Category: chickens

A pedestal for Magic

On By CarynIn chickens

Magic the hen is having her recurring pain flareup. I think it has something to do with a leg joint. She hurts it, then has trouble walking, loses weight, it heals, she puts on weight, then she hurts it again. It is about a six month cycle. She is in the stage where she can’t jump up onto the roost at night, so I built her an elevated nest.

Photo description: Pine shavings built up in the corner of the coop next to the roost and topped with straw. Magic the hen has climbed the pile to investigate.

The other chickens had to check out what I did as well, but Magic was the first.

Photo description: Simple 2×4 wood frame roost with 2×3 removable roost bars. The pine shavings are built up in the corner nearly to the height of the roost, and all six chickens are headed toward Magic who is at the top of the pile.

This is the corner Magic huddles in when she can’t roost. She appreciated the elevation, and I feel better about her not getting bombed by the other hens in the morning.

Photo description: Night view, with five chickens on the roost, and Magic on her slightly diminished pine shavings pile in the corner.

I do have to rebuild the corner in the morning, because the chickens kick away the shavings looking for bugs, but I think this is less stressful for her than when I go in and place her on the roost at night.

Slow ideas

On By CarynIn chickens, Coop, Life Hack

Each summer I put up a sunscreen in the coop runs to keep the afternoon sun off the feeder and the side of the coop. Each winter I take it down so the sun can warm the coop. Both operations are a pain, wrestling with the large triangle of fabric. Until this year, when one of those slow ideas finally bubbled to the surface and I thought to just roll up the sunscreen. It took a few moments to secure the roll, but should only take a few moments again in the summer to deploy the screen.

Photo description: View inside the chicken runs, under an awning, with a roll of fabric stretched across the upright posts.

I do believe that there are many ways to accomplish any task, and find it interesting how often the thought “why didn’t I think of that earlier” happens.

Fate of the pumpkins

On By CarynIn chickens

We get our pumpkins to carve jack-o-lanterns the day before Halloween, then the day after, put them out for the chickens. This is to limit mold growth and decay. I will leave the pumpkins in the runs until the chickens have pecked away what they want, then they go to the compost bin.

Photo description: Natural white pumpkin carved as a happy skull sitting on the dirt with a hen investigating.
Photo description: Carved orange pumpkin with the lid removed sitting on the ground with a hen pecking at the inside of the lid.

Chicken pumpkin carving

On By CarynIn chickens

I saw another chicken tender helping her hens carve Halloween pumpkins and loved it, so followed suit. This time, rather than poking holes, I just skimmed off the pumpkin skin in eye and mouth positions using a sharp knife.

Photo description: Small orange pie pumpkin with the skin removed in the shape of triangle eyes and a tear drop mouth.

To hang the pumpkin, I used a gimlet to drill a hole through the stem, then split the end of a bamboo stick to push cotton twine through the hole.

Photo description: In the foreground, the bit section of a gimlet on the right, and on the left the split point of a bamboo skewer. Pumpkin with cotton loop through the stem in the background

I then hung up the pumpkin in the chicken run. By the afternoon, the pumpkin had a decidedly gory countenance.

Photo description: Same pumpkin with the flesh pecked out of the eyes and the entire bottom gone, leaving a gaping hole.

The result is definitely creepy.

Then there were six

On By CarynIn chickens

We lost another chicken this week. I say lost, but she was quite easily found, just not alive. She was laying in the run when I went out to check on them. Rigor mortis was complete, so she probably passed during the night. From a quick web search rigor mortis in chickens completes within a few hours of death, and can last 8-24 hours. She was walking around and eating the day before, so sometime late evening or early morning her ticket was punched. No signs of distress or abnormalities, I did not do a necropsy since they are four years old. The other chickens are unconcerned.

Photo Description: Six Faverolle hens in molt eating dried grubs