cindy glasson
Hatching
- Jul 21, 2015
- 3
- 0
- 7
Hello,
My name is Cindy Glasson and I live in Clarkston Michigan.
I bought 5 bantam hens in March as babies and a chicken coop
from the tractor supply store in Ortonville.
One of the babies died at about two weeks old I suspect she was out of the
incubation tub for too long while my son who was visiting and may have gotten cold
because she died the next day. I felt pretty bad about it, he had her out for about twenty minutes.
One of my chicks was a rooster so I had a rooster and 4 hens.
when they were old enough I started acclimating them slowly to the outdoors
and it sure was fun to see them experience things for the first time.
They were amazed about wind and also about the call of a red wing blackbird.
They would all turn their heads toward the direction of the birds call in unison.
My rooster was amazing. He really protected the chickens and knew ahead of time
if geese were flying overhead and he kept them safe and pretty well in order.
The other thing I loved about him was that he would get me up at dawn and would call
me when they were ready to be locked up at night.
I have always let them out at dawn and locked them up at night and do they need that?
Are there predators at night they need to be protected from.
One day I came home and my rooster was gone and I found him in the woods on my neighbors property with his head cut off and no guts but no disturbance around like blood or feathers.
I thought maybe my neighbor chopped his head off but I don't know how he would have caught him because they are pretty good at getting away.
I have been grieving for my rooster ever since and the same day he died my prettiest chicken disappeared too and I could never find her.
So now I have 3 chickens and the largest one has kind of taken over the role of leader.
They all like to snuggle a bit before I put them away at night.
Their coop is on legs on a cement slab under an overhang from the deck above and up against the house so it is pretty well protected. I never fixed up a nesting box for them and they are
laying eggs daily in the bag of cedar chips I keep next to the coop. I took the wood sides off
the coop for the summer and if it is chilly at night I cover the coop partially so they don't get cold with a blanket.
Oh and I forgot to mention they free range here on 4 acres I own and never leave the property.
They seem pretty happy.
My big worry is what to do with them in the winter. I have a sliding door from my lower level
and I thought maybe I could build them a little lean to against the house with a door in the opposite side for them to get out so that I could feed and water and clean the coop without having to go outside myself. My question is do I have to go to the trouble of doing that or can I
just heat their water and put a heat lamp in the corner of their current coop which is not very big
maybe 3 by 5 feet and block the wind and continue as I am doing now just letting them out and in. After all wild birds don't have heated homes to go to, so I need advice. I also considered
boarding them out at a farm or something during the winter so they could run around in a barn
and so if anyone is interested in doing that I would entertain that idea and would be willing to
pay for their board.
Thank you for your responses and interest in my story.
Cindy Glasson
My name is Cindy Glasson and I live in Clarkston Michigan.
I bought 5 bantam hens in March as babies and a chicken coop
from the tractor supply store in Ortonville.
One of the babies died at about two weeks old I suspect she was out of the
incubation tub for too long while my son who was visiting and may have gotten cold
because she died the next day. I felt pretty bad about it, he had her out for about twenty minutes.
One of my chicks was a rooster so I had a rooster and 4 hens.
when they were old enough I started acclimating them slowly to the outdoors
and it sure was fun to see them experience things for the first time.
They were amazed about wind and also about the call of a red wing blackbird.
They would all turn their heads toward the direction of the birds call in unison.
My rooster was amazing. He really protected the chickens and knew ahead of time
if geese were flying overhead and he kept them safe and pretty well in order.
The other thing I loved about him was that he would get me up at dawn and would call
me when they were ready to be locked up at night.
I have always let them out at dawn and locked them up at night and do they need that?
Are there predators at night they need to be protected from.
One day I came home and my rooster was gone and I found him in the woods on my neighbors property with his head cut off and no guts but no disturbance around like blood or feathers.
I thought maybe my neighbor chopped his head off but I don't know how he would have caught him because they are pretty good at getting away.
I have been grieving for my rooster ever since and the same day he died my prettiest chicken disappeared too and I could never find her.
So now I have 3 chickens and the largest one has kind of taken over the role of leader.
They all like to snuggle a bit before I put them away at night.
Their coop is on legs on a cement slab under an overhang from the deck above and up against the house so it is pretty well protected. I never fixed up a nesting box for them and they are
laying eggs daily in the bag of cedar chips I keep next to the coop. I took the wood sides off
the coop for the summer and if it is chilly at night I cover the coop partially so they don't get cold with a blanket.
Oh and I forgot to mention they free range here on 4 acres I own and never leave the property.
They seem pretty happy.
My big worry is what to do with them in the winter. I have a sliding door from my lower level
and I thought maybe I could build them a little lean to against the house with a door in the opposite side for them to get out so that I could feed and water and clean the coop without having to go outside myself. My question is do I have to go to the trouble of doing that or can I
just heat their water and put a heat lamp in the corner of their current coop which is not very big
maybe 3 by 5 feet and block the wind and continue as I am doing now just letting them out and in. After all wild birds don't have heated homes to go to, so I need advice. I also considered
boarding them out at a farm or something during the winter so they could run around in a barn
and so if anyone is interested in doing that I would entertain that idea and would be willing to
pay for their board.
Thank you for your responses and interest in my story.
Cindy Glasson
