Our first chickens running around in the bird garden.

Last August while I was gone to the Garden Writers Symposium in Indianapolis a fox entered the chicken yard. Jerry was at work, thus no one was home to chase the fox off and save the chickens. When I arrived back home, there were chicken bones hanging on the fence. Obviously the fox had attempted to carry the chicken off and was unable to get it over the top of the six foot fence – or else the goats or sheep interrupted him and he ran leaving the chicken carcass behind.

It was a sad ending to summer. I loved watching the chickens eating bugs and running around the bird garden. Without them around I found myself spending less and less time outside. I enjoy watching the goats, sheep and horse, but truly enjoy the chickens more and I think that is because they are comical at times.

Lucy and her new rooster friend.

Lucy in the new chicken house with her two new friends.

When late fall came, a lady brought us a lone hen named Lucy. She was a Golden Seabright. We overwintered her inside the barn. Once spring came and we opened our computer shop we met a man who had a pair of red and blue Old English Game Bantams he wanted to get rid of. We took those as companions for Lucy, but a short time later Lucy passed on.

Yesterday I could no longer resist the urge to get some new chickens for our homestead, so off to Big R we went. I wanted Araucana or Ameraucana because of the pink, blue and green eggs they lay, but they did not have any of those breeds available. In fact, there were only two varieties of chicks to choose from – New Hampshire X Delaware and Buff Orphington. I chose two New Hampshire X Delaware and four Buff Orphington chicks.

The associate at Big R boxed them up and we took them home. I have a clear plastic storage tub that I made into a chick house for babies. I washed it up and lined the bottom with newspaper. I have found newspaper is the best thing to line the chick house with because I can just roll it up once it is dirty (which is at least once a day, sometimes twice a day) and put it in the compost pile. Chicks often pick at wood shavings and thus it is not a good idea to use those. The shavings can get stuck in their little throats and kill them.

Once the bottom of the chick house was lined with newspaper, I put in fresh chicken crumbles and water. It is important to dip the chicks beak in the water – which should be at room temperature – so the chicks know where it is. I also like to show them where the feed dish is. It is important to keep a close eye on baby chicks for the first day to make sure they are eating and drinking.

Once this was done, I laid old window screens on top of the plastic tub, then placed a heat lamp above the screen so the chicks had plenty of heat. Chicks will pile on top of one another if they get cold. This can lead to death through suffocation.

This morning when I got up, the baby chicks were up and running around. It looks like I will have at least eight chickens this year. Big R will get more in before the end of the season and I intend to keep an eye out just in case they happen to get some of the two types of chickens I am looking for.