Jail Birds - Chickens Are Locked Up

Ahhh... poor Morgan. Well, she seems to be better today. What I mean by that is there is no bleeding and she kept her t-shirt on last night and all day today so there was no licking.

I used duct tape to tape the neck opening snugly around her tail. Love duct tape. And I used some quilting scraps to make an extension from her collar to the hem of the t-shirt and attached that with large safety pins.

Morgan is out of the t-shirt now and after a bit more neosporin she is laying quietly on her bed. She has orders to "leave it" which means no licking. Hopefully, all will be well in the morning and she can go outside and the chickens can get out of jail.

The chickens were not happy being locked up in their pen and made a lot of noise to get my attention. They calmed down and did some sun bathing while waiting for me to come let them out. But that didn't happen.

I did throw some scratch in the pen to keep them busy, and I cut up a quarter of a cabbage and some cantaloupe for treats.

I feel so guilty keeping them locked up, but it's for their own good. I don't want the fox to have chicken dinner. Kristine counted the chickens tonight and there are still 16.

Since I was thinking a lot today about my chickens being locked up I started thinking about a bunch of chickens that get to roam free through a part of town. Click here to see a photo of chickens strolling across the street in downtown Fair Oaks, California. There is an article about the town and the chickens.

If you are going to be in the area, the Fair Oaks Chicken Festival will be held in September. Click here for the website. I've never been to the festival, but it sounds like fun.

Yep, I changed my blog design again. I thought the other one was too busy and hard to read. I'll try this one out for awhile and see how it wears.

Peek at the Past

click here

(July 29, 2009

[6 eggs today]

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Smiles

Chickens On The Porch And Morgan Has A Problem Or How To Keep Chickens Off The Porch, Deck, Patio

The chickens are catching the last rays of sun in a warm protected spot on the porch. The porch is radiating some warmth and I know the house is blocking the breeze.

Having chickens on the porch is not something everyone wants because of the chicken poo problem. Our chickens do not spend very much of their time on the porch so their droppings are not  a problem. I find that hosing off the deck takes care of any poo.
(wear eye protection when hosing off the deck)

If chickens are spending time on the porch it is because there is something about the porch that is more attractive to them than other places. In the winter our chickens come up on the porch to stand near the slider next to the wood stove. Chickens aren't dumb. They know where to go to warm up.

How to keep chickens off the porch or deck? Well, I don't mind having them on the porch, but I have a few ideas.

Don't give the chickens anything to eat or drink on the porch. They are going to show up again at a place where there was food. I feed my chickens treats on the porch so they show up every day on the porch tapping at the slider.

Make sure the chickens have places where they would rather spend time than on the porch. If they like the porch because it is warm and protected from wind then they need a warm protected spot of their own. They like dusting areas, if it's hot they like cool shady places that have been watered where they can scratch out a hollow in the damp ground and stay cool. If it is cold they like warm sunny places where they can sun bathe out of drafts and wind.

They like to spend time where there are food sources, water, and treats. Toss out a little scratch on the dirt so they have to spend time scratching for it, have an additional water source, when it is hot a little mud puddle is fun for them, and treats (cabbage, melon, pumpkin, etc.) can be put out for the chickens to lure them to a new spot you would like them to frequent.

The only way to keep the chickens off the porch that I know of that is sure to work is to keep the chickens locked up, keep a dog on the porch that the chickens are afraid of, or screen the porch.

I spent some time playing with my house plants and repotting them. I stuck two of the spider plants in the large planter box until I get a bigger pot for them.

I wanted to transplant some of the small ivy that's in the green garden into the chicken planter, but I couldn't find a start with roots. I'm going to have to use a shovel tomorrow and dig deeper than I can with the hand trowel.

And... then... Kristine came back here while I'm typing up this post and told me that Morgan has blood under her tail.

Oh dear... well after cutting off a lot of Morgan's feathers around her bum and tail we found a few cuts that were bleeding. The cuts may have been from when the groomer trimmed Morgan's coat? The cuts were not forming a scab because (we think) Morgan was licking them and keeping them open.

So, we came up with this t-shirt outfit for Morgan to wear to keep her from licking. We cleaned up her bum, washed with soap and water, rinsed, put on a little neosporin, and rigged up this t-shirt outfit. Hope she leaves it alone tonight. Kristine thinks she will take it off by morning.

Peek at the Past

click here

[6 eggs today]

I've been watching Jeeves and Wooster here on YouTube. This doesn't have anything to do with eggs except Jeeves did put an egg in the fixer up concoction he made for Wooster. I love the opening music and the show makes me laugh. 

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Smiles

Cabinet Doors At Last

The hens didn't get any scratch today. Poor girls. Instead I tossed out some oyster shell for them to pick through.

I gave them a fourth of a cabbage for a treat later.


This was a very lazy day for me and I didn't get very much accomplished. I did get the cupboard doors on the cabinets. Still need to do the caulking and painting.



I asked Morgan to pose in the photo and she agreed as long as I gave her some kibble. She went to the groomer today and came home white instead of beige and smelling like flowers. She's so sweet!


I was looking online at kitchen makeovers and came across this blog with photos of their "chicken coop" kitchen here. Pretty neat.

Peek at the Past
Click here.

(July 27, 2009)
Those potatoes didn't grow. sad.

[6 eggs today]

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Smiles

Mites And Free Range Chickens

John, Going Gently, here, asked me if chickens have red mite over here in the states. I assume that we do because I have seen advertisements for products to kill the little beastie. I'm very glad we do not have a humid climate where we are located. 


Now if the question was specifically do our chickens have red mite then I would have to say that I don't know if they have red mite, but I suspect they have mites of some kind. Since our 16 chickens free range over three acres I would assume that they do have mites that they would have picked up from wild animals that pass through the property.


The hens like to dust bathe in this spot so I added some wood ash to aid in their natural solution to controlling mites and others pests. Since my chickens are exposed to all kinds of pests everyday there is no way I'm going to be able to keep a mite and lice free environment. (I would have to keep them in cages) I figure that the chickens are going to have some pests and as long as they are healthy they will be able to maintain a balance and tolerance and stay healthy. 
I have put food grade (DE) Diatomaceous Earth - here in dusting areas, the coop, roosts, and nest boxes a few times and should probably do it more often. (And be sure to wear a mask!)




Old jeans are the best. The material is so soft and comfortable. Trouble is that by the time the jeans are that great to wear the fabric is wearing thin. I love these jeans and kept them for outside work and painting, but they are wearing very thin, falling apart and won't last much longer.


I did sew up a side seam and tried sewing the large rips , but my sewing machine decided it didn't want to sew through the patches and the thread kept breaking. So, my solution was to haul out the duct tape. At least I will still be able to wear the jeans when I paint.


I love duct tape... it makes the best chicken saddles and comes to the rescue many times.

Peek at the Past

click here

(July 26, 2009)

[5 eggs today]

Duct tape worked great on my hens.

Article here.

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Smiles

Summer Coop Cleaning

The coop and pen were covered with cobwebs. There were sticks and some leaves cluttering up the top of the pen laying on the anchor fencing. Love that fence. It keeps the bears and raccoons out.

Cobwebs are a good thing to have in the coop because they catch all kinds of bugs we really don't want around. The spiders will soon be back building new webs. I don't use any chemicals that might kill the spiders.

I like to wait until there are hot summer days to dry out the coop and pen because the way I get rid of the cobwebs and leaves on the anchor fencing is to use the hose and shoot them off with water. It is so hot out that it doesn't take very long at all for everything to dry out.



Pen (outside) - Next I raked out the pen and used the wheel barrow to bring in loads of dirt I dug up from under the oak trees. The chickens like to have new dirt in the pen to scratch around. There were a few hens checking for edibles when I was moving and leveling the dirt.

The chickens free range the property most of the day, but sometimes we need to keep them in the pen if there are predators around. Or if we leave the property the chickens are safer lock up.

Coop (inside) - Inside the coop where it stays dry all year, I have read that some people put down a deep layer of pine shavings (add to it as needed) and only change it out once or twice a year. The chickens scratch through the shaving and bury their droppings. It is called the Deep Litter Method here.

I guess I am kind of doing that... my method is to put layers of pine shavings and dirt over the chicken poo under the roosts. The coop floor is dirt with a layer of tin. I dug down about a foot and put down some old corrugated panels to slow down any critter that might try to dig their way inside. Then I filled it up with dirt. The light stuff in the photo is pine shavings.






Morgan would like to get in the pen with the chickens and chow down on the chicken feed.

Peek at the Past

(July 25, 2009)

[7 eggs today]

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Smiles

 Lonely, is the only Dark Brahma we have left and she spends much of her time alone since the fox took her buddy (the other Dark Brahma.) She does pal around with, Pasty, a Light Brahma, but most of the time she is off all by herself. Kinda sad. Hope she makes friends with some of the other hens. Everyone needs a friend.

In the photo she is on the porch looking through the slider trying to get my attention because she wants some treats. Earlier I gave the hens some cantaloupe and some corn cobs to peck. She has come back in hopes of a second helping.

She has her beak open in the photo because it is hot and she is trying to cool herself off. Chickens can't sweat so they pant like dogs to lower their temperature.

Usually our chickens hide out under the trees when it is hot and scratch out cool places in the dirt in the shade where they can keep cool. Or if it is really hot they go under the house where it is always fairly cool.

I make sure to put out three sources of water. Very important that chickens have access to water. Some people put out fans or misters to cool down areas for their chickens to use. We just let our chickens free range during the day. The coop is under trees and is a comfortable temperature for them by evening.

I did get all the kick boards nailed on today. Tomorrow I have some caulking to do and a second coat of paint to put on in a few areas.

Note: My daughter, Testing The Waters, has a new post about an experience she had at the Blind Convention. Spoiler... she got felt up. I thought it was funny!

Peek at the Past

(July 24, 2009)

That British Woman has asked if she could use my

Peek at the Past idea and I said yes!

If anyone else would like to use the idea feel free.

[4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Kick Boards Cut And Stained

All the kick boards are cut are stained for the second time!

The chickens and Morgan are confused because I keep opening the slider and they are not getting any treats. Instead of treats they watch me use the miter saw and then hurry back in the house before the mosquitos can find me.

It is hard for me to believe I actually got this far with the project. I kept telling myself to just keep doing one more thing and I finally got everything ready to nail down tomorrow. I'm happy!

I did make a bit of a mess of the floor, but I did it with the best intentions. Since Tom's Mom fell I have been thinking a lot about the boards that go across the floor under the doors. The boards have a rounded top and I have slipped on them at least three times and almost fallen. This happens when I step on the roundy board (I think they are called transition boards) with my heel and my foot slides off and I lose my balance.

I decided to pull up the one I pass over many times a day on my way to the computer and sewing room. I'll leave the other one (it is at the top of the photo) alone for now. I cut some of the kick boards up and placed them in the space. They are the same height as the floor and don't cause a problem. I think I have some extra flooring put away, but this will do for a temporary fix. I guess I really should pull up the other board too. I really don't want to fall and break anything.

Peek at the Past

(July 23, 2009)

The duct tape makes a great chicken saddle!

[4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Baby Oak Trees

 This little Wyandotte hen is scratching up leaves next to baby oak trees. This year little oak trees have sprung up all over the property. I suppose that because we had such a wet Winter and Spring most of the acorns that the squirrels didn't eat have sprouted.

The three acres are covered with oak trees. There are acorns all over.

I really do have to get rid of the tiny trees. There are way too many and they are pretty much covering the ground. I hope most of them will die back in the Summer heat. But so far they are still green and growing.

I'm sure the chickens would like to have more ground cover to scratch around in and find bugs, but I need to keep the property cleared to cut down on fire danger.

I have no idea if my chickens are eating acorns. I never thought they would be able to add acorns to their diet because of the hard acorn shell. I did some searches and found a lot of articles that said that the tannins in the acorns would mess up the chickens digestion. And acorns are not supposed to have enough nutrients.

This site says that chickens can eat acorns. However, they don't state clearly whether the acorns are to be leached or not before feeding to chickens. I know the Ohlone Indians ate a lot of acorns in their diet, but they leached the acorns first to remove the tannins.

I'll have to research this question of chickens eating acorns. There doesn't seem to be any clearly stated opinions because there haven't been many studies done on feeding acorns to chickens.

Kitchen update: I spent the day making miter cuts. This is a slow process for me as I try my best to get all the corners to meet exactly. I did get all the kick boards cut that go around the island and still have a few to cut that go along some walls.

Tomorrow I will stain the boards again. This will not only add a coat of stain and shine to the boards, but will color the cut ends so they won't stand out because the natural color of the wood is light.

Peek at the Past

(July 22, 2009)

That jean top was too heavy for a quilt.

It was like a rug.

So, I made it into a rug.

[5 eggs today]

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Smiles

Morgan likes to watch the hens eat their handful of scratch.  I gave the hens a little bit of cabbage earlier in the day.

This Light Brahma likes to get her drinks from the leak in the hose.

The hens like to get together before they go in the coop for the night. There are always a few hens who go in the pen earlier for a bedtime snack.

Train chickens to go in the coop when you want. My chickens go in their coop to roost when it starts getting dark. But sometimes I want them to go in the coop so I can lock them up.

I like to paint.

I got the second coat of paint

on the island

and painted some 

of the other cabinets.

I need to put on some painters caulk and then do some touch up paint work.

I still have lots more painting to do: the entry, walls, door, etc.

Peek at the Past

(July 21, 2009)

The comment box was neat

but it stopped working.

[6 eggs today]

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Smiles

Good Morgan!

Here is a photo of Morgan at the back fence. Today she has been barking and then tearing off for the fence lines.

I always wonder if she is chasing  squirrels or a fox. When she runs to the fence I think it is perhaps a fox or other predator. I would love to see a California Native Red Fox.

When she runs to a tree, then I think she is herding squirrels from tree to tree. (or following the squirrels) The squirrels are very high up and hop from tree to tree. Morgan (or I) hardly ever see a squirrel on the ground.

While I was back by the fence I noticed a tree that had fallen and was hung up in neighboring tree branches. I don't want to walk under that tree.

On the way back to the house I stopped and watered the little green garden. It is so nice to have a little patch of green among all the dried up litter on the forest floor.

Later, when leaving the garden, I heard some clucking and turned to find I was being followed by the girls. The hens want to find out if I have treats. Sorry, chickies... no treats now.

I gave them cabbage later. I think some of the chickens might have figured out how to fly into the garden, because some of the rose bushes are eaten back.

I spent the day painting. Hard to believe it took me most of the day to get  the first coat of paint on the island.

I didn't have a coat of primer down first, so the paint didn't cover well and the sheet rock sucked the paint up. Tomorrow, the second coat of paint should go on much faster.

Tom's Mom fell and so far the hospital doesn't think she broke or fractured anything. There will be more tests tomorrow.

I'm so sleepy.
I'm having trouble staying awake and alert enough to type this post.

Peek at the Past

(July 20, 2009)

[3 eggs today]

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Smiles

At The Slider

This pretty Australorp was outside the slider when I passed by on the way to do some watering in the little green garden.

Kristine named this hen, Dorsal, because of the way her tail sticks up like the dorsal fin on a fish.

Sometimes there is a Buff Orpington that visits us by the slider and pecks on the glass, but today this Australorp was all by herself. And this hen was being quiet. Just waiting...

About an hour later the hen was still there when I came past.

Then she started to follow me around the side of the house.

Ok...

I know what she wants. Treats!

Cold greens are extra nice to have on a hot day.

I went inside and cut a cabbage into fourths.

Then I cut a fourth up into pieces and called, "chick, chick, chick!" several times.

Morgan and the rest of the hens came running.

Morgan gets a treat too!

Peek at the Past

(July 19, 2009)

The snack chicken still doesn't have eyes,

but there are chocolate bars in the bowl!

[4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Yikes! Squished Egg

I love to collect fresh eggs for breakfast, but broken egg innards and shells were a gooey greeting this morning when I slid my hand under a Buff Orpington. Ick... I think there is a hen laying very, very thin shelled eggs that break under the weight of a chicken nesting. The hen wouldn't even have to step on the egg.

I have had those eggs break from the pressure of me just picking them up from the nest. They don't show up very often.

Lucky for me the next nest had two eggs. Two eggs. That's all this morning from 16 chickens. I did get two more this afternoon, but I think the heat might be slowing egg production down.

The cracked eggs got me thinking about when I showed Tristan how to crack an egg and pull it apart (I was making pancakes when he was visiting.) I am a two handed egg cracker. I got to wondering about how to crack an egg with one hand. I have a lot of eggs around here to practice with so I think I will forego the golf balls.

How to crack an egg with one hand.



Then I got to wondering about the chicken feed. The chickens always will eat scratch, but I've noticed that the levels in the feeders that hold the lay feed are going down very slowly. I don't think they are eating much of the lay. Not eating much lay means not much in the way of laying eggs.


The problem may be the heat or the scratch and treats. I found this article about feeding chickens. My chickens eat up their treats and scratch inside of 5 minutes. That is way under the 20 minute rule but I could be messing up their nutrient levels.

I'll try cutting way back on the treats/scratch and put the oyster shell out in several places instead of just one.

The sage plant is very happy in the sun and has survived without any watering this year even with all the heat. It is shady in the photo because it is late afternoon, but it is usually sunny there all day.

It is very nice under the trees in the shade. Still hot... but nice. The sunny spot in the photo used to be a vegetable garden but the area was dug up because the city has rights to get to the pipes that are buried along there. Too bad. It is one of the few places that get sun most of the day.

Peek at the Past

(July 18, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Is It The Heat?

The first thing I heard and saw when I went out to collect eggs today was this hen pacing back and forth. Why didn't she go out the door and join the rest of the chickens? Curious...

Is it the heat that is causing some of the hens to forget where the exit is to the pen. Their poor little brains are fried? Or? The poor things wandered around in the pen clucking away and I was left to wonder "what are they doing?" A puzzle...

In the summer I put out an extra water pan next to the compost stack so Morgan and the chickens will have three water sources handy. Morgan steps right up for a cool drink. The chickens hang back and let Morgan drink in peace.

Then do the chickens drink the nice cold water out of the pan I washed? Ha! No!

The chickens love, love, love to drink the water that pools in the dirt. And they love to stand in the mud and scratch. I can understand how the cold muddy water between your toes would feel great on a hot day.

(When I was six, I used to enjoy stomping around barefoot when the orchard was irrigated. It was shady and cool among the trees with the soft silky mud up over my knees. The feel of cool muddy legs and mud squishing between my toes on a hot, hot day was delightful. I should ask the chickens to move over and give me some room.)

But drinking muddy water? What's the deal with that?

Here is a page about how to build a homemade chicken waterer. We have an automatic waterer so I don't have to haul water, but this would be a great backup waterer. I would like to make one.

This is a find Morgan photo. I love how the chickens and Morgan can disappear in plain sight.

Morgan is in the middle of the photo in front of the bottom of the two trees in the back. Sneaky, huh? I wonder if the fox or the skunks watch her.

I haven't seen any bears this year and wondered if they had moved to an area that was less crowded. I expect to have some of the chickens over the years become chicken dinner for predators. I don't like it. I don't want my flock killed off, but one or two a year is to be expected. Morgan can't watch all the chickens all the time.

Ah! I just read about an international poaching ring that was captured in the area. They found a bear baiting setup that also had taken mountain lions and other wildlife. If they found one ring then there must be other poachers out there taking deer, turkey and other animals. I wish they could catch them all. People can call caltip to turn in poachers. You don't have to leave your name.

I haven't heard any mountain lions in a long time.

Peek at the Past

(July 17, 2009)

[5 eggs today]

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Smiles

Green On Top

Lots of leaves! There are always leaves all year. They are on the trees in the Spring, Summer and Autumn and always on the forest floor.

The oak trees are all leafed out now, so when I look up the forest looks green and bright against the blue, blue sky. The the leaves up there do block a lot of the sun and keep it cooler down here.

The camera didn't capture the deep blue of the sky. Up here there isn't any smog although there were clouds today because there are thunder storms south of Lake Tahoe. We could use a sprinkle or two, but I don't want any lightening starting forest fires.

The thunderstorms can stay away, thank you.

There is a stack of winter fire wood drying out in the sun under the trees. Maybe we won't stack it in the shed this year and just cover it when the rains start. Some year we do that. We use it up first.

Next are some photos of what I see when I look around. Not a whole lot of green. The green is up. It is brown tree trunks and dried out leaves down here. No grass. Only a few green bushes and my green garden near the house.

The good thing about all the leaves is that they provide camouflage for the chickens and even Morgan is hard to spot sometimes. She will look like just another sun spot until she moves.

I hope it gives the fox fits trying to spot the chickens!

There is a white Brahma in the woods. She doesn't stand out as much as I thought she would.

There is a dark chicken in the photo with Morgan. In fact I think the dark chicken is easier to see than the white one.

I couldn't take the eggy background. Those eggs were just too big and, well... eggy. So I switched again. I did find some fuzzy little yellow chicks, but they were too cutsie. Then I found some chicken wire, but that was too plain.

Then I found these leaves that kinda match up with the leaves on the porch. I'll try this background out for a while. I was hoping to find a background with mountains and mountain type trees. There is one, but it has a stream. I guess I could pretend I have a river on the property. There are rivers, but they are at the bottom of the mountain. I'll keep playing with the design tool.

Pineapple Sweet and Sour Chicken for dinner. Not our chickens. I think they would be too tough and stringy to eat what with them tromping through the woods all day.

Kristine comes home tomorrow. She will need the weekend to rest up from the trip. I've kept her fish alive in spite of wanting to feed them more than she said. (I didn't) The plants are watered and still perky.
Morgan is ok but wants her Mom back.

Peek at the Past

(July 16, 2009)

This works!

[5 eggs today]

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Smiles