Chicken Update--Our Broody Hen

The chicken adventure has been going pretty smoothly.  We even went out of town for 2 weeks and the girls seemed just fine with their babysitter. But the day after I got home, one of the hens insisted on sitting in the nesting box and hogged all the eggs in there.  I looked it up online and it seems that Hawk Eye is broody.  She thinks she has to incubate her, or anyone else's egg.  We purchased our hens to be layers, so to have one hen that won't lay an egg because she wants to sit on them 24/7 was a problem.  Back to the internet I went, and searched for a solution.  The solution from several sites was to put Ms. broody Hawk Eye in chicken jail. 

 The goal is to keep her from sitting on comfy shavings.  She spent all of day one by herself, but we let her back in the coop for sleeping.  During the day we gave her some alone time in the backyard as well to encourage foraging for bugs, etc.  She was really freaked out and paced back and forth along the main coop at first, but we didn't cave in to her begging, and she calmed down and acted like a non-broody hen.  After her night in the coop she was again hogging the nesting box and so she is currently in jail again for today.  The main problem was all of our hens like to lay in one specific box and they were picking on Hawk Eye because she wouldn't move.  This also lead to less egg layers.  It's a whole chicken drama! Using the chicken jail remedy, Hawk Eye should be cured in a few days, but she might not lay an egg for a week or so after.  Kind of a bummer!  But even though there has been drama and we are learning by trial and error, they are so fun to have and my kids really enjoy taking care of them.  I am also glad that we are learning all about chickens now and not in a survival situation.  

Chicken Coop Remodel

If any of you have daughters, then you know how girls can become kind of feisty in close quarters.  I have four daughters and I totally understand girls needing their space.  I have learned that our chickens are the same way in their tiny coop.  They were getting on each others nerves and picking on each other.  These girls sure are high maintenance...haha....we've only had our hens for about two weeks and they are already getting a home remodel.  We felt bad that they were all cooped up in the small area under their nesting boxes so a new wing was added to their coop. (pun intended)  

This is the original structure. 

We turned it 90 degrees and added on to the back side.  It will give the hens 8 more feet of play space plus a sandbox to bathe in. 

 As you can see they will have a much bigger area to roam around in.  I wish we could let them out in the yard all day, but we decided that we didn't want to deal with kids stepping in chicken poop. 

My husband added chicken wire to the sides and top of the new structure. And the girls were ready for their new home.

Don't mind the blankets on top of the house.  It was over 90 degrees today and they girls were hot.  They were all back in the smaller original coop crowded together.  The minute I covered the top and gave them shade they came back out.  

They LOVE the sandbox!  The hens have been playing, bathing, and scratching in it all day.  We used cleaned construction sand for their sandbox. 


We love learning about the chickens everyday and the hens are much happier with their new space.

Backyard Chickens--A New Adventure!!

We did it!  We've wanted chickens for a long time and we finally got it to all work out.  It's self reliance and fun all rolled into one exciting adventure. I am not what you would call an animal person and I didn't think I would really enjoy the chickens as much as I have. 

But they have such fun personalities and are so entertaining to watch. We have 6 hens that are about 1 years old and lay eggs, and 2 younger ladies that are only about 4 months old and will hopefully start laying in September.  

My husband said we shouldn't name them but I couldn't help it, they are too cute.  My children each picked a hen and named her and my husband even got in on the naming.  From the top left going clockwise the white chicken is Felicia, Tilly, Hawk Eye, and the bottom left is Dory Escape.  That is pronounced Es-cop-pay, like Dory says it in finding Nemo.  She was the first chicken to escape so her name is fitting.  We also have a Coco Moco, LaVone, Francis, and Honey who aren't pictured.  They have been laying eggs and getting to know our family.  They are fun and kind of therapeutic to be around.  Right now they are enclosed under their nesting boxes, but we hope to have a larger run for them soon.  We have quite a few predators in the area and are nervous about letting them roam the yard just yet.  But the best part is......

 Aren't they beautiful!  My kids get so excited to check for eggs all day long.  It has been a fun summer adventure so far. We are learning as we go along so I'm sure I'll be posting about "the girls" more often.  But this has been a great lesson for our family in becoming a little more self-reliant.