Loud Noises and Maggie the Protector Hen

My most recent chicken related pursuit is to determine whether my chickens are hens or roosters. They should all be hens, but sometimes things appear that make me curious. For example, around 2 months they all had small bumps that appeared just above their feet. Are these spurs? No, it turns out many hens grow these small bumps, but it is only on roosters that they grow into inch long extensions. Our hens have bumps, but they are just that- bumps.

Recently the ladies have starting to make real chicken noises rather than just peeps. I had a bit of a scare last week when I picked up my favorite hen Alice and rather then her normal long hum sound she made a couple short clucks followed by a long groan. Was this her attempt at crowing like a rooster? In a bit of a fright I rushed her inside to the kitchen where my husband was making dinner and said to him, “listen to this! Does that sound like a rooster noise to you?”

This was followed by a frantic google search for chicken noises, to try to figure out exactly what kinds of noises hens make vs what kinds of noises roosters make. Remember, I did NOT grow up around chickens or even close to a farm, so I really have no idea what to expect. Well, it turns out that hens are able to make some pretty loud noises, especially when they are about to lay an egg (do a youtube search, it is very funny to hear!).

Feeling once again quite content that indeed all my chickens are hens, I put the girls to bed.

The very next day, while getting ready for dinner, I heard loud noises coming from the back yard. “What on earth is that noise?!” I exclaimed. Imagine my surprise when I opened the back door, peeked out, and found Maggie was the creator of such a racket! There she was making the exact noise I had heard just the evening before and associated with the noise that hens make just before they lay an egg. Was Maggie going to lay an egg?

I called to my daughter and husband, “come look at this! Do you think Maggie is going to lay an egg? She’s only 3 months old!”

After a minute or two of shock and amazement, and some logical thought, I remembered more about what I had read the day before about hens making loud noises. They make these kinds of noises before they lay an egg AND when they are frightened. Hmm…

As I scanned the yard for predators I noticed peering from under the bushes directly across from the chicken run a small cat. Maggie, who for a long time was the biggest hen, but has since become one of the smallest and we assumed the least dominant hen, was showing that her role was still the protector hen.

The loud noises continued for a little while. The kitty was very curious about these large birds, and continued to peer at them even after the hens were locked up in their coop. Eventually the cat moved on, and the girls went to bed putting an end to an evening of excitement.

Some More Coop Adjustments

After some thinking and reading, we decided to make a few small adjustments on the coop.

The first adjustment was to stagger the heights of the roosts. The rational for this is simple, the old roosts were at the same height, but they were higher on one end than on the other. This caused the chickens some distress when they attempted to roost because they wanted to be on the high side, but had trouble settling because the roost was uneven. This made for a very cute sequence of events when they ALL tried to be at the top. Funny chickens! I also thought it would be helpful to give the ladies a more step-like system to get to the highest roost.




I have to say this is what was originally recommended, but we didn’t want to create division in our flock so we resisted. Our roosts are, however, long enough that all the ladies can fit on a single roost. Consequently there is rarely pushing or fighting over the “top spot” because their really isn’t a “top spot”! Perhaps I am too optimistic, but I have to say that although all our girls have different and unique personalities, there doesn’t appear to be a defined pecking order. The order seems to change daily, and they seem to share the responsibility rather than fight over it.

Another adjustment:
After some reading I thought that perhaps our nesting boxes should have a cover on them. The literature suggests that they prefer a space that is dark, and because there was a window directly over the nesting boxes it would be rather light in there- perhaps too light for laying. We wanted to make sure that even with the cover the hens still had plenty of room inside and that the lid could be opened from the back (where the window opens for egg retrieval).




The result very much resembles a Tuscan villa. If that doesn’t encourage the hens to lay I don’t know what will! We’re looking forward to finding our first eggs nestled in the hay.

Also notice we've upgraded the ladies to an adult waterer and feeder. We decided to go with metal- mostly because we are trying to get away from using plastic, but also because I had heard that metal is preferable for several reasons.

1) Metal is more durable. Many people say that their plastic feeders and waterers fall apart after a few years. Handles break, closure don't fasten correctly, etc...

2)Metal doesn't allow light to get in. This is important for the waterer, because if light were to penetrate the waterer there is a good chance the waterer will soon be filled with algae. Not impossible to clean, but kind of a pain.

We chose a feeder and waterer that is large enought to feed and water our hens for 2-3 days without needing to be refilled. Note: one reason we loved the idea of chickens was that we could go away for a few days and not have to find a babysitter for them.

Also of note: Instead of purchasing the $30-$50 water heater for below the waterer, we will be attempting to use a bird bath heater (cost=$7)directly below the waterer bottom. We'll let you know how this works once it is up and running. We are still quite warm in these parts.

All that said, we decided that the chicken nipple waterer was NOT a success: some of the ladies loved it, others refused to use it. Lets face it- it is not natural for chickens to drink this way! We did decide, however, to keep the rabbit water bottle up and running in the run. All the hens use it without complaint and it provides them with another source of liquid while they are not in the coop.

Chickens as Pets

We’ve been reading about a recent lawsuit that occurred in the next town over that involved keeping chickens.

You can read the details here: www.niskayunachickens.com/Nisky_Chick_s_Story.html
What we find most intriguing was this section, as described by the owner of said chickens:

“During all the months and through all the appearances, the Town never cited a single Town Code violation. Their stance was it is not possible to have a "pet" chicken. They can only be farm animals, and we are not a farm.”

This is especially interesting to us because although we have had our chickens only for a few months, we consider them our “pets”. Some raise them strictly for eggs or meat, however many consider chickens their pets. We even purchased our chicks from a website called mypetchicken.com!



In defense of chickens as pets I have a few pictures to share. Our ladies are 10 weeks old in these images. Might I point out that these hens voluntarily jump on my lap when I sit in their run and shortly after settling in on my lap they fall asleep there. Also of note is the friendly behavior they exhibit to my overly affectionate 4 year old daughter. Certainly any animal who is willing to snuggle with a 4 year old is worthy of being called a pet!




Lastly, I’d like to just comment on how interesting it is that we are allowed to call just about anything else that is an animal a pet including lizards, turtles, snakes, rabbits, ferrets, etc…
Why is it that when you keep an animal on your property that provides food in return for your care it is no longer considered a pet? And what exactly is the definition of pet?

The owners of the chickens in the previously mentioned article have now created a “Micro-Farming Initiative” in hopes that the town zoning laws might be changed to allow residents to keep chickens. Bravo!

If you live in Niskayuna, would you consider supporting this movement?
See the website for more information: www.niskayunachickens.com

Dead Hens?

Our ladies just LOVE the sun! For the most part, the chicken run is shaded all summer because it has a large tree canopy covering it. In these late summer, early fall days the sun has started to reach the edges of the chicken run, offering these young ladies a glimmer of warmth on a chilly day. It is very strange watching them lay in the dirt or grass with one leg and wing stretched out! I have to admit, if you didn’t know what they were doing, you might think that some sort of chicken massacre has occurred.