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Bzzzz October 31st, 2008

For some time we have been a house divided here at Bumblebee.

We had the three laying hens living in one set of accommodations and the younger chickens living in another. They showed interest in each other and occasionally pecked at each other through the wires, but there was no co-mingling of the chickens.

Maxine and Maude on their afternoon walkabout

Since winter is inevitably creeping our way, I started allowing the chickens side-by-side free range time about three weeks ago to prepare them for their lives together.

Predictably, the three hens took one course and the two younger chickens another. There was the occasional skirmish if someone found a particularly tasty bug or worm, but for the most part, the two mini-flocks were separate, but equal.

This week as colder temperatures hit in earnest, I decided to force the integration of the flocks.

Olivia (or Oliver?) has grown out of the ugly stage

After letting all the chickens out for their afternoon walkabout, I closed the Eglu hotel where the younger chickens had been shacked up. Little did they know what was in store for them as they went off to blissfully peck for bugs.

As evening rolled around, the three hens moved back to their Palazzo di Pollo. The two younger chickens began circling the Eglu, making escalating sounds of distress.

“Hey, who closed the door. Let us in!!”

Clearly, they would not just follow the hens into the Palazzo. We had to do a bit of human intervention. Ben and I caught the chickens and shoved them into the Palazzo.

I am very sad to report that my sweet hens did not show their best sides. In fact, they were horrid to the poor chicks. No one was seriously injured, but there were definitely feathers all about the Palazzo when I went to open their door in the morning. The two chicks had taken refuge behind the garbage can where I keep their stash of food and the three hens were strutting about and barking like dogs. It was not their finest moment.

Minnie Ruth (aka Brett Favre) is not a beautiful chicken. But she/he has attitude.

Since no one was hurt—except perhaps for their feelings—I decided to press on with the integration.

Over the next few days, hostilities continued, with the hens asserting their dominance and the two younger chickens cowering in fear. After all, they were out-numbered.

Then one particularly cold evening I left the big door of the chicken house open hoping that all the chickens would find their way inside unassisted because I was busy indoors. To my amazement, when I went to tuck them in, all five of the chickens were huddled together in a warm little ball in the corner of the Palazzo. It seems that hostilities cease in cold weather. Even chickens are pragmatic in their cold weather co-habitation decisions.

I won’t say that all the chickens are now fast friends. But the pecking order has been established and there is now the minimum of hazing of the newcomers.

As for the question of gender in the younger chickens, I can only say that one, if not both, are roosters. Minnie Ruth is the smallest of the birds and exhibits the most animosity to humans. I don’t know what I did to deserve her/his ire. My husband says it’s because I keep calling him Minnie Ruth instead of something manly, such as Brett Favre.

As fall sets in and winter takes its place, we have two nice poultry panel heaters that will keep all the chickens warm and happy. I anxiously await the next developments with the chickens. I am most anxious to learn if I have any more hens—or if I am stuck with a couple of cranky roosters.

Fall at Bumblebee Garden

Posted In: Chickens

Tags: chicks, Eglu, hens, Johnny Cash, Maude, Maxine, Palazzo di Pollo, T. Boone Chickens

22 Comments

Bzzzz October 13th, 2008

We are not natural carpenters here Chez Bumblebee. So when we set out to build the chicken run for the Palazzo di Pollo (Italian for Chicken Palace), we were making it up as we went along. I provided the genius grand design. Harry provided the muscle and skill with the post hole diggers. We both contributed fingers that were pounded and bruised by the end of our building project.

We are now ready to unveil the Palazzo di Pollo.

Drum roll, please…

Tah dah!

Just to be very clear, and in the interest of full disclosure, we did not build the actual chicken coop. That is a children’s playhouse build by some local Amish craftsmen. We built that ugly, crooked, wacky screened in porch that the chickens access via two little ramps and an open window. And, yes, it took us about three days spread over three weekends to do it.

Chicken wire encloses the whole run. The wire is dug about 12″ into the ground to deter burrowing predators. We have made efforts to put chicken wire over any opening. Of course, the chickens are closed into their Palazzo at night. Except during their free-range time, when we throw caution to the wind for a couple of hours, the girls should be safe.

Throughout the whole building process my son Ben kept asking me, “Do you really think they’re going to go through that little window?”

“Of course! Chickens love ramps, bridges and acrobatics,” I responded, fingers crossed behind my back. “I’ll probably teach them all sorts of tricks before long.”

Despite my enthusiasm, I will say that the chickens are not, uh, well, they’re not very smart. They seem to have to learn to go up, through the window and down the ramp each and every day.

Also, this is only their third day in the Palazzo, but they seem to be indoor chickens. Unless they are free-ranging they seem to prefer the indoor comfort of the Palazzo. I suppose the pine bedding-lined nest box condos, the roosting bars, the 24-hour buffet, three-speed ventilation fan and dual panel heaters and all are just too much to pass up for scratching in a pen.

But if I go outside and call them, they come storming through the window—no doubt looking for the corn treats they get at the end of the day.

Yes, all this for three chickens—so far.

We have two other chickens that have moved to the Eglu. You may remember them—Minnie Ruth and Olive (previously Olivia). Well, today they revealed a huge surprise.

As I was out walking I heard two very distinct “cock-a-doodle-doos!” I may not know a lot about chickens but I know enough to be sure that a hen does not make that kind of noise. That is a very distinctive rooster noise.

As I started thinking about it, we may actually have TWO roosters. They do seem to have been doing a lot of sparring since we moved them into the Eglu on Saturday where I can spend more time observing them.

Only time will tell if they are nice roosters. But one thing is certain, I do not need two roosters to tend to my three hens. One—and maybe both—will need to find a new home.

I did not get pet chickens only to be afraid to walk into the chicken coop. Right now, the chickens let me pick them up and pet them. They may not actively jump into my lap, but they are quite tame and friendly, eating from my hand and following me around.

Well, enough about chickens. With all this activity, I have been giving some thought to what I’ll be writing about this winter when the garden goes a bit quiet. I have some thoughts I will share in the next day or two.

P.S.

In answer to a couple of emails—YES! We will be getting more chickens in the spring. As a novice, it is one step at a time though.

Posted In: Chickens

Tags: hens, Palazzo di Pollo

25 Comments