Chickens Foraging in the Woods

Chickens Foraging in the Woods
Chickens Foraging in the Woods

Saturday, June 30, 2012

The summer heat is hard on the chickens, but dust bathing and shade in the woods is refreshing for them.  I do wish I could let them go to the creek, but too many predators right now.  There are five hens right now that want to nest which means they don't lay eggs, just sit them to hatch chicks.  

My one hen that I mentioned earlier in my blogs is sitting again.  I did find one egg near her broken open and eaten.  Not sure what would have gotten the egg from her and left her alive and undamaged.  Previously she had hatched two chicks, but one has not survived.  Again, not sure what killed that little chick.

Our new flock of  Black Australorps are getting larger and their combs are getting red which means there hormones are working well and we should have eggs soon.  We are in the process of training them to the hoop house and laying in the hoop house; this process involves access to the chicken house they are in now as well as the hoop house.  Once we move them from the chicken house to the hoop house, we will have to help them learn how to forage.  All of this training can take a toll on egg production because the hens tend to stop laying when their world changes.  Hopefully we will learn how to do this one day without that toll.

How faithful God is.  I was not able to get my garden going--tomatoes, squash, etc. and was more than a little sad about missing the vegetables this summer, but it turns out I don't have time to harvest and in this extreme heat, I would have been out there trying to not waste anything; probably wearing myself out.  So I am thankful for His wisdom which sees beyond what we see.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Well, 21 days came and went and the hen left the nest, so I removed them.  She returned and laid two more eggs and then abandoned the nest and the eggs disappeared.

My original mother with the two chicks abandoned them and went back to roosting with the flock.  Her chicks chirp around the chicken house, so I keep feed tossed out and water.  They seem to be doing fine.

My dog killed a chicken so he has to find a new home.  Buddy is a beautiful black lab mix with white nose and chest and four white feet; a nice, loving young dog, just likes chickens too much..