The first chicken egg since December.
The first of of 2010 and a sure sign of Spring.
First egg means spring is on its way
Tag Archives: chickens
Famous chickens and The Spendid Table
Three of the chickens heading to "freezer camp".
My Sunday mornings include listening to Lynne Rossetto Kasper and The Splendid Table®. Sunday’s episode included a discussion of “french chickens” sometimes called “Freedom Rangers” or “Colored Range” chickens – the chicken breed I grew this year.
After seeing how well they grew, and knowing their history, I enjoyed hearing Kasper’s voice as she described her thoughts and ideas with the caller from Alaska who also raised these excellent chickens.
While I did not weigh each chicken, the dressed weight was in the 5 pound range and larger. A great source for this birds is JM Hatchery. The breed of chicken is part of what makes the French Label Rouge criteria for raising poultry in manner that is respectful of animal welfare and the environment.
Saying Grace
"Grace" by Enstrom 1918 Photograph
The tradition of saying Grace – a prayer or expression of thanksgiving prior to a meal has personal meaning this week.
As I gathered each of the first 14 meat chickens I raised, I held each one, talked to it, and thanked it for allowing me to take care of it and for being part of my meals for the next year. My friends, Eli and Caroline and their family, dressed them for me and I picked them up tonight. 30 more are still growing and will go to “freezer camp” in a few more weeks.
Earlier in the day, the remaining chickens were hiding in the shelter – a red tailed hawk as too close for their comfort but when I walked near the pen, the hawk flew away and into the trees….I’m reminded that I share this land.
Tonight, I vacuum sealed the whole birds for the freezer and one of the birds was in pieces, so I grilled the breast for dinner tonight. I thought about the Enstrom photo of the old man over a simple meal and I again said thanks for the many blessings living a small farm life shares with me.
If you are curious, naked chicken photo below:
Three of the chickens headed to "freezer camp"
Daily harvest
I’m packing and organizing for some media work at Farm Aid in St. Louis tomorrow. I’ve also been working on fall projects and tonight we’re expecting a low in the mid 30′s. Fall is quickly arriving. For a brief post, I’m sharing a photo of the daily egg harvest.
From left to right: two Rouen eggs; two Cayuga eggs; one Indian Runner egg; one black sex link chicken egg; two Buff Orpington chicken eggs
Roosters
It takes a brave man to blog about a subject he knows increasingly less about.
I am talking about roosters.
Two Mile Ranch Inmate number 1: "Rotisserie"
When I bought the feed-store chicks in April, I wanted barred rock pullets, but the store had only straight run. So I rolled the genetic dice with the Z and W chromosomes and bought two chicks. Both turned out to be beautiful roosters. The barred rock, with their black and white striped feathers, reminded me of prison uniforms, so the two roosters became named “the inmates”. This also came from their coop, the fabulous Chicken condo built with plans by Jenny Robson. Her plans use so much hardware cloth and tight, predator proof construction that I call it the “chicken prison”. So the inmates earned their name early.
Mike Perry, in his book Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting
councils his daughter not to name the pigs the family is raising for meat, to avoid the heartbreak of sacrificing a family “pet” for the dinner table. But I suppose I’ve broken that rule by further giving the “Inmates” their own distinctive moniker: “Stew” and “Rotisserie”.
Now when roosters grow up, mine are 16 weeks more or less, they start to establish dominance. And up until this week, the two boys have been getting along just fine. But lately, the alpha bird has begun chasing the lower bird out of the chicken yard. They are not fighting to the point of drawing blod, or injuring each other, but the lower bird spends his day free ranging near the pen and if I put him back in the pen, he quickly runs and hides in the nest box.
If Two Mile Ranch were a Warner Brothers cartoon, I would expect a Rhode Island Red to walking in from screen left saying, “Boy, I say, Boy. You can’t hide in the nest box like that. What’s everyone gonna say, boy? You gotta get out there and fight like a rooster.”
Inmate number 2: "Stew" free ranging.
So it’s gone like this for a few days. The best part is, if I just let everyone be, they will work it out on their own. I would like them to get along for a few more weeks until I can put them in the the other chickens who are heading to freezer camp later this fall. In those birds, I also have barred rocks, and will chose two pullets to move in with the other egg chickens.
As a final and funny observation, each night, the chickens put themselves to bed. If the lower rooster is still out, I let him in the pen, and he climbs into the roost……and the two roosters sleep right next to each other on the same perch. Go figure.
The Chicken Condo
The chicken house
Last year’s July 4th weekend project with my son was the building the pheasant fly pen, a 45 x 25 net enclosed space for the pheasants to grow out from 6 weeks to about 18 weeks. It is covered with netting and has about 6 – 7 feet of head room
Along the east, long side, I’ve added a 8 foot wide lean-to pen for the ducks. And now, at the south end, I’ve placed the chicken coop and soon, the chickens will have their own pen along the south edge as well.
So once again, North Lumber delivered wood and I laid it out on the deck. a 16 x 48 deck really makes a nice open-air work shop. I ordered coop plans online from Jenny Robson, and after looking them over and mentally building this in my head, began putting it all together.
I assembled each of the walls and “dry fit” everything to see how it went together. 
Then, I took it apart and re assembled it in place, and finished the sheathing, and the interior roosts, nesting box, and feed box. The chickens moved in last Sunday and seemed pleased with the space. Since they are about 5 -6 weeks old, the cool night air and the open front design was causing them to pile in the corner the first night, so I ran a 250 watt brooder lamp for nights for them. They find a comfort zone near or far from the lamp, depending on the temperature.
I used cedar shakes for the false roof. One of the unique features of this design is it is a 6 sided cube/rectangle, with chicken wire under the floor and ceiling for added predator protection. The “roof” can either be pitched or shed, and I opted for shed roof with shakes, and I’m about 7 shakes short of finishing.
The young chickens are experimenting with the roosts and the lip of the nesting box as a perch. I have two bared rocks that *appear* to be pullets, we will see. A black sex link, two Buff Orpingtons, and an Ameraucana.
Testing the roosts
Chicken Take Out
I’ve written about receiving shipments of 52 pheasants in the US mail. From what I’ve read online at many of the hatchery sites, it seems that the smallest shipment is 25 birds. In this number, the birds generate enough body heat to survive there one or two day trip.
While raising pheasants for release requires one kind of pen, and management, I wanted to start slower with chickens. To start with, I want a small flock of laying chickens, no more than six. Fortunately, many farm and tractor stores bring checks and ducklings into the store in the spring.
In some cases, these chicks are destined to be abandoned because of well-meaning, but short thinking, parents who buy them as “cute” Easter presents.
For people looking to add to their flock or to start a small flock, feed stores, tractor stores, and farm supply stores are a good place to pick them up. I chose six chickens to start with. One black sex link, one red sex link, to buff orpingtons, and two barred rock. All of the chicks are pullets, with the possible exception of the two barred rock. The barred rocks were sold as “straight run” chicks, meaning they were not sexed by the hatchery. With my luck, they’ll be two roosters, but I would be happy if there were as one rooster, or they were both pullets.
According to Storey’s Guide, I may see eggs as soon as 16 weeks..If so, that’s August.
Choosing the Right Chicken Breeds
Frederick J. Dunn offers advice and links on choosing chicken breeds as spring approaches, courtesy of Mother Earth News:
I keep both ornamental and dual-purpose poultry. Ornamental birds are just that, nice to look at and be entertained by — or even to show in competition for those interested in the “poultry fancy.” My recommendations for dual-purpose (meat and eggs) are traditional breeds: the Rhode Island red and barred Plymouth rock. Both (rocks and reds) are independent on open range, forage well, produce eggs in abundance and (if you choose) will make flavorful table fare. In fact, the ALBC hosted Renewing America’s Food Traditions blind taste test, and the barred Plymouth rock was most preferred.
The Cottage Smallholder» » How do I keep my chickens clean?
One of the sites I like to follow is Fiona Nevile’s The Cottage Smallholder
The trick to quick and easy cleaning is to store everything that you might need within a few feet of the chicken house. We keep our chicken consumables in two large barrels in the run. One holds the bedding the other contains sprays, powders, oyster shells, grit and everything that a chicken keeper might need. These storage bins are also popular with the flock as they have another vantage point on which to stand and observe the world.
via The Cottage Smallholder» » How do I keep my chickens clean?.
City Folk Flock To Raise Small Livestock At Home : NPR
NPR’s Megan Verlee reports on All Things Considered about a new kind of urban farmer.
City Folk Flock To Raise Small Livestock At Home : NPR.
If you wonder how to do this and keep the neighbors content, consider this:
But backyard farmers seem to have one ace in the hole for answering any local objections: bribery. Plenty of Brad’s eggs, for example, end up on his neighbors’ breakfast plates.
“I ask them every now and then if it’s bothering them and they say, ‘Oh no, it doesn’t bother us at all and besides, you wouldn’t mess with the one that feeds ya,” Brad says.
