We got more snow last night! I think our mountain got 5 or 6 inches of a soft, fluffy snowfall. The higher mountains and the valley reportedly got around 6 or 7 inches. Needless to say, my chickens are not venturing out in this. My video tour of the chicken flock will have to wait another day or two.
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Those of you who have been following my Chicken series may have checked back here today, looking for the promised video tour of my chicken flock and hen house. I have to apologize -- nature intervened! The week started with freezing rain. Anyone living in the north, where their winter precip is normally white and fluffy may have little experience with freezing rain, but it's common here in the South. Freezing rain comes when the temperature is hovering right around freezing at ground level and just above freezing a thousand feet in the air. The rain falls and then freezes immediately on contact with the cold ground. It creates lovely icicles and treacherous "black ice."
When my son came home from work that first day, he came in the door saying, "The dirt is slick!" True enough... the dirt was so slick, that I had to carefully navigate my way from one little mound of ice-covered leaves to another just to go feed my chickens and check their water. The leaves gave a modicum of traction under the coating of slick ice. As the week progressed, a good snowfall fell on top of the ice, making it even more treacherous. (See the picture above, taken on Wednesday.) On days like that, you feed your critters and then stay inside, stoking the fire and drinking coffee. Wednesday night the temperature went down to zero. Just before daylight, my husband checked the temp on the front porch, and the thermometer read 4 degrees. This morning (Friday), at sunrise, the temp was 8 degrees on the porch. My husband said, "It's a heat wave!" So, long story short -- I have not ventured out to the hen house with the camera yet. Stay tuned..... I watched a movie last night, and once again, as seems to happen every time I watch a movie set in the fifties, sixties or seventies, I am appalled at the inaccuracy of what they portray. If young people today get their idea of what it was like when I was young from the movies that parade across the TV screen and movie screens of the last few years, they will think we were just like them… but that’s not true. When today’s movies show people of the fifties and sixties using the “F” word liberally, living with a “fiance,” or getting divorced and remarried multiple times, the people making the film are overlaying the morals of today on their history of yesterday. It’s a lie. When I was growing up in the fifties and sixties, I don’t remember ever hearing the “F” word except as a verb describing the sex act. According to my college roommate, who majored in Old English, that word has traveled the linguistic centuries intact. It was the same word, with the same meaning, a thousand years ago in England. My father was a union carpenter his whole life, and worked on construction jobs in this country and abroad. Construction workers have a very colorful repertoire of profanity, but the only words I remember him using in that regard when I was a child were what’s considered mild today – s**t, d*m, S.O.B., and occasionally G.D. I don’t remember him ever saying the F-word. When I was growing up, I think I only knew one or two people who had divorced, and I don’t remember them remarrying. A “divorcee” was a mysterious, wicked person that we kids were not supposed to go around much. A bad influence, my mother thought. Divorced people were in Hollywood – Zsa Zsa Gabor and Elizabeth Taylor. Real people got married and stayed married, “till death do us part.” My parents and my friends’ parents believed in that. People did not live together either, except those wild folk that got caught up in the drugs and music of the hippie movement. A “boyfriend” was someone a girl went to the movies with, and maybe got into some heavy petting in the backseat of his car. Girls did not give their virginity away to a man they were not married to, unless they were “easy.” There was an “easy” girl with a reputation in every high school. The other girls would not socialize with her, for fear of staining their own reputation, but all the boys knew if you wanted someone you could “go all the way” with, that was the girl to take out. When I was growing up, a “fiance” was someone who got down on one knee and asked you to marry him. When you said yes, you became engaged, set a date for the wedding, and bought a white dress. Nowadays, any girl can wear a white dress, apparently. It no longer means she’s a virgin – which is what it originally meant. Some people reading this will say I am naive, that I don’t remember those things going on because I was a child. That may be true. But what child today does not have some idea by the time they start school that the “F” word is something grownups say, that “fiances” are people who live together without starting a family, and that marriage is not forever – it’s just until you find someone better? Be aware that when loose language and loose morals appear in a movie, you’re not watching the 20th century, but the world as it is today. We are living in a decadent society -- Decadent, which comes from the same root word as decay. Think about it. The primary purpose of raising chickens is to have food. They lay eggs that we scramble or fry for breakfast or beat into cake batter. We kill the surplus birds and butcher them for Sunday dinner. Or we sell the excess chickens and use the money gained to buy peanut butter. The primary use, though, for chickens is to produce eggs. In this next – and final – installment in my series on Raising Chickens, I’ll tell you what I know about using the eggs from your laying flock. Most chickens raised for egg production are heavy layers. The breed used in commercial laying farms is usually White Leghorn. White Leghorns lay a large, white egg. American homesteaders raising chickens for eggs usually seem to prefer chickens that lay brown eggs or colored eggs, like the Araucana. A healthy laying hen will begin laying eggs at about 6 months of age, and will lay almost every day. They slack off some in the wintertime, when the shorter daylight hours signal their body to not lay eggs. Some chicken farmers overcome this down-time by putting a light in the hen house to keep the hens laying right through the winter. I have not noticed any bad effect to the chickens by doing this, and whether or not your put a light in the hen house through the winter is a personal choice. Each year after the first laying season, you can expect about a 20 percent drop in production, until most people put their hen in the stew pot when she’s 3 years old… after her third laying season. If you opt for higher production by getting one of the heavy-laying hybrids, generally referred to as “sex-link” chickens, don’t expect them to hatch you any chicks. The urge to “go broody” (set eggs to hatch them) is bred right out of them, and if you want to hatch chicks you have to do it yourself, with an incubator. To keep your eggs clean, be sure to keep lots of hay or straw in the nests. This cushions the egg to prevent breakage, allows the liquid from any eggs that do break to drain away so it doesn’t stain the other eggs, and keeps dirt from the hens’ feet from piling up in the nest and getting on the egg shells. Hens will inevitably scuff around and knock the straw out of the nest, so add a little every couple of weeks or so. Gather eggs daily, so you don’t accidentally get any rotten eggs. Usually, your hens will lay in the morning, so check after 10 a.m., and then again in the evening before dark. Any eggs that are left in the nest on days when the temperature drops below freezing run a risk of freezing and cracking. They’re still okay to cook, but they will not have very good quality or appearance. A fresh egg will have an upright, deep-yellow yolk, and the white will be thick and clear. If either of these is runny when it hits the pan, it is not fresh. People often question whether there is any difference between free-range eggs and eggs from a “factory farm” that supplies the grocery store. Government statistics say no, there is no difference. But other studies say there is a significant difference in nutritional quality. Studies done by the USDA and the egg industry in the United States show no difference in the nutritional value of the two types of eggs, but they are looking only at the strength of the egg shell and the levels of protein and fat in the egg itself. No difference there. But studies done by other groups show a considerable difference, if you look at other characteristics of the egg, such as levels of cholesterol, fatty acids, and vitamins. According to the Wikipedia entry on free-range eggs: Studies suggest the nutritional content of eggs from hens that forage daily on a grass range is superior to that of eggs produced by conventional means. These studies report higher levels of omega 3 and vitamins A and E, and lower levels of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and omega 6. The first time I realized “yard eggs” had more value than just their good taste was back in the late nineties, when I was still an active blood donor. The bloodmobile would post a report online after I donated blood – which included my cholesterol level. I had been checking it there for several years when I saw a sharp dip in the level of cholesterol in my blood! I laughed out loud – our family of 6 was at that time eating 18 eggs a day from our free-ranging flock of chickens. With scrambled for breakfast, deviled eggs at lunch, and cornbread with eggs in it for supper, we were consuming an average of 3 eggs each per day, every day. Yet my cholesterol level was the lowest it had ever been! Those beautiful fresh eggs – with the bright orange yolk that stood up in the pan and the firm whites that did not run – were healthy for me and my family! The bright orange yolk of a free-range egg simply means the hen that laid the egg is freely eating plants that contain carotenoids – which mammals (including human beings) cannot synthesize naturally, but must obtain from their diet. Carotenoids protect the eyes, boost the immune system, and improve resistance to cancer and the effects of aging. Yes, free-range eggs are better than factory-farm eggs. A chicken’s very first egg is likely to be small, but the eggs she lays will quickly grow to “large” or “extra-large” size, and sometimes she will present you with the gold standard in egg-laying: a “double-yolk.” A double-yolk is obviously bigger than usual, and sometimes it will have a discernible ridge around it, like two eggs are joined together. And that’s exactly what it is – a set of twins. When you crack the egg, it will have two yolks inside. Other variations from the norm include soft-shelled eggs, which is when the shell simply did not form all the way and instead is the texture of a rough-skinned balloon. Some eggs will have a tiny spot of blood clinging to the yolk. None of these unusual characteristics will make the egg bad to eat. Bad to sell? Maybe. Some people don’t like double-yolk eggs, while others will pay extra for them. A lot of people don’t like to eat eggs with a blood spot. And the soft-shelled eggs would be difficult to transport without accidentally breaking them. But they are all okay to eat. Unwashed fresh eggs will keep for up to 3 weeks without refrigeration. In the refrigerator, they keep for up to 6 weeks. If you wash eggs, however, that may reduce their shelf life. Eggs fresh from the hen have an invisible coating that preserves the quality of the egg. This is God’s way of keeping the egg good as a hen builds her nest. She may only lay 4-6 eggs a week, but she may hatch twice that many. An egg laid today stays good while it waits, and the hen lays another egg tomorrow, and another egg the next day, then maybe skips a day and lays another egg the day after. When she has her nest full of eggs, she will stop laying and start setting, and she will set for 21 days, until the chicks start to hatch out. That’s why the eggs stay good – if they are not washed – for 3 weeks. I don’t think washing with water will remove that coating, but please don’t use soap. An egg as it proceeds from the hen is completely sanitary, because it comes out of a different place from her feces. If it is laid in a clean nest full of clean straw, the egg will be clean and will not need to be washed. If, however, a hen climbs in the nest with muddy feet and the eggs become soiled, wash them with water that is warmer than the egg itself. The heat from the water will cause the material inside the egg to swell, pushing against the inside of the shell and preventing any bacteria from entering through the shell pores. There is a trick to boiling fresh eggs. If you have ever tried to peel a boiled egg and had it turn into a mess of shell with chunks of egg clinging to it, you were trying to peel a fresh egg. Store-bought eggs usually are a couple of weeks old by the time you cook them, and they boil and peel just fine, but a fresh egg will cling to the shell and be hard to peel. That said, there is a way to do it. I have to credit my online friend, “bbkaren," with this tip. When you want to boil some of your farm-fresh egg, that were in the hen this morning, you have to super-boil them! Bring a full pot of water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, gently lower each of your eggs into the water with a spoon. Look at the clock. Calculate 15 MINUTES. Meanwhile, prepare a sink or large bowl with ice water. Pour enough cold water into the bowl to completely cover the eggs when they’re put in it, and add ice cubes. When the 15 minutes is up, fish your eggs out of the boiling water and immediately plunge them into the ice water. Swish them around in there and let them cool until they no longer feel warm to the touch. Take them out of the water and dry them off. If you refrigerate them for later use, be sure to return them to room temperature before peeling. If you follow these directions, your farm-fresh eggs should peel just fine. NOTE: This ends my series on raising chickens. If you have read every installment of the “Chickens” series in my blog, you should have enough working knowledge to get you started raising a flock of homestead chickens. Later this week, I will post a YouTube video taking you on a tour of my hen house and letting you see my flock of chickens. Check back here for a link to that video in a day or 2. ~ G.F. Chickens are relatively easy to care for, compared with other livestock. As long as they have shelter from the weather, fresh water and food, they produce eggs and meat for the table. Shelter is especially important in the wintertime. Even with good shelter, the rooster’s comb might get frostbitten on the tips. Below-freezing temperatures also can freeze any eggs left in the nest, causing the shells to crack. So what you want in a shelter is four walls and a roof, and any doors or other openings should face east or south. You need a solid wall on the north to block cold winter winds. In the summertime shade from trees or the side of the hen house, and plenty of fresh water, should be sufficient to keep the birds comfortable. Inside the hen house, you need enough roosting poles for all the birds to gather there to sleep at night. It is the nature of the creature to roost off the ground, to avoid being eaten by ground-dwelling predators like foxes and weasels. A second line of defense against predators should be a good solid fence with no gaps – especially near the ground. Even if you let your flock free-range during the day, they should be locked up at night, when predators are on the prowl. The third (and optional) line of defense is a livestock guardian dog that is bonded to poultry. The dog stays with the chickens day and night, and prevents any predators from attacking the flock. A final addition to the inside of the hen house is nests. The simplest nest would be a milk crate or wooden box sitting on the floor of the hen house full of straw. The easiest nest to use, however, is what we’ve got – nesting boxes attached to the front wall of the structure. The hens can get into the nests from inside the hen house, but I just lift a lid to retrieve the eggs from outside. Keep the nests full of straw. Chickens are notorious for scratching the straw out of the nest, but you need the straw to cushion the eggs so they don’t get broken. Fresh water is essential to a healthy flock. You can purchase the big, 3-gallon water container offered at most farm-supply stores, like Tractor Supply and the local farmers’ co-op, or you can get a heated dog dish that sits on the ground, and plug it in with an extension cord. We recently switched to this method of watering my chickens. It generates just enough heat to keep the water from freezing on a cold night. I feed my chickens once a day, every day, and check the water when I do, to see if it needs refilling. Currently, I am feeding a pelletized laying ration from Tractor Supply, and I put enough in the feeder for the chickens to eat completely by about mid-afternoon. If that’s all the feed they get, it is a complete ration. However, I feed kitchen scraps like left-over grits, bread, and banana peels, and sometimes I let them out to free-range just before dusk. Because of that, the chickens don’t get enough calcium in their diet to counteract the calcium that’s going into making their egg shells. When I had dairy goats, I would feed leftover milk and whey from cheese production to the chickens, and that was plenty of extra calcium for them. I don’t have goats anymore, so now I save the shells from their eggs, toast them, crush them, and mix them in with their feed. It boosts their calcium intake. Chickens rarely get worms, but I still worm mine about once or twice a year, with Wazine – available at your local farm supply store. You just mix it in their drinking water. The label says not to feed it to chickens raised for egg production, so I just feed the eggs to the dog for about a week-and-a-half, until the medication clears their system. NEXT WEEK: Chickens, Pt. 6: Using fresh eggs As your chicks start to grow their feathers, they will also start to get too big to keep in the house... and that's when you need to get a hen house ready for them.
If you have a small outbuilding that can be converted to a hen house, that will save some on the labor and cost. But even if you have to build something from scratch, it doesn't have to be expensive. The hen house in the picture above was built in less than a week's time by 2 men, with a lot of salvaged scrap materials and about $50 cash actually spent. The purchased items were mainly screws and hardware cloth. When a friend of ours suggested our two families go in together on a flock of laying hens, we started brainstorming about how to build a chicken house with our limited resources. The first step was to determine how big the building should be. According to the book Raising Poultry the Modern Way by Leonard S. Mercia, heavy layers need about 2 square feet of housing per bird. We planned on raising about 20 chicks, so we decided to make the floor space 8 by 8 feet, and with an outdoor exercise yard. Another consideration was the fact that we live on property that does not belong to us, so the men decided to build the house on skids, allowing it to be moved to another location if need be. A few features I wanted in the construction included: Wire flooring under the roost so the droppings would fall through, a small entrance for the hens to go in and out to the exercise yard, nests accessible for egg collection from outside, and as much security against predators as humanly possible. Our son works on a construction crew with his father-in-law, who has a house across the street from us. As they tear out decks to build new ones, they bring the used lumber up to his house across the street. He stacks it up to use in building projects, and anything he can’t use he burns. Having secured permission to use wood from a couple of the stacks, my husband went over to take a look at what was there. He stacked the lumber next to our house, and the next sunny day he had free he started knocking nails out of the boards. Using the recycled lumber, the men started building the hen house. When they needed a different size piece than what they had, they ripped a board or cut it shorter with the saw. The walls, likewise, were made from the boards. A hole was cut in the front wall to accommodate three nests, which were built and attached to the wall. At my insistence, the men enlarged the lip on the front side of the three nests from 2 inches to 4 inches, to keep the straw from falling out (a pet peeve of mine with previous flocks of layers). We compromised on the floor. I had wanted hardware cloth for most of the floor, to keep conditions sanitary. Not only can accumulated droppings increase the hazard of disease to the chickens, they can also carry such diseases as Histoplasmosis, which can infect humans. In the end, the men put hardware cloth in the area under the roost, where most of the droppings would fall, and made the front half of the floor of boards, to give solid footing to anyone who needed to go in the building. I went out in the woods to see what I could gather to use for roosts. Before heading out, I measured the space and then took the tape measure with me to make sure I got poles that were the right size. I easily located several pieces of long, straight deadwood on the forest floor. Cutting them to just-a-little-longer than the right size with a small hand saw, I dragged back to the construction site one piece of maple and three cedars – all dry and hard, and just the right thickness for an adult chicken to comfortably grasp. If I had realized the cedars were so easy to find, I would have got all cedars, because the cedar helps repel insects. As it was, we quickly cut and installed the poles I’d found, attaching them to two 1-by-4 boards nailed at a 45-degree angle on each side, over the hardware-cloth floor. From our scrap materials, we provided an old door, and bits of tin for the roof. The tin was nailed on, a piece at a time, starting at the lower back end of the roof and overlapping as we went up toward the front. There were well over a dozen bits of tin, but with sufficient drop to the roof, and put on overlapping as we did, the roof has never leaked. When the nests were installed on the front wall, the men cut a small piece of scavenged quarter-inch plywood for the lid. We had some big, heavy doors we’d rescued from the dump to use on cold frames, and we took the hinges off these to put on the nest lid. Then we cut a piece of heavy aluminum wire we had on hand for the pins to go in the hinges. The men added a nice curved edge to the lid so no one would be hurt bumping into the edge, which was next to the door. A good overhang to the roof protects the building from the elements, and a larger 3-foot overhang at the front protects the person gathering eggs on a rainy day. A scrap of hardware cloth left over from the floor was put over a gap at the top of one wall, which allows air circulation from the eastern side. A 1 by 1 foot opening at floor level was cut into the west wall, to give the chickens access to the exercise yard. The hen house was built sitting on small pillars of rocks, but the skids will allow it to be easily moved and transported to another location. An unused dog kennel serves as the exercise yard, bolted securely to the side of the chicken house. With their new home finished, our 6-week-old chicks were introduced to the chicken house. I moved the heat lamp out there with an extension cord, because the nights were still pretty cool. I took one side off the cardboard box that had been their first home and set the 3-sided box on the floor of the hen house, right under the lamp. That gave them a corner in which to cuddle, and a wall against the wind that might blow in through the little chicken door and sometimes up through the wire floor under the roost. Now, some 11 months later, all our chickens are alive and well, and thriving in our little hen house. The only expense in construction was some nails and the hardware cloth, which amounted to a little less than $50. Total construction time was about two days. NEXT WEEK -- Chickens, Pt. 5: Care and feeding of the flock |
AuthorI am Granny Fisher. I live in a small town in the valley in Tennessee. Archives
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