I thought I’d summarize some of the good and meh of our chicken choices so far! I’m going to break this up into parts, apparently I have much to discuss.

Faverolles: I do like this breed, even though mine are hatchery quality and not for show. After reading about what it takes to show chickens, I’m OK with not. My hens are friendly and will still get on my lap if it isn’t too hot. We do deal with bumblefoot often, but sanding down the roosts and perches seems to have helped. We get a variety of egg colors as well, which is interesting.

Tire Dust Bath: I was unsure of this at first, and so were the chickens, but after a few months, the hens really took to this dust bath. When I put in a new batch of wood ash, dirt, and diatomaceous earth, they somehow squeeze two of themselves in the tire to bathe together and there is a waiting line. Their feathers hold a ton of dust and the bath empties out faster than I can refill it. The tire came from our mechanic: I asked if they had any used and they had one that the recycler missed. It doesn’t hurt to ask!

Foot Baths: These are the best for my hens in the hot Texas summer. I bought large plant drip pans from the hardware store and I keep them filled with fresh water. When the temperature is forecast to be over 95, I put a gallon bottle of ice in too. I do clean these out 2 or 3 times a day, but I have a hose run into the coop with a spray handle, so it isn’t a big deal to do when I am out checking for eggs. The hens LOVE these. They go and stand in the water to cool off. Yes, they drink the water too (yuck), which is another reason I clean out the pans frequently. What didn’t work is the homemade AC unit using a styrofoam cooler, fan, and ice packs. It was a pain to setup, it was hard to keep the chickens from eating the styrofoam, and did not make an appreciable difference in the temperature of the coop.

There will be more lessons learned tomorrow!