Raccoons, possums and snakes oh my!

We've had our share of chicken predators here. The worst of them lately has been the foxes. Through trail cam pictures we've narrowed it down to 4 different foxes. Well, there's only 3 now....but let's not change the subject here. In addition to fox there's been raccoons, opossums and snakes. Oh, and the occasional bear which sadly, will eat chickens.

Chicken predators

We take a proactive approach to controlling the predator population around here. There are always baited traps up in the woods and far behind the coop. We use safe traps in case the chickens or the neighbors cat get in them! 

Trail cams are left up year round and checked every few weeks. This helps us to be aware of what predators are in the area. 

One problem we have here is that Guineas are a ground nesting bird that likes to hide their nests in the woods. Opossums like to eat eggs. See where the problem would start? 

Oh sure, Opossums are nocturnal and when they find a Guinea nest at night (or the egg a chicken hen hid behind a tree) the eggs are there all alone for the taking.

What happens when Mr Opossum gets hungry during the day though? Suddenly he's confronted with a full sized hen and they start a fight over the eggs. Do you want to see who wins? I don't. Also, I have caught an opossum eating chicks, so that's another reason to get rid of any I catch near my coops.

Organize your coop for free

I have what you may call a lot of coops. 5. They are situated on all sides of the clearing around our house. The bulk of the chicken supplies are kept in the garage which is more or less a central location, but feed bags won't fit in all the coops so it's all in the garage out of necessity. If I had to walk back to the garage for every little thing, I wouldn't have time for much else!

Unfortunately not all the coops have much storage space and I've had to be a little creative when coming up with chicken proof storage containers for inside the coops.

We started using large pretzel jars a few years ago. The in-laws like to buy in bulk and brought a bunch of empties over one day to see if we could use them. Ok...truth is they brought them over for hubby to use in the garage for tool parts and I snagged them....but I digress.

I used those for feed for a long time, then I started saving other jars. I save any plastic food jar with a screw on lid. Not the snap on lids as they can be popped off by chickens. Don't ask how I know this. LOL

I use them for grit, scratch, chick feed, oyster shell etc. Anything you might need in the coop....I have it in a food jar.

 
The important thing to remember when saving jars is to only use food containers. Containers purchased with cosmetic or cleaning products in them may leach out chemicals even after they're cleaned. I honestly don't know how much of a problem it can cause, but I'm not taking chances! I only use food safe containers.

I clean them out with regular water and dish soap, then air dry them completely before filling. I've been able to cut a lot of time off my chicken chores by having what I need on hand in each coop. As a bonus, every jar I reuse is one less thing that ends up in the landfill!

Want to know more about raising chickens? Click here formy most read chicken keeping articles!

~L

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How to clip a chicken's nails

Chickens nails grow.....A lot! They keep them filed down by scratching in the dirt for all those yummy bugs and worms. The rough particles act like sandpaper and file the nails down bit by bit as they scratch and dig in the dirt. Normally all of my chickens keep their toenails short. The only ones I have a problem with are the most broody of the Silkies. 

When hens go broody, they spend 3 weeks just sitting in a nest box keeping those eggs warm. After the chicks hatch they spend the next several weeks sitting on them and keeping them warm. 

Have you ever tried to go almost 2 months without cutting your nails? Not pretty. Chicken nails can get quite overgrown and require a trim occasionally. Thankfully trimming them is not difficult! If you've ever cut a dog or cats nails, chicken claws will be easy for you as they're quite similar.

Chicken walks on a leash

Since it's a boring rainy Sunday here I thought that I would post something to make you smile and shake your head at how odd I really am! lol Snowflake is a 1 year old Silkie Rooster that has been training to walk on a leash. He's been working on it for several weeks now.

Phase 1 was simply to get him used to the harness. Then we added the leash. Now he's walking with it. We're working on getting him to follow a bit better, but I think he's making great progress! We'd love for him to attend swaps and shows with us....but for now he's still in training. A few more weeks and he'll be a pro. Way to go Snowflake!

Update: After quite a bit of trial and error, we have figured out how to make the leash training much easier! Check it our new improved method here: How to train a chicken to walk on a leash. 

~L

Want information on raising chickens sent right to your email weekly? Click right here to join my list and get new posts sent directly to you the day they're published. You'll also get the free download 25 Ways to save money raising chickens.

What temperature are your eggs stored at?

I keep my eggs in the laundry room. It's a cool but not-bright place. The only light comes from a glass block window so what light comes in is diffused. I like to keep the eggs on top of the dryer except when summer hits. I have a lot of eggs when the hens are in full production though, so they just don't fit on the dryer anymore!

When the Guineas start laying I have way too many eggs for one dryer top and they often get collected in the basket and set on the floor overnight. (not the best practice, but it's often just for a day till they can get sorted) Baskets are top heavy and always get left on the floor around here so they don't get knocked over as easily. 

What to do about wry neck in chicks and adult chickens

We recently had the issue of wry neck rear its ugly little head in our Silkie coop, multiple times. Wry neck is not terribly uncommon in chicks, in fact it's one of the most common problems chicks can have. It seems that Silkies tend to get wry neck more than other breeds and over the years I have had an isolated instance of it here and there. It more common in chicks but it can also effect adult chickens. 

Wry neck is a condition where the chickens neck is twisted. It's also called crook neck, twisted neck or stargazing. Some time the chick's neck twists up so it looks like their looking at the sky, others are backwards and still others are sideways like the little guy in the picture above.

Selling a broodys chicks (without giving her a nervous breakdown!)

Being broody is contagious. Seriously....it's like the flu. Once one hen catches it, they all catch it! Ok, so maybe that's not entirely true but it sure seems like it. Letting your hens hatch their own chicks certainly is the most cost effective (and least labor intensive) way to expand your own flock. It's much easier to care for a broody hen than a whole brooder full of chicks!

However, it always seems like one hen goes broody and what starts as "oh good, we'll have chicks this year" quickly turns into 4 hens broody and "what the heck am I gonna do with all these chicks?"

First, if broody hens have overrun your nest boxes you can check out how we beat that crunch for free right here: Free nest boxes. Next, you're probably going to want to sell some of those chicks. If you've ever tried to take a hen away from her babies you know what a huge fit a little bird can pitch! Squawking, hollering, pacing, frantically searching and just generally breaking my heart! awwww. 

Sometimes it doesn't even end there though. Take her chicks away too soon after hatch and they often go right back in the nest box and try to hatch chicks again. It's a hormonal thing and if they don't raise the chicks long enough...the hormones just don't have time to 'reset' and they still have that need for babies. This can be a vicious cycle. Especially for the perpetually broody silkie hen.

Unfortunately we run things around here like a business and I can't always do what the hen wants. I came up with a simple solution. Never EVER take her last baby! I will sell her chicks off one by one (or sometimes faster) but never EVER sell that last baby! Eventually it outgrows her and when she's ignoring it, I move it down to the grow out pen. Then it can sell. 

If for some reason I want to keep a certain color or breed, I will either give her an egg or 2 to hatch or slip the chick under her on hatch day. That way there's no worries at all, she's already raising a keeper. I often give my Silkie hens some Guinea keets to hatch, they just grow up so much tamer....and since that baby is destined to live here, I don't have to worry about taking her last baby. 

Sometimes they do still get upset when I take a few babies, but they calm down a whole lot faster when they have some kids left to watch over. It stresses the hen less and stresses me less knowing she'll calm down quickly.

~L

Want information on raising chickens sent right to your email weekly? Click right here to join my list and get new posts sent directly to you the day they're published ... plus, you'll also get the free download '25 Ways to save money raising chickens'.

10 Chicken Supplies from the Dollar Store

Chicken keeping can get expensive! There is always something else they need and buying everything from the feed store...or even the big box store can get expensive. There is no reason to spend that much money. In fact, I do everything I can to save money on chicken supplies!

I buy lots of chicken supplies at the dollar store (I prefer Dollar Tree) Many are the same exact item and others need thrown out and replaced so often that I feel like I'm just throwing money away! Here are 10 things I always buy at the dollar store and why.

I've added comparison prices and links if you want to order them online. I highly suggest you take a visit to the local dollar store though. You should easily find everything on this list!