Moodleroni Farms - My 'Chicken Math' Origin Story

[2ndTink]

HA! YES! Since it's just two of us here, we can't keep up with the amount of eggs. Luckily, our neighbors and family are gracious enough to assist otherwise, we'd have no room for anything other than eggs in the fridge!! I'm going to have to find some egg-loving friends by the time my remaining 6 start laying. Still egg-citing!

Gotta love gracious friends!

Some fun recipes that I've found are Mayak eggs (eggs brined in soy sauce and I add a few other ingredients depending on my current taste desires ) and a brownie recipe that takes 4 eggs and makes gooey brownies, I cook them in an edge brownie pan and it is perfection! You can substitute cocoa powder for the baking chocolate easy enough too.

https://thefoodcharlatan.com/best-brownie-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-27554

 

[Moodleroni]

a brownie recipe that takes 4 eggs and makes gooey brownies, I cook them in an edge brownie pan and it is perfection! You can substitute cocoa powder for the baking chocolate easy enough too.

https://thefoodcharlatan.com/best-brownie-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-27554

OMG I'm SOOOO making brownies!!

 

[2ndTink]

OMG I'm SOOOO making brownies!!

I make them dairy free, so I use vegan "butter" and add about 2 tbsp of pecan meal and let that simmer on the stove to toast up a bit as I can't make true browned butter. Works great and tastes amazing!

I've made these in a 9x13, that works if you like them super gooey, these aren't brownies you can put on a plate and take to share, it's more - grab a spoon and dig in the edge brownie pan is my favorite for these though. Each piece has cooked edges and a fudgy middle.

 

[Leatherworker]

Setting the scene: So I live in Southern Arizona, in a small city within a suburb, in a tiny pocket of county zoning. I have an 8ft. cinder block fence separating my backyard from a random alley, and my backyard is sectioned into two sides by a black metal fence (for safety): the yard side & the pool side. There is a gate door, on the yard side next to a big fig tree, that can be used to go into the alley, but we have it blocked off with wood fencing for more security & so my dogs don't go under the fence or anyone walking in the alley doesn't mess with my dogs. (all pics labeled left to right, top to bottom)

The Beginning: My dogs love being in the yard, on the yard side, but it's always hot, so I have to frequently check on them and fill/refill their water, making sure the don't overheat; they are not allowed on the pool side without supervision.

So one random day my dogs are barking like crazy outside & as I'm walking out to check what's going on, I see a big black chicken with a little baby chick running around on the pool side. As I step outside, heading for the pool side, the big one (now known to be a Black Astralorp hen) runs to the area where my pool pump is, hops up on the pump & jumps the fence back into the alley. Apparently, there's a block missing from the top of the fence, right where the pump is, making the fence shorter in that spot. (I later also came to find out that there's an overgrown grassy bush in the alley just below the missing block which allowed them to jump into my yard to begin with). The chick was running like mad to catch up, but wasn't able to jump after it's mama, probably from all the chaos; it was stuck. At this point my dogs have been going psycho for a while, the chick is chirping super loud, and the hen is clucking on the other side of the fence, so I did the only thing I could think of, I cornered the little chick to catch it, stepped on a bucket next to the pool pump, & put the chick on top of the fence where the missing block was. I could still hear the mama, I guess the chick could see the mama, and it jumped back to the other side. I could hear both the mama & chick leave together. We've heard distant crows & clucking for the year before this event, but never thought they could get in the yard.

This was officially my first time EVER seeing a chicken in real life, let alone touching one.

A few days later, my dogs are inside because it's insanely hot, but I'm about to let them out to go potty. As I'm opening the door I hear really loud chirping, the chick was back, and three of my dogs (a mini schnauzer & two boxers) had already gone out and went straight for it. I'm freaking out, calling out "leave it", "sit", "treat", and "come here", anything I can think of that usually gets them to do what I need, but of course they aren't listening. The one thing I know always makes them stop in their tracks is the clicking of the water hose nozzle (I don't know why because they love the water, pool, & sprinklers, just not the water hose). So I go grab the hose & by the time I turn back to them, my mini schnauzer Kiwi, has the poor chick in her mouth, and is running around with the boxers chasing her, trying to get the chick too. She had the chick's butt & body in her mouth, with it's head & at least one wing sticking out, & it was still chirping like crazy. I start spraying the hose at my dogs, Kiwi dropped the chick, and all three dogs scattered. I lost sight of the chick in the chaos so I started rounding up the dogs and getting them back inside, but one of the boxers, Olive, wouldn't listen & kept pacing over by the grill. She found the chick that was hiding behind the grill. I grabbed a cat carrier, caught the chick which was just sitting there, probably stunned, and I put it in a cat carrier with some water. I gave it a quick once-over, not seeing any blood so I put it in my laundry room to rest for a bit. I didn't hear any chicken noises coming from the alley, and I didn't want to just send it back again without it's mama waiting for it; I figured I could go into the alley later that afternoon to see where it's chicken family was, or maybe it's family would come back for it. I looked online to see what I could feed it while it waited, so along with the water, I gave it some oats & a slice of tomato. We ended up keeping it overnight since we never heard any more chickens in the alley that night.

My husband said he could hear chickens in the alley the next day. We both raced to reunite the chick with it's flock but you could hear them leaving. I went through the gate, into the alley and could see one chicken (hen) trailing behind, I think because it could hear the chick I had in the carrier. I let the chick out and it made it's way to the chicken. I waited to make sure it reached it's, presumed, mama before going back to my house.

Time to chick/chicken "proof" the yard. I was scared to death that my dogs would eat the chick or a chicken, so we cut down the grassy bush thing in the alley, and replaced the missing block at the top of the fence near the pool pump.

Next day, same routine, dogs are inside & I'm going to let them out to pee, this time checking the yard before just letting them out, and yes, the chick is back, again! This time it's frantically chirping and running back & forth between the yard side & pool side between the bars of the fence, like it didn't know where to go. There's a very small gap under the gate that leads to the alley & we think that's how it got in this time. It took forever but I caught it again, but this time, I could see it was missing feathers and had some blood on it's back & head. I don't know how, but I KNOW it was the same chick from the first two times and it definitely looked to be in worse condition then how I sent it back. I did the same thing, put it in the cat carrier with water, oats, and some tomato. I later read that sometimes chickens peck at wounds or beat up chicks/chickens who are sick or weak. Feeling like I'd be sending it to it's doom, or that it would come back again and maybe not be so lucky with the dogs, I couldn't bring myself to send it back again.

I used to be the crazy dog lady, then I turned into the crazy cat & dog lady, now I'm just the crazy lady lol. I guess I'm a prisoner of my emotions and/or a glutton for punishment: 7 dogs, 2 cats, and now a baby chick!

All of my animals have fruit/fruit themed names, so of course we had to find a suitable name for our new baby; welcome Crazin (a dried cranberry)
View attachment 3479421

So I don't know a single thing about chickens at this point, not that I claim to now but I am a bit more knowledgeable after almost a year than I was at the very beginning. I am now responsible for this little chick, who's hurt, that I know nothing about, and do not want to cause it more harm than what it had dealt with already. I start doing research, definitely getting LOTS of information from BYC. Thank you so, So, SO much by the way, you guys have made it so much easier to, at least from outside appearances, act like I know what I'm doing. I set up a brooder box out of a big dog crate I wasn't using at the time, added a brooder plate, fitted it with chicken wire, set up a roosting bar, got it feed, had fresh water, got it some electrolytes, cleaned it's wounds, and set out to find out how old it might be, pullet or cockerel, what kind of chicken, what to feed it, all that fun stuff. One of the things I read was that chickens are social creatures and need to be part of a flock to be happy. It's my job now to make Crazin happy so of course that means I need to get Crazin a buddy.... insert chicken math logic here

So I go to my local TSC store and yes, they had chicks. I explain to them that I'm looking for a chick buddy and I'm told I can't just get one, I had to get 4 minimum...
View attachment 3479435
Whatever will make/keep Crazin happy! (left to right, back to front) Buscuit (White Leghorn), Crazin & sometimes Cajuin (Wild Black Astralorp), Noodle (RIR), Dumplin (Sapphire Gem), & Nugget (EE). Yes, lol they all have chicken names, keeping with the food theme

The Aftermath: My chicks grew & grew! We bought them a coop and built them an attached run. Everything was great!

We figured out Crazin is a rooster pretty early on,
View attachment 3479443
however, and despite getting pullets from TSC, Noodle turned out to be a rooster too.
View attachment 3479447
Buscuit top left, Nugget top right, Noodle bottom, Crazin's tail in the back
View attachment 3479448
Crazin in the back, Noodle bottom left, Dumplin on the right

They all get along, Crazin is the alpha roo, even though he's smaller than Noodle, and they both share the girls. Noodle can get aggressive with them while mating and Crazin always steps in to protect them. They are big enough now where I feel it's "safe" to let them free-range, while supervised, and Crazin always finds them bugs, does his digging & clucking dance to let them know he found some goodies. Crazin & Noodle both take turns calling out alerts and/or will stay with the girls if they get split up in the yard. They even co-exist and roam around with 4 of my 7 dogs, with Noodle often leading the ladies astray, trying to eat the dog's food during feeding times. Crazin has not forgiven Kiwi, however, so they only interact through the run fence and never alone.
View attachment 3479517
Crazin in the back, Noodle, Dumplin, Buscuit, & Nugget

Around October last year we had a familiar event occur. I heard chirping in the yard and I could see some tall grass moving, ANOTHER wild chick had gotten into the yard! I was able to catch her and you could tell she had gotten beaten up. She was chilled, moving slow, not eating or drinking, was bleeding from her beak, and had a bald & bruised butt around her vent. I obviously was not going to send her back. We named her Taco and set out to try all the suggestions we found here and online, but she didn't make it and died in my hands two days later. I balled my eyes out and she was buried in our pet cemetery with the rest of our angel babies.
View attachment 3479457
Our coop troop was now short a Taco, they'd met and she wouldn't have been old enough to be in their coop for a long while but you know what i mean, and we still had a numbers problem.

The Problem: I'd read about needing to have a minimum amount of hens per rooster so that they don't fight, but they've always been fine and I didn't think it was a problem. I did end up having to get chicken saddles for the ladies though. With both roos mating with the 3 ladies frequently, they started losing feathers on their backs & shoulders pretty fast. Since I've put their saddles on, their backs are better but their necks are now going bald.
View attachment 3479518
Crazin, Buscuit, Nugget, Dumplin, & Noodle

The Solution?: More hens of course! Getting rid of a roo is not an option, I'm too attached, and out here, roosters are not often kept, but culled. I brought them here, I'm definitely not sending them to certain death if I can help it.

Since I hadn't learned my lesson, I went back to TSC and got 4 more chicks marked "pullets", because I need only hens. I also went to Cal-Ranch because I really, REALLY wanted an EE and they let me get just 1 since I already had some, so 5 more chickies, making 4 ladies per roo. We got Nachos (Golden Sexlink), Popcorn (Cucko Maran), Pepper (Cuckoo Maran), Spicy (RIR), and BBQ (supposed EE turned Welsummer). Since life isn't fair, I lost Pepper six days after bringing her home and finding her under the brooding plate, lethargic and barely moving. I had noticed she was smaller than the rest of them and am not sure why she passed. She too died in my hands and is in our pet cemetery.

Luckily the rest of the chicks are thriving & growing quick; (we call them the teens) quick enough to see that no, I don't have 4 new ladies for my roos, I only have 3 hens and another roo!
View attachment 3479461
Spicy, BBQ, Popcorn, & Nachos
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Nachos, Spicy under the brooding plate, BBQ wondering what the heck Spicy's doing
View attachment 3479520
Popcorn & Nachos

An Even Bigger Problem:
So now I have 3 roosters to 6 hens

Even though I'm attached to him (Popcorn) already, I made some calls to a few rescue farms and some friend with chickens, and no one is able to take a rooster. The only one interested informed me that Popcorn would be used for meat so yea, not gonna happen.

My husband and I talked it over and decided, because obviously more chickens is the only solution, that we'll get 4 more, to try to get more girls . Whatever happens happens and we will deal with whatever numbers come out:
"no more chickens after this" -Mr. Moodleroni

So instead of going to TSC again, I went to Cal-Ranch and when I showed up, I see this:
View attachment 3479493
enablers I'm telling you!

So 4 turns into 6 and here's hoping it's 6 hens with no more roos. I got Parmesan (White Leghorn), Ginger (Welsummer), Honey, Teriyaki, & Sesame (3 Americaunas), & Fajita (Black Astralorp).
View attachment 3479503
Ginger, Fajita, Honey, Parmesan, Teriyaki, & Sesame
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Parmesan, Ginger, Fajita, Honey, Teriyaki, & Sesame
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Teriyaki, Honey, Ginger, Fajita, Sesame, & Parmesan

The Saga Continues: So now it's a waiting game to see if we end up with the "planned" 12 hens to 3 roosters, or if our chicken math is off again. We are in the process of updating & expanding the coop, and working on integrating the teens: Popcorn, Nachos, Spicy, and BBQ into the coop with the OGs: Crazin, Noodle, Nugget, Buscuit, & Dumplin. They are still learning to get along and are always supervised.

I'm still not comfortable leaving the teens out in the coop at night since it's crowded until we upgrade and I don't want to leave them in the run. The teens stay with the OGs during the day, in a section of the run, and get put in the house with the baby chicks at night. Maybe it will even help smooth the transition once the babies are also old enough.

Obviously my chicken knowledge still needs work so any information or suggestions you can correct or provide for me is always appreciated. This includes the types of chickens or if you want to play the "pullet or roo" game with my newbie chicks.

Are you happy now Crazin? Just remember, this was all for you buddy!

Updates to come as they grow & we build. Wish me luck!!

Love it! Thank you for sharing.

 

[Moodleroni]

Yay! Parmesan^ is a lady today!!

Kinda hard to tell in the picture but they all have different egg colors, shapes, and sizes. BBQ still gives us tiny little eggies

6 down, 5 to go!!

 

[Moodleroni]

What the heck color is this??

I've got 4 EEs (one has a mohawk) and a Black Astrolorp left to lay, but this doesn't look brown to me

 

[2ndTink]

What the heck color is this??
View attachment 3608141
I've got 4 EEs (one has a mohawk) and a Black Astrolorp left to lay, but this doesn't look brown to me

I think it's just bloom, some of my chickens have more bloom than others and it can give it a pink hue. It may be the BA, I have a couple that lay eggs like that.

 

[Moodleroni]

I think it's just bloom, some of my chickens have more bloom than others and it can give it a pink hue. It may be the BA, I have a couple that lay eggs like that.

Ah ok, but a previously laying hen wouldn't just suddenly change her egg/bloom color right? So another of my babies is laying or could be an existing layer? Caught me by surprise cuz its so different lol

 

[Moodleroni]

Woot Woot!
Two more ladies paying rent!

^Fajita (Black Astralorp) is laying light brown eggs

AND

^Ginger (EE? or I guess OE?) *all I know is she likes the punk rock look* is laying a darker, olive toned, green egg

My egg containers are looking good! 8 down, 3 EE's left!

 

[2ndTink]

Woot Woot!
Two more ladies paying rent!

View attachment 3622887
^Fajita (Black Astralorp) is laying light brown eggs

AND

View attachment 3622888
^Ginger (EE? or I guess OE?) *all I know is she likes the punk rock look* is laying a darker, olive toned, green egg

My egg containers are looking good! 8 down, 3 EE's left!
View attachment 3622890

Whoop whoop! Beautiful girls and beautiful eggs! I'm loving the range of colors, shapes, and sizes

I love Ginger's punk rock style, very edgy and suits her well.