Maple Syrup!!

Ann, a co-worker of mine said her husband was willing to trade a quart of MAPLE SYRUP for 5 GALLONS OF CHICKEN POOP!  Here we are making the exchange!

You may not have heard but Chicken poop is some of the best fertilizer in the world!

I Can't Believe My Eyes!

The Egg on the Left is a Jumbo Egg!

I was surprized that it was not a two yoker.

These Chickens are producing nicely. I usually have a dozen eggs to eat and a dozen to give away!

People really appreciate the eggs and tells us how much better they taste than store bought eggs!  

Peace, Love and Togetherness

Some inquiring minds have asked how the FOUR C'S are getting along.  If you remember from reading a former blog, I had to introduce a new CHICKEN into the flock. When Comet was put in the coop with the other birds, there was a deep freeze reception. Then came the bullying, pecking and all out anti-social behavior.

I had to use a squirt gun to institute some law and order.  Well that whole thing lasted for about a week.  However, I am happy to announce that there is total PEACE, LOVE and TOGETHERNESS on this part of God's green acre!

Wouldn't it be great if the world could get along by somebody just using a squirt gun once in a while?!

I Own Super Chickens

How can I say, "I own SUPER CHICKENS?"  Well, the other morning, I go out to the nesting box to see what treasures "The Four C'S" have left me. I could not believe what I saw, there in the nesting box were SIX eggs.  These SIX eggs were layed in a 24 hour period!

Four Chickens laying SIX eggs in 24 hours is not possible unless you have "SUPER CHICKENS!"

I rest my case, I OWN SUPER CHICKENS!

Give Me the REAL THING!

I usually give the Chickens, feed from the feed store. Occasionally, I will feed them something from my garden or pieces of bread.

But my Chickens want the REAL THING, they want to eat grass and bugs!  When I go out the back door of my house, the Chickens gather excitedly, hoping this will be an opportunity to eat some REAL FOOD!

So I will put them in the Chicken Tractor and take them over to the garden for a snack of REAL FOOD.

It seems their appetite for the REAL THING never runs out because every time our back door opens for any reason, they do this.

We are still having a FUN TIME raising our Chickens.

(Just in case anyone is interested, the eggs are coming about every other day and they are getting LARGER!)

Thanks for checking us out!

The First Egg Has Arrived!!

This is our First Egg!  It was layed by COMET!
Comet was so loud in the coop today. Even though the coop is about 50 yards from our back door,  my wife, Sue, heard her. She thought that all that noise might mean that this would be the day that we would get our first egg and she was RIGHT!

This is our Golden Comet who we have named Comet

The New Bird In The Coop

Friday, August 12th was the BIG day. We were given a Golden Comet hen from my son's flock. All I can say is, "WOW!" 

This Chicken is very pretty and is not agressive at all.  When we first put COMET in with the other birds, they let her know that she was not welcome.  So we had to keep her in a seperate cage for a few days. We have now re-introduced her to the flock. They have not accepted her but they are tolerating her. This is a big step in the right direction.

I have a squirt bottle full of water and if one of the birds is unfriendly to COMET, they pay for it.  This seems to be training the other Chickens that being a brat does not pay.

Something very attractive about the Golden Comet is that they lay eggs five weeks ahead of other breeds!

I will post a picture of COMET soon. But until then I'm looking for our first EGG!

A Parting Photo

This is my Chicken that was suppose to be a HEN!
He should be going to His new home this week!

Crowing Must Be Going!!!!!

Dear Friends;

All of the experts and non-experts have been proven right - Copper is not a hen!  Copper is beginning to sing the unwelcomed song of a ROOSTER!

Copper/Carl has been given a stay of execution however, because a friend of mine doesn't have a ROOSTER in her flock right now.  So she is delighted to take this young, energetic con-artist.

Before Copper makes his grand exit next week, I will post a picture for you.

I Could Be in TROUBLE!!!

It is the opinion of several people that one of my "Four C's" is a Carl!  That's right, it seems like I might have a ROOSTER! If I do, I must get rid of it one way or another, if you know what I mean.

Roosters are a problem because of the crowing that would disturb the peace of the neighborhood. Also, since I only have 4 chickens a rooster would mean 25 % less eggs!

However, so far so good. Our suspected rooster has not crowed once.  So maybe and I do mean maybe, this chicken is not a ROOSTER.

I will let you know as soon as I know. In the mean time, if you have any suggestions, about this situation, let me know!

Beware!!!!!

Dear Friends;

Beware of reading this Blog!!! If you read this Blog and visit other sites about raising Chickens, you could get bit by the Chicken raising bug!

If that happens you will begin to read everything you can about raising Chickens. The more you read and the more people you talk to, you will find that there is definitely a way for you to have your very own Chickens

To be honest, I hope you get bit with the Chicken raising bug!  It is a lot of fun and the Chickens are very easy to care for.  They will be more of a joy than a burden!

The Chicken Ark in Use

Today I thought I would try and post a video of the Chickens in the Chicken Ark.  When you see the video you will see how comfortable the Chickens are in this portable run that is a substitute for free ranging in an urban Chicken.

What I was told is TRUE!!

I was told that Chickens like to roost as high as possible. Since the coop is four feet by four feet wide and five feet tall, I thought that a roost two feet from the floor of the coop would be enough.

Tonight as I'm going to close the coop up, I get a real shock. There are only three Chicken's on the roost. I look every where. I look outside the run for any signs of an unwanted visitor. Everything looks normal, except I'm missing one of my precious birds!

Finally, I look up and above the window, at least a foot above the present perch is the missing Chicken. I can't tell you how relieved I felt.  Well, I will have to move the perch higher so that everyone will feel safer and more comfortable.

The Chicken Tractor/Chicken Ark

This little Chicken Tractor is a great tool for the urban Chicken hobbist who has to his "hens" confined at all times.  I put the Chickens in here for a change of scenery and also for the times when I am cleaning their coop.

Not shown in the pic is the small water container that I place in the tractor so they have water available at all times.  The Chickens seem to be comfortable in this temporary housing, except when I need to move them to a new location. This seems to put them in a little panic.



The Variety of Chickens

After doing some research, I discovered that the Rhode Island Reds and the New Hampshire Reds would be a good variety of Chicken for my situation.  They are good layers of brown eggs and they are also a good meat bird when egg production is over.

My little flock of birds are to be confined at all times. The Rhode Island Reds and the New Hampshire Reds both confine well.

I also have what is referred to as a Chicken tractor. I will post a picture soon so you will know what I mean. The Chicken Tractor is basically a mobile coop for the Chickens, so they can eat bugs in your garden and get a little more variety in their lives.

Coop Construction

How it all began

I sent a letter to the Mayor and Board of Trustees of Horseheads, New York in early March 2011 to see if they would make a variance in the village code. The Village code says that you may not have any chickens or other livestock, etc..

My request was to host four chicken's and no roosters. I was required to submit proof that my neighbors were in agreement to this idea. All of these things I had no problem complying with, so I was granted permission.

So on March 25th I purchased some chicks from our local agriculture store and the journey had begun.

Shortly thereafter my Brother-in-law Cliff Horton, who has been in construction for many years, built me a first class chicken coop with some assistance from yours truly.

While the coop was under construction the chickens were kept in two washing machine boxes that I joined together. I placed a brooder light, a small perch, water and feed in the boxes. Then we waited for warmer weather and the completion of the coop which came together on June 4th a few days shy of the birds being in our home for 6 weeks.

So far the Chickens are doing great in their new surroundings. Check out the pictures as they will show a little of the history of the Four C's.

Let me explain the Four C's. Each chicken's name begins with the letter "C". There is Cecily, Copper, Charlotte and Carly. Each chicken can be identified by a different color zip tie that is loose around their feet.

I will post more details in the near future