Chooks and chickens

Having grown up with chickens roaming round the yard and the boisterous crowing of the roosters as part of the soundtrack of my childhood, it seemed only natural that we should have some of the feathery fowl.

Getting started was easy enough as my mother still keeps a motley crew of hens. Working through the technicalities has been a little more challenging.  Chickens are generally low maintenance, forage for a good portion of their food and offer a variety of valuable by-products including eggs, meat, earth moving, feathers, manure and body heat.

Assuming you have a rooster, their tendency to hatch out large numbers of babies means, for better or worse, the size of your flock can grow very quickly.

Good News and Bad News...

Well, the bad news is, I found one of the baby chickens dead this morning. Something ate half of it and left the rest. And whatever it was must have gotten into the crib-house which means it is likely a ferret. It is sad. But somewhat expected. We didn't think all three would necessarily make it to full adulthood. I hope the other two will though!
The good news is, a few days ago I found a nest of 13 eggs! One of the bantams has gone clucky again and has hidden her nest right in the middle of the paddock. We've marked it with a white pole so that we won't step on her. So in another few weeks, we will have more babies!
Update: 12 chickens hatch
November 24, 2009
  bantam  clucky 
Melisa Sinclair
Finding the eggs

Finding the eggs

A number of hens have gone clucky, it's that time of year again. Locating the outdoor nests is always a challenge as not only are they well hidden the hens are careful to come and go unnoticed.

Today's nest has 15 eggs slowly turning into 15 tasty chickens.
September 26, 2010
  Bantam  Nest  Clucky  Chicken  Eggs 
Chopping the clucky chook for dinner

Chopping the clucky chook for dinner

So, our chooks have started going clucky (broody) on us again. That means fewer eggs and the usual dramas of trying to get them 'unclucked'. Since we have been considering downscaling our operation due to the excess of eggs and the damage caused in the garden by the aggressively scratching fowls it seemed like an opportunity to have a chicken dinner.
January 24, 2011
  cook  eat  kill  clucky  broody  hen  chook 
olmec
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