New kids on the block

Our chickens roam free on the pasture.  We like them to be free.  They like to be free.  Freedom is a great thing for man or fowl.  The chickens can go where they want to and eat what they want to eat.  Although I've never really seen our chickens smile, we like to think that they are happy birds. 

We keep a ratio of approximately 10 hens for every rooster.  That is about the right ratio to ensure that all eggs are fertilized and as best as we can tell polygamy is not against the law as defined in the barnyard judicial code of conduct.  The roosters also are very protective of their hens against other roosters in the pasture and will fight to maintain dominance over his "chicks" (sorry, I couldn't resist).  However, there are many predators for which the rooster is not effective protection.  We've only found one bird that is impervious to fatal attack and it is this guy:

We have a hogwire fence around the pasture to protect against some of the predators of chickens in our area like coyotes, dogs, oppossums, and raccoons.  Other predators like hawks and owls are more difficult to avoid.  We lose a few chickens now and then, but c'est la vie (such is life) in the barnyard.  This year, however, we had a catastrophe.  Over the course of a week, we lost 17 hens and consequently, the loss of a lot of eggs.  We discovered that a small dog was able to squeeze through the hog wire and dine on fresh chicken until he was full.  The next day he repeated the carnage.  To my chagrin, this dog ate chicken like a Baptist after Sunday Service.  Finally, after figuring out who the villain was, I purchased some 2 X 4 welded wire fence and put it on top of the hogwire to keep the hungry hound out.  This solved the problem and the massacre mercifully ended.

Hens are a very nervous bunch and seeing this violence freaked them out.  Their egg-laying slowed for a while and it took a while for things to return to normal.  We have fertilized eggs, so we normally collect 42 eggs and put them in the incubator we have.  The trouble with that is that you never have a 100% hatch.  Then, of those that hatch, half will be roosters.  We raise them for a few months and then put them in the freezer for gumbo.  The other half are hens.  Barred rock hens take between 20 - 24 weeks before they produce the first egg.  So you can see, losing hens takes a while to recover from.

To speed up the process, I ordered 30, one day old pullets from a hatchery.  A pullet is a young hen.  They arrive in the mail and the post office will call you first thing in the morning to go pick up your birds.  Of the 30 we purchased, all of them lived and there was even an extra in the shipment.  In Louisiana, we call that lagniappe (a little something extra).  I keep them in a brooder in the garage for about two weeks or until Tricia tells me that they are stinking up the garage.  Upon receiving this "encouragement", I move them out to the pasture.

Here's a picture of the pullets after about 4 1/2 weeks:

They are in a small chicken tractor that I built.  This keeps them safe from predators.  Each day I push them to fresh grass.  In the picture above, I've just moved them to fresh pasture and they are eating the seedhead on the top of the grass.  The picture below shows some of them in the tractor.  The roof of the tractor hinges open so I can feed and water them and you can see that one side has tin siding to protect the chicks from wind and rain.  There are roosts built onto the tractor so they can roost.

 Here are a few more shots of the happy hens:

This one shows a homemade feed trough and a waterer:

In about 16 - 20 weeks, we should see our first eggs from these girls.  They are kind of small at first.  We call them "pullet bullets".  They will be a welcome sight as they will replace the hens we lost and supplement our diminished egg production.

Barred rocks lay brown eggs and our Aracaunas lay blue and green eggs.  I always like to mix them up to add some novelty.  Regardless, of the color, they all taste the same - DELICIOUS and nutritious!

   Have an egg-citing day!