Springtime Coop Tune Up

Cleaning Tips for Healthy Hens

It’s that time of year Birds are migrating as plants push greenery up through the ground They let us know it’s the season of spring cleaning Along with scrubbing and organizing the house, remember the coop A spring makeover will make it function and look top notch

 

At Winding Pathways, we mount a coop spruce up project before lawn mowing season arrives Here’s what we do:

 

Litter: Last fall we cleaned litter out of the coop’s interior and put it in our compost bin  Microorganisms toiled all winter converting it into compost This spring we moved that

Keeping the Flock Healthy

Keeping Your Backyard Flock Healthy Through Good Care

Chickens are amazingly healthy animals Given good care they’re hardly fazed by winter’s chill or summer’s sweltering heat In the five decades we’ve kept chickens our flocks have always been healthy

In the past few years millions of commercial chickens were killed to slow the spread of avian influenza, or bird flu It’s a deadly disease but hardly the only malady that can sicken or kill our faithful coop friends

Knowing that diseases lurk we constantly work to protect our hens from illness A key strategy is buying healthy chicks from Hoover’s Hatchery Then

How to Keep Muddy Chicken Feet Out of the Coop

Most families have a rule about muddy boots: they come off in the garage before anyone tracks a mess inside The same principle applies to your flock Mud is wet, it makes a coop mess, and moisture fosters disease That’s the real issue A damp coop floor is not just unpleasant to clean, it creates the conditions that lead to respiratory problems, ammonia buildup, and foot issues But keeping chickens shut indoors every time it rains isn’t much of a life for them either The good news is that keeping muddy chicken feet out of the coop comes down

Choosing the Best Breeds for Backyard Flocks

No one knows exactly how many chicken breeds exist There are hundreds, and possibly thousands The Hoover’s Hatchery catalog alone lists at least 100 breeds, and a few new ones get added every year There are heritage breeds, modern hybrids, specialty egg layers, broilers, and a handful of oddballs that don’t fit neatly into any category at all So with that many options in front of you, how does a family pick the best chicken breeds for a backyard flock? It can feel overwhelming The good news is that choosing is genuinely one of the most fun parts of

Nest Knowledge

Our hens love their nests They tuck themselves into a nest’s quiet confines and semidarkness to enjoy privacy until the magic moment arrives and an egg emerges
Her new egg is a matter of pride

 

Daily eggs are more than the fixins’ of a delicious breakfast They can be a tool to help children practice basic arithmetic and learn the fundamentals of scientific research
Find a very young child and try the exercise toward the bottom of this message

 

Nests are, perhaps, the most important pieces of furniture in a backyard coop Experts recommend placing at least one nest for every four laying

Waterers In Winter

How to Keep Chicken Water from Freezing Safely in Winter

Brrrr It’s cold out  A new flock owner soon learns that subfreezing weather presents the challenge of keeping the chicken’s water liquid when mother nature wants to turn it to ice

 

Chickens have an amazing ability to thrive in cold weather, but they must have liquid water to drink They can’t consume ice or snow and must be able to drink liquid water many times every day

 

Years ago, our coop lacked electricity During cold spells we carried a bucket of warm water to the flock every couple of hours to replace

Keeping the Flock Fresh

We need a steady supply of eggs from our backyard coop Doing it successfully takes planning and requires tough decisions

 

Each spring we buy five or six baby female chicks from a nearby farm store The tiny birds had been hatched just a few days earlier at Hoover’s Hatchery and quickly delivered to the store Soon our tiny peepers are happily housed in our brooder

 

Why six new chicks?

 

We like to have about 12 laying chickens to lay enough eggs for us, and we like to give many to friends and neighbors To keep the flock fresh, we replace about half

How to Build a Rainbow Flock with Different Chicken Breeds

Every spring, backyard chicken keepers face the same happy dilemma You only have room for five or six pullet chicks, yet the hatchery catalog is packed with tempting breeds Brahmas, New Hampshire Reds, Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Sussex, hybrids, and dozens more all seem to call your name So how do you choose? One of the most rewarding answers is to build a rainbow flock, a small group of hens that all look different from one another It adds color to your coop, personality to your yard, and a surprising amount of fun to the whole hobby

Never Say Never… Or Always

Justin Bieber’s song, NEVER SAY NEVER, applies to chickens How can that be?

 

Rich and Marion Patterson learned “how” with their new flock When preparing their chick order in early spring they selected half their chicks to be from well-known, dual-purpose production breeds So, they included Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and Delawares in the order along with one California White, a famous laying dynamo All are breeds unlikely to pause laying and go broody The other half of the flock was from fun breeds like Brahmas and Cochins They’re gorgeous modest layers that have a tendency to go broody

 

Their

Downsizing A Flock

From time to time, we’ve had to downsize our flock It’s emotional Saying goodbye to the feathery friends who have generously given us eggs is hard An empty coop, lacking the bubbly chicken energy is a sad place Downsizing or eliminating a flock can be distressing and tricky

 

Why Downside a Flock

 

People downsize a flock for many reasons Here are a few we have had to use

 

  • We’re moving and can’t have chickens in our new home
  • Our hens are getting old and aren’t laying many eggs We need to replace them with younger ones
  • We bought chicks when egg