Plum on her eggs

Four articles for Spring Chickens

Prepare for your chicks arrival.

Tips for when your chicks arrive.

Keep your hens entertained. A few tips.

13 tips for raising Happy Chickens

Blue Cochin as a pullet

"Soldiers returning from China brought the first Cochin bantams to England in the 1860’s. They were known as “Pekin” bantams then and are still referred to as “Pekins” in many parts of Europe. Cochins are heavily feathered down the shanks and toes and appear to be much larger than they actually are. They are very gentle, excellent setters, rdquire little space, and with their many color varieties are absolutely beautiful to look at. Cochins are the most popular of the feather legged bantams and one of our best setters. The true blue color is perhaps one of the most difficult colors to breed for in the poultry world. We have a nice blue that will vary from a bluish white to a beautiful black laced dark blue. (Please see "The Color Blue" under Blue Andalusians for a description of our Blue Cochin chicks.)" From Murray McMurray

If you are thinking of getting hens this spring.

A few things to think about before your hens arrive.

1. Have a plan if you happen to get a rooster. Every time I get new baby chicks that are all supposed to be hens I get a rooster. If you cannot keep a rooster be sure you have a happy place to have your rooster go. Good places to check are other chicken owners, a local farmer. Just a warning, it can be difficult because no one really wants the roosters. I had someone call me once, she had ordered 12 chicks and 6 of them were roosters and she was trying to find homes for them. Roosters fight and cannot usually be in the same coop.

2. Have your coop all prepared before hens arrive.

3. Each hen should have 6 square feet of space.

4. Make sure the coop is completely predator proof - neighborhood dogs, coyotes, hawks, racoons, fox and rats etc. It needs to be very secure.

5. The coop should be well ventilated but not windy or wet.

6. 5 hens can share a nesting box. A henhouse should always have nesting boxes and roosts.

7. Your chickens should have access to sun. They need roughly 14 hours of light to be good layers.

8. Hens need a place to take a dust bath. This is their natural way to keep pests down. Lice make your hens very uncomfortable and unhealthy.

9. Fresh water every day.

10. Feed should include greens, feed, grit and I add coarse corn and black sunflower seed.

11. Perches or roots. Hens need them I use an old thick broom handle.

12. Any questions email me: thehappychickens@gmail.com

If you are getting baby chicks that's a whole other process.

My very first hens.

13 Tips for raising Happy Chickens

13. Feed your girls greens. Weeds. Leftover Salad. The lettuce from the bottom of the fridge (don't throw out your food scraps, give it to your hens)

12. Have a plan for what you are going to do if you end up with roosters. They can be difficult to find homes for them if you can't keep them. Plan ahead.

11. Consider using food grade diatomaceous earth for pest control. Sprinkle it in deep bedding or lightly on the feed. Wear a mask when working with DE.

10. Choose one breed of chicken and get to know that breed. Generally each breed has specific needs and it is easier to start with one breed. I recommend Rhode Island Reds. Or considering helping a heritage breed.

9. Have at least 5 square feet of space for each bird, 10 square feet if they are in a coop all day.

8. Have a place for your hens to perch or roost. Best to use 2" wide poles.

7. Hens need 14-16 hours of light a day to lay eggs. In the winter you may supplement with lights set on a timer.

6. Make sure your coop is predator proof! this includes storing feed in rat proof containers.

5. Coop should be well ventilated but not drafty.

4. To encourage egg laying there should be 1 nesting box per 4 hens.

3. Make sure your birds aren't bored. I make sure they have "scratch" in their coop to give them something to work on.

2. I feed my hens organic layer pellets, cracked corn, black sunflower seeds, mealworms, scratch, fresh greens, worms, grit and of course clean fresh water every day.

1. Talk to your birds, they will talk back, and make sure to give them lots of love.

Happy Chickens for 2011

Alice. Everyone knows Alice.















Josie as a baby.

HappyChickens out in the field

New Chick.

A White Crested Black Polish, named Stella. She really is a star. I am so excited I can barely breath. She is gorgeous. I was lucky enough to get her from my very good friend Jan Brett (author of my favorite kids book The Mitten). I have been hoping hoping I might be able to raise one of her amazing birds. Now it has happened. Wow. Thank you Jan!

The Alice. Mayor of the barn. Everyone loves Alice

HomeWork

Good morning hens.

Frankie.

He is the big guy on campus. He is so boss.

My three NH Reds out for morning run.

With Salmonella, It's A Chicken-Or-Egg Conundrum - NPR

Courtesy of John Ingraham

Eggs themselves are remarkably resistant to germs like salmonella. The shell and proteins in the egg white normally do a good job of fending off pathogens. But eggs laid by a bird infected with salmonella will likely be infected, too.


"Eggs have been getting a bad rap lately as the number of people being made sick by eggs contaminated with salmonella continues to rise. But from an egg's point of view all of this is a bit unfair. Eggs get contaminated because the hen that's laying them is infected. Eggs themselves — if they come from a healthy bird — are remarkably resistant to contamination.

John Ingraham is particularly interested in how eggs stay microbe-free. He is a microbiologist and a chicken owner, and he happens to be my grandfather. He has spent years exploring the world of tiny organisms and so-called "retirement" hasn't changed that.

About a dozen chickens strut and peck in a large chicken coop tucked in between the clothes line and the gleaming pool in Ingraham's back yard in suburban Sacramento. They're quite vocal, and Ingraham points out the distinctive cackle that means one has laid an egg. They sound quite proud of the accomplishment."

READ and LISTEN to whole article here

Sweet Alice - Belgian D'Anvers