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Our Rhode Island Red hen reminded us of the joy our flock of diverse breeds gives us.

Years ago, we’d order a batch of chicks all of the same breed. Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Light Brahmas, and Buff Orpington’s were our favorites. We’d end up with six or eight pullets that all looked the same. By studying them carefully we could sometimes find slight differences in their feathers or combs that helped us tell one bird from the other but it took time.

Switching to a diverse flock gave us a new joy. Since each bird looks strikingly different from the others it was easy to tell one hen from the others. That helped us spot their varied traits. Do chickens have individual personalities? The diverse flock helped us figure that out.

Our Rhode Island Red and Buff Cochin are examples. Because they look so different from each other and the other birds in our flock, we noticed that they chose to roost next to each other every night. Were they “friends”?  Well, it looked that way. That seemed to be confirmed when our Cochin went broody and spent all her time keeping her clutch warm. The other hens went outside, but not Red. She stayed close to the broody Cochin. When the eggs hatched Red stayed close and appeared to help with motherhood.

Animal behaviorists might dismiss the idea that these two hens were friends, but they certainly seemed to be. If we had had a flock of all Cochins or Reds, we would have had a hard time distinguishing unusual behavioral traits from one bird to the other. So, being able to identify birds as individuals made our chicken hobby fascinating.

Building a Diverse Flock

When building a diverse flock, we start by deciding what egg color we want and the general size of mature hens. We favor brown eggs, in part because they tend to be laid by large birds that are usually tame and easy to manage. Even when eliminating white egg layers from our order we still have many breed options to choose from.

Over the years we’ve chosen chicks to buy based on our year’s theme. Hoover’s website lists the origin of most breeds and a photo of each, making it easy to build a diverse flock.  Here are some of our past flocks.

Our Flock of the States: Marion’s from New Hampshire and Rich New Jersey, so one year our flock of the states included a New Hampshire Red and a Jersey Black Giant.

From there we added a Rhode Island Red, California White, Barred Plymouth Rock named for a Massachusetts landmark, and an Ohio Buckeye. To those we added a Delaware and a Wyandotte from New York. Our flock represented many states.

Our Flock of Different Nations:  In another year we created an international flock that included a Brahma (possibly India), Cochin (China or Vietnam), Orpington and Sussex (England) a Bielefelder (Germany) an Australorp (Australia) and a Maran (France).  We could have added an Americana, a breed with ancestors from South America.

In some years we’ve chosen breeds from all over the place. It created an international flock. They were of many feather colors with different feather patterns. Some had feathered shanks and most of the hens had different types of combs. All were good brown egg layers.

There was one other advantage. We collect eggs a couple of times a day. Often, we’d find a hen in the nest ready to lay. Because each of our hens has a different look it helped us determine which one was a steady layer and which might be a slacker – or broody.

Although our chickens represented different states and continents, they are actually Americans who began life in a Hoover’s Hatchery incubator. Since the hatchery is in the tiny town of Rudd, Iowa, all our chickens are truly Iowans!

Creating a diverse flock makes it easy for us to tell one bird from another and create distinctive flocks. We love watching a blend of different colored chickens enjoy hours wandering around their big run. Everyone is a bit different.

Years ago, we were newcomers to backyard chickens with a problem. Chick catalogs came in the winter. They were fun to read as snow drifted outside. We’d decide what breeds we wanted and place an order for April delivery. That date was a problem. April and May were ferociously busy. We needed to plant the vegetable garden, mow lawns, and try to find time to go fishing. Back then our two small children had many late school year events to attend. Squeezing in time to brood chicks was challenging.

After a few harried springs we found a solution. Winter became chick brooding time. Although spring is the traditional season to start chicks, they can be successfully started in mid winter, even in Minnesota, Montana, Maine and other frosty states. January or February hatched chicks get a jump on spring babes and begin laying in early summer, about when garden vegetables are ready to pick.

We learned that setting up a brooder, adding chicks, and caring for them during the snowy season is a remedy for cabin fever. Our kids loved going downstairs on frosty nights to watch the new babies. Here in Iowa the temperature can plunge to 20 below zero, making it tough to keep a brooder warm in an outside coop. Our old house had a woodstove that kept the downstairs toasty warm on even the coldest nights. Even if a storm knocked out power our basement would stay warm for hours. It proved to be a great place to brood chicks.

That had advantages. If there’s a problem and chicks get uncomfortable, they peep loudly. With the brooder in the house, we’d hear them immediately and solve the problem without wading through snow.

There was a downside. Chicks create dust, noise, and odor, so we’d change their litter often and move them outdoors as soon as they were feathered enough to handle the cold.

Jon Alden, Director of Poultry Genetics told us that Hoover’s Hatchery ships many breeds throughout the winter. These include Barred and Buff Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Hampbars, Buff Orpingtons, Americaunas, Black Australorps, Light Brahmas and many more. What’s available is noted on the website.

Brooding Winter Chicks

Brooding chicks in January is essentially the same process as in May, but cold weather requires more planning and attention. Newly hatched chicks need a temperature close to the human body’s. About 98 degrees. The temperature should be dropped five degrees a week as both the chick’s bodies and feathers grow. Our basement’s normal temperature was around 70 degrees, so the brooder only needed to boost it about 28 degrees for new chicks to be comfortable.

Start chicks in May when the weather is warming and they won’t need much supplemental heat after six or eight weeks as summer approaches. That’s not reality in the winter. Start chicks in mid-January and by six weeks it will still be frigid outside. So, supplemental heat is needed longer.

Here are some tips for successfully brooding winter chicks:

• Position the brooder in a heated room. Often a basement works well. Be careful. Litter and brooders can catch fire. Keep heat sources, like light bulbs, away from anything that could catch fire and located where chicks can enjoy the warmth but not be burned. Position a smoke detector in the room just in case.
• Watch out for drafts. They cut like a knife through an otherwise warm room or brooder. Make sure the brooder is draft free but has ventilation.
• Keep waterers and feeders filled. Chicks drink lots of water, even in the winter.

A Winter Brooding Tip

Some grade schools brood chicks as a learning tool in the winter. A call to the local school might help locate a teacher willing to partner. They’ll brood your chicks for a couple of weeks in the classroom as a learning tool and do the brooding chores. We once had a school close to our home and teachers would walk their class over weeks later to see “their” chicks.

Buying Chicks in Winter

Hoover’s will mail chicks in winter and some farm stores sell them during the cold months. We prefer buying them from the store and quickly move them to our prewarmed brooder.

Now that our kids are grown and we’ve retired from regular jobs, we have time to garden, fish, and brood chicks each spring. But winter brooding worked well for us and helped us have years of successful chicken rearing.

A ruckus from the chicken run startled us. As our hens and rooster rushed around in a wild frenzy they voiced a racket of distress calls.

Running out we discovered a red fox with our Rhode Island Red in his mouth.  The fox was heading for a small hole in the run’s fence. Fortunately, he made a mistake.

The gap in the fence was just big enough for the slim fox to enter but too small for the hen to fit through. With us approaching, the fox dropped the terrified and wildly flapping and squawking hen, squirted through the hole and raced for the woods. The shaken-up hen had lost a few feathers but was unhurt. We found some wire and closed the fence gap.

The average person eats 103 pounds of tasty chicken every year. Many predators share our love of the delicious meat and raid a coop if they can. Protecting the flock from them is essential.

In our years tending backyard flocks the fox incident was one of only two predator attacks. The other was deadly. One afternoon another ruckus came from the coop. A Cooper’s Hawk had attacked our Brahma hen outside and ridden on her back as she panicked and ran into the coop. Rich found the hawk on top of the dead hen. After chasing the raptor out, he snapped a picture of the headless victim and buried her out back.

Guns and Traps

Lose chickens to a predator and a common reaction is to shoot or trap the killer. It’s a failed strategy. Yup, it’s possible to shoot a raccoon or fox, but others quickly appear.  You just can’t shoot them all. Unleashing a bullet can pose a safety hazard and is often illegal. Preventing predators from accessing chickens is the most effective permanent solution.

Thwarting Predators

Furry Animals:  Pet or stray dogs likely pose the most serious threat to backyard chickens. They kill chickens, sometimes a whole flock. Several species of wild mammals also pose a threat. Foxes love chicken dinner. Coyotes prefer eating cottontails, rats, and other mammals but will eat an easy to catch bird. Opossums don’t usually kill chickens but will climb into a nest and lunch on eggs. Mink and weasels sometimes are chicken killers. Prevention:  Keep predators away from the flock.  A solid fence of stout wire mesh that presses tightly against the ground keeps out mammals that can’t climb, like red foxes, coyotes, and dogs.

Most predators work the night shift, so closing the pop hole door at dusk keeps sleeping hens safe. Raccoons are amazingly powerful and agile climbers that sometimes enter through coop windows. To keep them outside, we cover windows with stout wire mesh.  Weasels squeeze through small holes and cracks. Filling them with caulking or metal scrub pads keeps them outside.

Birds:  Most hawks and owls target mice, rats, cottontails and other small mammals but not all. Cooper and Sharp Shinned hawks are bird eaters, preying mostly on songbirds but sometimes they will attack a hen. Bald eagles prefer eating fish but occasionally will kill a chicken. Some owls will kill chickens but owls are almost exclusively night hunters when chickens are locked up. Prevention:  Since owls are night hunters, chickens tucked safely in their coop after sunset eliminates their threat. A surefire way to keep raptors away from chickens is to install a mesh or solid wood “ceiling” over the entire run. Stringing monofilament fishing line criss crossing the top of the run may also discourage them.

Please note that raptors are protected by federal and state laws.

Bugs:  Not all chicken predators have claws, teeth or talons. Perhaps the most troublesome animals who enjoy chicken blood are mosquitoes and gnats. They’re mostly active after dark.  Prevention:  Keeping the chickens inside after dark with windows covered with mosquito netting keeps bugs out. Windows need two coverings during warm months. A stout mesh wire on the outside of windows excludes raccoons and one of mosquito netting placed on the inside of the window keeps out bugs.

Chicken predators are everywhere. Raccoons and opossums even live in big cities. Dogs are everywhere. Keeping them away from a flock is the best way to keep chickens safe.

Sometimes our bicycles bring us past magical places. That happened one evening as we peddled through urban Cedar Rapids. A sideways glance filled our eyes with a yard full of blooming plants. Hopping off our bikes to get a better look, we spotted six colorful chickens almost hidden within the flowers.

We were biking a section of the Great American Rail Trail that spans the United States.
The section by the flowery yard passes homes, factories, stores, and parks. Hundreds of cyclists, walkers, skateboarders and parents pushing baby carriages pass by the flower-filled yard. Some stop to admire its blooms and the colorful hens.

Intrigued, we met owners Tiffany and Aaron Robinson. They gave us a tour and shared how during COVID-19  they transformed a once mowed monoculture into a wondrous blend of gardens, pathways, and home for a six-hen flock. “I love fireflies, butterflies and chickens so I’ve worked to make our yard a welcome place for them,” explained Tiffany.

Amid the flowering plants she and Aaron built a small chicken coop and an outdoor deck/patio. “Our chickens are so dear. They came from Hoover’s Hatchery. We have Americaunas and a Silver Laced Wyandotte. Our Buff Orpington is getting so old she doesn’t lay many eggs but she’s precious,” she noted.
“I like the eggs we get from the others,” remarked Aaron.

The Robinson yard is an island of diversity and beauty amid neighboring yards that are mostly mowed lawns. Their flowers offer privacy and color to visiting children and are a perfect habitat for birds, butterflies, lightning bugs and the small flock. “Our neighbors have never objected to us having chickens. They tell us they like having them nearby, even when they cluck when laying”, she remarked.

The Robinson yard is as wondrous as it is environmentally appropriate. “Kitchen scraps go to the chickens and their droppings nourish our gardens. I even crush eggshells and add them to the garden soil,” she said.

When we asked them if they’ve lost chickens to raccoons or other predators they both responded “no,” even though raccoons, opossums, cats, and dogs live in the neighborhood. Aaron installed a light sensor activated pop hole door that closes at sunset and locks the hens in their sturdy small coop for the night. It opens around sunrise the following morning. Raccoons can’t enter. He also installed screening and heavy wire mesh to keep small and large predators out. These lucky hens spend most days in their enclosed open air run but sometimes Tiffany lets them forage on the lawn within a circle of wire mesh that is easy to move from day to day.

As we chatted, the family dog sniffed us and scampered about the yard and chickens.  Dogs can be the bane of backyard flocks, but not the Robinson’s. Their well-mannered Havanese and the chickens get along peacefully.

The Robinsons prove that ecological diversity and chickens can share even a small suburban yard.

As we watched from just beyond a low poultry fence three adolescent Rudd Rangers raced from their coop to chase a grasshopper. The fastest one snatched the protein-rich treat and quickly swallowed it.

We were at Etzel’s Sugar Grove Farm just north of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the home of Rodale Midwest Organic Center. Their staff are working to solve an orchardist’s problem.

“We are learning ways to use chickens to create an income source before tiny trees bear fruit or nuts,” said Research Director Sean Stokes. Planting fruit or nut trees is expensive, and they need to be tended for several years before they are mature enough to yield a sellable crop. “While the chickens forage on tasty green plants and insects they’re reducing potential pest problems. At the same time their droppings help fertilize the young trees. And selling their meat means income,” said Farm Manager Drew Erickson.

The day we watched, the farm’s 37 Rudd Rangers were about eight weeks old and growing fast. They safely overnight in a sturdy, closed coop positioned in the midst of an emerging orchard of chestnut trees.  Just after sunrise an automatic pop hole door opens, letting the birds hustle outside into a green landscape.

The Rudd Ranger chicks came from Hoover’s hatchery in the spring. “In just 12 to 14 weeks the once tiny chicks will weigh a plump eight to eleven pounds. Then we’ll deliver them to a processing plant. The high-quality organic meat brings a premium price so our orchard will yield income long before we can sell nuts.  If we had laying hens we’d need to tend them during the cold winter, so broiler production makes sense,” continued Erickson.

“The large orchard of small trees is divided into sections separated by chicken and predator proof fencing. The coop is on wheels, so we can easily move it and confine the chickens to different parts of the orchard,” said Stokes.

Why broilers?  Why Rudd Rangers? 

Most chicken meat bought in grocery stores comes from Cornish Rock hybrid chickens raised entirely on commercial feed in huge flocks. They grow like crazy and are slaughtered when they’re only six or seven weeks old. These chickens aren’t able to forage. Rudd Rangers, in contrast, grow a little slower but are healthy athletic birds that find much of their own food in nature. There’s another advantage. Cornish Rock females never mature into efficient layers. According to Hoover’s Hatchery, Rudd Ranger hens lay three to five extra-large eggs every week, so some could be kept for egg production after the males go to the processor.

Rudd Rangers and other slightly slower maturing broiler hybrids on pasture yield meat that has a different texture and is more flavorful than that of the bland grocery store chicken. It is delicious.

“Part of our research is to determine the economics and land impact of raising broilers in a new orchard, but we are doing much other research. For example, we test the viability and profitability of rarely grown crops like rye, wheat, amaranth, and several vegetables. Our research is mostly to help farmers but much of what we learn also works in backyard gardens,” said Stokes.

Raising Broilers in Small Flocks

Many families tend a small flock of layers in suburban neighborhoods and wouldn’t dream of raising chickens for meat. But meat and eggs are traditional foods chickens provide. Some people may want to give broilers a try.  Here are two possible methods for very small-scale flocks to do just that:

Dual Purpose Breeds:  Back in the old days farmers bought dual purpose breeds and kept females for egg production and ate the roosters. It still works. New Hampshire and Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks and other traditional breeds work well. Roosters of these breeds grow slower than special hybrid broiler chicks. The hens may lay somewhat fewer eggs than super-duper hybrids, but they’re called dual purpose for a good reason. They do both well.

Special Hybrids:  For the highest production of meat and eggs a family with a small flock could order a mixture of productive hybrids. For example, an order of 25 chicks might include six to eight pullet chicks with outstanding egg laying ability and finish out the order with Rudd Rangers or other fast-growing hybrids that are hardy, good foragers and produce delicious meat relatively quickly.

About Rodale Institute Midwest Organic Center

The Center is located on Etzel’s Sugar Grove Farm just north of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  They welcome visitors by appointment and are happy to answer questions about their traditional and specialty crops and chickens. Check out their website at rodaleinstitute.org.