Chick Crazy

My husband has officially gone chick crazy!

My husbands birthday was this week, so we celebrated it last weekend in Clarksville.  He told me it was because he wanted us to go on a date, but I found out later the real reason was that he knew Rural King was getting in a new, large shipment of chicks.

The week before he had been passing through Clarksville and was able to stop in at Rural King, "just to look"  He ended up getting 7 new chicks to add to the 21 we already have in our shed.  He hadn't told me about this purchase.  He was planning on surprising us.  It's hard to surprise a woman that checks her account and questions any little unplanned purchase.

The weekend comes, we make our way to Rural King, and like a stupid woman, I send my husband and kids in to get chicks without me.  Let's just say I wasn't feeling like my self and wasn't up to going in.  We ended up with 30 something chicks and 4 ducks!!

Happy Birthday!

Now I get to try and take care of them all!

 They are very adorable, but the smell that all those chicks can create is nauseating!  Too many chicks in a house.  Let's not do this again.  I've had to stack up different containers to hold all the animals.  We have 7 chicks that are bigger than the others, and another breed that is considerably smaller than the average chicks, then the ducks.  Plus, due to the sheer volume of chicks, we needed to separate them so they can all fit into our small laundry room to allow me a chance to contain the nasty smell.

There is another bin in my living room not even pictured!  It's a madhouse here and bears repeating, let's not do this again!

Let's talk about these adorable ducks now.  They are so much fun to watch.  They take a little walk in their pool, shake their little bums, flap their midget wings, and do a little dance before grabbing a quick snack, drink a little water, then snack again.  After doing a bit of research on ducklings, I found that they don't need a pool until they are about 5-6 weeks.  So that pool is now gone, and they have a big chick waterer that they are still able to get their beaks into to drink.  My kids picked out the male, and the yellow female, my husband picked out the two brown ducks.  The kids named their ducks, Donald and Daisy.  We decided to keep with the flowers and call the other two Rosie and Tulip. 

Taking on Roosters

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

I'm not going to lie, as I write this I'm a little shaky.  I've just rescued one of our roosters from a tangled garbage mess.

I went out to collect our daily, evening eggs and saw 1 of our roosters walking around with this stuck to his leg. It's the plastic seal that we pull off our chicken feed.

 This is the 3rd rooster we have had since beginning this adventure of homesteading.  The first one, (Hei-Hei) we got from a neighbor, that I feel, was trying to pay off his guilty conscience for stealing 2 of our dogs and dropping them by a railroad track. More on that in another post.
That was a great rooster!  I didn't fully appreciate him while he was with us.  We never knew what breed he was; my husband didn't like that we didn't know his story.  Meaning, he wanted to have a rooster that he's had from a chick and raised up.  Once we got another rooster, that was old enough.  Hei-Hei was put on the chopping block!

This 2nd rooster, Frank, was a holy terror!!  He attacked my kids and me constantly to the point that my kids were scared to leave the house, and wouldn't go outside to play.  I finally had enough when my son was being held captive in our chicken pen because the rooster wouldn't let him out.  With my husband gone for the week, it was up to me!  I was not going to wait until he got home!  Neither was I going to try and capture this crazy rooster either.

I'd never butchered a chicken before, and didn't plan on starting with this one, only because, I expected to shoot it!  I was acting in a rage of fury.  I went to our gun safe, and in a mess of anger and hot rage, I mistakingly grabbed an airgun, instead of the AR-15 I had planned on using because it had a scope I needed to use.  I got it outside, squatted down on my porch, to get everything set up and was instantly confused.  This didn't look like the gun I had practiced with previously?!  In frustration, I call my husband using Facetime to get his help to use this darn gun.  I can only imagine the humor he found in seeing I had mistaken an air rifle with an AR-15.  I was still too angry to care.  This rooster was going to die!  No more would my kids be attacked and scared to play in their own yard.  My husband was no help; the only advice he was offering was to wait until he got home. He was continually telling me that shooting him was no way to do it.

So, I hung up and ignored, as best I could, the constant phone calls that followed.  I finally was so mad, I grabbed my handgun and went for it!  I unloaded my whole magazine, slowly chasing after this animal that felt my fury and was keeping a good distance away from me.  I could quickly see that my handgun wasn't going to do it.  I went back to the house, a little calmer after releasing some aggression by firing my pistol.  I found the proper gun I was wanting to use and was able to shoot the bird.  I thought I had killed it.  By this time, it was getting quite dark.  I had to wait until the morning to find him in my holler.

Morning came, I found him easily because he was in the pen with the hens.  Now, very docile, I was able to pick him up.  I was sad that he hadn't died.  I didn't want him to suffer.  I discovered that I had pretty much only nicked him.  I now had to go into the house and look up how to butcher a chicken properly. I've been reading up on the butchering of all animals, deer, rabbit, and chickens.  But I needed a refresher; I didn't want to mess this up.  Nerves and excitement were rushing over me.  I was going to process my first animal!!  Would I be able to do it?  Did I have what it took to take a life with my bare hands, in such a personal way and then remove the feathers and take the guts out?  I had always wondered.  Now I was going to find out.

I grab my purple kitchen dish gloves from under my kitchen counter, pick up the rooster, pet him, love him, tell him I'm sorry and try to explain my reasoning to an animal that doesn't understand nor cares.  Knowing deep inside, this petting, loving and sweet talking is more for my own mental state and comfort.  I lay him down on a tall tree stump, pick up the knife of choice, access the layout of where I plan to strike in relation to where my fingers are, to ensure I don't take them off in the process, and in the most forceful way I could manage, I take a sharp whack at his neck.  I think I did a pretty good job, but I act quickly and cut his neck clean off and breathe a sigh of relief as his head hits the ground.  I keep my hands firmly on him because I know chickens convulse and flap around for a while after death.  I bring him to the edge of the stump to allow the blood to flow down.

I did it.  I felt sad, and proud at the same time.  It was a huge right of passage that told me what I needed to know about myself.  I'm capable of providing and doing whatever it takes to care for my family.

Now we're back to present day.

We have two roosters we have raised from chicks.  These chicks were raised with the keets that we personally hatched out.  I attribute the beautiful nature of our two current roosters to the fact that the keets, that are now Guinea Fowl are the boss of all the birds.  Nameless Joe, tries his best, bless him, to be assertive, but it doesn't seem to go over well with the Guineas.

I try to be brave around the roosters but, to be honest, I'm still pretty gun shy, (no pun intended).  The scars that Frank left on my youngest and I are real and deep.  I've never been attacked by our current roosters, but I'm nervous at every encounter.  Trying my best to send out positive, loving vibes to combat the terror I feel.  Do roosters smell fear?  I don't know, but I do my best to send them loving, peaceful energy.

I must say, I think it works, and today is possible proof.  I wanted to help my rooster be free from his entanglement.  I could see there was no way he could get free without help.  I tried to slowly pick him up, with no luck. I feel he knew I was trying to help him, but he couldn't fight his instinct to keep moving away from me.  I took some chicken feed and placed it in an area of our pen that would limit his fleeing and make it easier for me to pick him up.  It all worked out perfectly!
I couldn't believe it!!!  Inside I'm freaking out.  I caught a rooster, and he's not freaking out!  Wahoo!!  I tried to untangle the garbage with the one hand I had free but wasn't able to.  I knew I needed to get to the house and get scissors, and possibly some help from my oldest son.  I now needed to make the walk back to my house, some 200+ feet away with a huge rooster in one hand, and a basket of eggs in the other.  If this rooster decided he was done being held at any point, so help us all, there would be scrambled eggs all over my driveway.
I'm very excited and nervous.  Once again, I do my soothing self talk to Nameless Joe and myself.  "It's okay. It's okay. I'm going to get you all fixed up; It's okay"  I get in my house, set the eggs down, and pray he doesn't get upset by being in a strange setting and soon have an angry rooster flapping around my home.

All goes well, I grab our chicken kitchen scissors, make one quick cut, and I'm able to pull off the stringy garbage.

 This is Nameless Joe, after his ordeal.  I wish I had the confidence to have taken a picture while I was holding him.  But taking a picture for this blog was the last thing on my mind at the moment.

Freeing his leg and feeling like I made a friend was the best moment of my day!  I love my animals.  It makes me happy when I'm able to care for them in special ways.

Moving Day

As much as I love adorable little chicks, and watching them grow, the thrill quickly fades once the smell takes over.

One of the reasons I didn't want to get chicks this time of year is due to the cold.  I didn't want them to freeze to death outside.  Yes, we use heat lamps, but I just worried it wouldn't be enough. I'm a worrier.

However, my caring heart reached it's limit when the smell they bring into my home is overwhelming.  In addition to the smell, this particular group of chicks is hands down the flightest bunch we've ever had.  We're guessing it was just one wanna-be flyer that turned the whole group into a riotous mass.

I mentioned to my Husband that I was thinking of moving the chicks to our shed this weekend.  He wasn't really up for that idea.  He had concerns that the coming week was going to be very cold, and also worried about their mortality.  I informed him, this week was going to be very warm.  But I could tell he was still leary.

 On Sunday, as we drove home from church, he mentioned that maybe I should move them to the shed.  I let him know, that was already my plan. He didn't tell me until later that day, as I was trying to figure out what the big mess on our laundry room floor was, that four chicks had flown out when he went in earlier that morning and pooped all over my floor!

Here they are in their new home.

This is our usual procedure when chicks or keets move to the shed.  I lay down a tarp, making sure to raise the edges up (look closely behind the gate) so any shavings they scratch out won't get all over our stuff, and for easier cleanup.  I then unfold our fenced in play area that was used for my boys when they were younger.  This cage is apparently perfect for keeping all babies safe!  I'm sure Greco will love to hear that. 😊 Next comes the pine shavings and heat lamp.  We need to run a long extension cord from our house to our shed.  I throw the cord over a top beam.  Only this time, I put two lids in the coop, by the lamp.  I felt like it might help to contain the heat a bit, by getting warm and be something the chicks could cuddle up to and aid in thier warmth.  Hot plastic might not have been the wisest choice, but it was there, so I used it.  I figured it was better than nothing...maybe.

I then added the water and food.  I placed the water upon two pieces of wood I found in my yard to elevate their water.  Chicks love to scratch at the ground, and this can really cram up thier waterer.  It seems to be working well.  Soon they will start flying even more, and I'll place another tarp over their home to keep them contained.  I don't like walking into the shed and finding dead chicks, or a bunch of guineas loose pooping all over my husband's tools!  I speak from experience in both those examples.

Our First Chicken Coop

My husband, his father, and stepfather came over to help build our first coop.  (pictured below)
From my research, I decided I wanted to do the Deep Litter Method for our chickens.  Mainly because I know I was not the type of person that wanted to be cleaning out a Chicken Coop once a week. 

What is the deep litter method?

It's laying down pine shavings, straw, or shredded leaves on the ground of your coop.  Once your chickens have sufficiently pooped all over it, you add more "litter."  During this time, your Chickens are scratching it up and turning it.  If it needs extra turning, you can do that easily enough with a rake or pitchfork.

Some of the Benefits of Deep Litter:

1.1.  During the colder winter months, the litter and poop build up and gives off a wonderful heat that can give your chickens added warmth.
2.  You only need to clean out the coop once or twice a year
3. It's said it's also healthier for your chickens
4. It saves time and is less work
5. And, it's creating great compost

These were the main reasons I wanted to do it.

This was our coop in the beginning.  It has since seen many revisions and also held Rabbits.

My husband, being the manly man that he is.  Didn't feel the need to look up the deep litter method I was telling him about he heard my description and felt he knew enough to build the perfect coop.  He drew out a rough sketch for me on a piece of wood.  With every question I asked, trying to gain further understanding of what I was looking at, he grew increasingly more agitated and pretty much told me to wait and see!

Sadly, when all was said and done, I did not give him the reaction he was hoping for, the coop was incredibly taller than I expected.  I think if it had been closer to the ground, things could have been more easily adjusted and tweaked. Clearly, neither one of us did an accurate job of communicating. 
However, we did have a home for our chickens.  It wasn't what I planned, but I have since figured out how to live with it.

During the Spring and Summer, the compost and deep litter method is pretty much none excitant.  The flooring of the coop is mesh wiring.  So most of the poop goes through the floor.  But we do get some nasty clogged up holes that need to be raked off.  There is also nothing keeping the poop or straw that falls from the coop contained.  See that rake?  Every day I'm raking that nice neat pile back under the coop!  The chickens are constantly demolishing it

However, during the colder months, I came up with a great idea and surprised my husband by grabbing a tarp, cutting it in half and staple gunning the tarp all around the base of the coop.  I folded the bottom in toward the inside of the coop so that as the straw and poop fell through it would build up and hopefully aid in keeping them warmer during the winter.
When the spring comes, I rip off almost all of the tarp so I can shovel everything out and haul it over to our compost bin.  This also allows a gentle breeze to come up through the coop and keep the chickens cool during the hotter days.

The Coop

Let's discuss what you are seeing. This coop has two windows with covers that can be shut over them.  Off to the left is their "sun deck" and entrance.  We used the side rail from our kid's crib that we are not going to be needing anymore as a wonderful step ladder for them to get into their "Highrise Penthouse"  The roofing was free. It was laying around our property when we moved in. On the back of the coop is a door to make it easier to collect the eggs.

The tarp hanging over the roof was put up many months after the initial building of the coop.  We thought our chickens could use some shade, and more importantly protection from flying predators.  Lining the outside of the pen, I got a great deal at a local brick shop on these cinder blocks (less than $1 each)  that were damaged.  It's fantastic for holding down the fence, and hopefully, keep animals from digging underneath.  But let's be honest.  Why dig if you can climb?  The whole right side of the pen is open.  Path of Least Resistance I say.  Either way, I made those cinder blocks serve as many purposes as I could find.  I turned them into planters with loads of herbs that are good for our chickens. 
In theory, this Garden for Chickens is a great idea.  IF your chickens will allow the herbs to get a start growing!!
This Highrise coop has been good to us.  It's kept our animals safe, and dry.  We used it for a small time to house four rabbits.  We wanted to try raising them in a colony style dwelling.  But, they ate the dickens out of the interior, so we had to move them to separate cages.  If you look at the picture above with the tarp around the bottom, there is a long watering tube going into the coop.  It was a sad day when I had to move the rabbits from their palatial palace to a small metal cage.  But when you eat your home, you leave me no choice!  That is a story I will get into at a later date.
Up next, our 2nd attempt at a new coop.

Where it all began

This sweet picture was the start of it all.  

In that bin with the shiny new light are a bunch of chicks.  Our first attempt at keeping chickens.  My children are 5 and almost 2 at the time.  These chicks would be killed by our dogs.

Our newest additions

While visiting family in Clarksville a couple of weeks ago we love to make a stop at our favorite livestock supply store, Rural King.  This particular store never lets us down with a wide variety of chicks that we always seem to feel; we must have.  With it being January I was reasonably certain/hoping that they would not have chicks yet.

 I was wrong. 

Not only did they have chicks, but they also had my Husbands favorite breed.  Blue Laced Wyandotte.  I had been looking to surprise him with these chicks for a while.  He always seems to beat me to it. We got some last year.  None of them made it to this year.

In addition to getting 8 Blue Laced Wyandotte, we also got 2 Buttercups, 2 Americanas, and  4 Speckled Sussex. We weren't going home right away we still had another 24 hours in Clarksville before we went home.  So, we had to buy chick food, a new waterer, and a heat lamp.

We took the whole lot back to Grandma and Grandpas house and looked up more information about the breeds we just purchased.  We learned so much more about the Speckled Sussex that we decided we wanted to get more of those!

Some of the traits we liked best were:  they are great at camouflage, which will aid in keeping them safe from predators.  This was good news because that was a significant cause of death with a few of our other chickens. They also lay throughout the winter months!!  Those were the primary two reasons we decided to get more.  Other positives were, they go broody, they're friendly, which is very important having a kid that is scared of animals. They're also dual purpose and good egg producers.
Later that night as we were heading over to the other Grandparents home for dinner I sent my husband in to get 4 more chicks.  He came out with 6!

This trip was the first time that I bought more chicks than I initially wanted, to try and buffer for loss.  We lost one the day after we got home.  But it's been a couple of weeks now, and we still have 21 chicks.  I add Vi-Tal to their water, which is an electrolyte, mineral and vitamin supplement, and they're given Medicated feed.

We've been doing this for 3 years now it's been a rough, expensive learning curve.  But I think we're finally getting it.