Keeping Chickens

Dear friends,

Thank you for your comments on my last post. You're just the best friends ever.  My intent was to reply to each comment, and then keep up, for goodness sake!...but I have failed again. I've been off in la la land and wondering if this new perm has affected my brain. I simply have not been able to post anything.  

However, Deb asked if I would talk a little about raising chickens...the pros and cons. Thank you Deb.

I'm simply terrible at doing something like this and won't be much help, but will tell you... 

We've had chickens around here for a long time. In fact, a little chicken house was the first thing Poppy and I built out here on our teeny tiny farm. I was so excited the day Poppy came home from work with three hens. These are Red Sex Links, he said. Good layers.

We've had many different breeds here since those days, and our favorites have been the Giant Brahmas, Speckled Sussex, Dominique and Plymouth Rock, the Buff Orpington, and these Araucana...

It's fun gathering the blue green eggs along with the regular eggs.  Araucana hens are sweet natured hens. 

Oh, and country fresh eggs are so much better than store bought eggs. That's a real plus!

This spring I hope to get few of the larger breed chicks to raise. Our flock has changed in the last few years and here's why.

You know how "Henny Penny Lane" seems to attract unwanted animals...well one day back in 2007 that little dark red game hen (in the above picture) showed up in our driveway, starving. We fed her, named her Jewel, and she stayed. Not only did she stay, she hatched dozens and dozens of baby chicks through the years, each chick carrying that "game" blood line. 

Little Jewel is no longer with us. She wandered too far one day, with her chicks, and a fox caught her. We have loved and cared for all these hens but want no more of that "game" blood line. Those game hens lay smaller eggs, like to fight, are ill natured, and good at flying over fences.

and here's a couple of pros... 

the joy and sweetness of baby chicks in the spring.

but there are times I've wished we didn't have chickens at all...

You see, I get attached to every animal that sets foot on this property, so there are sad times too. I've buried many a chicken here, and also cared for many sick or wounded chickens that, had I been a real old time farmer, would have put them down. But not me. For several years I cared for a one-legged rooster and that got to be "work".  

Keeping a chicken waterer clean can be a job. Algae makes the waterer look dirty. Seems like I am always cleaning them.  A little natural cider vinegar added to the water helps keep the algae away, and is also good for the hens. 

Keeping anything clean, in or around a chicken coop, is a job.  Chickens are messy! 

Then there's all that feed to buy and deal with. I keep buckets of feed in the pantry which keeps it dry, and also makes it easy to get together every morning. To me, this is fun. :)

Shiver...then there's rat snakes which had rather have eggs than rats. I vividly remember the day this picture was taken. I had walked in the chicken house to gather the eggs and met this fellow, then turned to leave, looked up and saw this one...

Two snakes! in the chicken house at the same time!

Our little chicken house has a dirt floor, (not a good thing), so I keep a thick layer of wheat straw or cheap hay covering the floor in the winter, then clean it out in summer months. Dust, cobwebs, and dirty roosts inside the house are pretty disgusting too.

But to me, the pros outweigh the cons. Makes me laugh to hear the chickens squawking and running toward the gate when they see me. Have you ever seen a chicken run? It's a funny sight. Have you ever heard a hen sing? Hope we always have chickens here on Henny Penny lane.

Oh, and just think of all the string you can save off those feed bags. :) 

I know, crazy, isn't it. But, I have saved every string off every bag of feed since day one. This is not a new picture. The ball of string is bigger now. I'll be back with a new picture.

Gosh, am I really going to publish this? Might as well. Deb, hope you aren't sorry you asked. 

Thank you friends!

Love,
Henny