What I Learned From Chickens at Our Urban Farm

 

• White chickens disappear.

• Chickens are great entertainment.  They are calming when you need stress relief.

• Chickens come in most any color, size, and style. 

• Chicken wattles and combs are many colors and sizes.

• Chicken combs should be bright red on barred rock chickens.  If not, there may be a parasite issue.

• Chickens have soft feathers to sit on.  If they were not soft, eggs would be broken.  They are often referred to as "fluffy butts."

• Chickens have colds in the fall and spring when the seasons go hot and cold and hot and cold......

• Home raised chicken eggs taste better than store bought eggs.
• I love the way I am greeted by the girls when I have treets or just go out to check on them.

• Dogs and Cats that you do not own like to hang out in your back yard.

• Cats eat baby chickens and there is no leash law on chickens in the city limits.

• Dogs like to jump fences and dig under fences.  Dog owners find your chickens to be the problem and not the actions of his or her dog when your chickens are killed.

• Mice like chicken food.

• Eggs can be many shapes, sizes, and colors. 

• I like the blue eggs and the speckled eggs the best.

• Collecting eggs is like Christmas morning excitement every day.

• Unusual chickens and costly chickens occasionally disappear.

• Chickens like to come indoors.

• Chickens like to eat dog food.

• There is a pecking order and a head hen.

• Chickens automatically go indoors to roost when it starts to get dark out. 

You are able to view my web store at: http://www.custercottage.com

And my Etsy shop at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage

Thank you for viewing!  Dawnie

Small Crocheted Gift Items

This week I completed one gift for my great-nephew and more pot holders to sell in my store.  I sell chicken pot holders to raise money toward the cost of new back yard fencing for keeping out neighboring dogs.  I have not replaced my chickens yet, but I hope to do so soon. My family really misses our back yard entertainment.  I was able to do a little spinning this week too.  Was your week fruitful?  May God be with you!  Dawnie

 

 

 

Fencing and a Great Loss

Last week I came home for lunch.  It was something I rarely do, but I forgot my cell phone and I thought I would go home and get it.  While I was home, I gave the chicken girls a treat.  They were all happy and healthy.  The girls are family pets and egg producers.  We do not eat them.  You are welcome to eat yours and I do not look down on you if you do.  Once I name a pet and he or she becomes a member of my family, I can't eat him or her.  It is just a personal feeling of mine.  

I live in Wichita, Kansas, and I have a permit to have 12 chickens in my back yard.  No rosters are allowed in the city limits because the crowing is too loud for neighbors.  Roosters do not just crow in the mornings and they do not crow just once.  You don't need a rooster for hens to lay eggs but you do need a rooster to have fertile eggs.  

Just after I arrived home in the evening after work, one of my neighbors came over.  He informed me that a dog had been in my back yard and killed all of my chickens.  His wife saw the event as it was ending.  She said it was a tan Husky-looking dog with a red bandana around its neck.  I was and still am devastated.   I had all kinds and colors of chickens.  Only 10 were mature hens and egg layers.  We received 4-7 eggs per day.  I had a few more than the city allowed, but the extra were small and not mature. 

 If you have not had home grown or laid eggs lately, you need to discover how much better they taste.  My hens were not in a tiny cage.   They could be outside and smell the fresh air, eat bugs, take dust baths, play with each other, and enjoy life.  I have a large chicken coop with half of it enclosed.  The other half is screened in.  Off of that area is a large chicken run.  I usually let the girls out to free range in the back yard every day.   My family teases me about the large chicken coop and the high cost of each egg to produce.  They are referred to as my $10.00 eggs. 

The back yard has 5 foot fencing in the front and on 1 side.  The other 2 sides have 6 foot fencing.  The neighbors that I have had problems with in the past own 3 Huskies.  They state they have buried railroad ties in the ground next to the fence to keep the dogs from digging.  Also they state no holes are under the fence at this time and their dogs will not keep bandanas on.  The dogs were inside and not in the back yard when we visited with this neighbor, so I could not take pictures.  We have not had any problems for quite a while, so I thought they took care of the digging problems.  

The trespassing dog may have belonged to someone else, and he or she may have jumped over the front fencing.  We do not have any other Huskie-looking dogs in the area as far as I have seen.  I would love to see the owner of the trespassing dog come forth and be responsible for the devastation he or she caused.

After the incident, and over a few days, I called twice and left messages.   I did not have any call returned or have a visit to the home.  It was a 3 day holiday weekend (Veterans Day), so that may be why I did not have return calls or visits.   I decided to call again and this time a man answered the phone.  He read a report made from the telephone calls and he said  the report stated that I had kittens killed by a dog.  I corrected him, explained the issue, gave him contact names and numbers of myself and my neighbor.  He stated he would be out that evening around 6.  I never heard from him or any representative again.  

I have been very upset about the death of my girls.  Their last minutes of life were filled with fear.  The dog hunted them down and broke their necks, leaving them strung all over the back yard. Feathers are still everywhere.  Only a couple of the girls were bloody.  My son and some of his friends picked up the girls and placed them in garbage bags.  I understand that dogs are hunters and it is their instinct to kill; however, they should be behind fencing and not trespassing in my fenced back yard.  My 2 little dogs never harmed my chickens.

Eventually I would like to have more chickens in my back yard.  Apparently I will have to put up higher fencing and dig down along the back fence to place some kind of deterrent for dogs digging from the other side.  I feel that I should not have to go to such extreme since dog owners should be responsible for his or her own dog(s), but some are not.  I personally feel that all large breed dogs should be housed inside 7 feet fencing,  but this is another blog post I will need to address at a later date.

In order to afford the extra fencing for my back yard, I would like to sell chicken pot holders/hot pads .  They are pictured below and available on my website.  http://www.custercottage.com  I thank you for viewing my blog and helping me vent.  Any purchase would be appreciated.  May God bless you and yours.  Dawnie

Dot and the Dogs

Yesterday morning I went out to check on the chickens and give them fresh water.  I left the patio door open a little so the dogs could come out if they chose to.  When I looked in a few minutes later, Dot was inside eating the dog food.  Dot is one of the chickens.  Today,  I went out to tend the chickens and I looked back and both of the little dogs were defending their home and breakfast by standing in the doorway and keeping Dot out.  LOL

Do I look like a chicken that would eat dog food?

May God bless you and yours!  Dawnie

Joy is Back!

You do not realize how attached you have become to a pet until that pet is gone.  I was so relieved to  have our Joy back home today.  She is such a fun dog.  She likes to splash in her water bowl when she is hot or happy.  She also hops on 3 legs when she is happy or feeling a little silly.  Three days ago, she snuck through a hole in the bottom of the back yard gate and ran down the block.  In the past when she could do a runner, she would run around a few yards and say hello to the other back yard dogs and run right back when she was called.  That day she did not come back.  We handed out fliers in the neighborhood and posted some fliers on telephone poles.  We walked up to complete strangers or drove up to them in the car to ask if they had seen our little Joy.  Not one person was rude or unsympathetic.  Many visited with us about his or her pets.  I obviously do not look like someone that will abduct another person, if there is such a look.  Many of the people have probably seen me in the neighborhood since we have lived in the same house about 20 years.  Our little girl is afraid of storms and firecrackers and just after she did her runner, the fireworks started.  My visions were of a tiny, defenseless Joy lost and hungry, shaking under a bush somewhere all alone.  Our neighborhood shoots off firecrackers year round.  I understand patriotism.  Shooting fireworks may be a display of patriotism, but not the only way to show it.  Voting is high on my list of patriotic duties, but enough of my bandwagon.  LOL  I grew up with sparklers and a few simple fireworks when we celebrated the 4th.  We spent many Independence Day holidays on my grandparent's farm.  On a farm, you do not shoot off loud fireworks or you would scare the cows and other animals, let alone the possibility of catching dry grass or leaves on fire.  With my son, we did not shoot fireworks at our home or elsewhere.  He was not a very careful child and he would think after doing, like most children do.  We allowed him to attend firework displays at the babysitter's home.  We also have always had several pets through the years.  Halloween and July 4 are difficult to celebrate with loud noises or lots of traffic to and from your home if you have pets.  The old dogs barked all night long and hid under the furniture.  When we had large parrots, we listened to shrills and loud squawks with every firecracker pop and maybe a, Come in." or a door squeak with the trick-or-treaters.   The older I get, the more I appreciate the quiet.  I should live in the country away from everyone, but I live in the city due to finances and circumstances or maybe is it financial circumstances.  LOL  Well  anyway, we have our "urban farm" in our back yard and I work around a lake which is populated with lots of ducks and geese; both of these situations give me that country peace.  Our precious Joy was returned by a lady in our neighborhood.  She picked Joy up from another lady in our neighborhood and took her home.  She wanted to find a new home for Joy if she could not find her owner.  The kind lady saw one of our fliers on a pole and called me.  A few minutes later she was back home.To celebrate the return of our Joy, I am attaching a few pictures of her.  Hug your loved ones, animals or humans, and enjoy them now.  You never know what life may bring.  Thank you for viewing my blog.  Thanks to my followers for viewing my blog on a regular basis.  I do appreciate all of you!   Happy 4th!   Blessings!  Dawnie

Chicken

My flock of 4 chickens has dwindled to one chicken, with thanks to the neighbor dog that tunneled under her fence. It was a rough site for us to witness.  Thankfully one of the flock hid and saved herself.  She is friendly and allows me to pet her.  She usually produces one egg per day.  When she is out to free range, she likes to sit at the back door and occasionally peck the window.

Blessings!  Dawn