for them before I could make the arrangements.

Today I fired off an email to this fellow and asked out of curiosity if he had ended up selling his hens and he had not. Well, I had the vehicle, so off we went after getting directions. Nowadays, people are allowed to keep backyard hens in towns and this is what he had done. He had a lovely set up for them with a spacious coop and an covered run. He was taking very good care of them. They are red sex link, a kind I am very familiar with, and they are only six months old. They came home with us, and six of their eggs from that morning!

Welcome the six new girls:


Aren't they lovely? Healthy, happy, clucky, fluffy bummed hens. They set to work in the chicken run scratching around, eating some watermelon, and establishing a pecking order. Naturally, they are bigger then the younger hens and will be a bit bossy, but nobody got seriously hurt. Just feelings.

I absolutely cannot wait until I go out tomorrow morning and hopefully find some eggs. I took three of their own eggs and put them in the nesting boxes to get them to make the connection. I'm about to go outside and see if everyone has gone into the coop for the evening. Then I will shut the little door. I hope the little ones are "allowed" to come in by the big ones, otherwise I'll be out there trying to catch them and put them in. (Not a big fan of that. Chickens are notoriously hard to catch).

I am now the proud owner of ten birds. Not out of control, yet.

31 comments:

  1. You are very brave to take on such a big flock, Jenn. Hope you get your fresh breakfast egg tomorrow. It will taste wonderful, I'm sure.

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    1. Oh we've had this many before, but it's just been a while. I'm ready for the challenge! I am looking forward to making eggs tomorrow, as well. -Jenn

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  2. What fun! And a lot of work, but what fun!

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    1. It's far less work in the summer. Much more of a pain in the winter when they are all confined.

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  3. They're beautiful! Hope your eggs come soon.

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  4. Must be wonderful collecting your own eggs.

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  5. What a lovely end to your hen search. Hope you found some eggs

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    1. Thank you , yes there were five eggs from six hens so far.

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  6. You have some very pretty chickens, there is nothing like fresh eggs.

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  7. Great story. May you never need to catch chickens!

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    1. Didn't have to catch any last night, thankfully they all went in, although the little ones were perched right in the doorway. Had to shove them in a bit to close the door.

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  8. Now you have a REAL flock of chickens . . . plus eggs right away! I think you made a good decision to get these "extra" girls.

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  9. Oh, be careful. It's rather scary how four will turn into ten, will turn into 20....I've had hens lay eggs at 5 months, one at 4! I have had the same uneven experience with roosters and am about to rehome Bunny because I have two young roos coming in September. They are so habit-forming...

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    1. Crazy cat ladies. Crazy chicken ladies. I know I have to limit it to these. I think about housing them in the winter and this is the right amount of space. I wouldn't want more hens in less space.

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  10. I'm jealous, Jenn!!!! The first pair of chicks I was gifted turned out to be Banty's also - one hen and one rooster. He was a mean little guy, used to attack feet!! After the first two passed away I got three chicks, that turned out to be all hens. Had them until the last one was left half dead in the garden after an attack by a hawk....that was when I decided no more chickens. But I miss them!! :) I'll have to live vicariously through you.

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  11. I'm excited for you. Sounds like you have an excellent group of hens.

    We raised a couple of dozen chickens from chicks to adults. Each one had it's own personality and it was fun to watch them. I let them wander through the garden after most of the plants were established to control the bugs. We were a good team.

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    1. Awwww, nice that they were totally free range.

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    2. Not totally. Had to get them back in their coup and enclosure at night. Still had to worry about coyotes and mountain lions. Locked them up safe and sound at night.

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  12. Replies
    1. Well, I am the WORST at coming up with creative names (had a cat named Kitty, seriously), but so far the little black one is Ravenclaw (Raven for short), the buff Orpington is... ready for it... Buffy, and the laying hen with the most white and with the white lacey looking collar of feathers is (you knew this was coming) Lacey. Pathetic. The others are nameless so far.

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    2. Ha ha! I take days and days to name my pets. You have to watch them for a while then they will tell you what name they want. Norbert could ever only be Norbert. My cat Harriet was the same. I had a cat named Angus that hated everyone on the planet except me. But, I name houseplants and trees so I think I may have a bit of a screw loose when it comes to naming things.

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  13. Wonderful!! Wish I could have some fresh laid eggs. Yum! They look like nice, beautiful, healthy birds. Enjoy!

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  14. Funny how you have a plan and somehow things come together, but not according to the plan. Enjoy your pretty hens/and one rooster. There is actually a road on the way to our property that is called 'one saved rooster.'. I'd love to know the story behind that.

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  15. I can't tell you how much I love following your adventures in chickens. I'm so glad you got some laying hens (or hens that are currently laying). Oh, those eggs will be divine! So, do you name them? Or is that bad form. I'm not sure of chicken etiquette!

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    1. About naming, see my reply to Birdie, above. You can name them, but some are a little too similar and it is too hard to tell them apart. The eggs are brown and currently, the six "older" hens are laying one a day.

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  16. Oh, so sweet! I am loving these posts. These chickens are adorable. I am very excited for you! LOL

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