The Backyard Flock: Random notes

This week we had news that New Liberty Farms was selling off their chickens and getting out of the chicken business to move on to other things. (See here.) This is an excellent opportunity to add a few layers to your backyard flock, or maybe even start one. But, be prepared for dealing with chickens in winter. It ain't easy.

On Facebook, Linda Rudawski wondered what carols she should sing to the chickens on the Antioch Farm when she goes to feed and water them on Christmas Day. This, no doubt, in response to the college's call for folks to care for their flock during the winter break.

This in my email from Laura Van Lehn who recently bolstered her flock with some of those New Liberty Layers:

The chickens are enjoying running amuck. I gave up trying to restrict them for the time being. The white Plymouth Rock hen I call "Wild Hair" made a nest in the horse barn and even tho I picked her up off of it and took her to the hen house and set her down in the nest box, she beat me back out to the barn and hopped on HER nest. I collected her egg at evening feed time. I only collected 11 eggs yesterday.

Had another thing happen yesterday. I collect the eggs generally in a "feed" bucket and leave it outside the hen house on the ground covered with a 5 gal. bucket. I didn't have but a 5 gal bucket yesterday. Shouldn't have been a big deal. I set the bottom of a chicken feeder on top of the bucket, thinking it might rain any minute. I went out later in the afternoon and saw an egg in the lawn about 4' from the hen house. I then noticed the egg bucket on it's side and so I set it up right. I figured a chicken tried to roost on it and knocked it over but I noticed there were several eggs missing. Including the coveted blue egg. Crap! No sign of them anywhere. So one of two things must have happened. A chicken tried to roost, knocking the bucket over, maybe a couple eggs rolled out of the bucket and broke and the chickens rushed over and cleaned up the mess as they quickly do! Leaving no evidence at all! Or, after the bucket fell over, the dog saw the eggs rolling and picked them up and carried them off somewhere. Possibly buried them to become stink bombs this summer when we unsuspectingly find them! lol! I have no idea!

Merging new chickens into your flock in winter is definitely a problem, but it looks like we are going to have a warm and wet one this year.

Speaking about wet, Chickenland is the muckiest I have ever seen it, a great sucking mud hole as I like to call it. Those poor girls...

This being Dec. 21, last night was our longest of the year. Nobody around here wanted to get up, least of all the Blogger. The backyard is so bad, I had to take the dog out front to do her business, after which, she promptly went back to bed. The house birds were still sleeping when I uncovered them, Nicky in his tent and Baby on the swing with her head under her wing. And the chickens... Well, they didn't want to come out when I opened the coops for the day. So, I fed them indoors on the first day of winter. Looks like they will be dining in from now on...