Backyard Poultry Comes With The House

When my daughter and her children moved to North Carolina they discovered that chickens came with their new house.  The former owners moved into a place that was not convenient for taking backyard poultry.

Chicks Looking Around

My daughter, Mikki, is a lover of nearly all animals.  But she will be the first to admit that chickens are not on her list of favorites.  You might even say she had a time seeing the positive side to having chickens to deal with while settling into their new home.

Moving from California to North Carolina was a huge culture shock for the whole family.  And so it was that there were many aspects of backyard poultry care this new family had to research.  After a bit of emailing back and forth with the former owners and lots of online research they began to settle into this new realm.

But one of the chickens began acting funny.  It didn't seem to want to leave the hen house.  At first they thought it might be injured.

Brooding Hens Are Mother Hens

That's when they learned about brooding hens.  Some backyard poultry farmers try many ways to encourage their hens to become brooders.  A hen is considered brooding when it takes on the task of playing mother and hatching fertile eggs.

Mikki wasn't interested in even more chickens to learn how to care for.

No More Chickens!

At first every effort was made to gather up all eggs including those under wanna be mama.  Having baby chicks to deal with was the last thing on this families mind.

Well with the exception of youngest member of the family, nine year old Morgan.  She wanted to experience seeing baby chicks.  So it was decided to allow the hen a couple of eggs to satisfy both brooding mama hen and young Morgan.

There's no Stopping Mother Nature

Soon those 2 eggs grew to 16 as the laying hens decided to add their own contributions.  No one knew which eggs were fertile and which were eggs to eat.

The five foot rat snake that invaded their hen house didn't care where his meal came from.  Soon the eggs started disappearing.

One more lesson in caring for backyard poultry.  It would seem that rat snakes are common egg stealers.  And they love making chicken eggs their main meal of the day.

They'll even feast on the occasional baby chick.  So if mama brooder managed to hatch successfully Mikki was warned that she would probably lose the chicks to snakes or hawks.  There didn't seem to be much hope for the dream of one small child and one determined brooding hen.

After a battle with the snake that left mama slightly injured, Mikki decided to try to incubate the remaining nine eggs inside.  In the mean time, they were still moving belongings from California.  Without proper monitoring of temperature, those nine eggs never hatched.

Sometimes A Problem Becomes The Solution

One thing no one actually counted on was the added dilemma of overgrown grass.  After three weeks away with no one to cut the grass, Mikki arrived with belongings to find weeds nearly as tall as she is.

Thanks to a friendly neighbor they were able to get the main yard under control.

Since fall was right around the corner, it was decided to leave the field around the hen house alone.  This left around an acre of high grass.  They cut a path to the hen house egg laying area.  They also cut a path to the feed and watering area. This coming spring will be a good time to get things back in order.

Ducks Listen to Water Running Behind High Grass

This high grass turned out to be a blessing.  A walk through the maze reveals wild flowers, as well as signs of wildlife.  Where before they had one visiting duck they now had a mating pair.  And they seem to have decided to spend the winter.

And the snake has backed off. Perhaps this is the time of year snakes hybernate. Whatever the reason, even in the fall life goes on for the chickens.

I Hear Something in The Grass!

I was preparing for my visit to North Carolina when Mikki called me with the news.  "We're having chicks!"  She may not be overly fond of chickens but almost any type of baby will win my daughter's heart.

She told me how my grandson, Aaron, heard them while gathering eggs.  He came in and said,  "Mom, I think we have baby chickens."

"How do you know?", was Mikki's response.

"Well I thought I heard a cheep, cheep, over in the tall grass," Aaron said.

Sure enough, a search through the grass revealed five tiny chicks along with one happy brooding hen. Mother Nature found a way.

Since the hens didn't feel safe inside the hen house they decided to take charge.  Mikki and the kids noticed that their daily count of eggs had fallen.  The lower number of eggs in the nest meant the hens were laying in other places.

Feeding Time At The Hogans

 

Chicks Peek Out With Caution

My first view of the chicks was nearly a week later.  We all went out with Mikki to feed the chickens.  Babies were all gathered up under mama's wings for protection.  You can see them wondering out in this picture on the left.

It's really true that mother hen's take their younger under their wings for protection.  When it's safe they squeeze out into the open.

Chicks Watch Mama Close Now

Feeding time has changed just a little now.  Mama is fed first to let her know it's safe to come out. The other chickens show great respect and allow babies to eat first.

The ducks just barge right in. Maybe they think they are the only ones in the yard.

By now the remaining chickens and roosters alike wander over to finish off the feed.

Enjoy Chicken Feeding Time

Here is a cute little video I took where Mama hen eats right out of the feed scoop.



The children are all having fun learning what it takes to raise and feed range fed chickens. And for California beach combers they are all doing a wonderful job.

I hope you have enjoyed this little trip to the family back yard. If you would like to see more nature and flower pictures, be sure and visit my new enhanced gallery. I will be adding new images to this gallery almost daily. So be sure and register so you won't miss any.