October 11, 2015

chickens are molting

My chickens have started molting. The coop is covered with feathers. I guess they are shedding their dirty summer feather and will grow in fluffy new down coats for winter. I’m told it takes a lot of protein to molt and they don’t lay eggs during this time. I’m down to one egg a day. Only because the youngest (Roxy: my barred Rock) hasn’t started her molt yet. Today, I’ll try to remember to get their winter light set up. I put a standard 40 watt bulb in the coop…

March 5, 2015

7 eggs from 4 hens?

I was amazed to find 7 eggs in my coop today. But I only have 4 hens!! Hmmm. At first I thought someone had added some. Not. Then maybe that 3 hens layed double. Not. I knew I had tended them yesterday. I remember feeding them a big serving of leftover rice and squash as well as chicken pellets. OK, after thinking rationally, I must have fed them but forgot to bring in eggs. It sure looked cool to see the big nestfull of eggs. Two pinks, one blue, four…

January 20, 2015

chicken coop with a glass covered run

I think this is the reason my chickens are laying nearly an egg a day in the coldest and darkest days of winter. Its my husband’s invention and creation. During our house renovation, we needed up with two unneeded large panes of glass. A wood frame was designed to fit these panes. The panes and heavy and weren’t easy to hoist up onto the frame. I love the result! Can’t say I’m hearing any complains from the hens. In this last picture, snow has covered the roof. We clear this…

January 18, 2015

it’s a 4 egg day!

All four of my hens laid an egg today. Omelets!

January 8, 2015

eggs!

Today, for the first time, all four of my hens laid an egg! Yeah!!! I haven’t had any eggs for almost 4 months! After loosing a hen to a local hawk or coyote last summer, I purchased two young hens (pullets) in late August. The new chickens apparently disrupted things so much that my two one year old hens stopped laying. It took a couple months for things to settled down. Once everyone started getting along, I think it was too dark for them to lay. My run is covered…

October 30, 2014

adjusting my chicken’s lighting

My chickens still aren’t laying any eggs. I came across this article: Why Aren’t My Chickens Laying, from McMurray Hatcheries. I will follow their advice and set my light timer to come on early in the morning, before dawn, to give the chickens 14 hours of sunlight. Near Boston, we’re getting 10.5 hours of sunlight now (and decreasing fast!). Sunrise today was 7:15 MA, so I should the light to come on at 3:45 AM!! That’s early! I had my light coming on at 6:15 AM and after dusk until…

October 13, 2014

chicken update

Its been a long haul getting my two new pullets accepted by my two one-year-old hens. I got the pullets mid-August, mail order from McMurray Hatchery. I think this weekend, two months later, they are finally “getting along”. When the pullets first arrived, I kept them in a large metal dog crate next to the chicken run. Occasionally, I let all the chickens out in the yard to forage. At first the big hens chased the pullets and wouldn’t come within 20 feet of them. Over the next couple weeks…

October 13, 2014

chicken work

Today I hung out with the hens a while. – Replace multiple tarps with one large tarp on top of the run. – Remove chicken wire between the old and new run sections. – Move hay storage boxes to the front of the run. – Watch chickens to see if they are getting along. – Add more hay to the laying boxes and put golf ball (decoy egg) in one. – Talk with chickens about laying more eggs.

August 20, 2014

new chickens

I just picked up my two new chickens at the post office. They (McMurray Hatcheries)shipped them much nicer this time, in a box twice a big as last time (for 3 chickens last time) and this box had a divider between the birds. I got two pullets (hens 15-22 weeks old). A Barred Rock (black and white) and another Black Australorp. I was warned by Linda not to put them with the full grown birds right away, but to use a dog crate at first. SO I am using one…

April 3, 2014

chickens and eggs

We are doing some renovations upstairs of our new house where there’s a good view of my chicken coop. The construction crew tells me they’ve seem a big red tailed hawk fly down and perch on my chicken coop a couple of times. Of all places! Can’t he perch on some bird feeder or a random small tree?!! He might as well put in his order for a chicken lunch! The red tails out here are BIG! I’ve been impressed. They must be better fed than the ones in more…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30