Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[Toxic Chicken]

So kool

Take pictures.

 

[ChickenAl]

A Newsday reporter and photographer came and interviewed me for a few hours last week.  Two articles resulted;  both are on Newsday.com's website, but only one of them appeared in the actual newspaper (Sunday's paper April 29, 2012, page A-12 & 13).

Online readers have access to the entire article on Newsday.com website only if they have a newspaper subscription or if they are Optimum customers.  

[COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000]In the first article (A Hobby Hatches On L I)[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000], the reporter ([/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]Newsday CAROL POLSKY / [email protected]) [COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000]quotes me toward the end of the article, under the subheading "Hope Limit Will Be Raised". [/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]

[SIZE=12pt]Hope limit will be raised[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Carolyn Hecht, a retired nurse in Freeport, hopes the benefits of backyard chickens will persuade the village of Freeport to lift its limit from two to eight chickens.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]She and her physics professor husband, Gene, built a sturdy wire mesh coop they call the Chick Arena that encloses a plastic children's playhouse containing the roost and nesting boxes. Flexible chicken wire fencing expands the birds' free range to a lawn and bushes where they give themselves dust baths and eat insects.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]She is a font of chicken info, from feeding them to how to protect against salmonella. But clearly, this is love. Asked to describe her affection for her hens, she wrote a poetic ode:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]"My sweetie pie hens are a daily delight in symbiotic affection personified," she wrote. "They love to see me coming, I love to see them eagerly run to me. Watching them strut through the grass, softly clucking at a lucky find of a tasty bug, they are the 'chicken TV' of lazy afternoons in the sun.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]"So funny to watch them play catch with a corn nibblet or a sunflower seed. They skibble on over to circle my chair and tilt a red-combed head to better hold a dark eye in line with mine. One or another may hop up for a cuddle every now and then. Feathers are so soft and silkie; perfect way to wind down a busy day."[/SIZE]

[COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000] 

The print version of the paper did not have any photos of me or my chicken coop, but Newsday's web version of the article has a photo gallery with eleven photos. To see them, click on Galleries;  I'm in photo # 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, and 11.

(I'm not shown in the eleventh photo, but the caption shows that the coop in the photo is mine.)[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]

[COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000]I uploaded a few of the photos here in this post.  Photo credit for all photos are[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][SIZE=12pt]:  Newsday / Karen Wiles Stabile[/SIZE]

The photos are at the bottom of this post.

[COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000]Here's the link to the article:

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/backyard-chickens-a-hobby-hatches-on-li-1.3688403

The second article is a letter that I sent to the reporter when she asked me for a list of sources that I use for getting my chicken supplies.  After she read it, she said she'd like to post it (a shortened version of it) on Newsday's website.  It wasn't in the print version of the paper.[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]

[COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000]I've copied and pasted it here:[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]

One Backyard Chicken Farmer Offers Tips

Here are one backyard chicken farmer's personal tips on raising happy, healthy hens. Carolyn Hecht began raising hens in 2009 in a Freeport chicken coop she calls the ChickArena.

HOW TO DEAL WITH CHICKEN MANURE:
The Deep Litter Method requires a bare earth floor inside the coop, a carpet of pine shavings with a liberal sprinkling of food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE) mixed in. No smells, no flies. No visible chicken poo, ever. It all just gets absorbed, decomposes and disappears. All you see are the pine shavings. The "girls" stay healthy, happy, contented, lively, shiny and busy laying big, beautiful, eggs.
I liberally sprinkle DE into the hens' dust bath areas in the backyard at least once a week. I sprinkle it in their food, on their roost boards, in the nest box, and over all the pine shavings litter inside and outside of the playhouse coop. It's the pivotal component for a successful Deep Litter Method of swift and sanitary management of chicken poo. Here's a webpage with info on DE: http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html
It's a good idea to wear any sort of simple face mask when sprinkling DE. It's not toxic in any way, but because each particle is a mass of tiny sharp points, it can irritate your respiratory tract.
You can clean the coop and run of all its shavings once a year or so. Compost it for a year with all your autumn leaves and your summer grass clippings for your vegetable and flower gardens.
You can even avoid the labor involved by posting a notice on http://www.freecycle.org, and other gardeners will come and clean it all out for you. If you do need some of it to remain for your own garden, they can leave you one-third of the buckets.
Roost boards should always be placed higher than the nest boxes. Chickens will choose the highest possible spots for sleeping the night hours away, and they poop while they sleep. If they don't sleep in the nest boxes, the boxes stay clean, and that means clean eggs stay clean until you come and collect them. Most poo drops down into the deep litter on the coop floor. Any that lands on the roost board during the night is scraped down in the morning's first visit to the coop. A big, long-handled barbecue scraper is used for that purpose. Scraped board is then sprayed with vinegar/water and wiped down with a paper towel on the end of the scraper. Whole cleanup takes maybe 20 seconds every morning.
FEED:
Here are some of my supply sources for maintaining my little flock:
Chestnut Vale Feed, Inc. (a/k/a Hicksville Agway) 10 Duffy Avenue, Hicksville, NY 11801 (516) 931-0342. I get my Purina Layena and my Purina Layena Plus chicken feed from them. They have all sorts of items for keeping chickens; watering gadgets, feed bowls, pine shavings, scratch feed, oyster shell, etc.
They deliver those big 50-pound bags of feed right to my coop.
Countryside Organics sells organic scratch feed online. http://www.countrysideorganics.com. I buy it in 50-pound bags from them.
Ozbo sells Farmers Helper Ultra Kibble online. I buy it in 15-pound bags. It's very high in protein and is great nutrition to support growing new feathers when a chicken is molting. http://www.Ozbo.com or 866-601-5616.
Adding that UltraKibble to their daily diet cuts down on their consumption of the Layena feed.
All food is stored in the ChickArena in closed metal containers. That keeps it all safe from moisture, rodents, and bugs, and keeps the food fresh.
In addition to water and feed, I keep a bowl of oystershell calcium bits, and a bowl of small pebbles, also called grit, in the coop. Calcium makes for strong eggshells, and the grit helps to grind their food for maximum nutritional absorption. (They don't have teeth, so the grit does the work.)
CHICKEN TREATS:
Here's a backyardchickens.com member's Web page of treats to feed chickens:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens
One treat that my girls especially like in the hot summer is ice-cold watermelon slices. Yum! And cold yogurt!
In winter, I give them warm oatmeal, and any leftover hot breakfast things: scrambled eggs, pancakes, etc.
HOT AND COLD WEATHER:
Chickens tolerate the cold of winter much better than the heat of summer. They hop around looking for bits of grass poking through the snow. In summer they seek out the shady spots under shrubs and trees. I set out small wading pools (shallow dishpans) of cold water when July and August temperatures climb. They walk right in and stand there in the chilly water, cooling their feet and legs.
Scratch feed is high in corn and other grains that help chickens combat the cold in winter, as it raises the chicken's internal body temperature. So I cut way down on the amount of scratch in the summer months. In winter, I feed about a third of a cup per chicken with about three tablespoons of Kibble mixed in. In summer, I reduce the scratch to a few tablespoons.
Chickens need protection from cold winter winds. A clear plastic tarp kept in place over the coop helps keep out the wind while letting sunshine in.
HOW EGGS COME CLEAN:
People often wonder why the egg's shell isn't "dirty" because of the chicken having only one opening "down there."
It's true that the single vent is used to discharge the poo, but what most people don't know is that a sleeve emerges from the vent to deliver the egg. The sleeve keeps the egg from ever touching the internal walls of the poop delivery system.
MOLTING:
Chickens molt once or twice a year. Old feathers fall out, new feathers grow in. They put all their efforts into growing those new feathers, so egg-laying drops off and may stop completely for two or three months. Increasing the protein content of their food helps considerably (to keep up egg production) and UltraKibble is well suited to keep them in prime nutritional status. Ultrakibble can kick start a new season of egglaying in a hen that hasn't laid in a while. Eggs from UltraKibble-eating hens have deeply orange yolks, thick whites, and superb taste.
KEEPING HENS AND PEOPLE DISEASE FREE:
Biosecurity in both directions is always important. Hands are washed after coming into the house from the coop. Kids are taught the importance of doing so. One pair of shoes used just for the coop. Those are my pink Crocs kept at my back door. Visitors that may have been with other flocks must get their shoes covered before going out to my coop. Plastic grocery bags work great. Home Depot has disposable ShoeGuards in the painting department. They can be reused.
The coop and water bowl and feed bowl is sprayed with and wiped down regularly with a 50/50 solution of plain white vinegar and water. Every couple of weeks or so, I spray and wipe everything down with a solution of Oxine, an antibacterial agent. Shoe bottoms are sprayed with Oxine if a visitor comes from visiting another flock. I buy the Oxine online at amazon.com
Flies can sometimes be a problem. Not because of chicken poo (the Deep Litter Method quickly erases the poo) but because of the kitchen scraps that I often set out for the hens. Two items that I use to prevent flies in the coop: Fly Traps and vanilla-scented cardboard deodorizers made for hanging in cars.
GETTING THE BIRDS:
There are many hatcheries online that will ship day-old chicks, juveniles (young males are cockerels, young females are pullets) and adult chickens (at one year of age, they are called roosters and hens).
NETWORKING:
Poultry enthusiasts have several social network websites available for mutual interaction, conversation, education, sharing of "stuff," including chickens and buying and selling just about anything related to chickens. I've gotten several four-month old pullets, free of charge, from generous backyardchickens.com members. Just had to pay for shipping (about $60).

Backyardchickens.com has a thread devoted to Southern New York chicken-keepers, and that includes Nassau and Suffolk counties as well as Westchester, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, etc. Lots of fun to read and participate. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/534036/southern-ny-dutchess-county-and-below



[COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000][COLOR=000000]Here's the link to the article:

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/one-backyard-chicken-farmer-offers-tips-1.3687560?print=true[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]

Carolyn, this is a great article. It advances the notion that there should be chickens in every yard. I might mention, you have a great set up there. Really cute, and the chickens have to be happy.

 

[Carolyn252]

Thank you so much, Al

Always appreciate your comments.

-Carolyn

 

[Carolyn252]

Wow that's fantastic

I saw the article in Newsday on Sunday
But it's great to read the rest of it and to
see the pictures.
Thanks for posting it.
Your doing a great thing for chicken lovers.
Hopefully towns will start to rethink their
chicken limits when the see how the chicken
keeping hobby is growing.

Thank you so much for your enthusiastic response.

Sure hope you're right about towns rethinking chicken limits.

Cheers,
-Carolyn

 

[stoopid]

Carolyn, thanks for sharing, when I tried to, no pics would come up.
The girls were 6 weeks old when I picked them up
Suzanne, go to the Dr.
It can take another day after they pip.

 

[Carolyn252]

The girls were 6 weeks old when I picked them up

Ok, Roberta.

So, assuming you picked them up about a week ago, that would make it, say, mid to late April when you picked them up. With the two chicks being six weeks old at that time, I can assume a hatch date of about early March.

So, that would make them just about two months old this coming week.

(If my calculations are way off, let me know. Fiddling with numbers is not my strong suit.)

If you could hold on to them for another four weeks, so they'll be at least three months old, I think it would be the right time then to incorporate them into my little three-hen flock. I've got the extra wooden coop (a/k/a the HenHouse) inside the ChickArena, just waiting for them. I figure I'll keep them in the HenHouse for a week or two to allow all five to get to know each other without touching. I'll let them out to explore the ChickArena every day for an hour or two, after the three big hens have layed their eggs and don't need access to the plastic playhouse coop's nest box.

Is there some date in early June that is good for you to pass them on to me? No need to settle on a specific date now, of course. Just trying to keep us both on the same page. Are you still up for driving them all the way here to my house? You could come for lunch and rest up from the drive. (And bring a friend if that eases the drive for you.)

Also, let me know costs for the whole thing.

Thanks again for everything you've done and are doing to make my dream of having two Buff Orpingtons come true.

-Carolyn

 

[smkchick]

Went to the dr. Came home. Status quo. Although I notice that the other two eggs seem to have little holes starting. Everyone (except me) seems to be resting right now.

Looks like I'll be staying home again tomorrow.

 

[highpointfarm]

What are they going to do? fire you? ;p

 

[JerseyHen]

So, as if it isn't bad enough that I had to put saddles on nearly all of my hens because the roos (2 now rehomed) have the backs of 5 or so of my girls completely stripped of feathers, I was checking under one of my broodies today and she has pulled out all of her belly feathers too! Poor, poor, homely looking thing. She is so fierce on those eggs too that she trys to fluff up but all she has left are her wings, neck/upper back and side feathers and a bit on her chest. I will have to try to get a pic of this for your entertainment.

Broody must be brought by a contagion though. I have 6/22 trying to go broody on me. Anyone have any eggs they want cooked?

 

[Imprfctme]

So, as if it isn't bad enough that I had to put saddles on nearly all of my hens because the roos (2 now rehomed) have the backs of 5 or so of my girls completely stripped of feathers, I was checking under one of my broodies today and she has pulled out all of her belly feathers too! Poor, poor, homely looking thing. She is so fierce on those eggs too that she trys to fluff up but all she has left are her wings, neck/upper back and side feathers and a bit on her chest. I will have to try to get a pic of this for your entertainment.

Broody must be brought by a contagion though. I have 6/22 trying to go broody on me. Anyone have any eggs they want cooked?

Aww, bless her heart, as my Brit friends would say. Makes me wish I could knit her a sweater! I have one that goes broody-ish daily until I take the eggs out. Then she gives up. I think she's just being a diva, her name is J.Lo after all!

How are the eggs you are incubating under a broody?