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The Backyard Poultry Report
VA State Fair Poultry Show - Sept. 24, 25, 26
at The Meadow Event Park, I-95 exit 98 next to Kings Dominion. (Notice that the entire state fair has moved its location!
) Husband is mightily relieved that I will be working and not able to attend the "Chicken Show" (or bring
home fabulous new chickens to cause new coop riots). I had hoped to discover who was breeding what kinds of chickens
on our side of the state but I guess I'll have to keep researching online.
VIRGINIA POULTRY BREEDERS ASSOCIATION 2009 FALL SHOW - The VPBA 2009 Fall Show will be
on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Fauquier County Fairgrounds in Warrenton, VA. Judges will be Paul Kroll, Rick Hare and
Frank Harris. For information or premium list - contact Tom Roebuck, Jr., 26341 Old Mill Road, Unionville, VA 22567 - 1-540-854-0881
or email Tom at Goldenfeatherfarm@gmail.com
The Adopt-a-Chicken Site from Heifer International - http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/03/25/2008-03-25_dont_be_a_chicken__adopt_one-1.html Apparently Heifer International has begun supplying inner-city neighborhoods with chickens via the Just Foods City
Chicken Project. Community Gardens and neighborhoods with an eight foot area for the hens can apply at the website.
No word in the article on how Heifer is getting around the standard city ordinances against keeping poultry (like the ones
in Virginia Beach). Update.... turns out that there is NO ordinance against keeping hens in NYC. Go figure! You
can't have them in the "city" part of VB but you can in NYC. Amazing!
September 15 - After a long, pleasant mid-summer
and a hot, miserable August, the chickens are springing back to life in the crisp fall air. Their afternoon forays out
of the coop run are huge fun to watch. They spring about snapping up grasshoppers and small insects, challenging toads and
leaping through the tall grass areas, snatching seed heads and moths. How they enjoy this weather! (As do we.) Slight
slow down in egg production - someone's not holding up her end of the production schedule. Probably our oldest. The "wild
child" chicken, Dottie, the B&W polka-dotted Speckled Hamburg, may be hiding eggs out in the grass.
We
have new arrivals, an adopted set of a half-banty Mama Hen and her three tiny, tiny chicks. They came to us from friends who
have "enough" chickens and didn't want harm to come to the babies while they are travelling this fall.
It's wonderful to see the bravery and fierceness of the little hen as she growls and squawks at anyone entering the run
where she and her babies are isolated for the next week or so. She is so dedicated to keeping them safe. Once the little
ones get a hair bigger and Mama has adjusted to her new home, we will begin carefully letting the other hens have access to
her area and vice versa.
Week of August 17th - It's just miserable. The
chickens, even with their fan and lots of water, rest limply in the shadiest part of their run and sometimes pant lightly.
The humidity has them as slumped as we are. Egg production continues on schedule, every hen laying her one-a-day egg. They
have to forgo their daily dust baths because the heavy rains have soaked even the most dry, sandy areas of the run.
They are eating less of the chicken grains but enjoying fresh fruits and veggies being harvested from the gardens. How
they love cold melon! We carry out the melon rinds and any leftover canteloupe and watermelon - with all the delicious
seeds, of course - and the chickens eat the juicy melon right down to a paper thin rind. I think they find it as refreshing
and cooling as we do.
July 20 - So far the summer has been filled with
reasonable weather and weekly rains that have kept the ground moist and provided cool areas in the shady parts of the chicken
run. I hope all backyard chicken raisers understand that, just like other animals - cats, dogs, whatever - chickens
need access to ample fresh water and shade in the hot summer months. We have added a window fan to the coop that stirs
the air about for the girls and pulls in cooler air in the evening, aimed across the nest boxes and up into the rafter area
where they love to roost at night.
June - the semi-world-famous Automatic Chicken
Feeder and Japanese Beetle Trap is back in use. I took the bottom off the bag of a Japanese Beetle trap and
attached a 6' length of PVC pipe instead. The trap is then hung up in the chicken run so that the bottom of the pipe is
only about 1" from the ground in the run. As the phermones up in the top of the trap begin to waft across our yard, the
beetles come weaving in. They fall into the open top of the bag, as intended by the trap's designers, but then tumble
- not into a bag, but down the PVC pipe and land out on the ground of the chicken run. Snap! Snap! the chickens
dash over and snap up each beetle as it falls out. Even more entertaining was the oldest hen. She apparently remembered
the beetle feeder from last summer and, even as we were tying it up to the top cover of the chicken run, was poking her head
at the bottom of the pipe looking for beetles. Guess who got the first batch of beetles that came through? The younger
hens observed her carefully and, after a trial or two, got the beetle grabbing technique down pat. Great invention -
like all those traps, maybe it doesn't get EVERY beetle but the entertainment value is priceless.
Week of March 15 - Hmmm.
Our happy egg production from the young hens has suddenly dropped off. No signs of molting or predators....
Well, I've been checking the forums at www.backyardchickens.com and notice some others with the same problem, so I'll wait to see if things pick up. I know
the old hens belong in some stew pot... but I also know it's just not going to happen. And least with me.
Checking the Farm Fresh, I notice that the Cage Free, etc. etc. eggs are close to $4 a dozen. Sure makes chicken raising
into a more worthwhile endeavor. We've fallen in love with the Tina Turner looking Polish chickens and I suspect
that these will be the variety for 2009's chick shopping! Week of February 14
- All the new girls have entered their first spring as adult hens laying a faithful egg-a-day each. They insist on using the
one nest (actually a recycled, covered litter box - nice and deep and dark with a perfect sized opening and lots of room for
nice nesting materials in the bottom. But now the old hens (second year) have stopped laying. Ah, well. It will
be interesting to see if anyone goes broody this spring - I'm not sure any of the eggs will be fertile. We are letting
the little flock out of the run every few day to forage for an hour or so before returning to the safe coop at dark.
They are thoroughly enjoying the chickweed and "greens" that have come up in the warm weather. Week
of January 11 - Things are pretty quiet out at the Chez Poulet (Rob's sturdily-built chicken coop). The
girls love to find a sunny spot to enjoy as they scratch and putter about. We have a quiet, mixed flock of 2 older Buff
Rocks, 3 assorted pullets (young females) and one small rooster, Mr. Chicken. The younger girls, like the Silver-Spangled
Hamburg, Dottie, in this photo, are now laying an egg a day each, so despite this being the "off season", we are
staying supplied with delicious eggs, slightly smaller than the huge brown eggs the Buff Rocks were laying. Most
urgent concern? Keeping the girls in fresh water. Chickens drink a lot of water and we check morning and evenging to
be sure their drinking source hasn't frozen over. They appreciate it, crowding around to murmur their approval as
we break off the ice crust or set out the new water for them. Great Chicken Websites
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Dottie - Silver-Spangled Hamburg
Please Note: Before planning any backyard farming,
check your zoning regulations. If you are in a development, there may also be specific homeowner covenants that restrict what
animals you may own - even what kinds of plants you are allowed to grow, especially in "publicly viewed" areas of
your property.
The Chez Mays - The photo shows the little
backyard chicken ranch at Sybil & Rob Mays' home in Blackwater. Coop was built with a garden shed kit from Home
Depot that allowed Rob to use 2x4 lumber with no angle cuts - it doesn't get easier than this. The chicken run (outdoor
area) is actually two chain-link dog runs (four 6'x10' panels each) that clamp together. They are easy to reconfigure
when new space is needed.
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| Mr. Chicken |
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| Holly's Grey Goose |
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| Banty Buff Rock Cross |
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| Barred Rock Hen |
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