- Mar 10, 2010
- 13
- 1
- 22
Good Morning Chicken people of America!
My name is Emma and I'm new here at Byc. I live in east Tennessee with my husband and my dog, her name is Butter, short for Butterscotch. She is a spoiled little princess, part jack russell terrier and part chihuahua. Last fall we began receiving visits from 2 Roosters and six hens. We didn't think much of it at the time since we had seen these same chickens living up the road at an old abandoned school house which is right in between our next door neighbor's house and a church, on the other side of the church is a working farm and down the road apiece there are a couple more farms (dairy). We enjoyed visits from our feathered friends through the fall and winter, during which time we realized that these chickens had been turned loose, got loose or were simply abandoned, we are not sure which. The chickens decided that the large pine tree in our front yard was a good place to roost at night and since it was so cold and awful this winter we began to keep them fed, as did our neighbor across the street from us, on occasion. We observed these hens and roosters everyday. In the daytime they'd travel between our house and that of our 3 neighbors, (ranging). When the weather was rainy and windy they sought shelter under our front porch and we allowed them to do this because we had figured out by now that they were orphans! At around or just before dusk here would come the whole family again for some supper before flying up into the pine tree for the night. One weekend the cold weather broke and we were enjoying some sunshine, doing some yard work. Unbeknown to us the hens had been using the farthest back corner under the porch to lay their eggs, "princess Butter" (the dog) had accidentally frightened one of the hens off her goldmine! And I mean a goldmine! We counted thirty-four eggs. Go ahead laugh, laugh hard, laughing is good for us! We are not seasoned chicken parents, (ha, ha seasoned chicken, mmm, sounds good)! Anyway since we didn't know how long those eggs had been under there, (even though it was colder than my refrigerator) we had to discard the eggs, clean out under the porch and secure the lattice on the one end (where they were getting in at) so no more egg laying under the porch. However, we did make some nest boxes for the hens On the front porch temporarily, because the hens insisted on laying eggs there anyway, (in one of my husband's shoes) as well as on top of our minivan, in the back of my husbands truck, and in the old, old, horrible half of a shed on the side of our yard! We actually put nests in that horrible old shed thinking they would go in there as before, we've tried to entice them in there thinking it would be somewhat more secure than the porch. They're not going for it. Every morning I go out on the porch to check the nest box, and have been getting about 2 eggs a day. This a.m. was no exception, except that, as I was on my way into the kitchen I saw out of the window a hawk on my porch railing and this was while one of our hens was still sitting in the nest box, she didn't make a peep. When the hawk saw me it flew off, whew! When the hen was finished with her laying she hollered for the rooster to come and escort her from the porch. The roosters are beautiful and very protective of the hens. One of them is more dominant than the other. If my husband wants to keep these chickens, and he does, it's time for a more secure chicken home. I have learned so much in such a short time from everyone at Byc. Thank you, Thank you everyone, for your kindness and knowledge. I hope you enjoyed our chicken adventures. God Bless you all and have a Great day! Emma
My name is Emma and I'm new here at Byc. I live in east Tennessee with my husband and my dog, her name is Butter, short for Butterscotch. She is a spoiled little princess, part jack russell terrier and part chihuahua. Last fall we began receiving visits from 2 Roosters and six hens. We didn't think much of it at the time since we had seen these same chickens living up the road at an old abandoned school house which is right in between our next door neighbor's house and a church, on the other side of the church is a working farm and down the road apiece there are a couple more farms (dairy). We enjoyed visits from our feathered friends through the fall and winter, during which time we realized that these chickens had been turned loose, got loose or were simply abandoned, we are not sure which. The chickens decided that the large pine tree in our front yard was a good place to roost at night and since it was so cold and awful this winter we began to keep them fed, as did our neighbor across the street from us, on occasion. We observed these hens and roosters everyday. In the daytime they'd travel between our house and that of our 3 neighbors, (ranging). When the weather was rainy and windy they sought shelter under our front porch and we allowed them to do this because we had figured out by now that they were orphans! At around or just before dusk here would come the whole family again for some supper before flying up into the pine tree for the night. One weekend the cold weather broke and we were enjoying some sunshine, doing some yard work. Unbeknown to us the hens had been using the farthest back corner under the porch to lay their eggs, "princess Butter" (the dog) had accidentally frightened one of the hens off her goldmine! And I mean a goldmine! We counted thirty-four eggs. Go ahead laugh, laugh hard, laughing is good for us! We are not seasoned chicken parents, (ha, ha seasoned chicken, mmm, sounds good)! Anyway since we didn't know how long those eggs had been under there, (even though it was colder than my refrigerator) we had to discard the eggs, clean out under the porch and secure the lattice on the one end (where they were getting in at) so no more egg laying under the porch. However, we did make some nest boxes for the hens On the front porch temporarily, because the hens insisted on laying eggs there anyway, (in one of my husband's shoes) as well as on top of our minivan, in the back of my husbands truck, and in the old, old, horrible half of a shed on the side of our yard! We actually put nests in that horrible old shed thinking they would go in there as before, we've tried to entice them in there thinking it would be somewhat more secure than the porch. They're not going for it. Every morning I go out on the porch to check the nest box, and have been getting about 2 eggs a day. This a.m. was no exception, except that, as I was on my way into the kitchen I saw out of the window a hawk on my porch railing and this was while one of our hens was still sitting in the nest box, she didn't make a peep. When the hawk saw me it flew off, whew! When the hen was finished with her laying she hollered for the rooster to come and escort her from the porch. The roosters are beautiful and very protective of the hens. One of them is more dominant than the other. If my husband wants to keep these chickens, and he does, it's time for a more secure chicken home. I have learned so much in such a short time from everyone at Byc. Thank you, Thank you everyone, for your kindness and knowledge. I hope you enjoyed our chicken adventures. God Bless you all and have a Great day! Emma
