Category Archives: Chicken Yard

Getting ready for chickens again

We are so excited to be back in Florida on our two acres and getting ready for my daughter, Bonnie to bring me 26 chickens from her flock.

We spent hours and  hours yesterday tearing down our rotting chicken houses after being away for 27 months caring for my mom in NC.  We hauled five loads to the dump which was over 1000 pounds.

We now need to rebuild chicken fencing and houses.  But, we are excited to get our chickens and feel a need to get it all done.

We use landscape timbers as fence posts.  Yes, they will rot away eventually but on sale they are about 2 bucks and I like the way they fade into the background instead of sticking out like the green metal posts.  As our timbers start to rot at the base, we actually have put the metal posts in between the landscape timbers to hold them up until the timbers go on sale.

We saved all our fencing when we took it down so that will save us money.  When putting the posts up, we use a string or rope to make sure the fence goes up straight.  We put one post up in a corner and then figure out how far out we want the fence to go and put a post in there.  Then we attach a string from one post to the other.  I can eye it pretty good but the string makes it perfect.  We usually put the posts in 8-10 ft apart.

We decided to salvage one of our homemade chicken houses for the bigger chickens but needed another 4×8 sheet of plywood to replace the rotted roof.   Then for the other chicken houses, we have two chain link cages that are 4×8 and one is 4 ft tall and one is 6 ft tall.  Just needed to add a 4×8 sheet of plywood on the top of each.   The cages have a door that can be closed and we can even lock them up at night.   Additionally, we are putting fencing on the ground and sitting the house on top of it so animals cannot dig in while the chickens sleep.

Back to work!

 

 

Figuring out which hen is eating the eggs

I was collecting the eggs and I saw evidence of a broken egg…some yoke but, no egg shell.   I was feeding the chickens and one chicken started clucking and I knew I had another egg but before I could get to the nest, a chicken  ran out with part of a shell and all the other chickens were following behind her trying to steal the egg shell.

I immediately grabbed by net and took that hen out of the yard but suspected another hen, too since she kept looking into the empty nests like she was looking for eggs to eat.  I took her out of the yard, too.

I suspected one other hen so I took a hard boiled egg out of the refrigerator and laid it in plain sight (on the ground near the nests) so I could keep an eye on the egg, too.  One chicken immediately started pecking at the egg so I scooped her up and took her out of the yard.  My culprit was found.

I then took the hen who was carrying the egg shell and put her back in to test her ability to ignore the egg.  She came near it and then looked into the nest (uh, oh) but settled in to lay an egg.  She gets to keep her freedom.

Then I tried the other hen I had taken out.  Unfortunately, Sadie saw the egg from across the chicken yard and ran to peck on it.  Freedom is lost to her, darn it.  I really like her.

I guess I should put them in a pot and cook them but I haven’t done it yet so why start now.  I will just keep them caged for awhile and see if they change their ways.  If not, I will build a special yard for them.

I may have made a mistake by feeding the chickens their egg shells but I crumbled them up really good and let them dry out so I wouldn’t think they could tell they were egg shells.  I guess I will go fill up their feeder and add some oyster shells just to make sure they aren’t missing something in their diet.

Leg Mites and Vegetable Oil

I had a terrible time last year with my chickens getting those mites that get on their legs and feet and burrow in and they actually lose toes.  So I noticed I had two Silkie chickens that seemed to be walking funny.  Like they had a sore foot.  That’s how it started last year.  Darn it.

Well, I got the Seven dust in a round container that I bought at the Feed Store…though they do sell it at Walmart cheaper.  I was already there getting feed so driving extra miles didn’t make sense to save a dollar.

I raked the chicken houses real good and put the dust down and put fresh hay on the floor.  Then I took the Seven dust (not granules because the chickens can eat those) and sprinkled in the laying nests, too.

I had read that you put vaseline on the chickens feet and legs and it will smother the mites and I tried that last year.  Vaseline (petroleum jelly) is such a pain in the butt to get off your hands and then you pick the next chicken up and you the jelly on the chicken feathers.  It is definitely a two person job that way.

Well, I also read that you can use vegetable oil and dip the chickens feet in it.  I had some leftover oil from making homemade french fries and I poured it into a big margarine tub.   I caught one chicken and dunked it’s feet and legs into the oil and held it there for about two minutes and swished it around some, too.  I wanted to make sure it was getting up in between the toes.  I did this to three chickens since they were the ones that looked like they were walking with sore feet.

It has been a couple days now and I am astonished how much better the chickens are walking.  I am assuming the oil smothered the mites.  Then putting down the Seven dust didn’t hurt either.

Hope this helps if you have that problem.  If you notice a barnacle look on your chicken’s feet or they are walking funny, try the dipping in oil.  My husband teased me that the chickens will think you want to fry them in oil next.  I don’t eat my chickens EVER.   We killed some roosters on our farm in Missouri (different husband) and that was a horrible experience and I will never do that again.  Odor was awful, too.

UPDATE:  Chickens appear to be walking funny again.  It has been about a week so maybe you have to dip the chicken feet/legs more than once.  Will try again tomorrow.

Protecting chickens with kite string

I bought some netting to cover my Silkie yard since I have previously lost the little chickens from chicken hawks.  Then my neighbor told me about stringing kite string from pole to pole to form a web over the yard.  It does not have to be a tight web either.  I have gaps that are four or five feet wide.  But it works.  But be smarter than I am and use tall enough poles that you can walk under the webbing.

Daily Routines Raising Chickens

I never really get tired of taking care of my chickens.  Do you?  There is always something to do in their yard.  I am relentless when it comes to changing fence lines and moving things around.  My husband is so patient with me.

Now that my flock is down to 44 chickens, life is easier for me.  I moved my 19 small chickens…Silkies and Silkie/Americaunas in one yard with netting over the top of most of it to keep the Chicken Hawks out.  Their yard was without grass so I moved them to another spot that is twice the size with plenty of grass and I can see them from my kitchen window.

My grand daughter came to visit this past summer and I let one of the hens hatch out a couple Silkies eggs so there would be baby chicks here when she came for her visit.  I kept the mom and babies in a separate yard for the first 6 weeks or so and I have very small gauge fencing added around the bottom two feet so the little ones can’t get out.  But I wanted to let mom back in with the other chickens in the new grassy yard and let her two babies go with her.  I had three and one went missing so now the two are in a  protective 4×8 cage where they will remain until they are big enough that they can’t fit thru the fence holes.  The mom can’t keep the babies safe when they are wandering on the other side of the fence and the new yard is too big to put two foot fencing around the bottom.  It would probably cost me a hundred dollars to do that.

I took down a lot of fencing in the back where my Barred Rock and Americauna chickens are now.   I am letting them run together on the fenced in one acre but they still have two separate houses that they can perch.  Oh yeah, I also have four purebred Silkie roosters and one Barred Rock rooster that are in the flock of 25.  Of the four Silkie roosters, one is pretty old and the other three don’t seem that active so I hope they don’t bother the hens too much.  I added the Barred Rock rooster recently and he is still young so he doesn’t show much interest in the girls.  Since I am not hatching eggs, I let them stay together.

I throw scraps to the chickens usually after dinner time and collect eggs (except for the summer, I collect eggs twice a day since it is so hot).  I try to get out in the mornings fairly early so I can give them scratch, oyster shells, egg pellets and  starter for the babies.  I don’t feed them a whole lot of pellets since I really don’t care how many eggs I get anymore.  A lot of the chickens are getting older.  I just enjoy the chickens but I must admit, fresh eggs are so much better.  I still probably get somewhere between 6 to 12 a week so that is plenty for the two of us.

I empty the water buckets for the chickens about every two or three days and scrub them and refill them.   Then I rake out the bottom of the chicken house every two weeks or so and add the manure to the compost bin or dilute some to use as fertilizer for my yard or plants.   Then the nests need cleaning out some since a chicken or two will perch on the edge occasionally.   I replace the hay every two or three months with fresh hay and put seven dust in the bottom before adding the new hay to keep the mites down.   I occasionally sprinkle some between nest changes, too.

I also found if I store the scratch in a plastic trash can out in the yard, it saves me time.  I keep the starter and pellets in my shed since moisture wouldn’t be good for them.  I feel like the Piped Piper of Hamlin when I go into the chicken yards because they sure do follow me around…..until I throw them scratch.  ha ha

It is good to just spend some time out there in the yard watching the chickens making sure they are healthy.   I look to see if any of them are walking funny or acting slow or tired.  Certainly if any chicken doesn’t act interested in eating the scratch, that is an indication there is a problem.

My chickens are my pets and they are dying due to old age, I hope.  I just lost my 13 year old dog, Cassie on Friday, October 12th.  She was such a sweet dog and so smart.  I will miss her but my dog, Olivia is alone now so I bet she will miss her even more.