Cochin frizzle -- what a fancy lady!

We have two bantam cochin hens that hatched in September. This one has the "frizzle" gene which results in curly feathers.

This year's eggs

Five hens are laying now -- and what great colours we're getting! The dark brown ones are from the Black Copper Marans.

This fall, they laid very few eggs for various reasons. One hen still had chicks she was raising, two others molted their feathers and stopped completely, and then there were the two Marans who were still too young to produce anything. Plus with the days shorter, egg production usually slows way down by winter. But they all started up in January -- this past week we got about 25 eggs!

Questions from a friend who is thinking of keeping backyard chickens

My friend emailed me some questions about chickens so I thought I'd post them here. She hatched Auracana and Hyline chicks with her kids as a project and would like to keep the hens. Some background: they live in Kelowna, BC and their backyard is about a quarter acre.

"I wonder if you can tell me:

1. What breed of hens you have had best luck with for laying. Is there a type of hen you recommend? I liked the idea of small chickens...

I hear that Auracanas and Hylines are popular and lay a lot of eggs. I think these breeds sound fine! Since your chicks have been together since hatching, they are likely to get along with each other pretty well.

Other good breeds I've had are Black Copper Marans and Jersey Giants. I think that larger chickens such as these are practical because they are less likely to be attacked by suburban predators such as cats. I like this chart on Backyardchickens.com for breed information.


2. What size run did you make?

Our coop is probably too small -- only 10 square feet for the enclosed henhouse and 25 square feet for the lower part of the coop. This coop is made of wood and hardware cloth (not chicken wire) to keep out predators at night. (Here's a photo). Once our original 4 chickens were full grown, we started letting them free range in the yard during the day. However, they made such a mess of the yard that we now confine them to a 120 square foot area during the day. (pictured here). This has worked out great especially now that we have netting over the top so we never have to worry about predators. Sometimes I use this chicken tractor as well. You mentioned you'd be using a chicken tractor -- this will probably work our really well since you have a large yard. Could you tell me more about it?

3. What you do to winterize your coop...red light?

Our winters aren't too cold on the west coast so the only thing we heat is the water. We have a red light that we've never used. The top part of the henhouse is pretty snug, with ventilation on a sheltered side of the coop.

4. How often you are cleaning coop...daily or every second day?

We use the "deep litter method" to cut down on maintenance. The enclosed part of the coop has several inches of bedding which I rake every couple days to get the droppings started composting. I change this bedding monthly. The run also has several inches of bedding and the chickens scratch around and break everything down. Every couple months I rake this bedding into the compost and put out fresh bedding.

5. Have you had any problems with rats? or any other predators?

I come across signs of rats occasionally, but no more than when we had just a regular bird-feeder in the yard! To discourage them, the chicken feeder is kept inside the coop which is locked at night.

This year we did have a raccoon try to get into the chicken tractor during broad daylight, but a neighbor shooed it away.

6. After two years what do you do with your layers?

We are dealing with each chicken on an individual basis. Last year we sold a 1.5 year old hen because she wasn't getting along with the others. We have three other hens coming up on two years and their egg production has slowed down -- one is pretty mean and will probably go into the stewpot. The other two we'll probably keep around since we really like them.

7. Feed: do you do the store bought or combo of table scraps and greens...I was concerned it could attract rats.

We use store bought "Layer pellets" in a feeder so they always have food available. This is locked inside the coop at night. We put out table scraps and store bought chicken scratch, but only what they'll eat during that day.

Our compost / vegetable scrap / grass clipping area is in the chicken run and they like to dig around in there as well. This doesn't seem to attract rats. We don't use any weed killer in our yard so all yard trimmings go into the chicken's compost area. The chickens do the job of turning up the compost and breaking everything down.

8. Flu...did you have any problems with sickness in your flock ever?

We haven't had any sickness. Since you hatched your chicks from eggs like we did, I think likelihood of sickness is low. I use diatomaceous earth as a natural insecticide.


9. Bedding: what do you use...I was told sawdust which can be put into our yard waste bin!

For bedding, we use whatever is available. This fall we got 6 free bales of straw off craigslist, so we've been using that lately. I also use fall leaves. Wood shavings are nicest, and I use this for the top part of the coop where they sleep.

All of the old bedding goes onto the compost pile. After a year it becomes garden soil!

Outdoor home for silkie

Our silkie is finally sleeping outside -- in the greenhouse. He's got a box with a heat source and his feather duster inside. After 4 nights he finally started going up the ramp by himself (he was a little slow figuring it out...)

Silkie chickens -- freaks of nature

Here's a new photo of our silkie -- its feet are getting more feathery every day! I'm thinking I'll give him a trim as soon as his feathers are done growing so he can walk better. People also recommend trimming silkies around their eyes.

He's 14 weeks old and still is indoors most of the time.  He's so friendly and mellow it's like having a pet llama or something. We think of him as a "he" but there's no crowing yet, so fingers crossed that we've got a female.

Update: today I posted photos of this guy on Backyardchickens.com, and the consensus is that he's a male....

Mark Zuckerberg chicken photo

Going back to basics and getting involved in what we eat seems to appeal to people no matter what their income. I think this is a really interesting photo of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg getting ready to process a chicken. Zuckerberg has said publicly that this year he has made a commitment to only eat meat from animals he has killed personally.

When I started raising chickens, I had the philosophy that I should be willing to raise a bird for meat since I'm not a vegetarian. We've only processed 5 birds over the years and every time we've had to do it we agree that if we had to do this every time we ate meat, we'd hardly ever have it. Anyhow I admire someone like Zuckerberg who is willing to see what eating meat is all about. He has also done other animals -- I don't know if I could!

Mark Zuckerberg, Who Just Killed A Goat And A Pig, Responds To Concerned Friends
It's time to fix those security flaws facebook...

Major predators

Up in our neighbor's trees there were two eagles today. I hope my chickens aren't on their radar!

Silkie outgrowing his indoor home

This guy we've been keeping in the house has about grown out of his brooder tank. Silkies don't mind being confined so much, but we've got to figure out the next step. He's getting so tall that when he's curious he can poke his out the top. Here are a couple closeup shots -- one is of his feathered feet.

How are the chicks?

We have two hens from the chicks we hatched in the spring: Ginger and Amy. Both are at the point of lay -- we're expecting eggs any day now. Up close is Ginger -- looking fine.

Next there are the two that have been out in the coop since they hatched in early September. The one on the left with the curled up feathers is a Cochin Frizzle, on the right a Cochin that didn't get a dominant Frizzle gene apparently. Both will be quite small -- not sure if they're male or female yet.









Finally there is the silkie who lives in the house for now. We do take him out when we're working in the yard or greenhouse. The other day I had him in the coop with me, but the other chickens attacked him. Maybe he'll be able to assimilate when he's bigger? (But we're guessing he's a male, so what's the point?) Anyhow for now he's working out fine inside and still likes to sleep under his feather duster. Silkies are strange chickens and sometimes the males don't crow much. I really hope we'll be able to keep this guy.

Crisis in the coop -- we've got an egg eater

This morning I found a half-eaten egg in the coop -- the second this week. It has been several days since anyone has found one to bring in. I even had to buy a carton at the store this week.

Egg eating is a very bad habit for a chicken to get into -- and difficult to break from what I've heard. We still don't know who the culprit is, so we're taking drastic measures to stop this before it is too late. I took out the nest box they've been using and moved the fake eggs (golf balls) back up into the top of the coop where they were laying eggs last winter. Maybe it will be out of sight, out of mind? And we're checking often for eggs to hopefully take them before they get eaten. Also for the past couple of days I've been putting out more "treats" -- produce, chicken scratch, leftovers.

If none of this helps, I guess we'll have to set up a chicken-cam or something.

Update: Moving the nest box up into the coop seems to have helped -- I haven't found any more broken egg shells.

Feather duster buddy for lonely chick

I was looking for something to put in the cage for our indoor chick to cuddle up with. We had tried a stuffed bear, but it wasn't working out. I looked up what people do on BackyardChickens.com, and when I came across the idea of putting in a feather duster, I thought it was right on. Our little guy has had a one for a couple of weeks and he loves it! Yes it is homemade.

During the day it is a toy -- he pecks at it and tries to pull the feathers out. I've had to put it back together three times.

The feather duster is in the heated end of the tank. When he's resting he sits under it like he would a mother hen. The photo on the right is of him settling in for the evening.

Daddy's little helper

The little silkie we're taking care of gets to spend a lot of time outside in this great weather we're having. If you have to do a little yardwork, he's great company. Just put on the Crocs and he'll follow you around. He hasn't gotten stepped on yet, fingers crossed!

Extended summer weather great for little chicks

With all this warm September weather, the chicks are spending every day out in the yard. Pictured here are the two littlest, a cochin and cochin frizzle. Fancypants works like crazy to scratch for bugs for them, which they prefer over regular chicken feed.

Rooster's last day

Our lovely 4 month old rooster has started to crow, so this morning we .... Here are the before and after photos. He's going into the freezer.

Even though we're not vegetarians, it is still hard to do this.

Pampered baby

Our little brown silkie has been living inside for a week. We separated him out since he hatched early and the mother would have left the nest to take care of him instead of sitting on the remaining eggs.

He's getting held a lot and will fall asleep in your hand. We often take him out and he'll follow us around, and will peep loudly when we leave the room.

I do think he likes this little bear -- this morning the bear was inside the tank and he was sleeping against it. This has been a lot of fun for the family, but in about a day he'll have to join the other chicks outside.

Update: This one is not assimilating with the others and will be raised inside for now.

Two more chicks

I'm wondering if we're only going to end up with three chicks this time. Two eggs still show no signs of hatching. Here are the two that hatched Friday and Saturday -- this morning they followed their mom out of the nest.

Update: the other two eggs were undeveloped -- so this is it.

First silkie chick hatched

Fancypants Johnson is sitting on five eggs -- the first one just hatched. The breeds should be brown silkies and cochin frizzles. This little guy would be a brown silkie -- it was already incubating when the breeder gave it to us. The other eggs should hatch in early September.

Two roosters rehomed

The chicks we hatched in May are now maturing and two of the roosters started crowing last week. The two pictured here (in a very roostery stare-down) were sold today to a family who wants to breed chickens that lay dark eggs. These guys are very lucky that they'll get to go live on a farm.

Five eggs set today

One of my chickens (Fancypants Johnson) is back on the nest for the third time this year, so I'm finally letting her hatch some eggs. Today we all went out to a farm where they raise bantam chickens and got 5 fertilized eggs. The chicks should hatch on around Sept. 3. The breeds are silkie and cochin frizzle, which are small, fluffy and very tame.  Do I really need more chickens? No -- I'll probably have to sell these.

One hen off to a new home

Today we sold Penguin to some people in Cloverdale who are just starting out with chickens. For the past several days, she had a trial separation from the rest of the chickens; this seems to have resolved the pecking order problem we were having. The younger ones are now integrating well with the rest of the flock. Penguin was always such a sweet chicken -- we hope a change of dynamics will do her good.

So now we're down to 5 hens and 3 young roosters. The roosters are also advertised on Craigslist. It would be great if they also sold soon -- they'll probably start crowing this month. We won't be able to keep roosters with our neighbors so close.