Back to Chickens

Maybe I write too much about chickens, but they are an essential part of our daily lives and it’s hard to ignore them. We visit the chicken yard and house at least three times a day. They have to be let out of their house every morning. Their feed trays have to be filled, their water checked and replenished if needed, their eggs gathered. Then their house has to be locked up after they go to roost, not to prevent them from escaping, but to deter nighttime raiders such as raccoons, weasels, and foxes.

This afternoon, the golden elm leaves lured me outside. Elm leaves usually just turn brown and fall off, but this year they have surprised and delighted us with leaves of pure gold.

After admiring the foliage, I checked on the cold frame seedlings, and naturally gravitated to the chicken estate. I thought the girls might enjoy a couple of scoops of scratch*.

Indeed, a welcoming committee was eagerly awaiting me at the gate to their yard.

Dipping the scoop into the can of scratch reminded me of the days when we kept the food in the big paper bags it comes in. Mice always got into it, ate holes in the bags, and generally made a mess. Finally we had enough sense to put the chickens’ food in covered metal containers. We also keep a bag of crushed oyster shell to supplement the hens' diet. It takes a lot of calcium to make egg shells.

Just two weeks ago Dennis and Laurie, our chicken co-owner, thoroughly cleaned the chicken house. They removed all the straw from nests and floor, scraped chicken droppings off the roost and nest tops, and washed the floor with vinegar. Already fresh manure is building up on the nest box covers, where a few of the hens prefer to roost. Apparently they poop frequently during the night. The concrete blocks make it easy for the hens to hop into the nests.

Chickens are curious birds. This barred rock came into the house to see what I was up to. Seeing the camera, she struck a pose, possibly hoping to be included in a chicken house feature in House Beautiful.

*“Chicken scratch” has a number of meanings, all derived from the mixture of grain and cracked corn that chickens enjoy eating and scratching around in with their clawed feet. “Chicken scratch” also refers to bad handwriting, a style of embroidery, a style of guitar playing, and even dance music developed by  the Tohono O’odham people in southern Arizona.

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer