Is Meanie a Rooster???

Spurs!

Meanie with her brown and golden feathers

When we purchased Meanie and my other three hens from a chicken breeder, we were wanting four specific breeds that laid four different colored eggs. The chicken breeder was having a tough time catching the white egg laying Leghorn breed that I originally wanted, so while the farmer was running around trying to catch a Leghorn, Meanie ran up and I pointed at her and said I thought that she was pretty with her brown and golden feathers and the farmer quickly told me that she was a mix breed that laid white eggs. He also told me that she had just started laying and was laying almost every single day. So, I said, "I'll take her!". Of course, he caught her right away, and we loaded her up with my other three hens and as we were about to drive away the farmer happened to mention that the white egg layer that I had chosen was so mean that even his roosters were scared of her. "Uh Oh!", was all I could think. And yes, she was mean to my other chickens for several weeks and I considered many times taking her back. My husband and I even thought, at times, that she looked like she might be a rooster. Thankfully, as time went on she began to simmer down and even though she can be a little mean sometimes, she really is fairly sweet and well mannered. And I feel a little sorry for her, because she is very timid of us and I think this is because we were constantly having to chase her away from terrorizing the other hens. She also happens to be the slowest chicken I have. She is always the last to leave the hen house when I let them out in the morning, the last to go out and come back in when I let them out to run around outside of their pen for a little while, and even though I was told by the farmer that she was laying everyday, I have yet to see an egg, so she will be the last to lay an egg out of the four.

One day my husband and I noticed that she was starting to grow spurs on her legs like a rooster, so then I really started to wonder. I did some research online and found out that she is more than likely a chicken mixed with a game hen and they will often grow spurs. Whew! I was relieved to read this and assumed that it was probably true since we had never heard her crow. BUT she had never laid an egg, either.  At least not under our watch and her spurs continued to grow larger and larger! But, guess what?!? Today she verified that she is indeed a hen! She FINALLY laid an egg!!! Not exactly a white egg, but a kind of cream colored egg that is quite a different color than I've seen. I was so excited to find the egg late this afternoon when I went out to the hen house to give them some corn and scraps. At first I was almost in disbelief when my eye caught a different color egg than I was normally used to seeing in the nest boxes. But then I realized that Meanie must have laid it. Good 'ole Meanie. So, another little miracle in the nest box today and now ALL FOUR OF MY HENS are finally laying! Well, except for one, Whitey, who has gone on a brief break, because she is presently molting.  Her downy white feathers covering the hen house and yard like snow. Hens normally do not lay while they molt, but I'm sure she will be back at it in February or March and then maybe I will start getting four eggs a day. Whoo Hoo! :)

The Egg!!!

Compared to the other eggs it was very oblong

Up Close and Personal

Once you finally get your chickens the next thing you wait for are the fresh eggs. I was so impatient with that. Everyday for two months, I'd go out several times a day looking to see if any of my hens laid. It seemed like it took forever! But when one of your hens FINALLY does lay that first egg it is so exciting! Such a little miracle! And actually, I still get excited going out to the coop to check the nest boxes looking for those little miracles. Out of my four hens, as I've mentioned many times before, only two have started laying. I noticed the first two did odd little things a few days before they laid their first egg. First of all, they got very "talky". I would come into their pen and they would just carry on the entire time I was in there when normally they were somewhat quiet. Another thing I noticed was that they spent a lot of time going in and out of the hen house and trying out the nest boxes. One other thing was that I would occasionally feed them eggshells as I had read that it gives them lots of calcium so that they will lay eggs with hard shells. If they do not get enough calcium their eggshells can become soft. They were supposed to LOVE to eat eggshells. But when I fed them the shells they never ate them, but right before they laid their first egg, they suddenly had a great liking for eggshells and would gobble them up! So, my two that are now laying always fight over the eggshells, but the other 2 could care less.

So, onto my "up close and personal" part. The oddest thing a chicken starts doing a few days before they start laying is something called the chicken squat. I'm sure you may be wondering just what the chicken squat is. I had no idea and I grew up around chickens, but our chickens when I was a child had a rooster. If you raise chickens that do not have a rooster this will be much more prevalent to you, because the chicken, even if it has hated being petted or touched in the past, will come right up to you and squat down at your feet and will want a pat on the back. This signals that they are ready for the attention of a rooster and are about to start laying, but since mine don't have a rooster, well then I guess they come to me and yes, this is beyond weird! But you have to get excited, because then you know your hens are about to lay a nice fresh egg!

(The chicken squat.  My other chicken, Whitey, must be saying, "Oh, honey, you must be about to lay an egg!")

Our cochin hen, Baby, has been "talky", checking out the nest boxes, eating eggshells, and squatting for about 3 or 4 days now and guess what??? She laid her first egg today! It could not be a more appropriate time, since it is New Years Day! So hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come! And I guess Baby is not a baby anymore. Happy New Year to all of my chicken loving friends. May you have a wonderful 2012 full of many blessings!

(Baby's first egg)

(The 3 chicken eggs I am currently getting - light brown, dark brown, and blue green (Baby's is on the left))

The Chicken Coop of My Dreams!

Okay, if you have been waiting on the edges of your seats with anticipation, I promise to take some pictures of my chicken coop soon and give you lots of ideas just in case you should ever want to build one of your own.  That is, if you haven't already gotten yourself knee deep in chickens!  Of course, after seeing this coop on thefancyfarmgirl.com's blog, I just want to tear mine down and start all over again. WOW!  How cool would it be for not only your chickens, but yourself to have some smashing digs like this!  This coop reminds me of a chicken castle from a fairytale dream, but it actually exists.  Really, it does!  And you can read all about it on fancyfarmgirl's very fun blog!  After seeing more pictures of it you may just want to buy a house on more land and get some chickens!  Or even if you didn't want to get chickens, you might still want one of these coops just to sit for a spell on a hot summer's day drinking a mint julep as you take in the view of your beautiful vast land.  Of course, you wouldn't have to do much work, because you would have farm hands to do that.  You could just sit and read and enjoy!  Oh my gosh! To me this coop is just that awesome!  I showed it to my husband and he just gave me a crazy laugh and I think I saw sweat starting to pop up on his brow and lines of worry form around his eyes.  Poor guy.  I'm sure he will be having nightmares tonight about me wanting him to actually build this!  hee! hee!  I do always have some kind of project for him lately.  So, here it is - ta da! - the chicken coop of my dreams:

http://www.thefancyfarmgirl.com/heres-the-coop/

Happy New Year!  I pray all of you have a Wonderful and Healthy 2012!  And May All of Your Dreams Come True!

A Christmas Gift for the Chickens and Perhaps for Myself

(my chicks dreaming of digging in the pinestraw outside of their pen)

We live in a neighborhood that is very fortunate to be surrounded by forest.  Behind our houses there are nice wooded trails.  Recently I was taking a walk on the trails and to my surprise ran into four hens and a rooster!  Come to find out one of the homes that sits on several acres behind our neighborhood owns a few chickens.  I have heard the rooster crowing in the distance on occasion, but was not sure where it came from.  Seeing this little group of feathered friends really gave me the "itch" to let my chickens roam a little.  So, a few days ago I brought out the treat can and bravely let out my most tame and favorite hen, Blackie, and to my relief found that if I shook the treat can that she would follow me wherever I went.  The next day it was time for me to change out the wood shavings in the chicken house and to do some minor maintenance, change out their water, and refill their feeder, etc...  So, I left their pen door open and set them free!  At first they weren't really sure if they should be outside the pen, but it didn't take them long to start scratching around in the pine straw and leaves, looking for grass, roots, and tasty bugs.  They quickly embraced their new found freedom!  As I cleaned out the house, the four girls stayed close to their home for several minutes, but soon they had wandered from the wooded area where their pen stands to our back lawn.  Honestly, I can say that I was grinning ear to ear just enjoying the sight of them enjoying being "free range" chickens as they should be.  The four girls wandered in a tight group like very best friends all around my backyard.  Before long, though, they were wandering into my neighbor's yard, so I got out the treat can and gave it a few shakes and they started heading towards me and back into our yard.  Whew!  I was very relieved to know they ALL understood the sound of the "treat can shake".  I'm sure all of the neighbors think I am crazy!  So, I let my hens enjoy their happiness a while longer, but soon had to round them up and put them back into their pen.  The four of them wandered toward the sound of the shaking can following me slowly as they found tasty tidbits along the way.  I let them take their time.  They all eventually made it back into the pen, except for Meanie, who has always been my problem hen.  I had to get my husband to come and help me round her up, but it wasn't too difficult.  I also had a lighter heart the rest of my day just knowing I had possibly given the feathered gals a nicer and more eventful day.  Sometimes it really is the simple moments that make us truly happy.  I even allowed the four gals back out today for a little while.  Since, I live on only one acre in a neighborhood, I don't think I will ever be able to let them roam freely without my watch.  If I did, the neighbors might not like it if they roamed over and munched down their flower gardens, nor would it be a pretty picture if one of my hens became a tasty fresh meal for one of the neighbor dogs, but on days that I have some extra time to keep them under my watchful eye, I think I will be letting them have more wonderful moments of freedom.

(freedom!)

This week, my husband and I repainted our kitchen.  When we were done, I told my husband that I wanted to get a chicken painting to go on one of the walls.  He looked at me with raised eyebrows and said, "I will not allow you to become a crazy chicken lady!"  I was thinking to myself that it was already too late.  And as soon as Christmas is over, I plan on looking for that prefect chicken painting!

I wish all of you a Very Merry and Peaceful Christmas and a Happy and Blessed New Year!  I hope they are filled with simple and happy moments!

(Whitey - with a dirty beak and beard.  The hazards of her new freedom adventure digging in the pine straw and the downside of being a white chicken.)

Italian Egg Drop Soup

Hello! to the readers of my poor little neglected chicken blog. I'm back! To fill you in, all is well with my chickens Blackie, Whitey, Meanie, and Baby! Blackie, and Whitey are still laying eggs almost everyday, so our fridge stays full of good fresh eggs! This is somewhat surprising considering that most chickens stop laying as the days get shorter signaling that the time of year is not really a good time to raise little chics.

Also, we considered changing Meanie's name to Sweetie. When we purchased her she was constantly attacking the other hens, especially Baby and we actually feared for Baby's life, but after a few weeks she finally calmed down and although she kind of remained a loaner (probably because the other hen's feared her), she seemed to be learning to get along with the others. I was feeling very sorry for her as the weather became colder, because she always roosted on her own roosting stick all alone while the other three always cuddled together on the other roosting stick. BUT the other night I noticed as I was securing them in their little house that she was with the other girls on the roosting stick and my heart was warmed UNTIL she started pecking the other chickens HARD until she chased them off of her stick! So, her name has remained Meanie and I don't feel so sorry for her anymore.

Another funny little thing I've recently discovered, Blackie and Whitey almost always lay their eggs in the nest box that I have one fake egg in. I wasn't sure if they had just gotten used to laying in that paticular nest box or if they laid their because of the fake egg, so I started moving the egg to different nest boxes everday and no matter where the egg is they always lay in that box. So funny!

So, the other day I tried a new recipe with eggs. My husband LOVED it and says he wants me to be sure to make it more often. I think you will find it very unique as well as super yummy and easy. It is also perfect for these cold winter days. Enjoy! :)

ITALIAN EGG DROP SOUP

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

3 large eggs

1/2 cup pastina or other very small pasta (I used ditalini)

1/4 to 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese (depending on taste)

3/4 bag of baby spinach coarsely chopped

1/4 tsp. pepper

pinch of nutmeg

Bring chicken broth and 1 cup water to a boil. Add pasta to mixture and cook until pasta is tender. Meanwhile whisk together remaining 1 cup of water, eggs, and cheese in a bowl. When the pasta is tender, whisk the mixture into the boiling water and reduce heat to low, keep whisking for 2 more minutes. Stir in spinach, salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook until spinach is tender. Top with shredded cheese if you like. YUM!

Chickens LOVE Halloween and pumpkin guts!!!  Happy Halloween!

A Tale of Chickens and Horses in Magical Bavaria

I want to share with you the email from my wonderful Austrian friend, Hildegard. We were so blessed to have booked a vacation on her family farm several years ago and have remained close friends ever since. Hildegard and her brother, Bascht, have taken on the family farm after the death of their parents. Not only are they hard workers, but some of the nicest people you will ever meet and they have been so good to us! We have made several trips to their farm and I can tell you that I think that their place is about as close to heaven on earth as you can get! They raise beef cattle, pigs, chickens, and beautiful Haflinger horses that that run free in the green valley surrounding their farmhouse. Bascht trains and shows the horses in dressage competitions and also uses them to take people for sleigh and carriage rides in their community. Bascht and the horses are amazing to watch in action as he whispers commands to them and they respond and do exactly what he says. Bascht and Hildegard also rent out two apartments that include a wonderful Bavarian breakfast. Their farm, Baerhof, is about one hour South of Salzburg and lies just outside of a small town named, Annaberg, and is situated in a beautiful green valley in the Bavarian Alps. Pictures cannot even begin to show how beautiful this place is. You just have to experience it yourself.

Now to get to the email from my friend, Hildegard. She and I often exchange emails and she has given me some tips and stories regarding her experiences with raising chickens and here is a recent story about her chickens. I found it quite interesting:

"If American chickens are anything like Austrian chickens, I have been amazed how sensitive they are. For example if it is very hot they lay fewer eggs. Also during marked weather changes they lay fewer eggs. During the winter when it is very cold, they don't lay eggs at all. When we moved one horse next to the chickens during the winter, though, to our surprise, they still laid eggs! When we had 2 horses next to them, they laid the same amount of eggs during winter as they lay during summer! This has been very interesting for me to observe."

While I know it would not be feasible for me to get one, much less two horses to live in my small chicken coop during the winter because I live on only a one acre lot in suburbia, not to mention that horses cost lots of money and eat a lot, too, but maybe some of you who do live on farms and have chickens and horses, can give this a try!   Also, when I read my friend's email, I can picture her farm in "fairytale like" Bavaria full of dragons, unicorns, and fairies and start to imagine her two beautiful horses with glowing golden manes and tails walking into the cold dark barn from the snow covered valley in the alps. As they walk into the barn they begin to light it up with a warm glow like a candle and then they lay next to the chickens causing them to be very happy and content and after not laying eggs for many days due to the freezing temperatures, the hens start to lay lots and lots of eggs and are able to feed the hungry people in the village during the long cold winter. I guess my imagination has gotten away from me, but that is what Bavaria makes me think of and I loved my friend sharing this experience with me. I hope you have enjoyed it, too.  The pictures above and below are some photos from her farm.