Stressed Out

Work, school, traffic - all these things stress us out every day. They make us cranky, put strains on our relationships, and have even been proven to make us sick and take years off of our lives. Surprising to some, even chickens get stressed out. They can be stressed from many things, but it is our jobs as their caretakers to limit these stressors, and minimize the damage when stressors cannot be avoided.

Some seemingly small things such as moving a chicken from a breeder or feed store to your home, or moving can be stressful. If you think about it, you are taking a chicken away from everything he/she has known and turning their world upside down. Here are some ways to keep your bird relaxed during the drive:

• Bring a small cat carrier or another fairly dark but well-ventilated container to transport your chicken in. Chickens relax in dark environments, so this will help to calm your bird. There are even custom chicken carriers made for show birds, so if you transport your birds often, it may be worth looking into.
• Keep your car cool. If this means turning on the A/C in the summer, please do it. Remember, chickens would rather be too cool than too warm.
• Turn down your music. Please don't drive your chickens around town with your music turned up loud.
• Pull over and take breaks. Let your chicken drink on these breaks and check on them to make sure they are doing ok.

Heat is another major factor that can stress chickens. In the summer, temperatures can easily reach the 90's and 100+ degrees. No chicken is built to withstand those temperatures for extended periods. Here are some tips to keep your birds cool this summer:

• Keep shade available to your birds at all times. Direct sunlight will make your birds even warmer than the air feels outside. Your birds can die if they get heat stroke.
• Keep water available at all times. If this means getting multiple waterers, then do it. There are also automatic waterers available that hook up to your outdoor spigot and provide an ever available stream of water.
• Provide a fan. This can give your hens a source of moving air that they can stand by if they are overheating. The fan can blow up under their feathers and get cooler air close to their skin.
• Provide a mister on extremely hot days. Some birds appreciate being able to stand under a mister. These are available at most home improvement stores and even Walmart and Target.
• Provide a pool of 3-4 inches of cool water for your chickens to stand in. The birds can easily cool their body temperatures several degrees quickly by standing in a pool of cool water. This can be vital in recovering from mild heat stroke, or preventing overheating.
• Provide frozen treats. You can freeze fruits and veggies into a large ice block that the chickens have to work to get to. This "popsicle" is great for a snack, good for cooling the birds, and excellent for entertainment value.

Following these tips should help keep your birds from getting stressed in most situations. When in doubt, just try to keep your bird in the dark, keep them cool, and keep them quiet. Here's to happy birds!

Breed Profile: Modern Game Bantams

There are so many breeds of chickens out there, that I figured it was time we look a little more in-depth at my favorite breed, the Modern Game Bantam. Originally bred for cockfighting, this tiny little breed has more personality packed into it's tiny frame than just about any other breed. They are very sweet and personable birds - yes, even the roosters - and love to sit on laps, receive pets, and hang out with people just as much as with other birds.They

Even as chicks they have longer legs than other breeds.

As far as looks go, they are built very differently than other chickens. They have a small, erect body that is positioned on top of two very long legs. The hens do not lay very well, and lay tiny eggs when they do. These birds are kept mostly for fun, as pets, for 4H, ornamental, or for showing purposes. Modern Game Bantams do not look very much like other chickens, but that is what makes them so fun and unique.

My Splash pullet Modern Game Bantam, Nyx.

My Blue hen Modern Game Bantam, Clover, 

eating out of a cup of chicken scratch.

Clover getting snuggles under the blankets.

Clover even watches movies with me.

Birdy Boredom Busters

Mental enrichment is good for any species of animal, and can be great at preventing problems within your flock. I have come up with a few ideas that I've used to keep my birds' minds busy that can be used all year long, and can come in handy especially during hot summer days and snowy winter days as well.

The first and perhaps most simple idea is to hang shiny objects such as CDs in your chickens' living space. They love the reflections and will look at them often. For some reason these types of things fascinate chickens. As you can see here, I've just tied a CD to the roof of my run using a piece of yarn, but you can use any shiny object as long as it isn't sharp.

One of the most fun boredom busters to watch is a treat ball. They have one of these on the market sold just for chickens, but my birds found it too easy. I use a treat ball made for dogs and cats which has adjustable holes to make the delivery of the treats easier or more challenging. I fill it with scratch, or cat food, or any other treat, and as the birds roll the ball around the treats fall out. It was amazing to watch how quickly they learned to use it, and fun to watch them play with it now. They recognize when I bring it out and get very excited.

Finally, the last boredom buster is a chicken swing. You can build your own, or you can buy one from Fowl Play Products at https://www.fowlplayproducts.com/the-chicken-swing.html. The chickens love to perch on the swing, and actually learn to pump it, to make it move. This product would be great in summer to allow the air to cool their underside.

(picture taken from Fowl Play Products homepage)

Grazing Frames for Pampered Poultry

I'll be the first to admit it - our chickens are spoiled. We love them just as much as we love our other pets, and try hard to make their lives enriched and happy. It's a much different task to make a chicken happy than, say, a dog or cat. They are much more focused on staying busy by way of foraging.

Over the years, our yard has taken the abuse of living at the base of a mountain (and the rocky soil that comes with that), the harsh winters and ever blaring summers of Colorado weather, and this last year, we've been blessed with the thundering paws of a greyhound forming her new track in the backyard. Needless to say, it's taking a beating on it's own. There is almost no grass back there to speak of, and what does come up, the chickens gobble up right away and scratch out the roots, preventing any regrowth.

Enter, the Chicken Grazing Frame. I found this on Home Farm Ideas Facebook page, and quickly watched the video to find out more information. Basically, you can build these simple frames that allow grass to grow up through the hardware cloth so that the chickens can eat the tops of the grass (getting the nutrition), but are unable to scratch up the roots and destroying the plant. For such an easy project, I think these are definitely worth a try. Here's the video's that Home Farm Ideas has posted on Youtube:

And here's some free grazing plans that I found online as well if you'd like some numbers and material lists to start off with: Free Grazing Frame Plans

As you can see from the videos, the chickens go nuts for the grass that grows from these grazing frames! Let us know if you've given one of these frames a try and how it's worked for you!

Product Review: VetRx

Recently we took in another chicken, a bantam White Crested Black Polish who we have affectionately named Marley, after the dreadlocked musician. She has a very different personality than the other breeds that we have, and is much more nervous, which can easily be blamed on her obvious blind spots.

The day after we brought her home, at four months old, she came down with a pretty nasty respiratory infection. She had discharge coming from her eyes, snot coming from her nose, and wasn't breathing too well. The breeder I bought her from said that Polish are known to deal with stress poorly, and that even the drive from one place to another could have been enough to set off a harboring illness.

That's when she told me about VetRx. This is a 100% Natural oil that is sold in a little bottle at select feed stores, but usually only through veterinary supply stores and online, that is comparable to Vicks VaporRub for humans. For respiratory infections like Marley's, a drop or two in each nostril, a little rubbed on the tongue, and a little rubbed under each wing (for the bird to breathe in while sleeping) should do the trick. For Marley, she was good as new in about 5 days, but I kept her separated from the others for a couple of extra days to make sure.

The box includes directions for other uses including scaley leg mites, preventative uses, and even for showing birds! I would definitely give VetRx 5 out of 5 stars. I found mine at Ranch-Way Feed in Fort Collins for only $10, but I know you can buy it on Amazon and other locations as well.

Herb Gardening for Chickens?

Spring is definitely here. Last weekend we were finally able to start working on our chicken fence. We have decided to contain the chickens into a smaller part of the yard (which will also be covered) since a giant hawk was found in our pine tree eyeing the girls.

I was also finally able to plant some flowers and a new shrub in the front of my house. This gave me time to think more about how much I want to start an herb garden in our backyard.

After lots of herb garden photo research on Pinterest, I finally found an idea that would work for us. The cinderblocks that form the border of the garden can be planted in, as well as containing the dirt and plants in the garden itself. Cinderblocks are affordable as well, and can sometimes be found on craigslist for free!

One of the blogs that I love to follow, Fresh Eggs Daily, focuses on the use of herbs in chicken care. It's almost as though she read my mind. Just the other day, she posted a blog about her 5 favorite herbs for chicken keepers. I decided that I will use this as my guide to select the herbs that I'll try to grow in my garden. She mentioned lavender, mint, oregano, parsley, and sage and why each of them was beneficial to chickens. These are all herbs that are beneficial to humans as well, and can be used in meal making (except for oregano - I just don't like it!). Check out the blog post she wrote here.

I am also learning about the ways that herbs can be used medicinally for chickens as dewormers and anti-parasitics as well as anti-inflammatories and cures for various other ailments. There seem to be a plethora of reasons to start the herb garden, if not for me, then for the chickens. My hope is to not need to rely on such strong feed store medications when they fall ill.

Do you have experience with herbs? If so, tell me about it! I'd love to hear your experiences!

Broody Babes & Extra Eggs

A new problem has come about. We've heard that silkies make good mommas because they become broody easily. This means that they want to sit on eggs, they want to hatch eggs, and they want to raise chicks. Well, Sprocket, our buff silkie has become broody. She has started sitting on her eggs, as well as Jett and Snaps's eggs, and has even started sitting on the nest even if there are no eggs to sit on. 

Sprocket sitting on her nest.

The problem with this is twofold. 1. The warmth of her body will make the eggs go bad sooner. And 2. there is no rooster to fertilize any eggs, so she would be sitting there forever. When hens go broody, they don't eat as much, they don't drink as much water, and they get very aggressive about their surroundings. The other hens have started laying their eggs in the other nest box, and I have begun picking Sprocket up and removing her (no matter how angry she may be) from her nest in hopes of breaking her broodiness. 

Sprocket sitting on her nest, while the other hens

use the other nest box.

Even with Sprocket's broodiness, after a while of getting 3 or more eggs per day, and not always eating them, we found ourselves with a bowl of eggs on our counter with no idea of their age. Some would automatically throw them all away and start fresh, but I had learned a way to test each egg for its freshness, and today I will share it with you.

The first step, is to get a big bowl or pitcher and fill it with water (something that is at least an egg or two deep). Then, take an egg and gently place it in the water. Following the diagram below, you can tell whether you can keep the egg or compost/trash it. 

Since you placed the eggs in the water, all of the eggs you keep will need to be kept in the refrigerator after this test, and until you eat them.

Here's to all your broody hens out there, and hoping you can keep them healthy, happy, and safe.