Minus one, plus two

On May 10, 2024May 7, 2024 By CarynIn chickens, Coop

Taco the hen, who usually escapes notice on the blog because she is independent and aloof, passed away. A couple days before I noticed that her crop was hanging low and full, a sign of a good meal, or of sour crop. I was trying to keep an eye on it, and in hindsight I should have started a copper sulfate treatment. We had a previous hen live for almost a year with the condition, and I was honestly hoping it wasn’t sour crop. I found her surrounded by her sisters in the morning in the coop. I was up and in the coop early because we were preparing for the arrival of the two new hens, Wingding and Magnet, a pair of Black Star chickens coming in from family. Taco was given an air burial in the woods, and within a few hours we were welcoming the new hens to their new home.

Photo description: two black hens investigating the pine flake spread on the ground to combat the mud from the previous day’s heavy rain, the new small coop behind them, hanging water and hanging feed in the foreground. The squirrel baffle over the feed is more to keep out the rain than squirrels.

Photo description: two Black Star hens in the foreground, and at least three of four Faverolle hens in the background behind a poultry wire divider.

Photo description: Magnet and Wingding accepting an offering of dried grubs.

So our current chicken count is at six. Two Black Star, and four Faverolle. We’ll keep them separated for a while where they can see each other, and later see what happens when they can mingle. Ideally they will share all the space, after they establish pecking order.

A little hen house

On May 1, 2024April 28, 2024 By CarynIn chickens, Coop

We will be taking in two additional family chickens since work is taking their current family out of state. I hope the new hens, who are about the same age as our hens, but a different breed, will be able to join the flock with few ruffled feathers, but to start, we will keep them in a separate area. The easiest way to accomplish this was to get or build a smaller coop in the current run. I have doors lined with chicken wire to separate the areas, and both flocks have plenty of outside space. I did not have time to build a small hutch from scratch, so I ordered one on Amazon for about $150.

Photo description: small hen hutch with nesting box attachment, vented roof, ventilation window, and coop door with ramp sitting on newly seeded dirt in the chicken run.

It was not a beginner build project, but I’m not a beginner, so it worked out. The wood is thin, but solid, not particle board. The directions were sparse, but my eldest and I were able to get through it. We built it on the back porch where we had a stable flat surface, then carried it to the run. The roost bar was a joke; a 3/4 inch dowel two inches from the bottom of the hutch. I found a 2 inch cedar branch and cut it to length and secured it with screws higher in the hutch.

Photo description: original roost bar near the removable metal floor, and the new cedar roost installed higher in the structure

When we went to install the hinged roof of the nest boxes, there was a significant gap that made attaching difficult, so we cut a section of scrap trim (from the garage) to fit before attaching the hinges.

Photo description: extra trim installed to provide a sturdy surface for the hinged roof

We placed the hutch in the most shaded part of the runs. The run itself is entirely encased in hardware cloth and I have not had significant animal incursion in the five years it has been standing. We did make sure it was out of reach of questing raccoon hands. We’ll have a chance to see how it weathers storms this week.

Hose repair

On March 29, 2024March 26, 2024 By CarynIn Coop, Life Hack

The brass manifold I use to route water to the coop and raised bed garden started to leak. I went to unscrew a hose from the manifold and part of the manifold broke loose, lodged inside the hose. It is not the first time this has happened. The hose on the top of the manifold was also corroded and frozen in tight.

Photo description: garden hose with the end ruined by a broken off manifold junction.

This time I ordered new hose ends, solid brass with a metal band clamp. I cut off the offending ends of hose with kitchen shears so I could replace the connectors.

Photo description: heavy duty garden hose cut off above the manifold, since it wouldn’t unscrew.

Pressing the connector against the fence post helped me wedge it into the cutoff hose. The female end was a little tricky with the loose ring, but attaching the male end made it stable enough to use the same technique. It really helps if you remember to put the band clamp on before attaching the new connector. Spoken from experience. I also used silicone tape in the threads this time.

Photo description: new brass manifold with repaired hose connectors.

The whole procedure was relatively painless and quick. It was definitely better than replacing the whole hose. I even replaced both ends on the hose in the chicken coop, that never did connect well.

Photo description: new hose connectors on the hose in the coop.

Flashback: chicken bench

On February 27, 2024February 24, 2024 By CarynIn chickens, Coop, Craft

The fold down benches that I installed in the chicken coop are still high on my recommended list. I used 2x4s, heavy duty hinges, two lengths of chain with lockable links, screw eyes, and a hook and eye to keep it in the upright position. It folds up so the chickens can’t poop on the surface, but is easy to fold down. It makes a great work bench for filling water, and is fantastic when I need to sit when I’m not feeling well but still need to tend the chickens.

Photo description: Fold down bench held up with chain, with an empty large poultry waterer and two chickens looking for grubblies underneath.

Ice blocks

On January 31, 2024January 28, 2024 By CarynIn chickens, Coop

After our hard freeze a bit ago, I decided to empty out and refill the hanging chicken water when the temperatures rose back above 40. The chickens do have access to unfrozen water in a heated dog dish, but I’m glad I dumped out the ice blocks that had formed in the chambers.