Backyard Chickens: Escapees & other summer stuff
I was enjoying having my “little rooster”. He was beautiful. And for a few weeks, it was kinda fun hearing him crow. At first he didn’t crow very early in the morning; mostly throughout the day starting around 7am.
It was kinda amusing seeing him try to mate with the hens, and after a week or two, some started letting him. I had visions of raising my own chicks in the spring by letting a broody hen set & raise some.
Then something went wrong- my rooster got mean. One morning, as I was raking up the compost pile as I always did, I suddenly felt a pain at the back of my calf. I often get bit by mosquitoes and biting flies, so I looked to see what it was. There was my rooster looking at me. He looked up at me, hopped back and jumped & lunged at my leg again, scratching me with his talons! It left a scratch that almost broke the skin & was bruised all the way down!
The garden rake in my hand was used to fend him off & scare him away. I hollered at him “You’re not the king of me! I’m the king of you!” and then I very closely watched him as I finished my compost raking job.
The rest of the day, any time I went into the run, I watched him very closely. Later that evening, I was telling Mr Bear about it, so we both went out to the run to check on the chickens. I was describing what had happened. We noticed a hen had laid an egg in the run, so I went in to get it. I was still talking about chicken stuff, when Mr Bear yelled at me to “watch out!”. The rooster came at me again! But I was next to the rake & was able to grab it in time to fend him off.
Mr Bear stated what my sinking heart already knew- we couldn’t keep a mean rooster like that with young grandchildren who come over regularly. As we left the chicken run, we noticed the rooster attacking & pecking (not mating) the hens. I had noticed bare spots around some of their necks & heads and assumed they were having a little summer molt. But no, the rooster had been pecking them.
With heavy hearts, we reluctantly made the decision to get rid of him. I have known that I would eventually have to butcher chickens, and have helped & learned from some Amish friends. When hens get old, it’s common to butcher them, whether you have someone else do it, or do it yourself. So I had determined that I would do that hard task.
My granddaughters wanted to participate, so we planned a day that they could come help me. (My daughter-in-law helped as well) And so we did it. I had put him in the dog crate for a day. My naturalist granddaughter caught him easily that morning & each of us held him & petted him and told him goodby. It wasn’t at all fun, but we did it. We each saved a few of his beautiful tail feathers to remember him by.
Afterward, the hens have been so peaceful! It’s made me realize how much tension there was with him there. He is in “freezer camp” until enough time has passed for me to be able to consider eating him. I know that’s a part of life, for animals to die to be able to eat them. But it’s still hard to raise a cute baby animal to adulthood & then kill it. Very hard.
The 3 young hens are laying & one lays what was described as “green” eggs. They’re really just a slightly darker shade of blue like my Bluebells lay. But it is fun to have another slight variation in color in egg baskets.
The family is grateful to have plenty of eggs, and I tried making homemade Mayo with one of our fresh eggs the other day. I’m not sure what went differently than the previous time I tried, a few years ago (before I got chickens). The other time I tried, the mayo, just didn’t get very thick, and then loosened in the fridge & got runny. THIS time, it turned out beautifully!
I’m finally catching up on keeping gardens weeded! There are still remnants of crabgrass in my garden paths, but they’re mostly dead from my regular spraying with vinegar vegetation killer (1 gallon white vinegar, 1 round carton table salt & a small squirt of liquid dish soap). I mix it up in a gallon sprayer that’s designed for chemical sprays. It’s so much easier to use than a spray bottle! You fill the container, pump the handle to build air pressure and the use the spray wand at the end of a hose to spray.
It works well for a safe weed killer, But many weeds need multiple spraying if they’re fully mature. It’s easier when they’re little sprouts. And no, I don’t have trouble with the salt preventing my garden plants from growing. It’s such a minuscule amount that’s on the weed/ground.
Watching homesteaders & other gardeners, I see people talk of “it’s time to harvest____”. Things like cabbage, which I’m growing this year. How do you know when it’s time to harvest cabbage? When you need to space for something else? When it’s a certain size? How do I know? Please leave me a comment if you have some thoughts or experiences with when to harvest cabbage.
My remaining zucchini plant is again fighting with squash bugs! I lost the other plant a couple of weeks ago. When I discovered the bugs, I puffed (with a squirt bottle) diatomaceous earth all over the plant leaves & checked daily for bugs & eggs. I’d squish any bugs I saw, and rip out the sections of leaves with patches of eggs (& sometimes newly hatched squash bugs). When I offered them to my hens, the first thing they went for was those eggs or bugs! As much as they love eating leafy greens, the eggs & bugs were first priority! The zucchini plant had no signs of bugs for about a week, but they’re back!
A homesteader I watch, who is into permaculture, likes to say “the problem is the solution “. That’s kinda vague on its own. But in the case of the squash bugs problem, it’s the multiple systems working together that find solutions. So having chickens to eat those eggs & bugs is a solution. Another example of problems & solutions is the over abundance of squash. We don’t really like squash. I’ll eat some sliced raw, or make zucchini bread or cupcakes. But I’ve learned from multiple sources & through experience this summer, that feeding chickens any kind of squash with the seeds, if a natural dewormer! So the zucchini I can’t use or give away, goes to the hens to keep them healthy. I can’t really safely free-range my hens because of neighbors dogs. Otherwise I’d try letting them out to keep up with those squash bugs & eggs!
Sometimes a hen or 2 does get out though. I’m not extremely careful about getting the door to the run latched behind me when I put feed, water, etc in there. So I do have some girls who really like to hop out to eat grass/weeds in the lawn. Usually it’s my Buffies (buff orpingtons) and they’re the most friendly with me & I can offer them a treat to get them back in.
Just this past week though, a couple of the young, new hens got out. They’re not as comfortable with me yet and did NOT want a treat- the treat was the lawn! One, finally did go back in. But the new little red one did not. After trying to herd her back to the door of the run, she ran/fluttered back behind the run. When I followed her, she flew up onto the rain barrel & then right up on the roof of the run!
Escapees
I spoke sweetly & gently to her. She came down, but still ran from me back into our yard’s corner. There’s a pile of limbs waiting for me to chip them up. She decided she liked it back there! There was a pile of grass clippings she started scratching & found some great bugs! I was very nervous with her back there. I didn’t want to chase her up and over either fence where I couldn’t get to her and where the neighbors have dogs that could get her. So I sat down on the dewy ground for a very long 15 minutes of patience. I spoke sweetly to her, pulled grass & weeds to offer her, but none worked. Once, she was close enough that when I reached out, she briefly squatted for me to pet her, but I wasn’t close enough to grab her from my sitting position. Uugggh!
Finally she was finished in that area & headed back toward the run. I got up & it still took another 10 minutes to finally get her by the door, while it was open, so she could & would go back in! The next day was wing-trim day!
I’m still learning & experimenting with starting seedlings in my little greenhouse. So my first few batches of tomato sprouts fried in there. Hence, my tomato plants are still smallish & just now forming fruits on them. (I do have some cherry tomatoes that came up volunteer IN the greenhouse, that have been producing tomatoes this summer). I only had enough green bean plants for a single serving of beans each week. But with our Lakehouse property, I guess I wouldn’t really have the time & energy to do more this year. So while it’s disappointing not having more success in the garden this year, God knew what I could handle.
I did have 4 decent sized beets that had grown since spring. It was just enough to fill one pint jar for a small batch of pickled beets for Mr Bear.
I have to say that having compost every 2-3 weeks from my chicken run has been great for mulching the garden. So the beds are not as weedy as the paths! The beds are much easier to keep weeded with the compost/mulch. And I look forward to next year being even better, by having built up & kept a thicker layer of compost/mulch on everything.
Well, I need to get to work for the day, but before I go- This week I’m offering a back-to-school special on my elderberry syrup and DIY syrup kits. Save 10% on 2 bottles of syrup:2 for S54 or get 2 DIY kits for $30
Contact me by text or email to claim your offer offer.
937-672-4306 or Elderbeariesbyjen@yahoo.com
On my website, http://www.elderbeariesbyjen.com
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Here’s to your health!