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Why You Need A Secure Coop for Chickens

Why do some people need to have the fort knox of secure chicken coops?  We certainly had the Taj MaCoop at our previous house.  I personally have never free ranged my chickens since it is not allowed in the city, but I never realized why I needed such a secure coop.  Below are the reasons a secure coop and run is necessary for some flocks of chickens.  If you lack the space to free range and live in an area with wildlife you may need to go the extra mile with hardware cloth and heavy bolts just to keep you flock safe.

That coop withstood multiple dog attacks with zero signs of wear!
That coop withstood multiple dog attacks with zero signs of wear!

It is a sad week here at the Reaganskopp household.  With heavy hearts we had to rehome what was left of our chicken flock.  We moved them to our new home, the new girls started laying and everything was going fabulously… Until it wasn’t.

First, one of the three redneck chickens (bantams) got a case of bumble-foot that could not be cured.  So, I had to put her out of her misery.  Please know as a chicken owner you may end up dealing with things like this.  It is the ‘not fun’ part of owning livestock.  10 of 11 left…

Secondly, we had to leave town in a hurry to help with a family medical issue.  When we got back someone/thing had opened the gate releasing all the chickens for an entire weekend.  Luckily the girls took roost under the porch and made a nice dirt nest by the basement.  However, the silver laced wynadotte was never to be seen again.  Chicken count 9 of 11…

RIP Condi!
RIP Conde!

Oh number 3!  The day the bear came.  Loose fencing and a large bear make for an exciting Saturday morning.  The bear decided to drag our head chicken down the hill.  Condoleezza was my personal favorite so that was a real blow, plus I got the adrenaline rush of a life time when I came within a 2 feet of a large bear in the woods.  And yes, you read that correctly a bear…  I live in a city but that city is located in the mountains so we get exciting things like bears.  I had seen movement in the woods and thought it was our wayward chicken.  Nope it was the bear that had taken our chicken.  Backing slowly away worked well.  We moved closer to the river and have over 3 tenths of a wooded acre now (Huge in the City) so apparently that makes us bear central.  Do not get me started on our trash issues or the new bear safety lessons we have had with the kids… 8/11 (not looking so hot for the flock)

And the final straw after fixing the hole in the fence and bird netting the entire top of the run… Foxes.  Bears and Foxes.  Can. Not. Make. This. Up.  The foxes figured out a way to climb in-between the layers of netting.  They also decided to polish off the last two bantams.  Leaving behind half of one for me to fight a swarm of yellow jackets to clean up the remains.  Let’s just say that is a sight that can not be unseen.  Since we were down to 6 of our original 11 chickens we knew we had to take action fast.  We realize exactly what type of coop will have to be built to survive the wildlife on this side of town and that was not about to occur in a single day.  So we found a nice couple with a large free range area surrounded by an electric fence who were happy to have 6 laying chickens before the sun set and the foxes returned.

So that means we will eat the last of our eggs and have to go back to buying them at the farmers market like everyone else.  It also means that Adam is planning the most fabulous coop build over the winter so we can start fresh in the spring.  Now to save the money for the yards and yards of expensive hardware cloth it will require to make a safe space!

Adam's gorgeous Brahma did make it!  Though you can see her lovely foot feather much worse for wear after tangling with a fox the night before.
Adam’s gorgeous Brahma did make it! Though you can see her lovely foot feather much worse for wear after tangling with a fox the night before.

Moral of this story for anyone thinking of owning chickens.  Depending on the predator load in your area you may be fine with a simple netted run or even an open coop with full free range.  BUT if you have a lot of predators and the chickens only have a small space to roam you must have a secure place for them.  They are simply too easy and tempting to be left alone by any predator that can reach them if there isn’t adequate coverage for them to run and hide.  Our mistake was not realizing the difference a 2 mile move makes and providing a secure enough location up front.  At least we found a good home for the remaining flock and now have a plan in place for next year.

Going to miss all those eggs...
Going to miss all those eggs…
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How to Make a Chicken Dust Bath

Why you should make a chicken dust bath for your flock

So would you like to know how to make a chicken dust bath? Or even why you should provide a chicken dust bath? While, we aren’t chicken newbies anymore we still have a lot to learn about chickens. One of the things we completely missed the boat on was that chickens need to bathe. But they need to do so in dirt! I saw a picture on Pinterest of chickens laying in tires full of dirt. It was kind of an ah-ha moment as I have often observed our chickens digging holes in the run, flinging wood chips all over their selves, and then laying in the sun. Honestly, I just kind of thought my chickens were weird (and a bit lazy) and didn’t realize chickens take dust baths until I started researching it.

Why Do You Need a Chicken Dust Bath

As with everything in life, I had to over research the hows and whys of chicken dust bathing. But hey, Dear Reader, this works out for you. Chickens naturally take dirt and dig loose holes in dry soil. These soil divots are then used to fling the dry dirt all over their bodies. If you watch they will roll, flap their wings, dig, and fling dirt everywhere. Our coop is built on a concrete pad, so while there are lots of wood chips we do not have a lot of soil. I think many chicken owners who build runs with the deep litter method are in the same boat with chickens kicking up a lot of wood chips on a regular basis.How to make a chicken dust bath for your flock

But the dirt is key. A dust bath supplies chickens with a way to clean excess oil from their feathers and remove pests like mites from their feathers and skin. The chicken dust bath consists of them kicking up dirt, rolling, and flapping their wings in an attempt to coat dust all the way down throughout their feathers. The dirt soaks up oil (Picture one of those lovely mud masks ladies wear on their faces) and the grit knocks pests loose. Additionally, dust bathing is a social activity with hens. They do the activity together, often preening and napping as a flock afterward.

How to Make Chicken Dust Bath

Great! You now know why you need a dust bath but what does that look like? Well I can tell you from painful practice that if you do not provide one, the chickens will supply one for themselves. Ours are constantly digging up their run, toppling water, and generally making a huge mess! As a stop gap we are making a small dust bath out of a galvanized tub. Once we are finished with the chicken coop extension we bought an even larger tub so that multiple chickens can use it together. It is quite simple to make one you just need two items:

A Box & Dirt!

But you can make better and more attractive dust baths with a few more options. We found some attractive galvanized containers and worked to make a dust mix. All items we purchased ourselves but the links below may be affiliate in nature.Why you should make a chicken dust bath for your flock

Chicken Dust Bath Supplies

Galvanized Tub
Organic Garden Soil
Sand
Diatomaceous Earth (FOOD GRADE ONLY)
For a 5.5 gallon tub I add about 4-5 inches of depth in material. It is almost a 50/50 mix of sand and soil with a cup full of diatomaceous earth. Research shows that many people substitute sand or soil with wood ash. Also the use of diatomaceous earth can be conversational. Often used as an organic pesticide, the product is made of mining deposits of small fossilized sea creatures. It is microscopically sharp and causes insects to die by slicing them up. To humans and chickens it feels like soft talc powder. It can even be eaten (though I am not exactly sold on this idea) and is safe for kids and pets.

Some people worry that it can cause respiratory distress in chickens. I personally weighed the benefits of pest control and decided to add a bit to the bath. I live in a city limits and have to keep the ladies in a run most of the time. Closed up chickens are more likely to contract mites and pests. I try to give my girls lots of space and keep a clean coop to minimize this but I opted for a little additional aid in their bath. If you go with the diatomaceous earth feel free to tell me how we are supposed to be pronouncing it!

edit: Thank you kind readers.  I can now pronounce diatomaceous in the finest of company.

I went ahead and ordered the big bag with the thought that the cost was so much cheaper per pound and I could use this to combat slugs and the godforsaken sugar ants. Let us not get off topic about the ants! Unless I decide I really do want to start eating it or making tons of facial scrub products (yep it is good for that too) I probably have enough for years of dust baths! So the investment will be minimal.

Our New Dust Bath and Future Plans

Why you should make a chicken dust bath for your flock

The new dust bath was a hit with the ladies. Well after they decided the galvanized tub did not signal their impending chicken doom! The pros of putting it in a container is that I can make sure their is a nice clean mix that doesn’t fill the run with mud. Additionally I think it is attractive. The con is that it takes the social aspect of dust bathing away from the chickens as it only fits one or two chickens at a time. Our plan is to add this 15 gallon tub in the extension. We already purchased this bigger version and will add it to the coop when we have the space.

In the future (like next house/farm future) I would love to have free range chickens with fancy dust bathing areas like the versions you see on Pinterest. However, making one in a container is so easy I can’t believe we didn’t do it sooner. Of course it would have helped to know they existed :), but now that I know how useful and healthy a chicken dust bath is for my flock I plan to keep them well supplied.

How to make a chicken dust bath for your flock

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DIY Chicken Water Heater

How to make a DIY water heater for your chickens

Disclaimer: This includes heat, electricity, and water.  Build at your own risk.

If you own chickens and you live anywhere that it gets below 32 F (0 C) then you will have experienced the fun of hauling chicken water. Well, no more for me! Adam craftily created a DIY chicken water heater. The water heater only required a few simple materials and the best part?! NO electrical knowledge necessary, short of being able to plug a cord in an outlet.

If you want to make your own chicken water heater we saw the idea somewhere online (This is why we should bookmark regularly) but ended up needing to modify it to suit our needs.

Chicken Water Heater

How to make a DIY water heater for your chickens

Supplies and Tools

Concrete Block
Concrete Paver
Extension Cord*: One with a flat socket area works best
Pluggable Light Socket*
Light Bulb(Start with 40 Watt): And yes it has to be one of the old school, electrical hogging, hot masterpieces of bulb work. The new fangled LED, while great for energy savings, does not get warm enough to do squat
Hammer
Flat Head Screwdriver or a Masonry Chisel*(If you are fancy)
Duck (duct?) Tape: Probably the best choice, we couldn’t find our roll so I think we used some packing tape
Metal Chicken Waterer*
4 Kids (optional): To “help” with the shopping

How to make a DIY water heater for your chickens

Step 1 Get Chiseled

Alright, I completely missed this step. I may have been wrangling one of the kids, cleaning out the laundry room, or making some sort of food. In this family of 6 it feels like someone is always eating. Luckily Adam takes care of dinner, but I tend to handle the snack portions of the day. Anywho, I asked for him to explain this step. Here is how he notched out a section of block so the extension cord can poke through:

I used a masonry chisel (because we have one), but a large flathead screwdriver will do the same thing. Just take patience when doing it. It’s not the kind of thing where you hammer a few times and you’re done. Spend about five minutes slowly making the shape, and you’ll ensure you don’t break the cinderblock as a whole.

Who knew we had a masonry chisel?!

How to make a DIY water heater for your chickens

Step 2 Make a Mix Tape

Dry fit the block over the extension cord and onto the paver. Note where the extension cord sits then do this very, very technical maneuver. Tape that sucker onto the paver.

I know that seems a little rigged, but this is for chickens…

Step 3 Plug and Play

Now plug in your extension cord and set the paver in a nice level place inside your coop. What’s that you say? Your extension cord is too short?! Roll that back up and make another trip to Lowes for the correct length. Now that your paver is in the coop and your cord is plugged in, place the cement block over the cord. If you chiseled enough space the block-paver combo should sit nice, flush, and fairly level.

All you have to do now is put a bulb in the socket and plug it into the cord. If the light comes on you are mostly there!

We have a metal waterer that covered the entire hole making sure no water could accidently pour into the hole holding the electric components. However, I am a nervous nelly with electricity so I made sure to check the fit, how hot the chicken waterer was getting, how hot it was inside the block, etc. I think you really should monitor it too! I personally want my chicken fried by KFC and not by accident.

How to make a DIY water heater for your chickens

Tips

We had to play with the bulb size and placement to get it warm enough to keep liquid water when temps dropped to 15 F (-9 C)

The very edge of the water still seems to freeze from time to time, but the heater keeps the water warm enough that the chickens are able to peck through it with no problem.

Surprisingly, even the little bantams were able to reach the waterer. The redneck chickens seem to have giraffe necks.

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Re-homing An Unwanted Rooster

10 tips for dealing with an unwanted rooster. How we rehomed our cockerel. #chickens #rooster

Despite our best efforts and attempts at denial we had to admit that we had a rooster among our hens.  We had wondered about the growing comb on his head and larger tail, but the crowing that began right around 11 weeks of age was the final straw.  We had to re-home the unwanted rooster pronto or find out if we really were capable of culling the flock.  If you are trying to deal with an unwanted rooster you can scroll to the bottom for 10 tips on how to deal with your unexpected cockerel.

Being responsible people we tried the absolute best we could to not have a rooster.  We knew it was illegal to have a rooster in town so we bought from a company that guaranteed 98% accuracy on sexing of small batches of chickens…  Clearly we should have bought lotto tickets the day we ordered our chicks since we fell in that lovely 2%.  We were obviously concerned that we would be unable to find a home for Ginsburg (yes we had a rooster named after Ruth Ginsburg, the irony…).  After asking around our facebook friends and getting no where we put a post up on our local freecycle boards.   With in an hour we had a bite and we were sooooo lucky.

10 tips for dealing with an unwanted rooster.  How we rehomed our cockerel. #chickens #rooster
Around 8 weeks we started to get nervous… See the tail feathers? None of the other hens had those.

A gentleman with a 15 free range hens wrote that he had been considering a rooster; could meet us after work that very day and take the rooster off our hands.  Personally, I did not care if he came in a van marked “Chicken Meat for Sale”. We needed rid of the unwanted rooster before we became the neighborhood pariah.  He had already been crowing all weekend long.  When our rooster savior and his family appeared we spent a bit chatting and I really thought our rooster was going to go to a good family.  His name was Adam too so that alone seemed like good luck.  They were so thrilled to have him and told us all about their flock.

10 tips for dealing with an unwanted rooster.  How we rehomed our cockerel. #chickens #rooster
Oh yeah. That is clearly a rooster. No doubt about it.

Little did we know that Ginsburg was going to the proverbial motherland of hens with awesome chicken owners. Chicken-Adam has been excellent.  It has been like the open adoption of roosters.  He has awesomely let us know how he fared his first night, how he was learning to integrate with the flock, asked us some questions about his breed, and sent us some amazing photos!  If I had to end up with a rooster I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

10 tips for dealing with an unwanted rooster.  How we rehomed our cockerel. #chickens #rooster
Now this is a happy rooster. You can see his flock and free range home in the background. So lucky to have found such a great owner for him.  Thanks Adam for keeping us up to date!

If you do not end up as lucky as us here are some ideas on how to take care of your unwanted rooster!

10 Tips on Re-Homing Your Unexpected Rooster

  1. Craigslist – You might be able to get $5-$15 for an unwanted rooster, but your best bet for quick placement is FREE.  Make sure to hit the free section and the farm + garden.
  2. Freecycle – Obviously you will need to offer the rooster for free on this site.  It is not quite as ubiquitious as Craigslist, but our Asheville, NC group seems pretty active
  3. Facebook groups – We have a local and very active group (+16K members) who buy, sell, trade and generally chat.  They help rehome all types of animals on the West Asheville Exchange.  If you search the name of your town or a close city you can usually find a number of groups to join.
  4. Local Feed Stores – They probably will not take your rooster BUT they know every poultry keeper in the surrounding area.  Ask them if they know anyone looking for a rooster.  If you are willing to let the bird be culled they will often know a farm or two that take free roosters for the eating
  5. Do the Deed – Oh yes, the traditional way to get rid of unwanted roosters!  Frankly, as a chicken owner I feel like you may need to know this technique even if you never plan on killing your chickens.  If one of them gets incredibly hurt or sick you may need to complete a mercy killing.  I thought this video was not terribly graphic but gave a good idea of how to complete the deed.
  6. Call your local animal control – They may take the bird (which will likely end with its death) or know local organizations that will help.
  7. Contact local 4-H groups –  Please do not do this is you have an aggressive rooster, but if you have a nice one then their may be kids looking for a rooster for their flock.
  8. Photos – With any of the above posting places you need photos.  Let me repeat add a photo.  People want to see what they might be getting.  A nice, healthy, plump rooster is much more appealing than a text ad.
  9. Words – Although I think a photo is a key ingredient in re-homing a rooster,  the text you type is also really important.  You also need to tailor it for your audience.  The local facebook group will band together if you have a good reason to need help.  I would have made certain to discuss how gentle he was, how good with the hens, the attempts we had gone to to NOT have a rooster etc.  Craigslist I would have made sure to discuss statistics like size, breed, feed, general health.  Make sure to give the information each platform needs and wants
  10. Bundle your rooster – If you can stand to lose a hen, or feed, or a cage etc it can make the offer that much more attractive.  Especially if the rooster is a fancy breed.  You can sell a breeding pair or just require that if someone wants to buy a hen they have to take the rooster too.

Bonus tip:

American Poultry Association – I am adding this as a bonus option.  They deal with clubs all over the US, but they are really only going to be helpful if you have a very nice purebred rooster on your hands.  You can look through a list of contacts by state to contact.

10 tips for dealing with an unwanted rooster. How we rehomed our cockerel. #chickens #rooster

 

 

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Small Chick Order: How to Pick your Breed

Easter Egger Chicken

Do you have any idea how many breeds of chickens there are?  Neither did we…  Selecting the perfect breed of chicken is not easy.  It is even harder to find the perfect small chick order.  By small,  I mean less than 10 ordered online!  Picking out the breed  and finding a place to order only 5 chickens involved a variety decisions, discussions, and research.  I’ll be honest it was a painful process. Well, at least for me.  Adam just kinda went with whatever I thought we should have.  Way to dodge the responsibility for bad chickens there!

I actually felt overwhelmed by the variety of chicks and underwhelmed by the choices of where I could order from.  I finally broke it down into some easy steps that let us come to a final choice of Easter Egger (Hybrid) chickens from Efowl.com.  If you follow these steps then this will really help narrow your selection if you choose egg laying chickens.  I will fully admit to just glancing over the meat breed selections, so keep that in mind if you use this to help narrow your breed.

Easter Egger Chicken

1. Do you want chickens for eggs, meat, or both?

We wanted egg laying chickens.  That cut our selection a ton.  While I am not entirely opposed to killing my own chickens I am entirely opposed to plucking a chicken.  Hello?! I find chopping vegetables to be more prep work than I want to do in the kitchen.  What are the real chances I am going to go out back and catch dinner? Um… None…

2. Alright we chose egg laying chickens turn to page 52.  Oh wait, this isn’t a choose your own adventure!  Here is the real question: What size chicken do you want?

The following are stats for hens:

Bantams

  • Full Grown: 1-2 lbs
  • Eats: 1 3/4 lbs per week
  • Pros: Need less space in the coop, eat less
  • Cons: Fly, small eggs, may need special consideration in cold weather

Standard Sized (Light Breed)

  • Full Grown: 4-6 lbs
  • Eats: 2 1/3 lbs per week
  • Pros: Many options for breeds, good for warm weather
  • Cons: May need special consideration in cold weather

Standard Sized (Heavy Breed)

  • Full Grown: 6-9
  • Eats: 3 1/2 lbs per week
  • Pros: Large eggs
  • Cons: May need special consideration in hot climates, eat large amounts of feed

You can get plenty of detailed information, but this gives you the initial stats.  We wanted a non-flying bird. Ain’t nobody got time to clip wings and we can’t let them fly around the neighborhood. The lighter breeds seemed like a good compromise.  Decent egg size, but we didn’t have to make a huge coop or invest a ton in feed.  Our climate is fairly mild so they should be fine all year round.

3. Rank the following in importance:

  • Resilience/Health
  • Temperament/intelligence
  • Egg Color
  • Looks

Having trouble ranking? Guess what?!  Me too!  That is how we ended up with Easter Eggers.  They are hybrid chickens, meaning I could never mate them and get more Easter Eggers.  Seeing as roosters are not exactly okay in the neighborhood I doubt we will be breeding chickens anytime soon.  But guess what else this means?!: They tend to be healthy, with even temperaments that are good for kids, and have eggs in blue, green, and rarely pink/brown.  The looks are up in the air…  Which is the only thing I didn’t get with this breed.  It was important to me to have a nice resilient bird.  I have no clue what I am doing! I need a good healthy bird that can withstand a few mistakes on my end.

Let’s say that maybe looks ranked higher.  Have you seen a Polish breed like a Golden Laced Polish?! Crest Yes! Or what about a beautiful feathered leg variety like a White Sultan? Or the long legged beauty of an Egyptian Fayoumis? Yeah… If you are in it for the looks then pick a beautiful breed. They are out there, but the Polish tend to be flighty since they can’t see.  A white sultan requires lots of grooming to look that good, and an Egyptian Fayoumis… Not going to be happy penned in our back yard.  For us it was more work for the beauty.  Maybe after we know what we are in for we can try a fancier breed.

If you are in it for specific egg color most websites will break down their chicken selection by egg color.  That makes it pretty easy.

Intelligence is just up in the air.  I scouted many a forum post at backyardchickens.com and read plenty blog posts my favorite being the ones at Northwest Edible Life. I figure it is like Amazon reviews.  If most everyone says it is a smart good chicken breed it probably is.  There are always going to be the 1 star reviews.

4. Finally and maybe most importantly how many chickens do you want and where do you plan on getting them?

Depending on the time of year and how many chicks you want you may find yourself S.O.L.  Locally sourcing (craigslist and auctions) are the way to go for a small number of chicks, but takes time and often limits your choices.  The internet opens up a lot of options for various breeds, but guess what?!  You want 5 chicks? Suck it.  Most hatcheries have a minimum order of 10-25 chicks.  They have good rational reasons such as needing to keep the chicks warm etc.  So if you want a small chick order (fewer than 10 chicks) your options are slimmed immediately.  You will have to look at some of the specialty websites and choose from their selection.  We looked at the following (these are not affiliate links, just places we checked out)

Meyer Hatchery

  • Pros: Order as few as 3 chicks
  • Cons: Had lots of customer service complaints

My Pet Chicken

  • Pros: Minimum order is 3 BUT…
  • Cons: Minimum order is based on your zip code ours was actually 7

eFowl (Don’t Laugh at the name)

  • Pros: 3, 5, & 10 chick special orders
  • Cons: Not all breeds are available at the special order sizes

The reason I say these options may be the most important factor for ordering is because we lost out on the Easter Eggers on Meyer and My Pet Chicken.  Literally, I had a cart full, went to lunch, came back to buy them and they were sold out of female chicks until July….  If you want a certain breed, at a certain time, in a certain sex, and you only want a few. Good Luck!  It would be way easier to look at the choices available from the various websites and choose from there.

Finally, you can always ask other chicken owners.  I asked a former co-worker of mine for advice and she was heartily behind the Easter Eggers for the reasons supplied above.  It is always good to get an experienced chicken owner’s opinion.  If you don’t know any there are plenty of chicken forums to read like I mentioned above.  Good luck selecting you breed!