Broody Hens

Gosh it has been too long since I last blogged about the lovely ladies and Braveheart. Sad news, we lost half of our chicks and 5 hens to a nasty raccoon. Yes, predator control is serious business and you should never become complacent. A note to Jaye Bergamini, yes, you certainly can come visit the farm and learn about our system. Please contact me directly at thorpl@msu.edu so that I can get your contact email--it doesn't come through via the blog.
Now about those BROODY Hens! What a hoot! Paula Bloomer (a buff Cochin) is broody. That is chicken talk for she wants to sit her eggs to have chicks. When you approach the nest box she literally doubles in size and growls. When she does get out of the box for food and water she staggers around all puffed up making the funniest noises.
Sorry no pics today I switched computers and don't have access to my chicken pictures.

Spring is in the Air

It is that time of year again to get your chick order placed for the new growing season. Reading the poultry catalogues is just as satisfying as reading seed catalogues in the dead of winter. This year we are ordering from Stromberg's because they carry Welsummer pullets and their cocoa brown eggs are gorgeous. We are also adding some Light Brahma to the flock for their winter hardiness. I am coming back for more Maran as they have been a very good layer and are a good solid bird, easy temperment too. Of course we will add a few replacement Auracanas for the blue and green eggs and round out the order with Black Australorp. Braveheart has been dealing with a nasty night time invasion of some ground predator. We have lost 3 hens so far. Live traps are on the way.

eggstraordinary eggs!

Looks at these beautiful eggs. One of the great joys of having chickens is eggs. There is nothing quite like reaching into the nest box under the fluffy bloomers of a hen and pulling out a warm egg or two. Grocery store shopping would have you believe that eggs come in 2 colors (white and brown) and 3 sizes (small, medium and large) when in fact eggs come in a wide variety of colors and hues and the sizes change gradually with the age of the hen. You should see the teeny tiny egg from a young hen when she first starts laying! My personal favorite is the deep burgundy brown egg from our Wellsummer hens.

One Fine Rooster Part 2

Braveheart is actually quite famous, although he takes it all in stride. Brave has been featured in a film made for the MSU sesquecentennial celebration called "The Great Experiment" in this film Brave plays himself, the brave and nobel free-range rooster. He has also been featured on the cover of the Michigan Farmer magazine September 2007 issue. You see it seems that free-range chickens are newsworthy since now in the age of industrial agriculture over 90% of our chickens are confined in CAFOs or confined animal feeding operations. Which brings me to why I got into chickens in the first place. I am concerned that increasingly our students here at MSU don't understand the environmental, economic, and moral consequences of the food they eat. So, Braveheart and his girls have become great teachers. My students now see first hand what these beautiful animals are deprived of when they are condemned to live in a battery cage.

One Fine Rooster

Move over Mel Gibson, Braveheart the rooster has stolen my heart. Braveheart is one fine rooster. He is everything a rooster should be: generous, brave, courageous, smart, protective, sacrificing...well you get the picture. Braveheart came to us quite literally as packing material (extra chicks to fill the box from the hatchery) and well, the rest is as they say is history. Braveheart emerged as the one to keep from the 12 other extra cockerels that were shipped with our first batch of chicks. Brave (one of his many nicknames) would storm out of the coop anytime a stranger was in the area checking to see if his girls were in danger. Naturally I handled the birds a lot and so Braveheart became very tame and tolerant of human contact. Braveheart taught me that roosters play a very important role in the chicken social order, he maintains the flock cohesion lording over his girls, calling them when there is good food (he is especially fond of raisin bread) and alerting them when there is danger. Brave can see a hawk in the sky way before I detect a predator is near. True roosters do crow in the morning but did you know they cock-a-doodle-doo when they are happy? When Mr. B (another nickname) hears my voice he begins crowing! Who could ask for more. Well there is way too much to say about Braveheart in just one posting. Stay tuned for Braveheart Part 2. Oh and by the way that is Paula Bloomer in the photo next to Brave.

Happy New Year Happy Chickens

Welcome to Chicken Mama's Blog. As I enter into 2008 I am so excited to share my love of chickens with you. Our beautiful flock of free-range laying hens (and Braveheart the rooster) are located at the Michigan State University Student Organic Farm. Our chickens live a VERY good life surrounded by 10 acres of farm, many wonderful student farmers, and 2 cats. Let me just say that chickens have changed my life. Chickens are beautiful fascinating animals and I look forward to telling you all about our birds.