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Troubles in the hen house. Last week a falcon got into the gals run and today a coyote was spotted right at their coop. We had to scare both away. I have never seen a coyote in the city of Milwaukee, ever! They must have really good noses. And the falcon was caught in the run because we have netting over the top.

Why Red Stars are a perfect choice for a backyard flock

Red Stars, aka sex links, are one of the best choices for your small backyard flock. Most of the info out there just talks about the fact that they can be sexed shortly after hatching, but there is much more to the story. Here is list of pros concerning this breed.

They produce an egg almost every day. For the months of May and June she only missed 2 days (just 1 day each month!).

The eggs are a rich darker brown and extra large

She still lays when she is molting and she only looses some of her feathers (maybe she is an exception, not sure).

They have a very good feed to lay ratio, she eats much less feed than the Americana hen. She on the small size too, so she eats less.

Sweet personality and quiet.

Very tame, I can pick her right up and pet her anytime.

Cold hardy.

Lays during winter.

She hasn't slowed down yet and she 3-1/2 years old.

Red Stars don't typically go broody, mine never has.

Nice looking chicken, rust colored feathers with patches of white.

You can't go wrong adding a Red Star to your flock.

Breaking brood part 2

I have a chicken, my best layer mind you, that has gone broody. I feel bad for the hen cause those eggs will never never hatch for 2 reasons: I collect the eggs everyday and we don't have a rooster! When the rest of the hens have finished laying, I gather the eggs and remove the broody hen and lock the coop. I was hoping she would snap out of it but she didn't. I came to the conclusion that there really isn't a way to change a little bird brain broody mind. I do feel better that I make her come out every day so she can eat, drink and run around a little. I can keep her out in the run for about 3 hours before I can she she is struggling to get back to her nest, when I open the door she goes right back in. I gave her more straw so she's comfy in there. She won, let the broodiness commence.

Breaking Brood

My first attempt to stop Tallulah from sitting on eggs in hopes they hatch. A hen will gather eggs for 6 days and keep them for 21 days under her soft fluffy chest and hatch them. She is a cross between a RIR and leghorn. I want to stop because I collect the eggs every afternoon and we don't have a rooster so the eggs will never hatch! And they don't lay eggs during this process.

I placed deli containers filled with ice in the spots where she is sitting and put tasty treats in the run: blueberries, sunflower kernels and shovels full of dirt from the yard that contained bugs and worms. I had to pick her up and place her on the ground. She stayed out long enough to eat some food and drink some water then she went right back in. I placed her out a couple more times last night. First attempt I would call a fail, but worth doing to see her drink and eat.

My first broody hen

Tallulah, puffed up and looking like a turkey.

Here's the story; one of our hens was not laying and someone suggest I play rooster crowing noises for her to "get her going". So Friday a.m. I found some great roosters on u-tube and played it for her. She seemed to look interested for a min or two then went about her business. That night, Tallulauh, one of my best layers went broody. Coincidence, or do you think the rooster triggered her to want to hatch some eggs? She s been broadly now for a few days and I take the eggs away from her in a timely manner in hopes she will snap out of it soon.

 

How many eggs do 4 chickens lay in 1 month?

I kept track of my 4 backyard chickens for the month of May. The total was 105! I would not have guessed that many because they get used so fast. The Red Star layed the most, she only took 1 day off the whole month.

My pet chicken

This is the very first time I picked up and held one of my hens. She is a black star. When I walk into the coop she doesn't move out of the way, I have to walk over or around her, so she was an excellent choice to be held. She did not mind a bit.

Clothes for chicken?

What do you get when you cross a lazy afternoon with your mom and bags of leftover quilting material? Chicken ponchos is the answer!

 

Oakley was such a good sport, her poncho is based off a Native American ribbon shirt.

Little red ridding hood poncho.

Notice Dakota posing just like the chickens on her ponchos. I thought we could just slip them over their heads, but we had to hold them to slip them on. I don't think they cared they had clothes on, however, they were only on about 15 min., just long enough for some pictures. Thank you to my backyard chickens for a priceless crafternoon with my mom.

Black Star lays her first egg at 11 months

Congratulations are in order for Dakota my black star or sometimes called black sex link (because one can tell the sex of the chick at birth). She has been in the coop making nests for about a week, and today on this beautiful Easter morning she layed her very first egg. You can see her in the background.

 

Here are the two eggs that were layed today. The one on the left is Dakotas egg and on the right is Tallulahs egg. She is a cross between a rhode island red and a leghorn. Big difference in color and size.

 

Here is a photo of all my girls eggs, the very dark one is from Avery (red star) and the blue is from Oakley (americana).

Happy Easter from all of us.

How to stop your chicken from pecking another chicken

Here is Oakley, I got her as a pullet from a indoor coop and run, so most, if not all of the chickens started to peck each other, some badly on their backs right before their tail feathers. Some even drawing blood. So here's poor little Oakley, she's a couple of months younger and smaller than the rest of her new flock so they started to peck right in that spot.

I went to Farm & Fleet and they don't carry any products for pecking, so my next stop was a little further drive to a feed store. They carry one product called Rooster Booster pick-no-more cover-up lotion. It was super easy to apply directly on the affected area. It's a thick medicinal smelling liquid. The pecking stopped the next day, you could tell it taste nasty to chickens. I did have to reapply 4 weeks later and all is well in the coop. The cost is $19.50 it would be perfect to share, I can't imagine ever using the whole bottle. Roosterboosterproducts.com

 

City chickens getting their greens

Here I am in the coop hand feeding them leaf lettuce.

Shoving the lettuce into the fence is much easier.

That's a latta chickens!

We had a delightful couple stay with us at Manderley Bed & Breakfast. They are from Southern Lake County Indiana and told me an amazing chicken story. At their highest point in chicken egg production they had 1,800 chickens! Phyllis and Garry had their Leghorns in long rows and collected the eggs in giant metal egg baskets. It took about 2 1/2 hours per day to get them ready for the market. In their basement of their 1860's farmhouse they had a washing, candeling and sorting station. They packed the eggs and drove them to the store, what a treat to get such fresh eggs from Rosenthal Valley Farms!

Let's talk Dakota

Here she is, she was born/hatched last spring 2012. She hasn't layed any eggs yet. I got her from a farmer in Kenosha along with Tallulah (in the background to the right). Tallulah (who is the same age) started laying last October and has been non-stop, even through the winter. After searching on line I came to the conclusion, she was getting ready to lay but then the colder weather set in and shorter days so she has been postponed. She is a black star chicken, not much info on line on black stars really. She squats and let you pet her on the back, a sign of laying eggs, but she has been doing that for months. She eats well, friendly, gets along with the flock and very healthy. So stay tuned, it's getting warmer and the days longer, so she should lay her first egg soon (I hope). I read that it is extremely unusual for a chicken not to lay eggs.

Warming bowl of oatmeal

Here

Here is Dakota, Tallulah and Avery enjoying bowls of oatmeal with fresh blueberries. It has been bitter cold here in Milwaukee, yesterday a.m. it was -5 degrees. I noticed a couple of the girls puffed themselves up and plopped on the ground. Then as the day warmed up a pinch they really didn't seem to mind. I've got a nice layer of straw in the coop and in their run, I'm sure that helps. When it's so cold like this I give them extra scratch and the eggs keep coming!

Country girl getting used to the city

On top of being the new girl in the coop, the new Americana chicken has all of the noises of the city to contend with. It's interesting to see with the clatter of car horns, banging of dumpsters, car alarms an other miscellaneous noises, my other chickens don't even flinch any more. But the new girl hears all of it. Just like people, we get used to our surroundings and don't notice all of the sounds.

New chicken in the city

Introducing my new Americana chicken. I saw her on Craig's list from a farm about 45 minute drive into the country. They had 21 americanas and were getting 18 eggs per day, even in winter! That sounded like a good chicken to me. I grabbed a little box with holes for the transport. In the past we have transported chickens in a dog kennel and felt terrible as they slid around with every turn. So she was all snug and comfy in the box. I got the "pick of the litter". And I choose this little pretty girl. She has coolest pheasant-like feathers and a nice black tail feathers that extend on a 45 degree angle. It was fun to watch the lady chasing the pack of chickens Rocky style to catch my girl. She put her in the box, I put a rubber band over the box and strapped her in my back seat of my little red Audi convertible.

On the way home, before I hop on the freeway, I spot a sign for straw for sale. I turn in down the long country farm drive way and spot a giant dog and a lady. I wave to the lady and see the dog now has a frisbee in her mouth and was wagging her tail. I figure it was safe to exit my car. After talking to the lady for a few minutes about purchasing a bale of hay (just 3 bucks!) I realize I would be the but of many jokes to come for her. As we carry the giant bale down the icy hill from her barn, holding on to each other for dear life, we get it to the car. It does not fit in the trunk of my little car, so I have to shove it into the passenger seat. I couldn't see out of my rear view mirror at all! Lane changes on the free way were a bit tricky! Luckily I didn't get pulled over by a police. Needless to say, I got straw in every nook and cranny. (and the outside of the car! oh my you could tell I went on some kind do adventure).

You can see I had to clip her right wing because she flew right out of the coop and settled in the bushes right next to a very very very frightened bunny.

Americanas lay shades of blue-green eggs.

So here is a egg just layed by my new chicken. I got her Friday afternoon and there was this beautiful greenish blue egg next to her in the coop on Sunday morning. I figure she had already started to produce an egg while she was back with her peeps, I don't expect to see another egg for a bit. My other girls are picking on her, they have to get their pecking order figured out. Right now she is on top of the coop for some peace.

Too icy for chickens

It was so cold at 7:00 am this morning. It was mild the day before so in the am we had ice over all surfaces including the girls ramp! What a surprise they got as they slid down it, they just couldn't get any traction. Andy thought it was good chicken fun, I'm not so sure myself.