It’s the second time we have a bear rip open the chicken coop and decimate the flock ..read more

We integrated mama chicken and her chicks with the rest of the flock. It went extremely well, I’m not sure what’s different from last time ..read more

We had a broody hen again this year, we gave her a few fertilized eggs but none of them made it so Nicole pulled her trick of introducing store bought chicks as if they had just hatched. It worked last time and it worked this time again. We’re careful to make the substitution as if they came from the eggs so the subterfuge isn’t revealed. Maybe we don’t even have to and she’d take them even if they showed up with her eggs still under her, hard to tell but we’re not up to test that theory. It wasn’t her fertilized eggs, it’s not the eggs’ chicks… Oh well, she’s clearly a happy mom now. Esther r ..read more

Did you know? Chickens have an uncanny ability to keep their heads perfectly still regardless of what happens to their bodies. A baby chicken (more like teenage chicken by now) felt a little too fearless and strayed way away from mama hen and the rest of the flock. To teach it a lesson (and for sport) we ran after it and caught it. It’s hard to catch these guys, they go fast and they’re small. This one hid under basil, it’s easier for us this way because you can at least get close when they think you can’t see them. We traumatized it a little to teach it that it’s a big scary world away from t ..read more

The chicks got their first dirt bath and the whole scene effused with well being. Between the little chick by itself who doesn’t know how to do it, the one who can’t not fall asleep, and the extreme contentment of the mom ..read more

We had another broody hen this year. Only 1 of the fertilized eggs we gave her made it, so quick thinking Nicole went to the store and got a few more chicks. The hen adopted them all and has been a great mom. We gave them separate quarters so the rest of the flock can get used to them without being able to attack them. It is absolutely brutal what mother hens have to go through, beyond the deprivation of not leaving her eggs for almost a month. Separate quarters is a must or I’d personally murder the rest of the flock. Friends of our told us that their broody hens leave the flock. It’s literal ..read more

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The chicks have 2 moms now. A few weeks after they were born, they awoke the motherly instincts of another chicken. They now sleep cozily under not 1 but 2 warm fluffy chickens. Honestly it’s kind of nice to see mom get a little help. There was very much a “her Vs the world” dynamic for a while ..read more

We had another brooder this year. Instead of letting it go by, Nicole got fertilized eggs from a neighbor and 3 chicks were born without any need for incubators. This is the second time we get a brooder (who could very be the same as last year), and the first time we get chicks this way. It’s quite cool to see her introduce the chicks to the flock, she was extremely defensive the whole time, barely getting out to eat. Now that the chicks are out and about, she cuts us some slack and lets us get close while most definitely keeping an eye on us. She lost them in a thunderstorm when they couldn’t ..read more

We have a brooder on our hands, she’s always resting on the eggs and super defensive. She barely gets out to feed. I’ve never seen a chicken display such behaviors, she makes herself bigger as you get closer and makes aggressive noises. It also looks like her big mama attitude has triggered other chickens in seeking comfort under her feathers ..read more