Welcome to The Hearty Hen House
Hobby Farming at its finest!
Have you ever wondered why roosters crow? Is it just to annoy the neighbors? Are they really nature’s alarm clock? Have you watched a mama hen patiently cluck at her young as she points out bugs, seeds or grain? Have you noticed that low growl you get from a broody hen as you attempt to remove the egg she just laid? All those cackles, chortles, squawks, purrs, growls and crows have meaning. It’s our chicken’s way of communicating with the world around them.
Spring is just around the corner. It is the season of new life. I look forward to warmer weather and new life on the farm, whether fauna or flora. I also enjoy seeing all those sweet, adorable chicks and baby bunnies that show up in feed stores and farmer’s markets. Before taking on a new animal, do your research and understand what you are getting into and for how long. There have been times when I have had strays show up on my doorstep. In fact, that was how our rabbits were acquired. One early winter morning, I noticed three domestic rabbits eating food rations with the free-range chickens. They didn’t leave. I did not really know much about rabbits at the time, but I was about to learn!
Goats are a fun addition to any farm. Not only do they make great pets, but they can also be a productive, useful animal to have around. There are basically three types of goats: meat goats, dairy goats and goats that are used primarily for their wool. Before adding to your menagerie of farm animals, it’s a good idea to think about your purpose for raising goats. Knowing your purpose and goals for keeping goats will help you in determining what breed of goat is best for your farm. After all, there are in excess of 200 different goat breeds, and a goat can live upwards of 15 years or more, so it is a long term commitment.
Loss is a fact of life on a farm. A baby goat dies during birth, a dog in her prime contracts leukemia, the Houdini rabbit escapes and gets run over by a car and the matriarch hen succumbs to old age. Death and loss are just facts of life. Death is not a respecter of age or breed or our hard work. You have to figure that if you have animals, eventually you’re going to encounter some form of loss.
Now that you have figured out whether or not you are getting baby chicks and when, it’s time to start thinking about and preparing for where you are going to keep them. You want to make sure that your chick quarters are conducive to their health and well-being. When we got our first batch of baby chicks twenty-some years ago, we got a plastic kiddie pool, put some sawdust in the bottom, pulled a chair up next to it that we could hook a heat lamp to and called it good. Surprisingly, all but one chick survived. The next attempt involved a cardboard box, and then we tried a round plastic tub that sat on top of the washing machine in the laundry room with the heat lamp hooked on to the cupboard door. That set up worked fine, except on laundry days. The point here being that any kind of container and set up that works for you and keeps your chickens safe and warm will be just fine, you don’t have to buy or build an expensive set up.
Now that the holidays are coming to a close and as we move into the new year, it’s time to be thinking about if, when and where you are going to get your new chicks. February seems to be the month that feed stores typically start getting in their supply of chicks, and that’s just around the corner! It’s best to plan for starting or expanding your flock before the fact, rather than just going to the feed store one day and coming home with baby chicks. Now is the perfect time to start planning and preparing.
Preening is a chicken’s favorite pastime! It’s the method that Mother Nature has given them to not only look their best, but to protect and condition their feathers. A chicken’s feathers are their first line of defense in battling the elements and protecting their bodies. They have several different kinds of feathers, each serving a unique purpose, and they have several layers of feathers which provide insulation and protection against the weather. A chicken also has an oil gland near the base of their tail. If you watch them preen, you will notice the chicken rub their beak at the base of their tail, collecting oils which they will then spread on their feathers. This oil helps with insulation and waterproofing factors as well as aiding in the battle against external parasites.
When I was fairly new to chicken keeping, we got some chicks from the feed store and one of the hens turned out to be a rooster. He was a feisty guy. My boys were ages 2, 4 and 6 at the time and this rooster would chase them all over the yard. It got to where they would not go out back if that rooster wasn’t locked up. They named him ‘Killer’! He would go after anybody that came near his territory and if you have never been attacked by a chicken, as funny as it looks and seems, those little buggers can inflict some serious pain! For the safety of the kids, he was culled. I have only had one other rooster that would go after people and he was exiled from the coop. No longer having a harem to protect, he calmed down.
Not too long after we started raising chickens, I went to the local feed store for some chicken feed and brought home a white Pekin duckling that I named Howard. Howard was my first experience with raising ducks. Since then the ducks we have added to our flocks have been found, given to us or had physical problems. My husband once brought home a crested duckling from the feed store who had a kinked neck and walked with his head tilted to one side. We called him Crazy Duck! With love, care and time, his neck straightened out and he was a beautiful duck with that fun puff of feathers on his head. My husband also brought home a duckling he found at the side of the freeway. He looked like a Mallard cross and grew up to be a pretty little guy. When we first moved in to our current home, a neighbor asked if my boys could have a duckling. Sure, why not. He borrowed the boys to help him catch one and next thing I knew, I had a mama and 9 ducklings! I currently have a flock of 6 ducks and they are the best!
Making dirt is not something that we generally think of as a great pastime or fun hobby, and frankly, purchasing commercial garden fertilizers is easier. However, I have always been a fan of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’! Trying to be a stay-at-home mom and raise a family required that I make our dollars stretch and not be wasteful with our resources. My husband built our first chicken coop out of wood pallets. The fruits, vegetables and leftover meals that had passed their prime went to the animals. All the organic material at our disposal went into a compost pit to be turned into free garden fertilizer. Every little bit helped!
