Category: chickens

I spy in the coop…

On By CarynIn chickens, Coop

We have a pan cam working in the coop again! So I could see a hen get off the roost at 4:30am and blindly make her way over the nest boxes, hop up, and settle in. She isn’t broody, as when the sun was up she was off the nest and out into the runs. I guess when she has to lay, she has to lay.

4:30am in the coop

I reinforced the back screen door with hardware cloth so I could leave it open at night in the summer heat. It helps the cooler night air circulate. Now the camera should be able to see if there are predators peeking in too.

Melon balls

On By CarynIn chickens

I have a melon baller, but I don’t usually use it because it leaves quite a bit of waste. The balls of melon are pretty in the fruit salad, but all the left over bits bothered me.

Cantaloupe scooped out with a melon baller

I was thinking of it wrong. It isn’t waste, it is more left for the chickens! With that in mind, I scooped out the cantaloupe and watermelon happily knowing the hens would clean out the rinds later.

I’m not trying to poison you

On By CarynIn chickens

I put out some canned pumpkin for the chickens to see if it helps with the digestive issues that start up when they start laying. (They’ve been laying again for awhile, but a couple still have dirty tail feathers.) They love fresh pumpkin, but when presented with canned, they all but accused me of attempted poison.

Chickens warily observing canned pumpkin

I’ve noticed in the fall, when they have a steady supply of raw pumpkin, there are more fluffy butts, and less need for me to rinse them clean. But fresh pumpkin is hard to obtain in the spring and summer. Butternut squash doesn’t seem to have the appeal, though it really seems like it should be a good substitute. After a few hours I went back to check on the status of the canned pumpkin, and they did brave the new preparation and devoured it all. They can’t lick the plate because they’re chickens, but they did a good job trying. See? I’m not trying to poison you!

Something about doorways

On By CarynIn chickens

There is something about doorways that invite chickens to dust bathe. I read about it in the chicken books before having chickens, and my hens definitely display the behavior. Maybe because the area gets frequently trod upon, the dust is finer and in greater quantity? Well, in greater quantity until the chickens get to it. It is amazing how much dust collects in their feathers. Ha. People have known of this bit of poultry magic for over a century, hence the use of feather dusters. By the way, there seems to have been a bit of drama in the patent process of the feather duster. Susan Hibbard, who was ultimately awarded the patent, had to fight her husband who claimed the idea was his own. If you want to follow me down the feather duster rabbit hole, here is a place to get started. I was quite surprised that feather dusters are not that old, then read that people would use whole wings to dust the hearth, but had to keep the necrotic tool from the teeth of the cats and dogs. So it is the tying of the feathers to a stick that was the patent able invention. But you still have to keep it out of reach of the cat.

Hens dust bathing in the coop doorway

Down down deep in the ground

On By CarynIn chickens

We have been on a burn ban for a long time, so I have not made ash for the chicken’s dust bath in a long time. They have made their own accommodations by stirring up the dust at the bottom of the tire and carrying it off in their feathers, thus digging a hole deeper and deeper in the center of the tire. I do add some diatomaceous earth on occasion, but it is going to take buckets of ash and dirt to fill the dust bath back up again.

Magic almost disappears in the dust bath depression

It is probably cool down there as well.