Chaos in the Hen House

What is it with chickens? There can be any number of perfectly good empty nest boxes available, but they want the one that another bird is already in!  And they are quite persistent about it. They will push on in and sit on the current occupants head, even pecking her if necessary, to get her to move. If the invading hen happens to be one of Rooster Schooster's favorites, he joins in with all manner of squawking! 

Of course, when Schooster sets up a fuss, we have to go check. Even when we're pretty sure it's just over nest box squabbling, it could also be a snake or rat, both of which are egg and chick stealers. One time, we had a skunk brazenly walk into the coop in broad daylight and kill chicks! So, reasonable doubt requires making sure everything is okay. 

Egg laying is bird business, which means that none of them is interested in (or compliant with) the humans' opinions and solutions to the problem. Our efforts to sort things out are completely ignored, and the battle for the nest boxes continues with the sense of business as usual. For the most part it actually isn't a problem. It becomes a problem, however, when the occupying hen/duck/turkey is broody and wants to hatch some eggs. 

Broodies can be pretty persistent, but when they are successfully routed out of their nest by a rude chicken, they move and then stay there. This results in the eggs being abandoned which means none of them hatches. Our solution has become to keep an eye out and then move the eggs to the broodie's new next. 

This solution points to another problem however. That is, now there are more eggs so that they are at different stages of development and often become too numerous for the broody to properly cover and incubate. 

I'm guessing that at about this point, many of you are wondering why we don't use an incubator and skip the fiasco in the hen house. There are several reasons for this, which are logical to us, although they may not make sense to others.

• We like having a mixed age flock because it helps keep egg production at a consistent level. Old hens eventually lay less, while younger hens lay the most. With a mixed age flock we can keep six hens and have a surplus of eggs to share year after year.
• Consequently, we don't need a specific number of new chicks every year. We don't do the replacement flock thing, so just a trickle of new chicks each year works well for us.
• It's infinitely easier to let the birds hatch and rear their own young! This is nature's way, after all, and it relieves us of the accompanying chores of the job. Plus, we firmly believe that babies deserve to have their own mother. 

So, speaking of baby poultry and mothers, here is the first hatch of the year:

Yup, our turkey hen hatched out two duck eggs and they are all perfectly content with the arrangement. The added bonus for the ducklings is that the chickens—which tend to be ruthlessly mean toward newcomers—absolutely leave Jenny's babies alone. They are all quite intimidated by her, so nobody messes with her young 'uns!

Sadly, we lost one duckling when it drowned in the big water dish. But the other is doing just fine.

Currently we have two broody ducks and a broody hen in the nest boxes. We're waiting to see what's next. 

Chaos in the Hen House © May 2024 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Homestead Summer in Photographs

I can't believe it's August! Seems like Juneteenth was only the other day. 

Detail from my Christmas gift from my daughter-in-law

Here's our summer so far in photographs.

Summer squash blossom with pollinators

Fresh goat milk mozzarella

Hopniss vines on the hoop house

Rose of Sharon

Kudzu vines to dry for goat hay

Ricotta cheese from the mozarella whey

Cover crop for soil biomass

Mosul in his anti-mating apron (so he could stay with the girls longer)

more dill pickles

the last of this summer's blueberries

sweet potato flower

Jenny B and her 3-month-old poults

Sewing room progress: homes for weaving yarns and books

Greenhouse progress: trim for the first door

Newest additions: second batch of late July ducklings (five, total)

How's everyone else's summer coming along?

Homestead Summer in Photographs © Aug 2023

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Ducklings: Good News Bad News

The good news is that after Little Ducky's close call (you can read about it in this post - More Drama in the Chicken Coop), he's doing well For a couple of days he had a lot of trouble getting around and we weren't sure if he was going to make it. Here's a 30 second video clip of how he's doing now.

The bad news is that another black snake sneaked into the coop and killed two of our four ducklings. Little Ducky was NOT one of them, but the loss is still discouraging, nonetheless. 

Dan and I are now talking about an overhaul of the chicken coop. Snakes have killed baby poultry over the years (and stolen who knows how many eggs). We did snake proof the coop once-upon-a-time, but they still squeeze in who knows where. The other problem is the squabbling for the space under the nest boxes. Rearrangements are in order.

Ducklings: Good News Bad News © June 2023

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

More Drama in the Chicken Coop

First, some background: Several weeks ago, I told you about our Muscovy and Jersey Buff turkey hen squabbling over the eggs. Since neither one was going to budge, they finally "settled" the dispute by sharing the nest. Not long after that, one of our Speckled Sussex hens pushed her way onto the nest and refused to move. So the three of them have been continually jockeying for position. What makes matters worse is that the other hens insist on trying to lay there too, so we have an over-crowded jumble of eggs on that communal nest with no way of knowing what's going on. 

Hatching begins: We finally spotted one chick 

Readily adopted by Mama Hen for mothering

and one duckling.

1st duckling to hatch; followed Mom Muscovy
out into the chicken yard, but they didn't stay long.

Mostly, everyone was sitting tight on the nest, so there's no way to know for sure what's happening. This isn't unusual, as new babies take several days recovering from hatching before regular ventures out into the world.

Now, for the drama: Dan was in his workshop the other day, when he heard a ferocious racket in the chicken coop. He assumed it was Mama Chicken and Mom Muscovy fighting over the nest again, but he went to check it out anyway. When he got there, he saw a snake tail sticking out from the nest! He grabbed it and threw it against the wall, which stunned it. That's when he noticed the back end of a duckling sticking out of it's mouth. Dan grabbed a hoe, pinned the snake's head down, and managed to pull out a live duckling! 

The snake was promptly dispatched and we brought the duckling inside to make sure it was alright. I put it on a heating pad and we observed it for several hours, until it was alert and chirping. Then it was put back under the mamas in the nest. Talk about a close call!

The next day it was fine, and I was able to get some pictures. 

This is why we've had a problem. Instead of setting in
the nest boxes, they all want to set under the nest boxes.

It's hard to know how many are actually under there.

Duckling on the left is our snake survivor (still with dried snake siliva
on it's head.) Behind it is the baby chick. Two ducklings on the right.

Final count is four ducklings and one chick. Three of the ducklings are doing well, but the little guy who almost got eaten by a snake is lagging. Honestly, he looked a bit premature after his rescue, and we surmise that the snake went after the egg. Even though it broke, he was close enough to hatching that he can breath air, but he isn't getting around as well as the others. It may be a leg injury, hard to tell.

Our two turkey poults are doing well. They are now two weeks old.

They blend in well to their background!

They're beginning to look less like baby chicks.

Jenny B has proven to be an excellent mother.

The only broody mama with no babies is Jenny J. In looking over the remaining eggs in the nest, they all appear to be duck eggs. No turkey eggs. I find it curious that she readily adopted eggs that were already there without laying her own. Mama Hen took over the chick and Mom Muscovy took over the ducklings, so it's sad that Jenny J has no one to mother. 

I'd like to say all's well that ends well, but there are still many perils about for baby poultry. We just have to do our best to protect them and hope for the best. No more adventures would be fine with me.

More Drama in the Chicken Coop © June 2023

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

More Poultry Tales

It's been awhile since I mentioned our poultry. But the ducklings, chicks, and poults have all grown a lot, and I have to tell you what happened with Mama Hen and the chicks. So, here's a long overdue poultry update.

Our turkeys. We're still not sure whether they're male or female.

In my last chick and turkey post, I showed you our turkey yard into which we moved Mama Hen, her three chicks, and the three turkey poults. We kept them separated at first, but once they got used to each other, Dan removed the little barrier fence and gave them all run of the entire turkey yard. This worked pretty well for awhile, and then Dan decided that the turkeys were big enough to stretch their legs in the barn yard. Once they were allowed out there, they decided that they wanted to join the chickens and ducks in the large poultry yard. It became their mission in life! It didn't take long before they found their way into the coop and started roosting there. 

Once the turkeys left the little yard, Mama Hen went missing. Evening came and when we took headcounts before securing everyone for the night, the two remaining baby chicks were alone and Mama Hen was gone. This was worrisome because the chicks were still quite little and we'd already lost one to a skunk. But where was Mama Hen? Dan searched the yard and I did a headcount in the coop. Sure enough, she was roosting in the coop. We would have put her back with the chicks, except we can't tell the Speckled Sussex apart, so we didn't know which one. Instead we put the chicks by themselves into the dog carrier for the night. The next morning, Dan moved them into the chicken tractor and they've been there ever since. One of the Sussex hens came to inspect the chicks the next morning. Was that Mama Hen? There was no sign of recognition on the chicks part, so we didn't know. Nor do we have a clue as to why she abandoned them so early.

How well does a mixed flock of chickens, ducks, and turkeys get along? Amazingly well! I know human opinion is that they must be kept separated, but the birds themselves chose this in spite of our efforts to give every species their own space. And why not? Every ecosystem on earth grows toward a diverse population of species. Our poultry are only doing what's instinctive. 

To add to that, I have to mention that the turkeys are absolutely lost without the chickens. They go there they go and do what they do. They become worried when they can't find them. They pace and call until a chicken comes into sight and then they calm down again.

Schooster, our amazing Speckled Sussex rooster.

I think the key to to our poultry yard success is our rooster. We've had fairly good roosters in the past, but they usually tend to be territorial and even intolerant of anyone that isn't part of their preferred circle. Admittedly, our chickens were pretty intolerant of the Muscovys when we only had the two females. That changed when we got a drake, and especially after our Muscovy ducks went broody and hatched ducklings. The chickens quickly learned to respect their space. When the turkeys moved into the poultry yard, every bird took it in stride. Every bird seems to know their place.

Every bird also listens to Schooster. He's just as alarmist as the next rooster, but every bird knows what his cries mean and heeds him. One day he let out a warning and every bird ran for cover: chickens, ducks, and turkeys. It didn't sound any different to us than some of the other squawks he makes, but Dan started scanning the trees and skies, and sure enough. A large broad shouldered hawk was in a tree overhead. It flew off when Dan spotted it.

To close out my update, here are a few short video clips I took. I'm not a very good videographer, but it's fun to do, so maybe I'll add that to my list of things I'm interested in learning about.

More Poultry Tales © September 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Barnyard Babies: Ducklings!

The Mama Duck Team with the first of the ducklings.

The ducklings started hatching on the last Monday of July.

One day old. If you look closely, you can see three little duck bills.

There were three the first day, then three more the next day. On day three, Dan counted four more. The next day they were out, and the count was seventeen. It's hard to tell because when they're out, they're all over the place.

First outing. It was brief, but everybody got a chance to see the new babies.

Despite how mean the chickens used to be to the ducks, they seem to have learned some respect since The Squabbles. All chickens watched the ducklings from a respectful distance and steered clear of wherever the ducks went.

While they were out, Dan cleaned out the broken shells and three unhatched eggs from the duck nest.  Later, after evening chores, he told me that the ducks refused to go back to the tidied up nest. He had to put one of the eggs back in it before they would return and settle the ducklings down for the night. 

Next time, I'll give you an update on the baby chicks and turkey poults!

And, I thought I'd take a brief moment to plug one of my books, Critter Tales. It's loaded with our adventures as beginning livestock keepers, plus the research I did to learn how to keep homestead critters sustainably. [Spoiler: Muscovys are my surprise ending!] The Critter Tales link will take you to more about the book and where to buy it.

Barnyard Babies: Ducklings! © August 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Poultry Squabbles: The Ongoing Saga

Earlier this month, I told you about the feud between Mrs. Broody Chicken and Mrs. Broody Duck (Poultry Squabbles). Well Mrs. Broody Duck (aka "Sister") has continued to have it in for Mrs. Chicken. She chases her around the chicken yard when they go out for a stretch, and tries to block her from going back into the hen house!

Sister. She shares the nest with Mom Duck, who was out at the moment.

On Monday, I was canning cucumber relish, when Dan came into the kitchen and said, "Two of the chicks have hatched, but Sister won't let Mrs. Chicken back into the coop." I went out to see too, and sure enough, two little peepsters were peeping from the nest, and Mama Hen was nowhere to be seen.

The entire poultry yard was in an uproar, but where was Mama Hen?  Since we have four Speckled Sussex, they all look alike and we can't tell them apart! Fortunately, the day was in the low 90sF (low 30sC), so we didn't have to worry about the chicks getting chilled. But we were concerned that she might abandon the nest. If she didn't return by evening, we'd have to put the chicks under the brooder lamp and raise them ourselves. That was not the desirable outcome.

That evening, when I went out to fill hay feeders for overnight, Dan said there was a chicken under the nest boxes, which are next to Mama Hen's dog carrier. He said she'd been there all afternoon, so we reckoned this one was Mama Hen. If she'd just been in there to lay an egg, she would have left as soon as the job was done. 

After everyone was in for the night, I carefully moved her to the dog crate. The chicks started peeping and she settled down on top of them. What a relief.

Mrs, Chicken, now Mama Hen.

Dan gave her six or seven eggs, and so far, three have hatched.

Can you see the second one?

It will be a couple of days before we know the final count. When the eggs start hatching, the broody hen usually stays on the nest for several more days. This is because she lays them over a period of days, so they hatch on different days. We gave her the eggs all at once (as long as they haven't been refrigerated, they remain viable for chicks), but by instinct, she'll stay on the nest for a couple of days. That's good because it gives us time to figure out how to keep her and the chicks safe. Too many squabbles in the poultry yard for that!

Poultry Squabbles: The Ongoing Saga © July 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Poultry Squabbles

Muscovy ducks are seasonal layers. The two females of our trio were laying well until we lost our drake. After that, they continued to lay eggs for a while and then stopped, which seemed early in the year. Shortly after we got another drake, they started laying again. They chose a corner in the chicken coop, prepared a nest, and started laying there.

Sister (on the left) and Mom (on the right)

The chickens, however, are no respecter of Muscovys, and have not wanted the ducks in their yard. They've been very straightforward about their opinion on the matter, but unfortunately, the Muscovys rejected the two yards we made for them, firmly insisting that they wanted to live in the chicken yard. Even after the chickens attacked Mom and pecked her eye out, the ducks stuck with their determination to stay in the chicken yard. Getting Big Duck (our drake) gave the chickens pause in further attacks, but we really would have felt better if the ducks would consent to their own yard. They didn't. Anyway, it was no surprise when the chickens insisted on laying their eggs in the ducks' nest. We dutifully removed the chicken eggs (and chickens), but for whatever reason, the chickens were determined to take over the nest anyway.

So, this latest squabble began when Mom began to brood the eggs. We were really pleased because we would love to have some ducklings. Then Sister went broody too and joined Mom on the nest (which is a good thing because there are more eggs in it than one duck can keep warm.) 

Wouldn't you know it that one of the Speckled Sussex hens decided to go broody too. Great! We want more chicks too! Except! She insisted on taking over the ducks' nest. This greatly upset the ducks, and no amount of repeatedly removing Mrs. Chicken would deter her. I made a second nest with chicken eggs near the first, but nope. Mrs. Chicken didn't want that nest.

If you've ever dealt with a broody chicken, then you know that they are some of the most tenacious creatures on Gods' green earth. I've tried to break a broody in the past (that story here) with zero success. You just have to let them do their thing, except for us humans, that thing means hatching baby chicks, not ducklings.

We finally put her and some chicken eggs in our dog crate. We gave her food and water, and waited. She fussed about it at first, then finally separated out some eggs and set on them. By the next day, she had accepted all of the eggs. We watched her closely and she seemed content for several days. Finally, she wanted out. Of course we let her, hoping she was now bonded to that clutch of chicken eggs. Even so, we kept an eye on her, to make sure. 

On one of my frequent checks, there was Mrs. Chicken, back on the duck nest! Mom ran out in a huff but this time, Sister was more determined. She rooted her way under Mrs. Chicken and tipped her off the nest! I went into the coop to put her back in the dog crate, but she ran out squawking. On my next check, she was back in the dog crate on her chicken eggs and has returned to them ever since. Sister and Mom are once again sharing the ducks' nest.

Projected hatch dates are July 19th for the chicks and August 2nd for the ducklings.

Poultry Squabbles © July 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Our New Muscovy Drake

Last November, we got some Muscovy ducks. Years before we'd had Muscovys and really like the breed. After a stray dog killed the last of them, we decided to wait until we could secure the yard, before getting more. Dan made a gate for the driveway and we made a nice area for them, next to the goat barn under our fig trees. Ultimately, the ducks preferred the chicken yard. And once there, there was no persuading them to stay in the spot we picked. They picked their own.

All was well until the drake became sick. We weren't sure what was wrong, but he was listless and didn't want to move around. Dan wanted to take him to the vet, but our usual livestock vet doesn't work on poultry. They recommended an exotic animal vet. Dan called, explained the problem, and was told they called back. They never did. Not wanting to see him suffer, Dan put him down.

Not having a drake left the two females open to attack by the chickens. In the past, we'd had squabbles between the two species, but the rooster and drake always protected their own and kept things under control. With their protector gone, the ducks were picked on by the chickens. One of them was jumped by several hens who pecked her eye out. Dan was fit to be tied and we almost had a mass chicken execution, but instead, he put the anger to constructive use and built a new duck yard. For Mrs. Duck, I had veterinary ophthalmic ointment on hand. We were able to treat it and prevent infection from setting in, but she's now blind in that eye.

We equipped the new duck yard with their house, grazing bed, water dish, and pool. Because it's adjacent to the chicken yard, hoped it would be acceptable. We figured they rejected the fig tree yard because it was isolated from the other birds. 

Well, we lured them in with chicken scratch and they gave it a thorough inspection. They seemed happy to see their house and pool, but after eating the scratch, they flew up to the chicken coop and returned to the chicken yard. We tried several times to persuade them that this was now home, but they weren't interested. One thing about critters, you can't make up their minds for them.

Well, I reasoned, maybe when we find a drake, we'll put him in the duck yard and they'll be willing to stay. When Dan finally found an adult drake on Craigslist, that's what we did. Dan transported him in our large dog carrier, which we placed it in the new yard. Then herded the two ladies in. They were excited to see him!

Then evening came. Would the ladies finally stay in the new duck yard? Nope. And not only that, Big Duck (we name all our drakes Big Duck) flew up to the chicken coop roof with them and followed them into the chicken yard! 

They showed him around and he seems to agree with them that this is home. 

The chickens are keeping a wary eye on Big Duck and run away whenever he waddles near. Since the three ducks move in a group, it looks like our two lady Muscovys will now be safe from chicken attacks. And the rooster will keep the ducks from pestering the chickens. What else can I say besides, "all's well that ends well."

Our New Muscovy Drake © June 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com