Hens Scratching Among the Raspberry Plants

I don’t let my hens free range. Free range means to forage in an area that is free of fences. I don’t even know of a place that is totally free of fences. And if I did, I don’t think my hens would last a day. We have hawks flying over daily. The foxes look at our chickens through the wire of the run. A bobcat strolls through our yard a couple times a year, and our chickens have no fear of animals of any kind. But I know that these four hens like to scratch about in my garden. It is good for them to add greens and protein to their diets and it is good for their souls, and mine.

Yesterday, I let the hens out of their run to keep me company as I gardened. The gardening task, for me and hubby, was to cut back the raspberries and the ollalieberries. This also required digging out the runners that were spreading underground. We had been digging a while when I heard the hen softly clucking from behind their fence as we turned over the earth near their run. I knew they saw things in the soil that we didn’t; delicious grubs and worms and pale green sprouts. They were making the sound that a hen makes when they call to their chicks to “come and get it!” Since our young and rambunctious Australian labradoodles were locked up (I wonder if I will ever trust them with the hens), I let the “ladies” out to scratch and dig in the freshly turn soil.

"Herding" Tulip Is Not an Easy Thing to Do

We sat down and watched them, these most beloved pets. Daisy, Sweetpea, and Poppy did not hesitate to rush to the moist overturned soil. Tulip, the Easter Egger, stayed in the run and watched the others. She is a pretty but somewhat timid thing. I tried “herding” her out of the pen but it was nearly impossible. Have you ever tried to herd a chicken? They dash back and forth in front of you and duck between your legs to go in the other direction. Making progress, foot by foot, I knew that when she got close to her sisters she would be fine. And that she was. They were happy to see her, and she them. They scratched, they shared, they enjoyed being chickens.

After a couple of hours, the hens headed back into the run on their own. These hens have lived in a secure fenced-in environment all their lives. While they love getting out into the garden to do their thing, they return to their pen without objection. They have lived a safe and healthy life, living much longer than they would if they were to range free. I’m going to stop feeling sorry for them and share in their joy of occasional freedom.

I’d love to have a rooster but our hens don’t really need one. I’m an early riser so the crowing wouldn’t bother me. But then again, there are my neighbors to consider. There’s an ordinance in our community that allows us to have up to 20 hens but no roosters. So a rooster is out of the question.

The reason I’d like to have a rooster is not that my hens need to lay fertile eggs. Fertile eggs are no more nutritious than unfertile eggs. Besides the little blood spots in fertile eggs gives me the shivers. I don’t particularly want to see my beautiful ladies jumped on either. In fact, some rather “rough” roosters can be quite damaging to hens. There are “saddles” made for hens to protect their backs from particularly aggressive roosters with particularly passionate mating behavior. You don’t believe me? See the saddles at “Hensavers“. They come in colorful designs and according to promotional material, the hens love colors and the fit!

There are good things to say about roosters. A rooster can be protective of hens. They will often stand their ground when a predator goes after a flock. My sweet Australian labradoodles will run up to the hens, frightening them and causing the girls to squawk and run. That makes the pups get even more excited and they give chase. They think it’s a game! A rooster wouldn’t put up with those shenanigans for a second. He’d stand up to them, puff out his breast, and send them packing.

Roosters actually look for food for hens, then call them to come get it. If a rooster finds a really nice stash of bugs or other tasty treat, it will often call his harem to come enjoy the feast. Now that is what I call a good provider.

Some roosters know how to “keep the peace”.

I’d like to have a good rooster because they “keep the peace” among a flock of hens. We’ve had our share of “cranky” behaviour over the past 2 1/2 years from hens with no authority figure. I’m tired of pecking orders, aggressive hens, and just plain “unsavory actions” in the chicken coop. I think that a rooster would help to alleviate that. I’m not sure why roosters are so good at keeping the peace. We know that roosters can be fighting birds among themselves.

Some roosters can become aggressive and territorial.

Besides the crowing that can occur any time of night or day, there is another downside of having a rooster around. They can be mean. When I was a youngster, my father had chickens that he raised in cages up off the ground. He would have two or three in a cage where they were kept until they grew to fryer age. One cute little Rhode Island Red was constantly being picked on by its fellow “inmates”. My father let the “cute little thing” free-range. That “cute little thing” grew, and grew, and grew. Pretty soon, he thought he owned the place and would attack both kids and adults when we came in the chicken house to do our chores. He would chase us, peck our legs, fly at us with spurs extended. My father, who was as protective of his children as the rooster was protective of his territory, won the fight with the rooster. The “cute little thing” made a delicious meal that was enjoyed by all.

I’ve talked to the hens. Yes, they would enjoy the occasional company of a fine, handsome, gentleman. But then again………………….

If you have a picture of a handsome rooster that I could add to this blog, please email it to me. I’ll try to fit it in!

I’ve been going a bit crazy lately. As you know I have two websites, this one, and Central Coast Gardening. Keep in mind, I’m not technically gifted. In fact, I’m barely functional. While I was updating the two websites, I ran into all kinds of technical problems and my poor hens have suffered from neglect. They’ve missed my company and their egg production is down from 2-3 eggs per day to 0-1.

Now I don’t expect an egg every day from my hens. “Take it easy,” I tell them. “Pace yourselves.” I want them to lay less and lay longer. I won’t have the heart to put them down or make them into soup when they finish their laying career, so the longer they lay, the better. A bunch of old “layless” hens doesn’t excite me but I love these girls. They are pets.

Well, while I’ve been throughly involved in updating my websites, Poppy and Tulip have been throughly involved in shedding their feathers. This process, called moulting (or molting) is also known as sloughing, or shedding. Birds do it, dogs do it, reptiles do it and my hens do it. It takes a month or two for them to moult and regrow their beautiful new covering. Until then, I’ll have to make do with fewer eggs.

Tulip Has an "Ugly" Moult

Until their feather are regrown, the hens will be getting  a serving of tuna and sunflower seeds each day which are supposed to have nutritional ingredients that will help them regrow feathers. Poor girls. Setting on eggs and moulting are the two events in a healthy hens life that interrupt their egg-laying process. They’ll just have to endure it and I will just have to buy eggs at the farmers market.

Corner Behind Henhouse Shows Moulted Feathers

A pocket gopher hole in the coop.

Our chicken run has been invaded by a gopher! It has somehow found its way under 12 inches of hardware wire that we buried under the soil to keep out digging predators. Well, it worked for the predators but not for the crafty gophers. We’ve had a lot of gophers this year in the garden. They can easily dig in the moist soil, and after an unusual amount of rain last winter, it’s to be expected. It’s turned out to be gopher heaven here.

Pocket gophers tunnel deep in the earth, leaving mounds (usually “U” shaped) of fine, powdery soil at the surface. The pocket gopher is named for the pockets inside the cheeks used for gathering food. You can see a pocket gopher gather food on this video. Their nests and food chamber can be 6 feet deep. Gophers are herbivores, preferring herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees. If a shrub dies overnight, it is usually a sign that a gopher has eaten the roots. Trapping and applying poison deep in the tunnel are the common methods of ridding your garden of gophers. A wire basket surrounding a newly planted tree or shrub will protect the roots from these pests until the plant can survive a bit of nibbling.

A pocket gopher with pouches filled.

I’ve left the hole where the gopher came up in the run. I don’t know what the hens would do if he comes out in the daytime. They’d probably squawk and run screaming to the far corner. The hens are not very brave. They squawk and run when I throw in a big snail into the run! Now I’ve heard that chickens, especially those big burly he-man roosters, will make dinner our of gophers and rats. But my sweet hens…….I doubt it.

I wonder what the gopher is looking for. There’s not a living blade of grass in the run since hens are attracted to anything green. Perhaps he is eating the chicken feed that gets spilled on the ground. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted. He’s got to go because when he finds out he came up in barren territory, he’ll soon wander and be eating the roots of my beloved garden plants!