Yes, I'm a Chicken Mom!
After the extensive travel throughout a big portion of my adult life, we decided to move to North Carolina where some of our children live. We found an unfinished 3,500 square foot, 3 story townhouse in Jamestown and my son, Rich, built it out for us. It was beautiful and magnificent! However, the area around us began to develop, and we decided we wanted something smaller and easier to care for. Who wants to clean all that space!!
We found a lovely mini-farm out in the country, and the previous owner had chickens and asked if we would like to keep them or if she should give them away. After a short discussion, we decided to keep them. I am married to Dr. Doolittle #2 and all animals love him. So we started off with our 10 Barred Rock hens. They were used to free-ranging and being left out all day long unattended, so we continued the practice. Any time we would come home after being out, they would all come to greet us joyfully at the car and hover about as we said hello back to them. They would follow Gary all over the place in a flock, especially if he was headed to the chicken coup at feeding time. At night, before dark, they would all come back to the coup to be fed.
We are on a little over 2-1/2 acres and our neighbor has a large barn and very large open field next door. On the other side we have a woodsy area. Lots of trees around us and bushes for them to hide if need be. They were lovely ladies and gave us an abundance of eggs. It was always exciting to check the nests to see how many eggs we got each day.
Learning about chicken keeping was so fascinating and a project I really enjoyed. Little by little, all the hens learned to trust us and let us pick them up.
Did you know when a hen wants to be picked up, she will squat in front of you with her wings slightly out. It is also a submissive pose to a dominate rooster or hen.
Whenever I was at the coop, I would talk or sing to the girls. We also had a swing hanging on the original landing there and I would sometimes sit in the swing and rock. It wouldn't take any time at all before one or more of the hens would either be up in my lap or sitting next to me for a little rock-a-bye and a song.
Our Barred Rock Hens - Henrietta on the Right who loves music and swinging!
Our original flock taught us many things that first year and a half we had them. But, one day we noticed three hawks over at the neighbors barn and they were hovering more and more frequently. It wasn't long before our girls started to disappear and not come home at night. And one day, we saw a fox come flying out of the woods in broad daylight and grab a hen returning to the woods like grease lightening! It happened so fast right before our eyes. We were loosing our flock so fast, it was unbelievable. It wasn't long before we decided we needed an enclosed run.
Gary built a very large 10ft x 12ft run and attached a door to the coop from inside and a large door on the outside. It went down 2 feet in the ground and on top of the ground, we surrounded the outside fence with bricks and cinderblocks. And, we also covered the top so the hawks couldn't swoop in. With the shade from the trees on the side, it was perfect. Sun in the morning and late afternoon.
There is a phenomena call "Chicken Math" and before you know it, you have more and more birds. We bought more hens. In the new flock, we had some Isa Browns, and a few Easter Eggers. Easter Eggers have naturally colored shells and our girls lay blue shelled eggs and some with a slight rose bloom. That wasn't enough, we got more black hens called Australorps which originate from Australia, and then just recently, we purchased some young 3-1/2 and 4 month old littles which are barnyard mixes. They are getting into the rhythm chicken life with the big girls and are so cute!
On the left are the Littles. Queenie is the white one. There are 4 of them, but one is hiding. In the center are a few of the big girls enjoying a melon rind treat. Far right is another view of the Littles. You can see they have steps going up to the nesting boxes and also roosting area which is protected and warm in winter. We get eggs from the nesting boxes from outside of the coop in the back. In Summer, they fly up to the high beams and roost up there as it's much cooler.
The average age for young hens to begin laying is around 18 weeks, so it shouldn't be too long before the littles begin making their contribution. The timing will be perfect because when the big girls begin their molting process and slow down their production and the low light of winter kicks in, the new girls don't go through that during their first year, so we should have plenty of eggs throughout the winter. We don't put the light in the coup and force the girls to lay. They work hard all year long and mother nature has designed their bodies to take a rest during this time.
The chicken coop that was here was a great beginning for us, then we improved on it. Since the original landing rotted out, we built a new one. The swing is up in the shop waiting to be painted and we'll add it back down here when complete. Though we clean the coop regularly, it is scrubbed down thoroughly twice a year. All sides, wood, roosting bars, etc. And, we add fresh pine bark to the ground inside once a month with some First Saturday Lime which keeps away mites and lice for the chickens. We also add it to the nesting straw and turn the straw to make sure it is always throughout their nest boxes. So far, we have had healthy chickens.
Photo taken late August 2023 as the gardens are waning.
My cousin, Felicia, asked me if I sing to my chickens. Of course I do, all the time. Then she asked me if I ever sang "Out Behind the Barn". I hadn't thought of that one, but since my Mom (Middi) recorded it for fun with me on harmony vocals, I thought this would be the perfect place to share!
Produced and recorded by my old friend, Rockin' Ron at his studio in CT, please sing along with Out Behind the Barn.