Today on the Funny Farm: Chicken Poop
We have chickens…I’ve learned a lot in the last few months. I thought I’d share a bit today about back yard chicken keeping.
8 Hens: 2 Gold Polish Lace Bantams, 2 Silkies, a Leghorn, an Easter Egger, a Red Sex Link and a big ole fluffy Cochin.
Ssssssh – don’t tell, but I’m for SURE gonna be getting a Barred Rock. I shall name her Mrs. Beasley!
Gold Polish Lace Bantams lay small to medium white eggs. Quite the fashionistas they are with their “top knots”. They can be skittish but mine are total sweethearts, especially Penny. She comes running to me as soon as I step out the back door.
Silkies are supposed to be the chicken equivalents to lap dogs. Mine obviously were late the day that lecture was given. Oh my word, the screeching that goes on when we pick them up. It sounds as if we are trying to skin them alive. Maybe at some point the twins, with relax a bit. They are never more than a foot apart and we don’t even try to distinguish between the two any more. They are just Ethel and Lucy. Supposedly, they will lay around 200 very small white eggs per year.
Leghorns lay an average of 300 medium to large white eggs per year. Foghorn is a typical Leghorn. Flighty. Not interested in people, but when she lays she lays!
Easter Eggers lay medium sized light olive green, light blue or pinkish eggs. Our girl would just as soon peck your eyes out, as she would eat a bug {sigh}. As Louise has not yet produced any eggs, for us anyway (more about that in a bit), we don’t know if she will lay blue or pink eggs. Green are ruled out as neither she or her cohort layed green eggs before I adopted her. Time will tell.
Red Sex Links lay medium to large brown eggs. Thelma has the same disposition as Louise. Grrrrrr. Heard of the term Pecking Order? These two have it down to a science!
My Rosario is a Cochin. She is a big fluffy love muffin. She doesn’t particularly come running, but once I get her in my arms she is so cuddly. As with Thelma and Louise, she hasn’t layed since we brought her home. I’m assured that she will eventually and that her eggs will be a lovely brown.
The Funny Farm Chicken Down Low
- Chickens are messy. They poop A LOT. Like every hour or two, day and night awake and asleep.
- Each breed lays different average numbers or eggs per year, during their peek years. They do not lay eggs every day. The littlest thing can throw them off. They don’t like change. Moving them from their previous homes to our residence has thrown them for a loop. They will also stop laying when they molt, when there is a big temperature variance (Leghorn stopped laying after she decided to run around in the snow last week, like a…well… a chicken with it’s head cut off), changes in their diet, etc.
- Chickens poop a lot.
- They are pretty good at regulating their body temperature (which is a surprising 105 to 107 degrees). As long as they have shelter, stay dry, have access to water at all times and good quality food, they can deal with hot summers and cold winters.
- Chicken poop a lot.
- It takes around 35 hours give or take, for a hen to make and lay an egg.
- Did I mention that THEY POOP A LOT?
Chicken poop here, chicken poop there ,we’ve got chicken poop EVERYWHERE!
From the get go, I knew that I wanted to “free range”. The little buggers have had the rule and roost of our modest back yard. Between chickens and dogs, I feel like all I do is pick up POOP! I’m rethinking things a bit. We do have chicken fencing, so I’ve do believe that we are going to cordon off a part of the yard for them, and the rest, will be for the dogs and us. Hopefully that will cut down on the pooper scoopering (yes, I try to pick up as much of the chicken poop as I can). I’ll let you know how that goes.
They are so cute. I never knew there was such a variety of chickens. I love farm fresh eggs. Nothing beats this. Thank you so much for sharing. God Bless
I wish you were my neighbor, I love fresh eggs and my garden would love the poop!
I have been around chickens so yes I do know that they poop a lot, it is just there nature.
They are some pretty chickens.Nothing like the ones we raise on the eastern shore.
So cute,I’ve been wanting a chicken coop.
They are so cute! I would love to have property one day and have chickens.
I always wanted to raise chickens. Now that I learned that they poop a lot, I changed my mind.
Love your sense of humor! My cousin has chickens and they are a hoot. She has one that gets out and goes over to visit the neighbors. They are like dogs and have different personalities and chickens are so funny. I wish I could have some but I live in the city, besides, my greyhound mix might decide they look more like lunch than fellow animals.
I wish I had a small chicken farm in my garden! Fresh eggs every morning, can you imagine?! My mum always wanted to have a chicken farm but my dad was not so keen ahah! xx corinne
They really are beautiful creatures! I LOL’d at 2 of them being named Thelma and Louise! AND Now I know where Foghorn Leghorn got his name! I never knew! This was a fun post – out of the ordinary which is what I love!
I’ve always fancied having some hens I think they would be a great animal to keep – though I’m not sure I would be able to care for them properly now so I have never looked into it too much.
I didn’t realize there were so many different type of hens (or that they pooped a lot!) lol!! The chicks are so cute!!
They are all so cute! I loved getting to know their personalities better and so happy you are giving them free range!
Just out of curiousity…do chickens poop a lot haha? Aside from the poop, as a kid who always grew up with dogs, I think it would be pretty cool to own chickens as well…am I crazy for thinking that?
Your chickens are so pretty and I love that you named every single one of them. I used to go to some family friends when I was little and they had a huge garden and many chickens. I do remember the poop, it was all over the garden.
Oh, my These are so cute. I wish I could have those chickens. It looks like a fun if I could have all of them.
I used to have chickens and I loved them (I had one named Thelma, too). I didn’t mind the poop. Their coop had a poop tray, and we would just empty it onto the garden.
Wow. I had no idea about chicken and how they are on a farm. This was a cute post.
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Wow! This is done wrong with but I love that you shared your life. Sounds so interesting.
I have never lived in a place where I could raise chickens. It would be nice to have free range eggs at my disposal. I think I would leave my chickens in a fenced in yard with a nice coop.
I can see my kids having fun living on a farm. The love all kinds of animals. Especially chickens.
Wow that was so interesting. I never knew that there so many different types but they are all beautiful. I know those fresh eggs are delicious.
I can’t wait to see what color she lays! It’s exciting to me because I had a friend who had a farm and it was always fun to see how it turned out.
I can relate. I have 5 chickens use to have 17 but had a problem with foxes and raccoons. Yes, they poop a lot LOL. We cornered off the yard. Do it. You wont be sorry.
Thanks for all of the information on chickens. I didn’t know a lot of that since I haven’t been around many. I always thought of gerbils and hampsters pooping a lot. I think these guys beat them!
I grew up on a farm I know all about this. I hated having to go out and feed them for this reason!
Awww, this is just what I needed! I have been dying to get chickens and now I know it’s not only possible but fruitful too!
Haha they are so super cute though! I bet it isn’t all bad for the environment though 😉
I remember when I lived in GA. we used to have free range chickens. Oh, the stories I could share..lol.
Rode Island Red and Dominique Chickens were my favorite raising. The manure was great for fertilizer!
You have beautiful chickens! Thanks for sharing!
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