If finally came... I had to break down and fence in the chickens. The other day Heather was walking out by the back forest and said, "There's and egg here!" I've been having a diminishing egg count lately, so Heather and I looked around and found a big pile of eggs! The chickens weren't laying in the nest boxes anymore.
We had no idea how old these eggs were - and I would never think of giving them to my customers - so they ended up being fed to the very happy pigs.
I put a fence around the chickens and boom! The egg count went right back up.
There are a few miscreant chickens who have been flying over the fence, but I caught some of them the next morning and clipped one of their wings... no more flying.
To clip their wings, I grab a chicken, extend it's wing out, and use heavy duty scissors to clip the feather tips as close to the body part of the wing as I can. The feather shaft is like fingernails and it doesn't hurt the chicken.
I've lost quite a few chickens to predators over the years and I hope them not being able to go back into the edge of the forest to hang out will cut down on their losses.
There are a few other reasons why I decided to fence in the chickens....
.. shredded hostas. I can't begin to say how many times I have planted landscaping around my house to have the chickens come up and dig it up or crush it.
... holes for their dust baths everywhere. This particular picture is an area where John and I had spent the day planting pole beans and the chickens came in and dug everything up while making dust baths for themselves.
... and chicken pooh everywhere. This batch is on the walk behind my house. They pooh all over the yard and I've even had them pooh when they come into the garage to eat dog food!
The chickens will be let out of their fence in the evening for an hour or two of eating green stuff and catching bugs before they go to roost at night. That way they'll still give good healthy eggs but will hopefully not have time to get into trouble!
Never dull, is it ?~! We are seriously considering getting a dozen laying hens; there exists NO comparison to freshly laid eggs with that orange yolk sitting so high and pretty in that tightly kept white. Mmmmm. Thanks for sharing your chickens with me today.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I cant believe how many they laid out in the woods! We lost one chicken to a red fox, so when we are away from home, they get locked up in their coop. At night, we lock them in their nesting area (just in case the coons can get through the chicken wire). I'm glad you have them contained, and they get their greens!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how frustrating chickens can be when running loose. We now have a portable chicken coop that we can move around the yard regularly. We do still turn them a loose for a while each day, but they sure can wreak havoc in a garden if you aren't watching!
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