Welcome to The Hearty Hen House
Hobby Farming at its finest!
My mom tells the story of when I was a toddler, we went to the park. There, of course, was a lake at the park with lots of ducks. I had a bag of popcorn which I was evidently sitting on the bench thoroughly enjoying. My mom suggested that I share some of my popcorn with the hungry ducks and my response was, “No! I no like ducks!”
I really enjoy spring. It signals not only the end of cold weather and snow, but also new life. It’s the time of year when we see animals come out of hibernation, bees and butterflies make their appearance once again and all sorts of baby farm animals take to the stage! There is not much that is cuter than a baby anything with their pure innocence and clumsy antics. Spring is also the time for planting and realizing new growth on our perennial plants. I always get excited when I see new shoots on my rose bushes. There are so many varieties, colors and smells of roses and they are a plant with many benefits, even for our chickens and other farm animals.
I have had a fun time recently tending to some sourdough starter and experimenting with some recipes. I have found a delicious waffle recipe and a wonderful sandwich bread recipe. I not only enjoy eating these two foods, but I enjoy making them as well, and so I do it often. Then I tried my hand at some sourdough artisan bread. My first attempt was beautiful on the outside, a chewy, crispy, delightful crust, but the crumb was dense and heavy. My next attempt was utter failure and I will spare you the details! I was talking with my son about my issues with artisan bread and he told me about a recipe that he makes, a recipe from theKitchn.com which is kind of a faux sourdough bread. There were two things that interested me in particular about this recipe: 1) the microwave is used to help raise the dough quicker, and 2) vinegar is used to give the bread that sour taste.
I am always interested in learning new things and figure that knowledge is the key to…well a lot of things…success, understanding, accomplishing goals, being better equipped to care for my animals. The list can go on. As long as I have been raising chickens, I did not know the entire process of egg formation, so I set out to learn. And learn I did…some very interesting facts, which I’m going to share with you.
A female chicken is born, or should I say hatched, with a fully formed, functioning ovary that contains several thousand tiny ova. Two ovaries develop in the chicken embryo, but the right one stops developing and only the left ovary and oviduct mature. The chick grows and somewhere around 6 months of age she begins to reach sexual maturity. That’s when these tiny ova start to develop into yolks, a few at a time. Once a yolk is developed, it is released from the ovary into the oviduct. Occasionally two yolks will be released at the same time. This results in the double yolk eggs we see from time to time in our frying pans. This is also the stage where a blood spot on the yolk might occur, not due to fertilization, just an accident of nature as the yolk is released from the ovary. Once the yolk enters the oviduct, the egg can be fertilized if a rooster has mated with the hen. The hen can store sperm from the rooster for upwards of two to three weeks. After fertilization, a membrane is put around the yolk to basically hold it together. The yolk then passes into the a part of the oviduct called the magnum where the albumen or egg white is put on. Then on to the isthmus where a thin membrane is added, surrounding the entire egg. The final process is when the egg enters the uterus and the outer shell, shell color and the protective coating called bloom are deposited over the egg. This final process of shell making takes about 20 hours. When this is completed, the hen will lay her egg.
Some interesting facts about eggs and egg laying:
Sources:
https://www.incredibleegg.org/eggcyclopedia/c/color/
https://the-chicken-chick.com/hatch-along-with-chicken-chick-part-3/
https://extension.psu.edu/hen-reproduction
I don’t really know too much about sunflower seeds other than discarded seed hulls generally littered the ground under the stands at baseball games and birds really seemed to like them. They were not a favorite of mine. I enjoyed sucking the salt off of the seed, but breaking into the hull for such a tiny reward didn’t seem worthwhile to me. Just recently I discovered that all sunflower seeds are not created equally. Some have thicker hulls, less oil, different nutritional benefits. Others are a really great source of nutrients for a variety of farm animals. The familiar black seed that is found in wild bird seed is the Black Oil Sunflower Seed, often referred to as B.O.S.S., a very adept acronym for a powerhouse food. No wonder birds love them! They seem to know instinctually the treasures that Mother Nature has supplied for them. Who would have guessed that a common bird feed would also be good for horses, goats, chickens and even rabbits!
Are you thinking about adding some ducks to your flock or hobby farm? There are a couple of really important things that are good to know if you plan to take the plunge and try your hand at raising ducks. One has to do with water and the other has to do with Niacin.
I am a planner. Spontaneity is not my strong suit. It stresses me out. During the winter months I plan out my schedule to include spring cleaning, planting the garden and animal acquisitions. I allow room for change, because you never know what might come up, but I try to stick to my schedule. This year I had planned to add some baby ducks to my flock, as my ducks are getting up there in years and no longer lay eggs. They just hang out in the pasture, enjoying life. I had decided that late spring would be a good time add the ducklings, when the weather was a little warmer and some coop changes had been completed. Well…you know what they say about the best laid plans… Earlier this week I needed to make a trip to the feed store. With this being baby chick season, it is impossible to walk down the aisle of any feed store and not have the opportunity to ogle at the sweet little balls of fluff. As I walked by the tanks filled with little peepers, I noticed the one with the ducklings and a big sign advertising “Ducks, $1.00 with the purchase of feed”. Well, I was already buying feed and $1.00 a duck was a price that was hard to beat. To top it off, these ducklings appeared to be between two and three weeks old, so chances are they were a little hardier than fresh hatches. The situation wasn’t ideal, but a buck a duck was difficult to pass up! So…I went home with five yellow, fluffy, peeping ducklings! I enjoyed watching my daughter-in-law pick them out and I think she did a superb job. My ducklings are adorable!
Keeping a rooster with your flock of hens is something that requires serious consideration before doing so. Many cities, and even some rural towns, do not allow farm animals to be kept in residential neighborhoods. It appears that zoning laws have become more lenient in recent years with regards to keeping backyard hens, but it is important to check the animal zoning laws before acquiring any chickens. Roosters are often not allowed in many urban locations because they are considered a nuisance with all their boisterous crowing. I, for one, love nature and farm life and all the sounds that go with it! But, before you decide that letting a rooster hang out with your girls is a good thing, check your town or city’s animal zoning laws.
Yesterday I needed to make some little “thank you” gifts and since almost everyone likes popcorn AND chocolate, I opted for the chocolate drizzled popcorn that has become so popular. When you put chocolate and popcorn together and achieve that perfect blend of sweet with a little salty…mmm, I’m good! In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I went with a green and gold theme. I bagged the finished popcorn in serving size treat bags, found a cute little St. Paddy’s Day wish that I copied and made into a little card and voila! Some cute, yummy looking “thank you” treats! It tasted pretty good too!
Winter is waning and spring is on the horizon. The days are getting longer and eggs are once again beginning to appear in nesting boxes. Such a welcome sight! What are some of the things that we, as chicken farmers, can do to help our hens be the best layers that they can be?
