And Now, Molting

I noticed that there were quite a few feathers scattered around in the coop yesterday. Well as it turns out, Sweetie and Snickers are molting. At first I thought they had gotten some kind of disease, but later after researching on the internet, I found out that this was normal! Its a good thing that they're molting in the Summer, but I'm worried about Checkers because she hasn't done it yet.

If Checkers molts in the winter she may get frostbite and we would have to put her in the garage. Hopefully Checkers will molt soon!

When chickens molt, I read that they don't lay any eggs. This is OK for us though because we don't depend upon they're eggs.

New blog

Today I made a new blog- Kelly's Wildlife blog!

It posts things to do with animals and nature so please check it out! Here is the URL address to it:

www.kellywildlife.blogspot.com

Millet time

And now, millet time! As I've talked about in recent posts, every week I give my chickens a bucket full of millet. They love eating it out of my hand and scratching for it on the ground! The recipe is below:

Kelly's Millet Mix

1 to 2 cups of millet

1/2 cup of black-oiled sunflower seed

1/2 to 1 cup of cracked corn and cracked wheat mixture

optional- 1/4 cup of thistle seed

They absolutely love the stuff! I just spread it on the ground and watch 'em go. They dig, scratch, and peck at the ground! They're such good diggers, those little girls are!

The Hen Snack Bar

Almost everyday the chickens gorge on a bucketful of millet, cracked corn, cracked wheat, black-oiled sunflower seeds, and thistle seeds! Since its really hot out we put it in the shadiest part of the coop. I also enjoy giving them treats which would include blue berries, grapes, nectarines, corn, and believe it or not-grass!

Today the girls got Kelly's Happy Hen Gourmet Mash-a mixture of blueberries, cracked almonds, bread bits, or anything else you manage to find in the cupboard that would be suitable for a chicken to eat. Here is the list of ingredients and serving proportions for a small flock(3-5 chickens)

Kelly's Happy Hen Gourmet Mash:

1 cup of blue berries

1 tablespoon of crushed almonds

2 tablespoons of bread bits and/or breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon

1 tablespoon of grass or chives

Mix all of the ingredients together until you have a good mash. Put dishes in various parts of the run so all hens, low and high in terms of the pecking order, can eat freely. I don't usually use all of the ingredients and sometimes substitute in others.

Earlier in the Summer, we planted some sod in the coop so that the chickens would have access to some grass since they like it so much. As it turns out the chickens eat it to the nubbin and kick dirt on it.

Sweetie is broody again

I was out with the flock a couple days ago and I realized that Sweetie was making a strange clucking noise; the same that she had made when she was broody. Well, as it turned out she was broody. Luckily we managed to snap her out of it in a couple days.

Breaking a broody habit is not easy, especially for very determined hens. When Snickers and Checkers have laid their eggs, I usually chuck Sweetie out of the henhouse and shut the door. This at least makes her get up, take a drink, and walk around for a while.

This is the second time this has happened to Sweetie and I bet that it won't be the last!!!

Cool Chicken Pic

Today I found this cool chicken photo on the internet! I think that its a Rhode Island Red but I'm not quite sure! Here it is: