Is YOUR Canine CHICKEN Friendly?

 

Callin' all Chicken Keeping peeps! Is your canine CHICKEN friendly? 

Join me over at Community Chickens to share why you YOUR dog is the RIGHT dog for your family AND YOUR feathered friends! 

Plant a Cottage Coop Garden for Your Girls!

 Dear friends,

Spring is within our grasp and it's the perfect time to begin planning a pretty garden for your girls. 

No, not your daughters, granddaughters and lady friends, your feathered friends of course!

Join me over at the Community Chickens Blog for more on creating a Cottage COOP Garden for your backyard flock and more fabulous posts about all things chickens!

Dandelion House Day's ~ Todays FRESH PIC!

 The Cottage Hens went out for a stroll in the backyard today. The two bossy girls Penny and Liza Jane scoped things out and the rest of the girls fell in line single file. I don't often let them out of the run to explore because of wondering neighborhood dogs but every now and then I spring them form the chicken coop for an airing off!

We all need that sometimes don't we?

Cooped Up

 I don't know about you but I kind of enjoy a late spring RAIN DAY!  Besides being great for the gardens, it gives me a chance to direct my energy to  " what's doin' " inside and rest my bones from a hard days work in the garden.

When I'm working in the garden things have a tendency to pile up! Today, instead of heading outside first thing to mulch the new raised beds I covered the pile and walked over to checked on the Cottage Hens. Look who I found all snug inside the coop! Lacy Lou is taking advantage of the quiet time too.... No dust baths, scratching for bugs and worms for her today! I know she's sitting on a pile of eggs. Those have stacked up too! 

I'm off to tackle the laundry, go through the mail, make out a grocery list, vacuum up the dog hair,swish the toilets and gather eggs. Glamorous, I know but someone has to do it!

 I think I see a batch of homemade brownies in my future!

Have a great day what ever the weather! 

Chicken Spa Day

Do you think I'm kidding? Chickens are just like us girls! They LOVE a good spa day after a long winter. They don't go for deluxe mud wraps, massages, or paraffin wax treatments. They know how to keep it simple. All they need for a proper spa day is warm, dry soil and a bit of sunshine!

 At first glance ( if you didn't know chickens) you might think this gal was in serious trouble if not dead! If I was a mean blog friend I would try and " fool "  ( being April fools day and all )  you with this image by making up a horrible story about how this sweet girl met her maker. But, I draw the line at jokes like that when it comes to my girls ( and yours ) !!! What you are looking at is one happy chicken deep in her first dust bath of the year! Chickens take dust baths in dry dirt to rid themselves of mites, parasites and to clean their plumage.

 Another thing we have in common with our chickens is that they like to go to the spa with a friend or two.

 Spa day is always more fun with friends! Don't you agree?

 If for some reason you don't have a place where your girls can have a regular dust bath, you can provide one for them. Simply fill a large rubber-made bin with fresh dirt and place it away from their food and water. Place your chicken/s in the bin and let them go to town fluffing, dusting and pecking away!


Happy Dusting!
Deborah Jean

Chicken- Sicles

 

Do your chickens like snow? Ours don't. I wish I knew what they were thinking when they peak out into the run to find it covered in that strange white stuff that falls from the sky! One thing I know for sure is that they WILL NOT come out of the coop after a snow storm for ANYTHING. If one of us doesn't clear a path from the house to the water feeder they'll sit inside ALL day. Today I trudged through the snow out to the Hen House ( CAMERA IN HAND ) for another lesson in Chicken Keeping 101. Here's how it went...

WARNING! Lots of photos ahead! 

Stevie the" rebel chick " was the first one out! I wasn't surprised. She was always escaping before we clipped her wings. 

Next up was Lucy. She was very curious but held this pose for a few minutes before deciding the coast was clear! After all, Stevie had survived all the way to the bottom of the ramp. Maybe it would be okay for her too? 

Not quite ready...

Oh, just go for it already! ( says I, as I'm crouching with my bum in the snow getting colder by the minute )

Finally she makes the leap! Penny and Gladys are waiting in the wings still thinkin' about it.

Liza pushes her way forward and joins Gladys in scouting things out.

Liza decides to make run for it!

She's quickly followed by Blondie while Stevie and Lacy (who just fluffed her feathers to help cheer them on) wait at the bottom of the ramp. All the while, I'm still crouching, and calling to the girls in my best chicken voice... Here, chic chic chic... come on girls..... chic chic...here pretty girls.... chic chic chic...when suddenly I feel something hit the front of the camera then skim the top of my head!

  I'll give Blondie credit. That's one way to avoid the snow!

I'm pretty sure these two are in cahoots! I'm not sure what they're planning but I know they're  definitely up to no good! Liza's ( the brunette ) the more adventurous one. I think she might be trying to talk Lucy into getting a tattoo. I overheard her say, "  nothing too flashy, just a little something around the ankle would be nice ".

Gladys is working up some courage after watching the other girls.

But, she never made the leap! She stayed inside with the other " chickens " 

Chestnut, Hazel, Lacy Lou, and Penny. Well, at least I know they aren't headed off  to the nearest tattoo parlor!

( Not that there's anything wrong with that  )

*The best thing to do for your girls ( and boys ) when it snows is to clear a path for them. If they can see some bare ground, they'll feel much more comfortable about coming out of the coop. Make sure you give them plenty of fresh water every day even in winter. We've still not invested in a heater for our water feeder so I bring it out fresh every day. I don't mind. It just gives me another reason to go out for a visit and make sure they are all doing okay. I also add more shavings to the coop for extra warmth during the colder months. Picked some up today!

So, tell me. Are your chickens " chicken " too when it comes to snow? 

I'm off to dosado with the Barn Hop folks! 

PS. no human, chicken or camera was injured in the making of this post!

Do You Want a Light in the Coop?

That's the question Boz asked me the other day. We are going into our 6th winter of keeping backyard chicken's and we've always let'm rest during the winter. I've always felt it was best for the girls to let their natural cycle take precedence over having fresh eggs through the winter. I still feel that way. We don't sell eggs, so their is really no need to have them producing all year long. So, I'll stock up now for my seasonal baking and supplement with organic eggs from the supermarket as needed. It's worth it to me to have happy healthy hens. The large window in our coop faces South,acting as a passive solar heater of sorts so it naturally gathers light and heat during the winter months making the girls more comfortable during the coldest months. It also has an over hang so as not to get the girls to heated in summer!

As far as storing our farm fresh eggs goes, I always have bowl of eggs on the counter filled with those I collect daily. The bowl holds about 8- 10 eggs and the rest go in the frig. I've read fresh eggs will keep anywhere from 4 weeks to 2 to 3 months in the frig, but did you know many countries don't refrigerate their eggs at all, saying that the eggs hold more moisture that way.

      I have been surprised a few times with a rotten egg while baking, so now I write the date on an egg with a Sharpe before placing it in the frig so I can re-use the carton. And, if it's an older carton of eggs, I'll always crack the eggs in a separate bowl apart from my dry ingredients just in case!

What say you my fellow backyard chicken keepers?
Light or no light in your coop?
Eggs in or eggs out of the frig ?
Whats the longest you've stored your backyard farm fresh eggs and how? 

Rebel Chick!

Let me out a here! 

One of our girls has a wild case of wanderlust! She's forever getting out of the run which has 8 feet high chicken wire surrounding it.... None of the other girls could care less about getting out. Just Stevie. Every night for the last month we have to go outside and get her off the top of the coop and put her inside for the night, only to find her outside in the garden rummaging around early the next morning.

Naturally we want her to be safe, so we decided this special girl should have a feather cut! 

No, not the one we all wore in the 70's; the kind that will hopefully keep her cooped up for good!  We've never done it before so we looked around on you tube and found it's really quite simple!

Here, have a look!

Clipping Chicken's Wings. Have you had to do it? I'm sharing this post on this weeks Homestead Barn Hop. Dosado on over and check out some wonderful homesteading blogs! 

Goodbye Rudy and Rodeo Part 2

Who me? Yeah you Rodeo and your buddy Rudy Roo too! Sorry fella's but today your shippin' out on the next train west. Your going to THE FARM!! What's that you say," you're already on the farm "? Yes, that's true, but you can't stay. The girls have had it up to their tail feathers ( what's left of them )  with your fresh behavior, and constant cock a doodle doin' all hours of the day and so has the head homesteader here too... Papa Boz needs his rest and Mama Boz has made him suffer long enough. Not to mention what the neighbors have been sayin'!

Dear friends,
That was the conversation I had with " the boy's"  last Thursday after I made a call to the local slaughter house FARM! It took me a while to come around but the hard truth is this. We are a backyard hen keeping operation. Our little flock ranges in size from 13- 8 with 5 or 6 being a perfect number for keeping harmony in the hen house and fresh eggs in our frig. When we found out we had two guy's in our last bunch I was excited. I had never had a rooster before and  I wanted to have that experience. Well, let's say, I've had  it in more ways than one! I've come to terms with my chicken keeping limits and I've toughened up my farmgirl heart a little too. When it came time to try and re-home the boys I realized that it's pretty difficult to re-home them because they often become more aggressive in a new environment. I didn't want to wonder if they were cared for properly or not, so we decided the only way to really know what their outcome would be was to, well.... um...plan it ourselves... Rodeo and Rudy are no longer with us in feathered form but they ARE still here, in our freezer, frozen. I'm waiting for the perfect cool September day for a nice Farm Fresh Roasted Chicken dinner... right from our own backyard coop!

It wasn't easy to say goodbye at first, but I'm certain if you asked The Cottage Hens what they think, they'd be cackling up a storm telling you they were happy to see them go and asking why it took Mother Hen so long to come to her senses!  Especially Lacy Lou and Hazel... For some strange reason I've yet to figure out, the boys wouldn't let them out of the hen house for about two weeks. Each time they would try to get out into the run for scraps or food and water one of the guy's would chase them back inside the coop. I had to feed them separately to make sure they were getting enough to eat and drink.They were also starting to get getting a little pushy with me too!  I guess I have a lot to learn about roosters. They can be quite territorial which is good when there is a burglar in the yard, but not so much when Mother Hen is just trying to do her daily chicken chores.Yep, things were about to come to blows between me and the boys...!

I'm happy for the remaining " girls " and  since the fella's hightailed it out of here the stress level in the coop is about zero!  There's been lots of dirt baths, fluffing and preening, and in general happy clucking sounds coming from the Little Red Hen House. I think every one's happy now with the exception of Rodeo and Rudy of course.

 The most important lesson learned in raising our roosters for the short time was this. Mother nature has a reason for everything, and roosters have a job to do. And, they want to do it ALL THE TIME. That being said, if we had ourselves a real homestead away from neighbors, I think I would definitely keep roosters, so we could raise chicks. I would also research the best breeds for raising chickens for meat. I would alternate them in free ranging grassy areas and when they were of age for eating Papa Boz says he would be able to take if from there, if you know what I mean... Who knows what the future holds for us in the way of an actual location for more in depth homesteading. I definitely feel closer to having a sense of how things used to be done " on the farm " and I must admit, it's a good feeling opening up the frig and seeing two roasting chickens inside that we raised!

FYI: It cost 5.00 per bird to have them " prepared " and sent home fresh. Papa Boz brought a cooler with plenty of ice for the trip home.

Before they went, we all said our goodbyes and our thanks to "the boys". They weren't that bad...were they?  Don't answer that!

 I'll post the recipe when I roast them! ( if it turns out well enough that is )

I'm linking this post to Amy's Preparedness Challenge at Homestead Revival.

Come on.... tell Mother Hen YOUR rooster stories!!!

The Cottage Hens

 ( Lacy Lou and Hazel )

It's time to check in on the Cottage Hens! The girls have been waiting patiently for their annual spring cleaning and even though it wasn't the warmest day (28 ) the sun was out so I bundled up and made it happen... I even gussied up the inside of the Hen House but you'll have read to the end to see it!

Lets see if I can make a post about cleaning the Poulet' Chalet'  informative, inspiring and beautiful!

I thought we'd take a look around the Hen House ( cobwebs and all ) so those of you who are thinking about a small flock of your own can see how ours looks and functions. I've mentioned in a previous post that our Hen House is built from salvaged materials including the large window on the front. It's not operable but it allows a steady dose of sun to stream in during the long winter months keeping them nice and snug inside.

Picture Lady Banks yellow roses growing on a trellis here.

My other half built the nesting boxes on the back for easy access to collecting eggs

 and food storage which is separated from the nesting area by a small dividing wall.

 The access door to the run and the door to the coop is just beyond the nesting boxes.

The door is also a " foundling" that my hubby revived with a lot of  sanding and some new wire for the openings between the framed areas.

( before cleaning )

The door to the coop is on the inside of the run. This makes it easy to feed, clean and visit with the girls because they are safe inside. Oh, I would love to let them roam free we but we have too many loose dogs and wild turkeys in the neighborhood that could be a danger. I didn't take a photo of the floor of the coop after I cleaned it out, but it has sheet of linoleum stapled to it. This has worked well both for just a quick sweep out or a hose down which I do once a year usually during summer when I can leave the door open all day and into the early evening to dry out. 

We placed vents on either side of the top and back of the coop. The decorative  iron door strap is from Antique Restoration Hardware. The paint is Behr Barn Red opaque stain. Our coop is just right for 8-10 birds ( we currently have 3 ) with the attached run measuring out at 10 x 15 feet. We've got our spring chicks on order... With ten new babies coming soon we are planning an extension for the run and possibly a smaller " cottage " near by. 

I love the smell of fresh shavings! To me it's sort of the same kind of wonderful as fresh cut grass or a horse barn. I sweep the old shavings into the run and rake them over the damp ground so they can compost for a while.  I'll go back in later in the season to shovel off the top layer of the run adding it to my garden for a boost! 

While I cleaned the girls told me they wanted to do a little decorating too! They thought it would be nice to hang a family photo or two and some pictures of the garden. I went rummaging in my stash to see what I could come up with...

Low and behold, I had saved an old calendar just for a day like this! I tore out the pages the girls liked and tacked them up on the inside with upholstery tacks. We were having so much fun that I decided to use up some wall paper samples for back grounds behind some other favored pictures too.

Family Portraits

Garden Photos 

Outside looking in

Chestnut says she likes it! 

What ever you're spring cleaning I hope you're inspired to add your special touches along the way! 

You'll just feel better, I promise! 

Cluck... Cluck.. Cluck...

I'm sharing this post with Our Little Coop's~ Coop Hop

and the Chicken Chick's Clever Chic Hop!