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.

A Day at the Chicken Spa

There comes a day in every chicken's life when he or she must go to the chicken spa to get a pedicure or beak trim. Last week, my chickens took a trip to the spa, and we made a video to show you how to do it yourself.

When trimming a chicken's toenail, its important to note that you don't want to trim much off. You want to avoid hitting the quick, which is where the blood flow is in the nail, as shown in this illustration from http://www.lafebervet.com/. You can cut anywhere to the left of the imaginary yellow line.

Trimming beaks can be done if you notice that it is affecting the way that a chicken eats, or if you notice that a chicken is losing weight. After trimming a beak, you can smooth out the sides with a nail file. Just be sure to give you chicken lots of breaks to keep them from getting stressed.

Hope these tips help with your beak or nail trimming endeavors. If you have any questions, please comment below!

Fowl Science

Chickens are "in" right now. It is popular to have backyard chickens, who live in a cute coop that was purchased at a local feed store, and lay eggs for your family every day. Some people go a step further and breed their birds, or even show them at poultry shows. But it seems as though chickens have come to the forefront of modern science lately, as they have been found to have some interesting characteristics that may change what scientists previously thought was possible.

This article from LiveScience.com, which was released at the beginning of the month, talks about a new state of matter that was recently discovered inside the eye of a chicken. 

http://www.livescience.com/43623-state-of-matter-found-chicken-eye.html

Additionally, this article from FoxNews.com discusses the ability of the chicken's ear to repair itself, and that, by studying this, scientists may be able to research new ways to cure hearing loss in humans.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/12/do-chickens-hold-key-to-cure-for-hearing-loss/?intcmp=features

Chickens are entertaining, personable, unique, friendly little creatures, but now they may also hold the secret to some new scientific discoveries. Pretty amazing stuff, don't you think?

More Resources

The importance of finding resources, as a chicken keeper, is invaluable. These resources can help you lear everything from how to raise day-old chicks, to how to build a chicken coop from scratch, to how to treat your chickens when they become ill. Over the last year I have developed a large library of resources that I am hereby passing on to you.

Here is my Diigo feed, where you can find an ever evolving and growing list of bookmarks that I use to learn and build my library of sources:
https://www.diigo.com/user/feathers13

And here is my Digg feed, where you can follow the same blogs that I follow. These blogs are great, and I love reading what they have to say. http://digg.com/user/6e31f58875a04751a04419de166aaa6e/diggs.rss

Hopefully you can find these sources as useful as I do, and if you have any sources that you find useful that I don't have listed, please let me know, and I'll add them to my lists!

The Importance of Experts

Experts and long time owners of chickens are the best source of knowledge when it comes to raising chickens. In all of my research, I have come to find a few poignant people who stand out when it comes to chicken knowledge. Terry Golson at HenCam.com (has kept chickens for 20 years) who writes a blog called HenBlog, is one of these people. I managed to find a podcast of an interview that Terry had with a radio show host about keeping chickens, and found it to be a great thing to listen to before getting chicks, or even to learn once you have your chickens. Please click here to listen to the podcast!

This picture is borrowed from www.hencam.com. 

 In the interview she discusses the challenges associated with keeping chickens in a cold climate, such as ours here in Colorado, where there is often snow on the ground, cold wind, and below 0 degree nights. She states that having a properly insulated coop from day one is much easier than retrofitting a not-so-great coop to be winter hardy for your birds. We have a thermometer in both of our coops, which relays to a display in our house. This way we can monitor the temperature on extremely cold nights, to help us decide whether to use supplemental heat or not, and tells us how well insulated our coop is. We had a week of consistently well below 0 degree nights. Because our coops were built draft free, they maintained an above 0 degree temperature (close to 15 degrees warmer) on those cold nights. I would definitely agree that in places like Colorado, it is vital to have a draft free, but well ventilated coop. On the other hand, Terry brought up the fact that summer heat is more dangerous to chickens than the cold. Giving your chickens extra water, shade, and somewhere to dust bathe will help to keep them cool. Last summer I witnessed how hot my chickens got on 90+ degree days especially, and gave them water with ice cubes in it and a cool pool for them to stand in, which seemed to help as well.

She also discusses the life cycle of a chicken, and how chickens only produce eggs productively for the first 2 years of their life. However, chickens live to be 6-8 years on average. Something that city-dwellers should keep in mind is whether they plan on keeping their chickens for their entire life, or are the chickens kept for eggs only (not pets). If you plan on keeping your chickens as pets (like me), keep in mind that keeping chickens is a 6-8 year commitment. If not, what do you plan on doing with the birds once their productive years are over. Terry discusses that regardless of your plans, you need to do right by the animal and keep them healthy and happy for the length of their life. Once the animal’s quality of life is over, you may need to euthanize your birds. This can be an extremely difficult choice once you have gotten attached to the animals, but it is something you sign up for when you keep any pet. Unfortunately, we didn't know that anything was wrong with my sweet Basil until it was too late. She only lived 8 months, but she was the sweetest bird. We believe she died from a genetic defect or brain tumor. She had been sick with one thing or another her whole life, and was kept in our house for most of her life. She passed away in my arms. I cried for days. These little critters sure melt your heart. The picture below is of Basil about a month before she passed away suddenly. We feel that she had a great life and will always be remembered for her inquisitive nature.

Another thing that Terry discussed in the interview was the importance of feeding your chickens good food. It’s extremely important to give them a good commercial feed, as well as vegetables and fruits. We give our chickens food made locally in Fort Collins at Ranch-Way Feeds, and feel that it's been a great food for our birds. I have also discovered that my chickens’ favorite foods are tomatoes and squash, and an occasional treat of plain yogurt. Below is a picture of my birds eating yogurt. They love the stuff, but all dairy should be given in moderation.

In summation, the interview with Terry Golson is extremely informative and good for both new and experienced chicken keepers to listen to. She is a kind person who loves her animals and knows how to properly care for them. Be sure to head to her website at www.hencam.com to read her blog, watch the streaming webcams, and more.

Finding Inspiration Around Me

Inspiration for this blog stems from the pets that I have raised and come to love more than ever imagined: chickens. I tend to be a mega-researcher, and have learned so much in the last year about these little birds, by reading books, reading websites, meeting people who have owned chickens before, and using social media. Little did I know, when I picked up day-old chicks from the feed store, that there was an enormous community of people just like me, learning the best ways to care for their birds. In all of my learning, however, the major factor that seemed to be missing from what I was reading about was the element of keeping chickens in the city. Most things I read about were talking about keeping a large number of birds, or a large amount of land, large amount of room in your home to keep chicks or sick birds, or a large amount of storage, none of which was something we had. I have had to figure out ways to adapt what I learned to my own situation, as someone living in a condo with a medium sized backyard. I have to give my wonderful husband all of the credit, and thank-yous, in the world, for building our first coop from my drawings. This is one place that, if you are just starting out, you certainly don't need to start out with something like this. But a nice coop with at least 3 sq. feet per bird (the minimum recommended space per bird) is a great place to start. I read numerous posts about people's frustrations with their handed down coops purchased off of Craigslist, and felt that I should take advantage of being married to a double major in civil engineering/construction management.

The most important thing that I cannot stress enough is to use hardware cloth and not chicken wire. This keeps your birds much safer from predators at night. We also built the whole structure on buried cinder blocks to further deter predators. Inside the hen house we have been using pine shavings as litter, with straw in the nest boxes, and dirt on the coop floor. But recently I read a very convincing and informative article written by The Chicken Chick about the benefits of using sand as floor substrate instead, and we will be switching everything out when the weather cooperates. Be sure to check out the article here.

Chicken Math

So as some of you know, I own chickens. I bought some as day-old chicks in April 2013, and cannot believe how much they have changed my life since then. But let me take a few steps back. My whole life I have owned a plethora of animals. Everything from geckos to mice, to dogs and cats. But I have always dreamt of living on a farm, where I could have land with horses and goats, and chickens roaming the property foraging and scurrying about, waking to the sound of roosters. Coming from a girl who was born and raised in the heart of Denver, two blocks from I-25, that has always sounded a little far fetched. But when I bought my home, got married, and graduated college, I began to look at my life differently. Maybe I was more in control of it than I thought. Maybe I didn't have to be a "city kid" after all. After doing extensive research on raising baby chicks, the care of chickens, etc. my husband, Joe, and I decided we would get a few chickens. Now, we thought that we would start out with a couple, and that way we could get more the following year so that we could raise chicks again. That's when chicken math came into the picture. Anyone who raises chickens knows that once you have chickens, you begin to feel the want, nay the need for more. There was no way we'd be able to wait a year... So, we've added a couple, tragically lost one, raised a couple of chicks, re-homed a couple of cockerals, rescued a rooster and his girlfriend and found them a new home, and finally things have settled down. These little birds have grown to become egg laying ladies with beautiful plumage, each with her own very unique personality and name. My husband built a large beautiful coop on the side of our house for them that has been wonderful to keep them safe. I have also attended two poultry shows and entered one with a couple of other chickens that I have since gotten, and won two blue ribbons at the National Western Stock Show! Needless to say, chickens have become a new lifestyle for me. They have gotten me involved with new clubs, I've met some great people, and every day I get to care for a cast of very interesting characters, that also happen to make us food! Chickens are a win-win for everyone... but beware of the chicken math, it's easy to fall for their fuzzy butts!