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.

More Details on the Coop

We were warned that the hens would destroy whatever green thing existed in the coop within 2 weeks of moving out there. I never imagined that this would actually happen, but it’s true! After about a week, when we had noticed that what little grass and weeds we had there was now just about completely destroyed we decided to take action.

You’ll notice a ladder like contraption on the ground of the coop with plastic hardware cloth over it. This is a clever little contraption for growing grass. It allows grass to grow up through the plastic hardware cloth so that the chickens can eat it without destroying it with their scratching talons.

Underneath the ladder is grass seed covered with woodchips and manure from the chicken coop. It germinated in about 4 days and because of our steady Autumn rains, it grew quite quickly. The chickens continue to fertilize the grass patch each time they poop over the hardware cloth. I have never seen such happy grass!

Here is a picture of the grass in its first days (and Alice and Francis having an encounter!).




We’ve since removed this contraption from its first location and have moved it to the other side of the coop to grow more grass. In the meantime the chickens have managed to destroy the previous locations grass in about three days!

This is a picture of the grass after day one of the device being removed!




I also wanted to point out that even though I was worried that the girls would never learn how to get up on their “big girl” roosts, they have successfully gotten up their and I’ve even found them all sleeping up there at night. Success!

Seven Weeks Old!

Wow, how the time has flown by! Daily the girls are looking more like adult hens. I just love when they lie down and fluff out their feathers to make that beautiful round hen shape.

The girls love their coop, but love it even more when we go out in the morning to let them out of the coop. We love to watch them take turns flying out the coop door as if to say “good morning world!” It’s no wonder that these feathery creatures have so often been depicted in books and movies- they are such animated little creatures.

Each of the ladies has her own unique personality and is maturing at different rates.


Francis, Dominique



She is our little baby. Francis, although now about the size of the other girls, will be the smallest of our hens. Her breed averages around 5 lbs at adult age, the other hens are considered heavy breeds and will average 6-7 lbs. After reading about chicken breeds we were hesitant to get a Dominique because what we had read indicated that she would be unhappy in our small coop and run space and would be the most skittish of the birds. Francis is just the opposite! She is very docile, affectionate and sweet. She is the only chicken that freely lets our 4-year old pick her up and she will fall asleep on whatever lap she is placed. The other hens adore her and treat her like their little sister, they even fall asleep with their necks draped over her body.



Jane, Black Australorp



What a beautiful bird Jane is growing up to be! She has started to develop her adult feathers which glow an iridescent blue and purple. We call Jane the mama hen (or is she a rooster?). She is always on the lookout for danger and stretches her neck out tall to make sure all the other hens are safe. She seems to be one of the largest of our girls, especially when she lays down and fluffs her feathers.



Lizzie, Delaware



I have to admit, I had some reservations about Lizzie when she was a chick. Her constant pecking at the other girls and pure stupidity when it came to food could be irritating at times. Now that Lizzie has matured she is one of my favorites. She loves attention, and refuses to be the last chicken to settle down on my lap. She is the one who jumps on my back when given the opportunity and one of the first to greet me in the morning.



Maggie, New Hampshire Red



For the longest time Maggie ruled the roost. She was the largest chick and remained the largest until just a couple of weeks ago. She is now about the size of Francis, although definitely more “meaty” than Francis. Maggie is terrified of our resident chipmunk and runs franticly at first site of the little furry beast. Because of this we’ve been trying our best to install updates to the run to keep “Chippy” from getting in. So far we have been unsuccessful.



Alice, Speckled Sussex



Alice’s place on this list in no way indicates her favor in my heart. To most visitors Alice seems the most detached from the group. In many ways she is, she likes to roam around alone, she enjoys being outside even when the air is chilly, and she doesn’t spend long periods of time at the feeder (although you wouldn’t guess that by her size!). I think I like her so much because she reminds me of myself- content in the silence of solitude. She is a little hard to catch (still!), but don’t let that confuse you. She sure does love to cuddle on your lap or arm or back. Alice is still by far the most beautiful of our birds, her speckled color patterns are a fingerprint of God’s creative beauty.

Moving into the Coop

It is now mid-Septmeber and it has been warm enough here in upstate NY that we've been able to move the chickens into their (now-finished) coop. I'm happy to say that they are LOVING their new digs and we are happy to have them out of the house! It is so much more natural for them to be outdoors.

Here's the girls enjoying a dust bath:






They are learning a lot about their neighbors (not the human kind, but of the animal variety). I often find them having stare-downs with our resident chipmunk and we have noticed the local hawk spending an unusual amount of time in the large tree in our front yard. Clearly the chickens have noticed the hawk, or at least sensed its presence because when we go to check on them they are huddled in the corner of their coop. Poor girls, we hope that the hawk will soon realize that our coop and run are secure enough to keep him out!


More pictures of the coop:

After a Weekend Away.

We were able to enjoy a couple of days at the lake house with my parents and left the chickens at home to fend for themselves. When we arrived home we were shocked at how they had grown! They are REALLY starting to look like hens now!

I think I would call this stage of their lives "little girl" stage. They are growing more and more independent, but still love to snuggle on our laps. All five of them fell asleep on my lap the other day (note: that's a lot of chicken for one lap!).


In this picture you'll also be able to get a peek of the brooder where they've been living in our basement (generously loaned by the Hurst family). In order to make sure they had enough food while we were away we constructed the feeder seen in the picture out of 2 trader joes coffee cans.


Some new pictures at 4 weeks:


Alice, Speckeled Sussex




Francis, Dominique




Maggie, New Hampshire Red




Lizzie, Delaware





They just love to preen themselves!