a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: About My Chickens

Solving a Problem

I have a problem to solve and the solution involves building a simple box I can hang on a wall.

And here is where the problem is, inside the hay shed.

Two hens have decided that tops of hay bales are the perfect spot to hatch a clutch of eggs. For three nights, I’ve tried moving them into a more appropriate brooding place. When it is dark, the hens will stay calm and you can wrap them in a towel and move them easily. Sometimes, they will take to the new location, but more often, once a hen has decided on a spot to hatch a clutch of eggs, even dynamite won’t make her budge.

With the brooding box ready, I’ve marked the eggs to put under the hen. Once a hen goes broody, she stops laying eggs, and this hen is sitting on a single egg laid by another hen this morning.

With the brooding box fastened to the wall above the bale of hay, the hen is back on her nest with a full clutch of eggs under her to hatch. When the chicks hatch in three weeks, it will be easy to move her and her new chicks by lifting the box off the wall and putting it in a quiet spot in the nursery.

Tomorrow I will make a brooding box for the other hen who is sitting on a bale of hay on the other side of the hay shed. She is a feisty one and will draw blood if you reach under her. She will make a very protective mother.

June 28, 2014
Strike a Pose

Of all the chickens, Lucky is the most photogenic, and she seems to know it. She loves to pose. It’s almost as if she is saying, “How about this look? What if I move my head to the side?” She is also the first hen to come check what I am doing in the garden when I go out to weed. See Lucky’s story ~ why we call her Lucky.

On the other hand, brooding hens are in no mood to pose. They stay as still as possible, hoping that you won’t see them, and that you will move on and leave them in peace.

In one of the hoop houses, the squash are starting to set. I”m not sure what kind of squash this is. I bought one several months ago. It was a squarish squash with a bit of a waist. I planted some of the seeds and will soon have a supply to last through the fall and possibly into winter. You can see the waist in the forming squash.

The two mothers sharing two chicks are doing fine. It’s been over a week since their chicks hatched. The chicks go freely from one hen to the other. Sometimes the hens scold each other when they aren’t happy with the other’s child rearing methods, but for the most part they get along.

Two Moms|Summer Musings|Interracial Lesbian Mothers|More on the Interracial Lesbian Moms

June 27, 2014
Where Are The Chickens?

Walking up the driveway this morning, I noticed some of the chickens out in the far pasture. The pictures give an idea how much space the chickens at a man and his hoe® have. This is probably the impression many have when they purchase organic/free range chicken in the grocery store. Chances of buying chicken growing up in an environment like this in a supermarket are next to nil.

June 25, 2014
Summer Musings
Every evening, many of the chickens end the day grazing on the grass next to the chicken yard. This time of year when the sun sets after 9 p.m. and dusk lingers until past 10 p.m., the chickens take their time getting to bed, especially the younger ones.

Morning colors this time of year are so soft yet brilliant. Getting up early is the thing to do this time of year.

The two hens sharing the two chicks continue their shared co-parenting. At times, each one takes one of the chicks for some “quality time”. At other times they are side by side. It’s interesting observing them. Will this unusual child rearing make a difference for the chicks? Probably not, but time will tell.

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June 23, 2014
Hen on the Dock

When Svenda sees me heading out to the dock to gather duckweed for the chickens, she comes running. She won’t wait on the grass for me to haul in a load of duckweed. She has to watch me scoop it out of the pond. What she and the other hens are after the most are the waterbugs, tadpoles, and other pond bugs that come out with the duckweed.

She almost falls into the pond while scratching through the duckweed, but she catches herself and goes back to looking for good things to eat in the duckweed.

June 14, 2014