Predators Love Tasty Chickens

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

Tiny Yard Chickens

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

Rudd Ranger Chickens Helping A New Orchard

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

Breed, Hybrid: What’s This All About?

Leafing through the Hoover’s Hatchery catalog or clicking through its website is a fun way to discover the amazing diversity of poultry The sheer number of chicken types is fascinating but it can be confusing Just what is a breed? Hybrid?

 

Just What Is a Breed?

 

One thing is certain All chickens belong to the same species, whether they are immense Jersey Giants or diminutive bantams Such useful birds probably were developed from the Red Jungle Fowl, which still lives in the wild in some southern Asian forests Scientifically the modern chicken is Galus galus domesticus  

 

It can get complicated People

The Best Chicken Waterers

An egg sizzling in the frying pan is chock full of protein and vitamins but 76% of it is water With every egg laid a hen loses water from her body She needs plenty of clean drinking water to stay healthy and keep laying those delicious eggs

 

Unlike mammals, Chickens don’t sweat Their urine is a solid coating over droppings  They don’t need as much water as a similar-sized mammal, but they still must drink several times every day no matter what the weather is

 

It’s easy to install a big feeder in the coop that keeps hens happily eating for

A Chick’s First Month

A chick’s first month is tumultuous! Hatched in a Hoover’s Hatchery incubator, as soon as that baby girl chick’s fluff dries off, she’s gently placed into a shipping box The combined body heat of many babies keeps them warm as the box bounces along in a truck heading for the airport Soon she’s zooming through the sky to some place she’s never been to or even heard of It could be New Jersey, Miami, California, or even Canada Then she’s trucked again to a farm store and put into a big brooder awaiting customers A family buys her and

Heat Kills Chickens

Heat kills chickens but flock owners can protect their birds by taking a lesson from Theodore Roosevelt

 

When an intense heat wave descended on New York City in the summer of 1896 millions of people lived crammed together in tenements Around 1500 died from the extreme heat Roosevelt was then a little-known police commissioner who did two things that saved human lives

 

He ordered the fire department to spray water in the streets and on tenement buildings  It lowered the temperature a few degrees And, ice In that era before refrigeration, tenement dwellers couldn’t afford to buy ice Roosevelt gave them

California Grey: An Unusual and Fun Hybrid Breed

Want to try an amazingly productive yet unusual chicken with a fascinating history?

The California Grey might be just right

What Makes California Grey Chickens Unique?

California Grey’s are oddballs Most families tending backyard flocks prefer brown egg laying, large bodied breeds and hybrids California Grey’s look like Barred Rocks with the distinctive barred feather pattern that gives them a name shared by a common night bird, the Barred Owl Some poultry fanciers call the color pattern “cuckoo”

Glance at a California Grey hen and it would be easy to assume it’s a slimmed down

Honeybees and Chickens in the Backyard

Of all domestic food-producing animals honeybees are special They can legally trespass!

If cows, pigs, sheep or even chickens wander off a property without permission an angry neighbor might be calling up Bees are different They’ll zip upwards of three miles to collect nectar and pollen They buzz over fences and property lines to gather food for their larvae and to make into honey Honeybees even thrive in New York City Local beekeepers tend hives on building roofs far above the street The industrious insects forage in parks and on domestic flowers

Managing a Broody Hen

Managing a Broody Hen

One of the most fascinating experiences of raising a backyard flock of hens can also be the most frustrating

 

Every once in a while, a hen acts strangely She fluffs her feathers, changes her clucking pitch, stops laying, and spends almost all her time in the nest Reach in to retrieve eggs from under her and she’ll enthusiastically scold and probably give fingers a good peck

 

She’s broody!

 

Broodiness is a natural bird instinct Until artificial incubators came along in the late 1800s all baby chicks were brooded by a live hen Farmers would prepare rows of nests filled