Crazy girls
As you know, about a month ago we got chickens! After talking and researching, we found a fab deal on Craigslist and decided to just go for it. It was an awesome decision and I'm so glad we did it. Chickens are basically the most low maintenance pet ever. They are also super dumb and thus, super fun to watch. Up until now, the oppressive heat and molting kept the ladies from producing eggs. We got our first eggs recently and it was sooo exciting. We have now been getting an egg every other day or so. I'm sure production will pick up in the coming months. I'm pretty much addicted and want to get more chickens. Next year I would like to build a larger coop and get a few more birds.
Anyways, I've been seeing posters about this years Tour De Coops and I can't wait! I found these rad Phoenix urban farm blogs through the Tour De Coops page.
and check this out- Farmyard- you can hire them to not only install a garden for you but also maintain it (even though that takes a lot of the fun out of it).
Also, for any of you seasoned farmers out there, we've had a little problem with our big white hen (Maggie.. technically her name is Maggie's Boobs hahaha. Like that episode of Community) being a bully! She won't let the other (Princess Beyonce... from the tv show Raising Hope) eat or drink and she will peck at her if she tries to get food. Any tips on how to stop her from being a bitch?
I love my grand chickens
ReplyDeleteOmg I need the farmyards help!
ReplyDeleteMaggie's behavior is pretty normal, unfortunately - I mean, we get the term "pecking order" from chickens' (and other birds) behavior. It's supposedly healthy in a community setting (as silly as it sounds, there have been studies done to show that most chickens are happier when they know their place, even if that at the bottom of the pecking order). My family has chickens, and my mom was told by another family that has chickens that it's better to have more than two chickens, so that the dominant chicken is held in check by having the objects of its bullying divided. It takes the burden off both the middle and the third chicken from being bullied, since the middle chicken is both bullied/bullier. Does that make sense? Anyway, it's worked with our chickens, but when I looked it up online I didn't find much to support the idea, so I can't say it's necessarily going to work. But hey, a third chicken HAS been proven to be a good idea because if, heaven forbid, one of your chickens should die, the other often will react by not producing eggs for a while; a third chicken stabilizes that reaction. Also, it's important that if you treat your chickens as pets, to spend time with the dominant chicken both first and last, which will keep it from overly bullying the lower-status chicken. Anyway, there are my opinions! Love that you are so into sustainable living 'n such! :)
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