3 posts tagged “hens”

The ladies seem to be doing well even though it has been getting below freezing at night. Last night the temp was down to 29 F and I had to crack ice in their water bowl. This isn't the first time that there has been ice on top, but it was much harder to break this AM. Tonight I took a suggestion from Mark and emptied the container while locking up for the night.

I have a thermometer in the Eglu now and it showed a temp of 38 F this morning. The girls didn't seem uncomfortable at all, though. They hunker down at night and sleep close together.

I took a business trip this week and poor Mark had to get up several mornings to take care of the hens. He was quite happy when I returned a day early. But, while I was gone the ladies seem to have learned that they can get through my rigged-up barrier to the landscaped yard behind the house. The dog walker left a note that the chickens were in the main yard last Tuesday, so he wisely chose not to let the dogs run around. Luckily the hens didn't destroy any plants. They did scratch around a lot of mulch and eat the dill to nubbins, but the dill was popping up in places I really didn't want it, so they sort of did me a favor.

Today and yesterday I worked from home instead of going into the office. So, I followed the normal routine yesterday and opened up the run and coop in the morning when I fed them. By late morning, I saw them in the main yard scratching away and eating more dill. I lured them back towards the barrier with mealworms, then crossed over (I can step over the makeshift trellis barrier) and waited to see how they came into the side yard. Mark and I were thinking they were flying over the trellis barrier since we know Betty and Selma are capable of scaling a 32-inch fence. But it wasn't that complicated, at all. The trellis has wide openings. They just hopped through them. Duh. Good thing for them that the dogs weren't out!

Once I had lured them back, I locked them in the run with some dill I pulled up for them. (Who knew they liked dill?) This morning, I did not open up the run, but I found some time to get out before dark and let them roam for a while. I unrolled some of that icky plastic mesh fencing (we have tons of it) and sandwiched it between the trellis barrier layers. Then I positioned another trellis on top just in case they do try to fly over the barrier. Now that they know there is more green stuff over there, they may be determined to get at it. I'll have to see if this works.

I was in Princeton, New Jersey on my business trip. I was inside all day, but the conference room had a wall of glass that looked onto the woods. The colors were great and it was nice to look out the window for a break. One morning I saw some sort of woodpecker.

Corridor

We didn't get out during the day, of course, but one evening we went into town and walked around Princeton University campus and the old town square. I couldn't resist this lone bicycle. So, can I now say I've been at an Ivy League school, even if it was just for one night?

This past weekend there was quite a bit of excitement around the chickens.

First, Selma literally "flew the coop" on Sunday morning. I'm not sure how long she was outside the yard since I let them out of their coop and run at around 7 AM and then went back to bed for a couple hours. As I was standing at the kitchen sink filling the tea kettle, I happened to look out the window and see Selma busily standing on the alley side of the fence scratching and pecking. It was a bit of a dance trying to catch her, but I did it then promptly reported to Mark that I would need his help clipping wings before he headed out for a bike ride.

We had ourselves nearly together and ready to trim wings about 30 minutes later when we nearly lost Selma for the second time that morning. I was standing in the driveway with my back to the yard where the chickens are wandering when I heard a strange thunk from their general area. I turned to see what made such an odd noise only to see little Selma crouching low to the ground near the intersection of the fencing and frozen in place. Maisy and Betty were several feet away also being very still. There was some other movement that drew my eye upwards and that's when I saw the hawk. It was winging its way upwards, around the branches of the maple that overhangs the driveway, over the upper porch and onwards to wherever it was bound.

Now, I know there are raptors in Chicago. And I've heard there are Cooper's Hawks active in Chicago, too. But this is the first time I've seen any sort of raptor in my neighborhood. This has made me pretty nervous, I must say. I think that the way the yard is laid out, with all of the raised beds and hoop covers, and tall fence on 3 sides, etc. makes it quite challenging for a hawk to swoop in and grab a chicken, but I'm not sure. I can't put bird netting over the entire yard, nor can I keep the chickens confined to their Eglu run all day every day. They've really been enjoying having the run of the yard every day, and I've noticed that I don't get so many soft eggs when they can roam. I think it's best for their "mental health," let's just hope it isn't bad for their physical health now that the hawks know there are tasty chickens roaming my yard.

We did get down to business after the excitement and clipped the primary flight feathers on one of Selma's wings and one of Betty's wings. As if they were trying to prove that the exercise was pointless, later that day both Selma and Betty managed to flap their way up to the top of the fence running along the driveway (which is just under 4 feet tall) and sit up there mocking me. I had to pull out all of the various trellises I've collected over the years and line them up along the inside of the fence. That adds at least a foot of height and hopefully will keep the naughty chooks in their yard.

It was a relatively warm and sunny day on Sunday so I gave their Eglu a thorough cleaning, as well as watering all the planting beds. I couldn't resist taking a short video of the Maisy and Selma taking a dust bath in one of the unused beds.

Well, I've really done it. I've been thinking about this for nearly a year, talking about it for the past several months, and yesterday it all came together.

We have chickens.

Aug_2007_tired_chooks

Say hello to the girls. At the far right in the back is Maisy. Near the front on the left is bold little Betty, and...well...not sure about the name for the third gal yet. All my friends are suggesting names, but none is really striking me yet.

Aug_2007_scared_chooks

These ladies were shipped from the Murray McMurray Hatchery in Iowa on Aug. 15 and arrived on my doorstep at about 9:30 AM the next day. They were very quiet in their snug little shipping container. When I opened up the top and began to reach inside to move them from box to Eglu run, they got a bit agitated. I was glad to find that I could slip the whole container into the Eglu run, tear down a side of the box, and leave them to exit the box on their own.

When I peaked back at them about an hour later, they were all outside the shipping box pecking away at their food and water. In addition to the laying feed in their food dish, I gave them some active culture cottage cheese topped with some raisins and a bit of leftover bread. By the end of the day, the cottage cheese mixture was thoroughly devoured.

The girls are technically pullets: immature hens. They should start laying in about 4-6 weeks. So, I must be patient...

They are a Rhode Island Red hybrid called a Red Star or Red Sex-Link. This breed is supposed to be hardy, friendly, and an excellent layer of brown eggs. As they mature, their feathers will become ginger-colored, with just a touch of white around the tail.

Introducing these girls to the canine girls, Hannah and Sadie, is going to take some time. I had to block off the side yard from the dogs since they became much too agitated and boisterous around the chickens yesterday afternoon. They charged the run and Sadie started barking a lot, which really worked the chooks up. The more agitated the chickens became, the more agitated the dogs became and it was not a pretty sight. I ended up physically hauling the dogs away from the run and holding them in place until all calmed down a bit and I could move the dogs out of the yard. Yes, I could have handled that initial introduction better!

The dogs have not given up in their quest to get to the chickens, though. Hopefully Hannah and Sadie will not drive me totally nuts today as they occasionally break out in a whining binge.