Name That Chick

From Chicken and Eggs

The kids finally settled on some names for the three new chicks. The photo above shows them dirtbathing with mother hen "Beach Bunny." The golden chick with the black stripe is a Buff Araucana mix called "Cheeto" (born second). The Araucana Black Star mix next to Cheeto is known as "Sleepy" although it's sometimes called "Little Red". The largest one (shown sitting) is a pure-bred Araucana called "Checkers." Checkers is the first-born and the most aggressive when it comes to feeding. Here's Maya mugging with Cheeto and Sleepy.

New Week, New Chick

Just hatched about an hour ago was chick number two! Family members received a phone call from an excited Maya to let them know that we have a new Buff Orpington. It also appears that a third egg is slightly cracked which may mean another hatchling on the way. Stay tuned...

Broody Time

Since we have lost (sometimes quite literally) a few hens over the past year, we decided to let some hens go broody in hopes of baby chicks this summer. We left some eggs in the coop for a few days and several hens took turns sitting during the day, until Beach Bunny, a buff orpington, was the first to commit to an overnight stay (they normally all go up on their wooden branches in the coop to roost). Beach Bunny is currently sitting on about six eggs of various breeds, and we have marked them in case other hens decide to squeeze in and lay new ones. If the 21-day cycle is accurate, and the eggs were fertilized by one of our roosters, then we should have some new additions to the family around Friday, July 18th. While Beach Bunny squawks in defense of her nest, and has puffed herself up practically filling an entire 5 gallon nesting box, we still need to move her away from the rest of the flock so that the other hens won't go broody (which means egg production slows or even stops!) and so that the newly hatched chicks won't be subject to harm from other chickens. She seems to get off the nest periodically for food and water, but we've been bringing her water and fresh greens which she seems to appreciate.

Attack of the Hawk

A few weekends ago, we witnessed a hawk take down a dove on our back patio at the rental cottage. A lot of feathers and squawking, but also a reminder of the predator/prey circle of life. Just two days ago, we experienced our first hawk air raid on the chickens. It was the early afternoon when we heard a commotion outside and we caught a glimpse of the chickens scurrying into the safety of their coop. Maya exclaimed "Hawk in the chicken coop!" and the sound of nearby panicking crows confirmed the danger. I ran outside still in my socks, clapping my hands to make as much noise as possible. By the time I got to the chicken run the chickens were all in their coop and clucking in alarm mode---no sign of the hawk, but two kinds of feathers scattered around. I counted the chickens (no easy feat when they are weaving around each other), then counted them two or three more times. 27 sounded like the right number but I asked Maya if she noticed any missing hens (she can identify them better than any of us). The feathers belonged to a random buff orpington survivor and to our lead Araucana rooster, Fluffy. Maya was shaken by the near-death experience but I reassured her that Fluffy was a hero, having protected his hens from the predator at the cost of a few feathers (which were then taped to a sheet of paper in honor of his courage). For several hours, the chickens stayed in their coop unless a human was nearby, and then we decided to add a barrier to the exposed top of the chicken run by stringing some twine back and forth like a loose web roof.



This won't stop a hawk, but it will hopefully serve as a deterrent to buy the chickens a few seconds to escape to safety should there be another attack. Despite our efforts to protect the chickens, we must accept natural attrition and predation if we intend to go fully free-range with these egg-layers in the future. One solution, I'm told, is to get goats mixed into the flock.

Eggs For Sale

Our Black Stars, Araucanas, and Buff Orpingtons are now producing about 20-something (non-certified) organic eggs per day. Even when they accidentally break an egg or two, we've got plenty to go around and they're selling well to our friends, who appreciate eggs from chickens raised on non-soy organic feed. The Black Stars lay the light brown eggs, the Buff Orpingtons lay the dark brown, and the Araucanas lay those wonderful Easter Egg hues that Martha Stewart loves so much. Each morning and afternoon, the kids love to see what the hens have left for us. As long as the eggs are collected in this fashion, there isn't any concern for spoilage. One time, Maya and I witnessed a hen running around with an egg sticking out of her behind! Now, that's farm fresh! More about how we collect and package the eggs later...