Canada Geese Have Worn Out Their Welcome

By erika on 7/15/10 9:54pm
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After the recent news that New York City purged a park of over 400 Canada geese on the sly, a surprising lack of outrage has cropped up across the internet.  Even at Metafilter, where most users tend to be against killing animals for no reason, sentiment against the geese was running high.

Canada geese are, it must be said, not easy to love.  They have created a problem in our cities which is entirely our doing.  This is not a situation like the gray whale migrating through shipping lanes on its route between Baja and Alaska every year.  This is a situation more like that of rats, who found life in our cities to be amenable, and have decided to stay.


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Keeping Your Chickens Cool

By erika on 7/8/10 2:47pm
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The hottest days of the summer are upon us, and everyone is suffering - including your chickens!  Heavily feathered breeds like the Buff Orpington and Wyandotte are at a distinct disadvantage this time of year compared to closely feathered, Mediterranean, and tropical breeds such as the Rhode Island Red and the Leghorn.

A chicken's body temperature is normally between 104 and 107 degrees Fahrenheit.  Their body temperature is lethal when it reaches between 113 and 117 degrees Fahrenheit.  Therefore it is extremely important to keep chickens cool when the outside temperature starts hitting the triple digits.  If a chicken is unable to dissipate its body heat, it can become heat sick very quickly.  


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Scratch Or Feed?

By erika on 6/23/10 11:32pm
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Across the country, people's baby chicks are growing into pullets.  Aww!  They were so cute as chicks, and then they went through that ugly "baby dinosaur" phase, and now they are starting to look like real chickens.  Most people start getting their first egg between now and August (depending on when chicks came out in your area).  


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Worming Chickens

By erika on 6/15/10 2:02am
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It is an unfortunate truth that chickens, just like every other form of livestock, need to be wormed.  There are a lot of reasons to do this, and different methods available.  

Why worm?
Chickens, because they forage off the ground, can easily pick up a worm infestation.  In fact, it's almost inevitable.  The most common source of infestation is ascarid worms, also known as large roundworms.  Threadworms, tapeworms, and gapeworms are all also frequently present.  


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Broody Hens: When Good Chickens Go Bad

By erika on 5/19/10 11:22pm
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I just had my first hen go "broody."  I have to tell you, I can see how it would be pretty annoying, but I thought it was awfully funny.  The first thing I noticed was that she was behaving oddly for several days.  She would do what I called a "turkey impression."  

If you have ever seen a tom turkey puff himself up to impress the ladies, that's pretty much what Ethel did.  She fluffed out all of her feathers, cocked her tail up and fanned out her tail feathers, and wandered around mumbling "tuk tuk tuk" under her breath.


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How Can I Get My Chicken To Lay Bigger Eggs?

By erika on 5/10/10 10:36pm
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It's mid-Spring now in most parts of the country, and last year's chicks are really getting into the swing of laying eggs!  (This year's chicks are still being raised, and will start laying around July or August.)  A common question I hear this time of year is, why are my chicken's eggs so small?


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Chickens in the City: Urban Homesteading Etiquette

By erika on 4/14/10 10:48pm
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I never knew eggs could be so noisy!I never knew eggs could be so noisy!This week Chow.com's "Table Manners" column tackles the thorny issues of "urban homesteading" vis a vis your neighbor's complaints, rights, and expectations.  I'm going to skip the bit about bunny slaughter because A) gross, and B) bunnies aren't my thing.  Instead, let's home in on a point the article makes, in oddly veiled terms:

"[Chickens] sing an egg song when they lay an egg. It can be just a couple clucks or a real 'ca-caw' that is audible over several yards."


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How To Dust A Chicken

By erika on 3/19/10 12:05am
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I knew that eventually I would want to dust my chickens for mites.  My hens live in a chicken tractor, which is like a mobile chicken pen and coop.  As I move it around the yard, it encounters areas which have been in contact with wild birds.  The robins, for example, are running all over the yard this time of year.

If your chickens live in an enclosed pen, then you may never have to dust for mites.  And yet, somehow the mites often seem to creep in!  Watch your chickens for increased itchiness.  Check the undersides of their perches for little black specs - bird mites love to lurk under the perch all day, then creep out at night to suck the blood of your sleeping birds.  And although bird mites don't colonize people, a lot of chicken owners discover that their chickens have mites after their arms get covered in bites while cleaning out the coop.  Gross!

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Birds Only Breathe In One Direction

By erika on 3/9/10 3:48am
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Bird Breath!Bird Breath!You know, I like to think I have a pretty good grasp on science, and biology, and how the world works.  And then some little fact trots along and knocks me right on my butt, thereby pointing out that the world is far more strange and complicated than we sometimes give it credit for.

This is one such fact, which I stumbled over last week: birds breathe in only one direction.  Most animals, such as ourselves, have "bidirectional respiration."  We inhale, fresh air comes into our lungs, it gets exchanged for all the carbon dioxide and other waste products, and then the old air is exhaled.  Fresh air in; stale air out.  This is also called "tidal respiration," because it's similar to the way the tides move in and out.


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The Raptor Migration Season

By erika on 2/27/10 12:50am
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Sharp-shinned hawkSharp-shinned hawkToday I heard a mad squadawk-ing from the direction of the chickens.  I looked outside and saw a Sharp-shinned hawk swoop past the mobile chicken pen (also called a chicken tractor or chicken ark) and perch nearby.  My chicken tractor is completely raptor-proof, and for good reason!  But although I knew he couldn't get in to slaughter my chickens, the hens had no such confidence in my building design.


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