I give my hens scratch grains in the winter to help them maintain body heat, since the whole grains are harder to digest. The chickens love the mix, except for one kind. I’m not sure if the offending seed is oats or barley (or both since they look similar), but they certainly don’t care for them. Maybe they will sprout in the spring?
We’ve been having some rain. We need the moisture, but because it is November, it is a cold rain. Rather than scattering the scratch out in the muddy runs, the hens get their treats under the overhang.
I sliced a pumpkin in half and filled it with strawberry tops, but they were more interested in the scratch and dried fly grubs. They’ll get to the veggies later. Much like children.
I hope y’all enjoy your Thanksgiving as much as my hens like tucking into a scattering of grain.
Not a high spot of my chicken tending career. I usually check the chickens on the camera before bed. I apparently did not last night. Cloud did not make it back into the coop. She missed getting in the coop before the door closed, then chose to settle on the food bin (metal and stone) about 6pm and passed away when the temperatures were around 32 degrees in the wee hours of the morning. I found her when I did my morning check, and then I checked the camera footage. I don’t know why she chose the feed bin step to huddle, maybe something else was going on and it wouldn’t have mattered if she were inside or out. But if I had looked at the camera at my usual time, or she had chosen a roost on the side of the coop where the wind wasn’t so intense, the outcome might have been different. Darn it. Cameras are definitely a mixed blessing in this situation. Good that I can check without going out, bad that I can review footage on something that was preventable.
The other 8 hens are doing fine. I have one that wobbles, but has now for months with no other ill effects, and I’m not sure how Magic keeps hanging on, but she does. The other six look hale. They are over three years old, which is old for a production chicken (because they cull them when egg production slows), but still young for Faverolles that typically live 5-7 years (and mine are hatchery quality, so have questionable breeding). I started with 12, lost one to pendulous crop or sour crop, one was egg bound, and one to an inhaled wheat seed. They teeter the edge between livestock and pets.
If you made it this far in the post, thank you. Writing this was more a catharsis for me in reaction to an accidental death of an animal in my care than my usual critter or craft posts.
We had a freeze coming in so I set about winterizing outside the house in 40 degree rain. It is a little different setting up for cold temperatures in Texas than up north, but there are still things that need doing. (I would take 32 degrees over forty and raining any day, though. Yuck.)
I cleaned and filled all the chicken water (three hanging, one heated) and put away the foot baths. I closed up the extra vents in the coop to prevent drafts (there are still eave vents to allow air circulation). I drained all the water hoses and put winter caps on all the outdoor faucets. I took the batteries out of the automatic waterers and stored them away in the garage. I harvested all the basil and covered the tank garden (which still has non-producing squash vines).
I washed the basil and picked through it for the nice leaves. The remainder went out to the chickens, who appreciated that I threaded it through the chicken wire in the covered run so they could pull leaves off, and did not hang it out in the rain.
Critters and Craft 