Along with many ranch/farm animals, chickens have made a home here. They are a neat kind of fowl and have become a good part of the ranch.
Years ago, when I was just a little girl, I asked Dad if we could get some chickens. Considering the fact that we live in the middle of a pasture and have coyotes all around, he saw having chickens as a risky project. How could those birds live out here? But he allowed us to buy a few anyway. Big J., Little J., and I each got to buy one or two of our own and the remaining ones were just the "family's". I still remember the first few nights of having them. We kids begged to let the chicks sleep in our rooms, and our parents finally agreed to let the box of chicks stay with us over night. It was so exciting! (And noisy with little cheeping.)
The first couple of breeds we purchased for laying were Austra Whites or White Leghorns, Barred Rocks, and Rhode Island Reds, and for meat we got White Broilers.
Needless to say, the chickens not only survived, but flourished. And ever since, we've had a flock.
When we first started out, we kept the new chicks in a large cardboard box in the house. A lamp kept them warm and newspapers kept their messes from going everywhere or through the bottom of the box. The chicks were content in there until they got to the age they figured out how to jump up to the edge and escape. By then, we moved them to a taller box or got a screen or lid to keep them trapped.
On pretty spring days, we would put them in a live trap and set them outside for some fresh air and sunshine. Also, they were being prepared to become outdoor chickens.
Naturally, our cats and dog wanted to eat the baby chicks, so we kids, mainly, would keep a close eye on them. After a short time, though, we would let the cats and dog close, but if they made a wrong move, they'd get a spanking. Shortly after, they learned not to bother the chicks and now all of the cats, dogs, chickens, and other pets roam together. We have only lost a very small percentage of chicks to our dogs or cats.
When the chicks got of a good size, we would let them have more outside time. They would get to run around and before long, they were living outside. For night, we would lock them in our little chicken house and they'd sleep there. Our hope was that they would learn to go there for night without us having to chase them. Some did learn, others preferred to sleep in our tree.
For years, all of our chickens have been free ranged--and I mean totally free ranged. They only have that chicken house to sleep in and other than that, they have the whole world to explore. But they seem to know their boundaries. We have a barbed wire fence all the way around our house and the chickens are very seldom on the other side of it.
Egg Hunt
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| Yucca plant or soap weed |
You may ask where I get the eggs. If they're free ranged, do they have a place to lay? Well, this is the fun part. I've tried to teach them to lay in their chicken house, though only a few have actually done it. The hens love yucca plants and tend to make their nests in them. I like to tell people that I have an Easter egg hunt everyday because I literally search for eggs. They can lay anywhere on the whole ranch, so when it comes time to gather, I use a couple of my senses.
Ears:
Chickens tend to cackle before and/or after they lay an egg. So, I listen and keep track of where my girl is when she's cackling. Later, because you do not want to bother her while she's laying, I go to that area in which she was and search until I find the nest.
If it's an old nest, meaning there are many days worth of eggs, I only gather a few of the eggs, usually leaving two or more. Why? Because if I don't, the hen will up and move, never to use the nest again. And then my searching for eggs starts all over again.
If it's a new nest, say only a couple eggs are in it, I will take all the eggs and place a golf ball or brown plastic egg in its place. Why do I do this "silly" thing? Because if I don't, the hen will sometimes abandon the nest, restarting the cycle like mentioned above.
Eyes:
Like I said, hens like yucca plant nests. The pokey plants can grow close together and when the hen is needing a nest, she'll burrow or dig her a nice "hole" in the plant. Some places are very well hidden, some aren't as much. Now, I use my eyes. I look for spots I think my girls would like to lay in. With years of watching, I've developed a knack for finding good spots. I don't really know how to explain it, but this way of finding eggs has also paid off. Likewise, I am always, I mean always, keeping an eye out for new nests. When I'm just taking a walk, I look around.
In the end, chickens are picky when it comes to where they lay and how many eggs (or golf balls...) they see in the nest when they return. If she is okay with the remaining eggs or golf ball, she'll continue to use the nest and I won't have to look as hard to gather eggs. I really like it when they do that! And, yes, multiple hens can and sometimes will use the same nest, and that's another huge bonus!
Hatching Chicks
For the longest time we hardly believed that hens actually hatched their chicks on a ranch/farm without the help of a human. You always read about them in books and see them on movies, yet we personally never had any. But finally a couple of years ago it happened...to us! Paprika, my hen, hatched her very own chicks. The daddy, Gus, was a Barred Rock rooster and Paprika, a Rhode Island Red, so the chicks were black and white when they were hatched. As they grew up, they got red streaks throughout their black feathers. And of course, they were all roosters.
Since then, we've hatched a few batches (or whatever they're called), and thankfully, the hens did all of the work. Just last year, we were blessed with some ranch-hatched pullets (hens) which are now laying.
Fact: a hen who hatches chicks is called a sitting hen.
Feed
The only time we've bought chicken feed (the stuff in the fifty lb. sacks from the feed store) is when we buy chicks. They like eating smaller crumbles when they're little. But since my hens have been hatching their own for the last couple of years, we haven't bought any chickens lately. Instead, we buy grain by the cake feeder. No, that doesn't make much sense to you and that's okay. See, a cake feeder is what's on one of our pickups. It holds cattle cake which is a real treat to them. When it's time to feed the cattle, there's a spout which opens and a gear that dumps the cake.
Anyway, when we need more chicken grain, we empty the cake feeder and go to a nearby grain elevator. There we fill the cake feeder. At home we put all of the grain in tubs or old feed sacks. Usually we buy milo, sometimes wheat or corn or mixtures. A trip to the elevator will last us a season--spring, summer, fall, or winter.
I scatter the grain out about every day. When the chickens finish it, I know I need to give more. Really, our chickens are easy keepers!
For a while I would call my chickens, but now they have so much to eat that they don't listen to me. Ha. Also, when I had two ages of chickens, say some old ones and some chicks, I had separate calls. Don't let people tell you chickens aren't smart. Different ages would come to different calls.
Roosters vs. Hens
Roosters are great, at times and if there aren't too many. Too many times, we either buy or hatch more roosters than hens, so naturally, we have to do something about it.
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| Gallium-- rooster |
The cons of having roosters are: 1) they will pick on the hens, sometimes even to the point of causing harm, 2) having too many will cause problems such as not enough hens which leads you back to con #1, 3) have too many and they'll try fighting for the top of the pecking order. 4) they flog people, they spur people, they chase people, they...well, you get the idea. Some roosters just aren't nice guys.
The pros of having rooster are: 1) you get fertilized eggs which could hatch 2) they protect the hens. Believe it or not, they will alert the flock by making odd noises when large birds fly overhead or the danger of a coyote being too close. Yes, we know this from experience of it happening right before our eyes. 3) they crow... a lot, so actually is this a con?
The simplest way to fix the problem of having too many roosters is to simply butcher them. It takes only a few minutes and the problem is solved...until you hatch or buy more rooster chicks on accident. So, yes, we have gotten pretty good at killing roosters and fixing them for meals.
But we always want to have at least one good rooster around to protect the hens.
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| White Feather-- Rhode Island Red hen |
Hens on the other hand are just great. They're so sweet--most of the time--and they give us free eggs everyday. Put plainly, they don't have many cons.
Names, Funnies, and Stories
If you know us, you know we love to name our animals! Throughout the years, we've had some pretty good chickens who's names I'd like to share.
Brownie She was my very first hen. We were so close we'd share apples. I'd take a bite, let her peck at it, then I'd take another bite. She was one hen who would chase people. I would ride my bike pass her and she run after me.
Jazzman He was a tough rooster who had the pleasure of living his full life. He thought he was hot stuff and would chase our quarter horse. No joke!
Paprika She was our first sitting hen.
Cricket and Florence Well, I wasn't sure whether I had a hen and rooster, rooster and rooster, or hen and hen. So I chose those two names, only to realize I had two roosters. Yeah, well... so it goes.
Madison He was our Thanksgiving meal.
White Feather
Fredric and Duck
Evelyn
Beatrice She didn't like laying eggs. One day I found her sitting on one egg and I knew she wasn't laying or getting up. I ended up giving her some other eggs and she hatched them. Up until the day she died, she would only lay a few eggs and sit as much as possible.
Rooster Doodle
Mama Hen Another sitting hen, obviously.
Gallium Our present rooster.
Gus Best for last. He was a wonderful rooster. He didn't get his name until he was older, when he was trying to eat corn, but the hens kept taking it from him. I thought of Gus from Cinderella. So Gus it was. He was the toughest rooster I have ever had! His comb, top red part of his head, was frozen off, he lost his toe nails, his tail feathers were a sight, and he gurgled when he crowed. But oh! What a character! I can't begin to tell of all the stories about him. He was my enemy for a long time because he'd come flog me, he'd look for me. But as the years went by, we became great friends and I wouldn't let anyone kill him or hurt him. I'm sad to say that he disappeared just this month after living on this ranch for probably about ten years. He was just perfect.
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| Gus |
Big J. was really young when we first got chicks, so when he realized that the white chickens laid white eggs and the brown chickens laid brown ones, he asked one day, "Do the black chickens lay black eggs?" Of course, he soon found out that they do not. No, they lay brown eggs.
Sometimes our hens laid eggs in the oddest spots. For a while, their nests were in the pickups, you know, underneath. One time when Dad was driving by our neighbor's house, an egg fell out and cracked on the road. The neighbors were very confused since their guineas didn't lay eggs so big and brown.
Another time, we had a hen who apparently loved pickup rides. Multiple times she would stand on the side of the pickup bed or trailer as one of us drove away from the house. We'd always have to come back and make her get off before we really left.
Of course there are countless stories of the mean roosters coming after us only to get hit with flying sticks or stones or shoes. They never seem to learn.
There was one day, just in the last year or so that I only had eight hens, I think. Well, I was walking by this nest and saw that there was an egg. I think I took it and came inside, telling myself I needed to check the nest again later.
Later I went back, lo and behold, there were ten eggs in it! The whole day I was trying to wrap my mind around getting more eggs than I had hens. It was a crazy, cool thing, though.
Oh, you lucky readers! Just this morning, we were eating eggs and one was a double yoke! It's a joy to get these, since most of the time we don't.
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| Double yoke on the left, single yoke on the right |
One time, we even got a tiny egg with no yoke at all.
Our chickens, at least for a few years, preferred to sleep in the trees instead of their protected house. That's why so many of the roosters lost their combs.
We have taken many to the county fair as well. I won two champion ribbons with two of my Buff Orpingtons, Madison and Augusta.
The girls never cease to amaze me with how many different eggs I get. From two main breeds, I get light and dark shades of brown, specked, large and small and many shapes. You name it, I will probably have it.
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| Evelyn-- Buff Orpington hen |
Now
Now we have about 11 chickens total--two of those being roosters. Considering how all of the hens are free range, I am gathering about 7 eggs daily. Personally, I think this is great! I actually store up enough that eventually I have to give them away, and I love it.
Yes, we tried many breeds of chickens, even some ducks, but we always come back to these two breeds, Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons. I always like a variety, but I'm content with these red ones and my favorites, the yellows. And out here, the hardier, the better.
There are frustrations that come along with owning them, but doesn't that happen in all areas of life? One is that they like to scratch up soil, therefore, they'll eat the seeds you just sowed and will one way or another dig up the whole plant which was just planted. Chickens love dirt baths and the damp dirt around plants is the perfect spot. So landscaping is possible, but not as easy with chickens.
But since having these birds, we have had a huge decrease in ticks on both cats and dogs and us. They love other insects as well, so that's always a huge plus.
One day, Mom and I sat and watched the chickens for a very long time. There was no real reason as to why we were, but there was something about the way they spent their day that was captivating. They're graceful, and yet can tear apart the ground and grass. They're quiet, until they have a crowing or cackling battle. They have amazing eye sight being able to see a fly on their back. They're quick, they have to be so they can catch flies and grasshoppers. The noises they make can be both peaceful and eerie. But I don't think they're just chickens. They all have their own personality.
