Sad Chickens and LGD

Our chicken are not very happy at the moment, because they are on lock down!  If you saw our previous blogs, you saw happy chickens scratching up compost and eating bugs and expressing his/her "chickeness."  If you follow Joel Salatin, then you know "Chickeness"from the movie Fresh, which is now on Netflicks.  Unfortunately, from this information Chicken Predators  I believe we had a fox that the lastest chicken attack that cost me 10 hens over a five day period.  Okay, so you are thinking 10 chickens out of 50--that's not so bad.  Let's do a little math, each day old chick cost $2.50-$6.00 depending on the breed and then I have to raise it and feed it for four to five months before I see the first egg.  Ouch!

Which is bring me to my next farming adventure- a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD).  After reading and talking with the lovely people at Calvert Animal Rescue, I decided that a Great Pyrnees is the best LGD for our family because of the kids (human not goats, hehehe).  While on my quest, I found two local farms that use LGD's: Wagon Wheel Ranch and Whitmore Farm.  Can you say, road trip?  I really would love to see these LGD's in action and "pick" the brain of his/her trainer.  Here I go again!

Louie, Cochin Bantam killed by a predator

We have several types of chicken houses.  One is permanent and is my brooder and bantam house.

Nesting Boxes

Sweet Heater and two heat lamps

The other chicken house is a chicken tractor and it is able to be moved to various locations by truck or tractor.

Excuse Me, I am taking a bath

Ok, so they are fully dressed in feathers.  These lady hens are all taking a dust bath.  The dust bath will remove lice, mites, and old scales.   Even if the picture makes them look a little silly, they will come out looking fantastic and clean (for a chicken).

Composting Helpers AKA Chickens

This pile of compost was twice as tall a week ago, before the chickens found it.  We moved the chicken tractor and the hens have gone to work.  How did the girls know that tossing of this pile was necessary?  Were they on the internet researching?  No they were finding yummy insect larve and bugs.

This is from Composting Cow Manure:

"An important consideration when composting cow manure is the size of your bin or pile. If it’s too small, it won’t provide enough heat, which is essential for the composting process. Too big, however, and the pile may not get enough air. Therefore, frequently tossing the pile is necessary." 

Broody Hens

It is spring and the hen house is getting broody.  You can see the the picture above two hens in one nesting box.  I have 10 nesting boxes and all 40 girls use only three of them.  The phrase "Bird Brain" came from somewhere, right?

Broody is defined as  : being in a state of readiness to brood eggs that is characterized by cessation of laying and by marked changes in behavior and physiology <a broody hen>

So what the above definition doesn't says is that the broody behavior starts as the hen begins to pluck out her own chest feathers for several days.

  The hen will line her nest with these feathers (see picture above) and it will be easier for her to keep her eggs the correct temperature for incubation, if she is "skin" to egg.  The picture below shows the "naked" chest of a broody hen.  The first time I saw this I thought I had some type of desease, but the hen knew what she was doing.

Chickens

Caroline

Devon

Our farming adventure began with chickens.  First we bought several and then we hatched several and then they just keep coming.  The most I think I have ever had at one time is over 100 chickens.