About the Birds

I didn’t want the chickens.

My husband had been begging to get them for a few years. And I just couldn’t commit myself to it. Because here’s the thing about the animals here on the compound….they are mostly mine. I work from home. I worry about them and check on them a thousand times a day. So I knew… the chickens would be mine. And they are. And I absolutely love them. I got chickens last year. Not out of any egg crisis situation, but just because, and I’m really glad we did.

Having chickens in town is a MUCH different situation than having a farm with chickens. You can only have a few and yes they become your pets. At least at my house they did. My chickens are definitely my pets, although there has to be a bit of callousness to them if something happens, which is pretty common. Both of our families grew up with chickens for laying and butchering. I remember very vividly my grandmother picking out a chicken for dinner. Ringing its neck…..but also being so sweet about incubating little ones. It was a pure and wholesome lifestyle and was all my parents knew growing up. And now when I talk to my mom about my chickens, she laughs and laughs about how I know their personalities and names and who rules the roost…. literally. And which ones like to be held and how Teddy (my dog) thinks he’s one of them.

We started out with 4 chicks last year. 4 different kinds. Gladys, Glenda, Florence and Ophelia. I borrowed a stock tank from my dad…. something I completely recommend because as they get older they will start to fly and want to get out. They lived in my front porch, just a few feet away from where I work and I got to listen to them all day long. We started out with a heat light. And a small galvanized container. Which…. if I’m being honest, made me loose my mind for a little while. I have a thing about fires. I basically felt like I couldn’t leave the house (the number of house fires due to heat lamps is HUGE) So, I found an alternative way to heat them and it worked perfectly. (Not the mention the amount of electricity heat lamps take…. it’s a lot and I live in a really really old home) Chickens can’t regulate their own body temperature at the beginning, so it’s important they are kept warm enough.

I found a little wire kitchen shelf. Then I found a heating pad that does not turn off automatically (these are kind of hard to find) I wrapped it in press and seal wrap so it wouldn’t get totally dirty. And re wrapped it a couple times over the next few months. I covered the little shelf with the heat pad and then cut up an old towel to put on top of that. This created a little homemade brooder. I could turn the heat down as they got older. And it gave them a place to roost and play. And sleep at night. Or hide.

When they sprouted wings I put an old screen door (made of wire) over the top so they couldn’t fly out. Hung their food and water from a piece of wood so they wouldn’t spill it all the time. They couldn’t be outside until the weather was more consistent.

While they were growing, they needed a home outside. I researched and studied all the best options. I knew I couldn’t build what I needed or wanted and I knew I didn’t want a prefabricated house as the length of time they last and the quality wasn’t what I was looking for. I needed something really solid to keep predators out. Off the ground. Sooooo…. I had their house built for me. (Of course painted in colors to match my house) I didn’t need anything huge and something that could, maybe down the road, hold just a couple more chickens. I found the perfect place in Nunn Colorado. They did not deliver, so we had to pick it up. Getting it in the yard was a little bit of work, but turned out to be amazing. It’s not next to the house (the city requires it to be at least 10 feet away) We did built a run because we didn’t want them to be free at all times, because not all people love chicken milling around and we have a lot of people coming in and out of the house. The run is built of 2×4’s and hardware cloth which is really hard to work with, and will tear your skin up, but again, it will keep predators out. Chicken wire only keeps chickens out, not other animals. (we have fox, skunks and raccoons and of course mice in our area, so we had to immediately make sure they were secure outside) We buried a foot of the wire on the outside of the run under about 3 inches of rock. I lined the bottom of their house with linoleum tiles, for easy cleaning (DO THIS… it helps immensely.) We installed a pulley system to be able to open and shut their door in the morning and close it at night. I didn’t quite trust a solar door, and when we are gone I want them checked on every day. The top of the run in plywood underneath a sheet of metal roofing to match the house.

My chickens went out to their new house in May. The weather was stable enough by then. They were able to roam the yard after about noon… I would let them out into the yard (this gives the time to lay eggs in the morning as you don’t want eggs in random places They did not start laying eggs until July though) They would put themselves to bed when it got dark at night (chickens/ birds are amazing that way) They ate all the bugs in the yard durning the day. And they loved to sleep by my front door. We cleaned out the house about once a month

They take “dirt” baths wherever they can find a place. My garden is fenced off, as they are not allowed in that area. They with scratch at anything they find. Red wood chips are a big favorite (which I have all over my property and am trying to adjust for this next year.

We kept a list of things they are not able to eat or are poisons to them on the refrigerator. If we have questions we ask Alexa. It’s a continuous learning process. Some things they cannot have…. green tomatoes, raw potatoes, onions, garlic, avocado, chocolate, uncooked rice, any citrus. Every day in the summer we would give them something from the kitchen or meal worms. I continuously held them and loved on them and they are all at least pet-able. I have two that will let you hold them and one that lays down expecting to be picked up. Don’t let them near your eyes… they will peck them. (they LOVE shiny things) I learned the hard way.

I had a rooster in my first clan of chickens, and sadly she/ he was the one that got picked on (THERE IS ALWAYS A PECKING ORDER)

Roosters are not allowed in city limits. So…. Florence, literally went to a farm a couple hours away. She slept with the pigs for a while, was used to being alone and being picked on….. but then was the head Rooster a month or so later. Florence was beautiful. She died of bird flu. As did the whole flock she/ he tended.

We traded Florence for two baby ducks.

Dr. J. and Larry Bird. We tried to integrate them with the chickens (in their house) but the chickens HATED them. They pecked them to the point of bleeding so we made separate living arrangements for the ducks. The ducks were able to roam freely and were really adorable, but they need submergible water in order to eat at all times, and we didn’t feel we could provide this for them in the winter, especially when you have to clean the water every day because they are the most dirty animals alive….. so the ducks went back to the farm (no they did not die from bird flu)

When the weather got cold in the the late fall, we installed a wall heater. (I call it the TV, because it looks just like a TV) If your coop is insulated, I don’t think this is necessary, ours is not. The heater is on a timer that comes on at dusk and turns off at sunrise. When the temperatures get to 20 below (which they have ALOT this past winter) we leave it on during the day. Since they stay in their house much more, it needs to be cleaned out every one to two weeks. They have a heated water container, but I worry that they are drinking out of it, so I take them a bowl of fresh water in the morning when I feed them.

Two of mine stopped laying eggs for several months. It’s a normal thing for them to do in the winter. Glenda, my red one has laid an egg a day since she started laying them. I have found, that the more fresh food they get to eat, the more eggs they lay. I also add red pepper to their food in the morning. Chickens can’t taste heat, but the pepper heats them from the inside. Essentially they feel warmer and lay more.

And now today… I’m listening to two new chicks. Mable and Myrtle. They are sleeping on the homemade brooder. They are about 2 and half weeks old. One is a crazy lunatic. The other is very chill. Flying already. Feathering out and testing them. Mable had a rough couple days at the beginning. I fed her with a dropper for a couple days to get her to perk up (save a chick electrolytes are a must!) and she is just fine.