The Backyard Chicken Fight

This week we are spotlighting local award winning author/speaker, chicken champion and all around great person Gretchen Anderson. 

Gretchen has been keeping chickens from the time she was a child and her latest book 

The Backyard Chicken Fight is a wonderful collection of stories and vital knowledge that any Backyard Chicken Keeper would be proud to have.

Recently I had the opportunity to pick her perfectly coiffed head on some questions that I've been itching to know. 

 With the popularity of backyard chickens what do you feel is the most important message to your book? 

- "That just about anyone can keep chickens—even in the smallest places.  They make great pets and it is one of the most sustainable actions we can take right now.  There is also a message of taking on City Hall.  It’s a message of people fighting for the right to be more sustainable."

 As an award winning author and speaker why did you choose to write about chickens?  

 - "I was fascinated by the stories from around the country where people had to fight for backyard chickens. They all have several things in common: they want food security, they believe in private property rights and they want to be more sustainable."

If you had to choose what is your favorite quote from your The Backyard Chicken Fight?  

- "Probably the story of the Rogue Rooster.  I quoted my friend Mary Defayette as saying, “A rooster has adopted a busy corner in town and when a lady complained to the cops that he wouldn’t let her pass by, they told her to cross the road! Ha, the chicken made the lady cross the road!” I love the irony!"

 Do you have a favorite chicken in your flock? And why? 

 - "Absolutely! My Ameraucana, named Hedwig.  She’s my house chicken, very docile and a champion layer of green eggs! "

Hedwig the house chicken

Your book and awareness campaign was instrumental  in the fight for the recent change in regulations to allow more chickens. How do you feel about that? 

- " I’ve had people come up to me and tell me I’m the reason they now have chickens.  I love it!  If I can help families become more sustainable while learning how to thoughtfully take care of chickens, I feel really good about that!"

What do you have planned for the future?

- " I am currently writing a book called “Secrets of the Lazy Urban Gardener” which will be out next spring."

Where can your book be purchased?  

- "In the Treasure Valley, you can purchase it at Zamzows, Costco and Barnes & Noble.  You can find it on-line at Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com and my Facebook page (The Backyard Chicken Fight)."

Pick up your copy of The Backyard Chicken Fight today!

What the He** is going on?

To an extent we all are a little freaked out by the thought of eating meat. Even if us meat eaters don't admit it. I'll be the first to admit that I rarely eat meat. In that when I do.. it's very rare.

The idea of Matrix-ized chickens bred only to provide meat somehow makes the process of raising broilers simply for meat to an all new level of unease.

But recently in my internet travels I stumbled across this bit of atrociousness.

Apparently this idea hatched from philosopher Paul Thompson at Purdue University  who suggests we should adopt the  “The Blind Chicken Solution". 
Reasoning that chickens blinded by “accident” have been developed into a strain of laboratory chickens that don’t mind being crowded together as much as normal chickens do. As a result, he argues, we should consider using blind chickens in food production as a solution to the problem of overcrowding in the poultry industry. He argues that it would be more humane to have blind chickens than ones that can see.

I can hear PETA organizations take a break from their nude celebrity photography campaigns to vomit.

Overwhelmingly I am just speechless...

Urban Farm Online $10 for 1year subscription! Expires at Midnight!

Dusk sets in around 5pm this time of year.  Daylight is at a premium in a household of many children whose super power is channeling Jack Lalane and Jack Black.. at once.
Our use of electronic devices  sets our energy bill at a premium.

My chickens of course are oblivious to this non-weather we are having.
Soon my crocus' to will pop out at me like Steve Martin complete with banjo.
 ((Actually that I would really enjoy that.   Just putting that out there Universe.))


So we've been doing a lot of reading.. for today only you can get Urban Farm Magazine for $10 for a full year subscription. I subscribe every year and wanted to share this year. I can't tell you how useful this magazine is, seriously order your subscription today. Then we (all four of you who read this blog) will have so much more to talk about.

Happy New Year

Urban Farm Magazine $10/1yr. 01/05/12 only

It was a Mumford and Sons day complete with a rainbow

Grown Up Talk.

Listen People. Chickens die a lot.. on their own.

So No. I don't mind eating chicken. I like it. It tastes good. 

But--I won't kill any of my own chickens.

And-- I'm not shocked and shaken when we lose a chicken now and then.

It's part of having chickens.

I might complain about it a LOT though.. I'm working on that.

A few of my "Grown Up" chicken keeper friends have no problem dispatching a neck like they were snap peas. Swift and Vulcan .

Therein lies my 'Chicken Hypocrisy' debate.. Were I to seriously "Keep it Real" barn yard style I would be like this;

Lately I've been looking at the pages of people and first of all... I'm not really sure y'all realize how beautiful your worlds are, but you don't have nosy neighbors who don't believe that you should be eating your own eggs. 

So for those of you who are limited zoning  

Riddle Me This: do you dispatch your roosters or re-home them?

I've gone back and forth about culling a chick who starts to show signs of being of the unwanted sex. Sorry Guys... although I'm sure some of you had it coming.

(I'm looking at you mean anti-social neighbor whose dog pissed on my shoe )

Children don't like it when you kill things they name.  And honestly folks I'm too big of a bleeding heart to look into their big eyes and say, "Sorry baby but we gonna kill him, bless your heart". 

Him of course are the male chicks you have irresponsibly let your children name--and then had to rehome-all our roosters of the BBCE microfarm....

Spike (White Crested Blue Polish), Forrest/Jenny (Turken), Kramer (Splash White Showgirl) and last but not least Ralphie as in Christmas Story (Black/Blue Bearded Silkie). 

He really does look like what Ralphie would look like.. if he were a chicken. How could I kill something who represents Raphie? I mean come on people. 

Got distracted.. sorry

So absolutely no disrespect to those of you Farm Sturdy people who aren't me and have no problem with this. I mean that in the best sense.

How does everyone handle this?

What are some good ways to learn to buck up and do whats right or......WELL, come on they're little kids.. they'll believe pretty much anything.

Yawn-- coming out of hiberation.

Despite the recent show of snow and the harsh winds-- this is my type of weather. Brisk and sunny.
I've crawled out of my warm blankets and smile at chickens who are happy to see the ground and the beginnings of green shoots once again.

To further set the mood two of my chickens now more than a year old have gone broody.
My Showgirl Silkie (Freydis) and the other  black silkie (Kitten). Sadly they have no rooster to fertilize their eggs, but I may be bringing back our beloved silkie rooster Ralphie to help out with that department.
My spouse of course sports a sigh that tells me he remembers having to deal with Chez Ralphie-- a makeshift box in the mudroom where Ralphie slept and stayed in until 10am or so in the morning. This was necessary to keep peace with our neighbors-- and to not expose them to a 5am wakeup call.  Ralphie is coming back for vacation for a short time from the country to help the ladies fulfill their needs as mothers.
Soon we will have a few new clutches of silkie baby chicks and showgirl baby chicks.

The eggs have come with more consistency and we are averaging about 5-8 eggs a day. And I'm looking forward to keeping anyone who might be reading this blog entertained with the new spring and it's many adventures in backyard chickens.

Winterization for chickens...

Indian Summer  has entered and is brushing her skirt of golden leaves over the valley. Fall is officially here and winter is coming soon.

If this is your first fall with chickens, there are a few things we might want to think about doing for our feathered friends.

Coop Maintenance:  The winterization of your coop depends on what type of coop you have.

It's time to make sure that your coop is going to keep your little chicken nuggets from freezing over the winter. Many have insulated walls in their coops making this process pretty easy.

Most breeds of chickens are very winter hardy, but in case you might have treated yourself to a rare bantam breed or two you might want to read up on how to properly care for them in the winter.

Here is a guide that will give you info on how cold hardy your chick-a-dees are.


So now we know about our chickens and how cold hardy they are. Of course I'm not at all opposed to letting  the most delicate roam free in the house with a fashionable chicken diaper on.

 I have a cedar slatted coop with an open tool cloth wire floor.(ahem-- that I made myself, ah-- thank you very much, oh your too kind, stop applauding...

  My little 6x4 coop has been oh-so handy dandy  in the summer to clean quickly and keep and allow for ventilation.
Now with the winter coming I plan on using the deep litter method on the floor. This will allow the coop to be insulated by hay and keep the hay changing to a minimum so as to not freeze my toasties off.

On especially cold nights I also have a handy dandy heat lamp that setup in the coop. 

So what is the Deep litter method, you ask? Well grab a lap chicken and a cup of tea and I'll tell ya!

The Deep Litter Method for the coop is just what it implies. Allowing the litter (wood shavings) to build up over a weeks, months helps heat the coop (because that's what chicken manure as compost does). It in turn helps keep the chickens warmer in the colder months.
This means minimal cleanings and only occasional upkeep.

DEEP LITTER METHOD:

 You will need

• Pine Shavings, and Hay if desired.

• 1/2 lb of  Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) --a natural substance which has long been used to as a natural pest control and absorber and dehydrator. (It helps dry chicken poopie). It also has a side use as a nutritional supplement.

• I usually buy my Diatomaceous Earth at the North End Organic Nursery.

1. If you have a open wire floor like mine, you will first prepare the coop by laying down a cover on the wire floor so the shavings won't fall through. Light weight board, or thick cardboard would work great.

2.On the floor of the coop add 6 inches of pine shavings. You can add only a few handfuls of hay if you like as well. I like to add it to keep the litter from clumping too much.

3. Sprinkle a fine layer of food grade Diatomaceous Earth on the pine shavings. (I use my flour sifter)

4. Lightly rake the shavings and the DE together and every other day or so as needed.

5. Every month or so afterward add another 1-2 inches of pine shavings and another sprinkling of DE. Then lightly rake. (your chickens might even do this for you!)


In the spring time you can clean out the coop and add the litter to your compost pile. It makes a wonderful addition flowerbeds and plants.

Nice clean comfy coop in the winter will help our flocks stay happy and in turn be better for egg production, which is already tough in the winter.

For more information on Diatomaceous Earth - click below to find a study on litter quality and chicken broiler performance. The study is done on broilers but I think can be expanded to apply to all chicken breeds.

University of Georgia study on Litter Quality and Broiler Performance -

Eggs, sour crop and mindfulness.

Well if any of you are like me and bought hatchling's in early spring all your hard work is paying off with the gift of one of nature's most perfect foods. Eggs.

All of our spring chicks have grown up and are now laying eggs almost daily. *tear*.

(intro soft guitar and Harry Chapin softly singing "Cat's in the Cradle") 

The soft balls of fluff, the giggles watching them run, the running to clean up their poop on the new rug.
Maybe losing a chicken or two to maladies or predators.   grrr

I remember not so fondly when my fingers were cramping up into balls of clay from hammering and sawing boards for my coop--- wondering if this was just some sort of folly of which I would soon grow tired.

Not for a second, I don't think, have I thought I made the wrong decision.

Sure their are times when I don't like getting up crazy early to let the girls out of the coop barefoot and then a morning blast from the sprinklers.

 A few weeks back I spent my fabulous Saturday night sitting next to our chicken coop with a flashlight in hand holding Nancy my barred rock hen. She was lethargic, unsteady and a bit stiff and had no appetite.

She had sour crop, which is really unpleasant.

Following instructions in my handy dandy chicken book I was holding her wrapped in a towel, head tilted down and massaging her crop which had become the size of a small water balloon.

After massaging for a while I felt this trickle of the most foul smelling droplets of liquid hitting my flip flopped feet.
Eeeessh... and oh sweet mother mary.... pushing past my tendencies to gak,   I bucked up and did it... I continued giving sweet feathered Nancy treatment every six hours or so.

She improved, but only for a short while before she went to that big coop in the sky.
I miss her face in the flock. But I'm glad she's not in pain.

RIP Nancy

And I'm glad that there are other people out there like you who would have done the same thing for any of the girls in their flock.

Pabu having brunch with his ladies.

I've become more mindful this summer, I think.
More mindful of what goes into our bodies and where it comes from.
More mindful of how to care for creatures and our environment.
Mindful of sources of all the little bits of laughter that I get from my flock.
And I've spent so many hours with my family checking for eggs, cleaning out the coop, raking hay, shooing chickens out of the garden, the list goes on.

I hope those of you on this journey with me have had many of these moments for yourself.

Cock-a-doodle-- what?!!!

Many of us backyard flock keepers may be familiar with the feeling of waking one morning to hear a faint and almost immature "cock-a-doodle doo..." at 5am... we smile softly at the idealism of waking up to a rooster. Then urban farm wife horror when you realize you don't have a rooster, you're not supposed to have a rooster, and that there is a whole law against having rooster.

The mystery deepens as we watch our flock with a paranoid fever and just keep scratching your head trying to figure our which of the Gertrude's is in fact a Gary.

Recently I've just experienced this sensation. Remember watching the Sixth Sense for the first time?
Yep, it was just like that.  Finding out my sweet little Turken, Jenny is in fact a Forrest.

Jenny/Forrest in full crowing action

He's being sent to live at a family farm in the country. But not so many people are fortunate to know of another chicken lover who is willing to take young cockerel.

Here are few links that may help in this endeavor.


Backyard Chickens auction board. Here you can list your rooster for free. If you decide to offer to shipping then charge only shipping to send them off. Take special care to arrange a time when the temperature is lower than normal in these hot summer days.

Craigslist.com - Here you can post your rooster for free. To improve your chances make sure to include a picture and a few endearing rooster comments.

Facebook  - feel free to post Boise Backyard Chickens Facebook page and connect to others who have chickens. You may be able to find someone willing to take a roo for you.

You can also ask to post a flyer at your local feed store, just be careful as most people willing to take a Rooster might be apt to make him dinner and not a pet. :)

Wishing everyone luck-- and wishing my turken Jenny/Forrest a happy life!

Chicken poop Tea

The chicken is lauded for many wonderful qualities. Fresh eggs, natural pest control, entertainment and of course being able to create wonderful all natural fertilizer for your garden.

Until now I haven't even really ventured to try to use the chicken droppings that have been accumulating. After a little research an alternative popped up.
Chicken Poop Tea. First I thought oh no that sounds like it would taste terrible. No silly me-- it's for fertilizing your plants.

 
While my research is limited to the time it limited to the length of time it takes for my children to be engrossed in a Spongbob Squarepants episode-- I think the idea is solid.

I'm going to give it a try. Here is the excerpt I found from a website on the matter.

  Chicken Tea

"To make fertilizer tea, scoop the chicken manure into a burlap bag. 

Then, throw a rock into the bag to weigh it down and place the whole thing into a 35-gallon garbage can.

Fill the garbage can with water and let it sit for about three weeks. Once the three weeks are over, you will have nutrient-rich chicken manure fertilizer tea as the water becomes infused with the nutrients from the chicken manure. You can use this fertilizer tea to water your plants to give them a vitamin boost." 

I read later on a website that I shouldn't pour the tea directly onto the plants. It should be around the area of the plants to soak into the roots. Ok. Will do. 

Update on Winnie and her chicks: Winnie had her chicks-- all five eggs hatched. Three of the died at the hands of other chickens in the yard who wanted chicks of their own. Even after separating Winne and her chicks from the other chickens 3 chicks died when Lola and Clara snatched three of the chicks away.

Poor Winnie-- this is her first try at momma-hood and the bigger chickens are too big for her tiny banty silkie size or her quarter sized chicks.
Two of the chicks remain and will be set in a brooder.  

baby chicks in infant sock

My new silkies are all doing well-- as you can see.

Huckleberry

Heat, Death and Eggs.

It's been freakin hot... and I've been busy getting our little suburban micro farm ready for the heat. Soooo... that's my excuse for the long absence. Not a very good one eh?

Well the green house is up, the new shades are in place, the a/c is getting a tune up and we've invested in a water-evaporator cooler to try to relieve the power meter from running round and round and burning a hole in our budget. Anyone else who  has done anything to prepare their house for summer? Tips, Idea's? Please do tell!

The chickens are doing well. Here is nut shelled update.

A dog we were fostering killed Ferdinand and Isabella my Rosecomb Pair and Ruby our big reliable Easter Egger. Children crying, feathers everyone, dog gone the next day.

RIP Ferdinand & Isabella





This silver lining was that now I deserved a trip out to Schwartz Farm in Parma Idaho.

Martha was out back and  I picked out a mottled blue banty Cochin, (Fluffy). Martha was good enough to let me buy her gorgeous Japanese/Serama Rooster ( Henry), and his mate- a petite grey Japanese bantam (Anne).

All are happily enjoying the backyard and all the bugs they can eat.

Oh oh!! The first chicks we bought from Schwartz Farm back in February are now laying eggs! For the last two eggs we've been finding a big beautiful soft suede colored egg in the coop.

Winnie our partridge silkie hen has become broody and is sitting on a clutch of eggs-- all of them are Henry and Anne's. She only leaves her nest twice a day to eat drink and indulge in a quick dust bath. This is her first try-- so I'm not going to get my hopes up. :(

My summer of failure ended in a happy note with finding a breeder in Ohio who sold and shipped me her beautiful blue silkie hen and some black silkie chicks.   I am still on the hunt to find some Showgirl chickens...

The chickens got under the solar tarp on my garden and made quick work of all the leafy greens, sparing only the prickly bush of the zucchini-- making it necessary to build a  greenhouse. Crafty chickens--- all my greens gone from our raised beds.

Still at the end of everyday I look forward to sitting on the lawn and watching the girls come running at me, heads bobbing back and forth to noodle out any treats in my hand.

They talk and parp at me and each other as if they are asking me questions then settle in next to me and nap at my feet.

A Turken's day out.

Jenny is our bantam turken. She is the only hatchery chick I still have in my pen.
I sold my hatchery silkies at the recent IBBA auction because I needed to make room in my pen for the hatchling's I was expecting.
All are show quality lines- these should be really gorgeous birds. Like Marylin Monroe chickens.. if she were a chicken.

Jenny on the other hand is more of a Pippi Longstocking looking little thing. Bear in mind that for a turken, she is quite cute. She also has the softest demeanor and is so very docile and actually quite cuddly.

We took a turn in the yard yesterday together and smelled the flowers and watched the other chickens peck about the yard at fat bugs and juicy weeds.. and occasionally my plants..

I will admit- I am smitten with my chickens.

New Chicks on the Block.

I couldn't resist. On Easter Sunday we happened to be in Parma, and I just had to stop by and see Jim and Martha and pick up something for me.
I had fully intended to pick up a red silkie.. nothing more.
Until I saw the sweetest partridge silkie with the biggest darkest eyes. I made her mine and named her Wilhelmina.
My son had to have one of his own as well. So we picked up 9 month old Amerauacana/Easter Egger and named her Ruby.

Ruby and Wilhelmina (Mina) are settled in nicely at home. Pictures to come.

The Neruda Exodus

She's alive and she home!

(Shes the chicken in the middle)
Last night as I my son was rounding up the chickens from their free grange playtime we noticed that the newest addition to our flock the new Ameraucana chick we named Neruda was missing. Soon we realized that she was under our backyard deck and would not budge. We tried everything we could to coax her out-- it was beginning to get cold out, winds blowing and the temp was dropping quickly towards the 50F degree mark.

We tried until past 10pm. Dark, tired and no signs of a peep.. we gave up. I silently hoped she was somehow still alive.
I bounded out of bed this morning and went to the backyard deck to check for any sign. Not a peep.


I went about the daily chores of being an artist, mother and all around superhero. I had finished a raised garden bed box and was hauling it out to the backyard when I heard it... the faintest "cheep, cheep, cheep". I rushed to the deck and slammed my ear to the boards... "cheeeeep"


My son and his friend were over and came out side at hearing that we had found Neruda! Already wearing my tool belt.. it was obvious... my son rushed to get my reciprocating saw and I got to work making well placed cuts. I could already hear my husband saying "You did what to our deck?!" Then I would remind him that I'm the household handy-diva... not him.

Scared she kept running away... until my sons friend swiftly like a chicken-snatching-ninja grabbed her in a flash and pulled her to safety. She is returned to the safety of the coop after some rest and relaxation,  food and feed inside the house.