Thursday morning I woke up to a horrific scene.

The night before, instead of going into their coop for the night, Dirty Wilson (the rooster) and his hens decided that they wanted to roost in the trees for the night. They were too high up for me to be able to reach, so I had no choice but to let them stay out for the night. We’ve been rotating letting the puppy out when the chickens are up for the night, and putting her in her pen while the chickens are loose for the day. But I felt bad making Missy stay in her lot all night too, so I let her out. I figured I normally wake up before the sun rises, and I could go out and put the puppy back in her lot before the chickens came down out of the trees.

Bad mistake.

When I woke up the next morning the sun was already coming up. I immediately realized that I hadn’t heard the rooster, and a sudden panic overcame me. I quickly slipped my shoes on and hurried out the back door hoping my feeling was wrong. But as soon as I got outside I saw what I had dreaded, two of my hens laid lifeless on the ground. Feathers were scattered all over the yard.

I let out a horrifed, “Nooooo!” My hand covered my mouth as I walked closer to examine the damage. The poor hens! They were plucked practically bald, bleeding from the torture. Now, we’ve lost a lot of hens. I can handle them dying, and I’ve never been too upset about losing one (just upset about losing another daily egg!), but this was different. These chickens didn’t die quickly. They were slowly, savagely, painfully mangled.

Just as I was making my way to examine the second hen, the puppy came trotting up to me, a wild look in her eyes. I immediately grabbed her by the collar and began spanking her bottom, shouting at her “No, Missy!! Bad dog! No!!!” She had to understand, in a very dramatic way, that this was NOT okay! I took her head and pushed it down onto one of the hens as I shouted, so that she would understand what she’d done wrong.

The moment the dog’s snout touched the lifeless body, the hen’s eyes shot open, her head weakly raised at an odd angle, and she let out the most gut wrenching cry I’ve ever heard! I half gasped, half screamed in surprised horror, my hands flying to cover my mouth once more!! Oh my goodness! She’s still alive!!

You guys have to understand. She looked so bad, her body so torn up, it didn’t even cross my mind that the thing could possibly still be alive. But she was. And she was suffering terribly!

At that, tears filled my eyes, and I cried for the hen. Not that I loved her. She was just a hen. But seeing a living creature in such agony, dying in such a horrible way, oh, my heart just broke for her.

I picked the dog up and rushed her into her lot, to lock her up where she couldn’t do more damage. And then it occurred to me, I can’t find Dirty Wilson! Oh no! Where is he?

I walked around the yard calling him, looking for his body. After a few minutes of searching, relief suddenly rushed in as I heard his crow from inside the coop. I went to see if he was okay, and found that a ton of his tail feathers had been pulled out, and he had a bald spot on his back where a good chunk of feathers had been plucked. He looked rough, but he was okay. Thank goodness!

I went back to where the hens laid in the yard, and walked over to check on the other hen. To my shock, she too opened her eyes to look at me, alive! What was I to do? I picked her up and held her in my arms. She didn’t look quite as bad as the other one did, but still in terrible shape. I went inside and got a towel to wrap her in.

As I held her shivering body in my arms, tears streaking my face, I went to my bedroom and woke my sleeping husband to tell him what had happened. I told him that the other hen was out there suffering, and I asked if he’d finish her off. The ants were beginning to swarm her body, biting her wounds as she clung to each shallow breath.

As he went outside to end her misery, I set up a box inside with wood shavings and a heat lamp. I put the hen I held into it, and covered her with the towel again. She was in shock, shivering uncontrollably. I hoped she might live. But several minutes later, she died also.

I was so mad. That dog had to go. She has done nothing but cause mischief around here. I didn’t mention that all of my clothes had been pulled off the line and were drug all over the place as well. I announced to the family that I was listing Missy on Craigslist that day; that we could not keep her any longer. And nobody protested.

To my relief, I got a call within about ten minutes of placing the ad. It was from a very sweet lady who had been looking for a German Shepherd puppy. She lives on ten acres of land, and has two other older dogs for Missy to roam and play with. She was extremely excited about finding the puppy, and couldn’t wait to love on her. She came the next day and took Missy home with her. I know she is already loved and well taken care of in her new home, so I am at peace with having her gone.

Ugh. What a day. We really wanted to have a good dog around here, and we still plan on finding one. But a German Shepherd… at least that one… is not a good farm dog. Their prey drive is just too strong. And once they’ve tasted blood, you can never trust them with livestock again. I’m glad that we took her in and rescued her from being abandoned, but it worked out well to raise her long enough to pass her on to a proper home.

Now the chickens can free range without worry of the dog. Now the kids can play outside without being tackled, or bitten. And I can once again hang my clothes on the clothes line without anything yanking them down!

Slowly, we are restoring the peace on this crazy acre of land. Now, if we could just be done with that pig…

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I never in my life imagined that I would call a rooster handsome, but I do. I love Dirty Wilson, we all love him. He’s a good rooster. We’ve had our taste of having a bad rooster around. I’m really glad that this fellow has outlasted them all! Before we ever owned chickens, I had no idea how useful a rooster would be. All I knew was that it would crow at the crack of dawn, and I really didn’t want to be bothered by that! We didn’t plan on having him… he just got mixed in with the girl chicks, and we didn’t know he was a “he” until his comb grew larger than the others did! But we are so glad we have him now!

For those of you who haven’t ever owned a rooster, let me fill you in on how useful they are to a flock…

A good rooster warns his girls of danger. If a hawk is around, he will lead them into the woods for shelter.

A good rooster shares food with his ladies. When he discovers an extra special treat, he’ll cluck in a particular way and the hens will all come running to see what he has found. Then he’ll step aside and let the ladies enjoy.

When a good rooster loses sight of one of his hens, he will call her frantically until he hears a response and is able to locate her position.

A good rooster stands guard, and keeps a watch out while the hens peck and scratch in their own carefree manner.

Whenever one of his hens is in trouble, a good rooster will sound his alarm and alert everyone of the danger she is in. (I can always tell when the dog is outside chasing one of the hens, Dirty Wilson has a fit!)

And a good rooster, totally does not attack you when you least expect it! Okay, maybe he’ll test you a time or two. Maybe he’ll run up behind you and bump into the back of your foot to see if he can scare you. But a good rooster will quickly straighten up after a stern lecture. And he’ll never really hurt you.

Yes, our Dirty Wilson is a good, good rooster. I hope he sticks around here for a very long time!

Wanna brag about that special rooster in your life? Tell us what he does that makes you glad you have him around!

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It is very important to keep the brooder at the correct temperature. As your chicks get older, you’ll need to decrease the heat. Here is a chart for your reference:

Brooder Temperature Chart

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Sad news. Over the weekend all of my chicks died. I didn’t expect the sick little chick to make it, but the other two seemed perfectly healthy! I’m not sure what happened.

When I found the second dead chick, the remaining one was sitting up against its head. Had it accidentally suffocated its sibling? I’ve been told that this happens often. I just couldn’t tell.

But then I noticed the temperature in the brooder (the box they were in). It was only 83*, when it was supposed to be 90*. I realized that the bulb I had in the heat lamp was only a 40 watt bulb, when it should have been 75-100 watts! I quickly changed it out, and brought the temp up to where it should have been.

The poor little things! I was freezing them to death! Goodness. Messing up with gardening and stuff is one thing, but when you are dealing with a little spirited life, it’s not fun at all. I felt really bad. I should have done more research. I should have been smarter.

I really hate learning the hard way.

On Sunday I could see that our last chick was just not going to make it. She just laid around, and looked as if she were already dead most of the day. Every so often I would pick her up and put her beak into the water to drink. She would drink a little, and then I’d lay her back down. She was weak, and stumbled around when she did try to walk. She died later that afternoon.

Sad. Poor little things.

I just wish I knew for sure what went wrong. Our egg turner had stopped turning at some point during the incubation process. I’m sure that’s why we had such a poor hatch rate. Only three out of the 15 eggs hatched. Were my chicks improperly developed? Did the sick chick spread some form of bad bacteria to the healthy chicks? Did that one get suffocated because I had the temps too low which caused them to huddle so closely together?

Next time, we will do better.

Many of you on Facebook gave me lots of good advice that I wanted to share here:

1. Bacteria is the number one killer of baby chicks.
2. Make sure the brooder is the correct temperature.
3. Check the chicks bottoms to make sure that the droppings aren’t getting stuck there and clogging them up.
4. If they get too cold, they will pile up together to keep warm, and the chicks on the bottom could be suffocated.
5. It is helpful to add antibiotic drops to the chicks water. One friend even suggested adding one drop of Colloidal Silver to the water.
6. Medicated food is an option.
7. Add electrolyte and vitamin powder to the water for the first week, and then 4-6 Tbsp sugar per gallon of water. (We did add a little sugar to the water, but not sure it was that much.)

We’ll be saving our money for an egg turner, if we can’t fix the old one we have. Once we have that settled, we’ll try hatching another batch.

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Our make-shift nesting box.

If you are planning on getting hens so that you can have your own fresh eggs every day, you will need to build them some “nesting” (or “laying”) boxes. Hens like their privacy when they are doing their business, and they particularly appreciate a nice box to retreat to before laying an egg.

If you don’t supply them with a nice place to lay, they will simply drop that egg anywhere in their coop. This means you will most likely have poop covered eggs, and your hens will be more prone to begin eating their eggs- a terribly difficult habit to break.

You don’t need one nesting box for each hen. Actually, you really only need one box per 4-5 laying hens. I’ve occasionally noticed my hens neatly lined up, waiting their turn to use the box. It always seems that when one egg is deposited, others are soon to follow!

The box needs to be atleast 10″ square. It can really be made of anything: wood, cardboard, an egg crate, I’ve even seen people using gutted out t.v.’s or computer monitors.

However you build it, make sure it has a roof over it. When we first built ours it was just an open box- four walls, no roof. We quickly discovered that the hens will roost (or perch) on the sides of the box and poop all in it. And inevitably, the eggs would get pooped on too. A slanted roof is recommended, as it discourages the chickens from roosting up on top and droppings accumulating up there.

You will need to fill the box with some soft material. You can use wood shavings, grass clippings, hay, straw, shredded newspaper, or leaves. Hens like to scratch around and get comfortable before laying. Besides, if you don’t fill it with something soft, the egg will sometimes get cracked when the hen drops it onto a hard surface. Yes, I know from experience.

The box needs to have three tall sides, and one opening with a small wall to help keep the straw or whatever inside. The chickens will eventually scratch it all out, but this lip will help. You can see how we’ve done this in the photo above.

Sure, you could go out and buy some fancy deluxe nesting box costing you a pretty penny, or you can build a make-shift box like we have, out of materials you already have laying around your home. Your hens won’t care either way.

Do you have a neat idea for re-purposing something into a nesting box? I’d love to hear how some of you have made your own nesting boxes!

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But when day three was fast approaching, I decided that chick was not going to make it unless we intervened. I searched online and read through forums about chicks getting stuck in the shell and how to help them. I came across info stating that if the shell was cracked for too long, the membranes inside would dry up and the chick would become stuck. I opened the incubator to examine our chick.

Yep. The membranes were dry, even hardened. I could feel the chick glued to the inside surface of the shell. Her little beak was poked out, and cheeping, and she was wiggling with all her might, yet it was hopeless. The membranes were so tight to her feathers, there was no way she’d break loose.

I called to my husband for help. He brought me cotton balls moistened with warm water, and we wet the tough membrane layer as I slowly, and very carefully picked tiny pieces of the shell off using a pair of tweezers. Every so often I would stop, and see if the chick could finish the job. She was squirming and kicking, but it was still too difficult for her.

Slowly and steadily I picked the shell off of her little body. It seemed that almost every inch of her was stuck to it. I wet each little section, and did my best to gently pull the membranes loose. Finally, after about 45 min of doing this, she was completely free.

As soon as she was loose, I quickly covered the incubator back over her to let her dry. I watched as she flopped around, bumping into all of the other unhatched eggs. Was she gonna be okay? I wondered. I couldn’t help but feel slightly responsible. I read somewhere that if the eggs aren’t turned regularly, that the chicks could grow to the inside of the shell, and not be able to break loose. Our egg turner had stopped rotating somewhere along the line… something I hadn’t noticed for quite a while before beginning turning them by hand. I wonder if that could have caused the problem.

After resting a while she was able to get up and hobble around. But she didn’t look as good as the others had when they’d hatched. Something wasn’t right. Her neck and her back seemed crooked, and her head hung down when she walked.

Poor little thing!! I feel so bad for her. I don’t know if she’s gonna make it, but if she does I’m afraid she’ll be crippled. The other chicks have been surprisingly sweet to her. Right away they tried to snuggle her. But this morning I found her huddled by herself in a corner of the box, tucked in snugly behind a little teddy bear I gave them. I wonder if she’ll die.

In all honesty, I am hoping that she will peacefully slip away in her sleep. I’d hate for her to suffer a long life of debilitation and pain. But maybe she’ll surprise me. Maybe she’ll make a full recovery. Whatever happens, nature will take its course, I guess.

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After 22 days in the incubator, our chicken eggs have begun to hatch. It has been SO exciting!! The first egg hatched over night. We were thrilled when we woke up that morning to find a little chick hobbling around inside the incubator! It must have been newly hatched, ’cause it was still really wet.

It was so cute once it dried up and its feathers fluffed out! Ideally you want to keep a newly hatched chick in the incubator for the first 24 hours. However, after about 16 hours we had to separate this one from the other eggs. She was hopping over to one of the other eggs that was cracked, and was pecking at the shell. I could see the little chick inside the shell moving every time the chick would peck at it, and I was afraid she might kill the other one. So, we moved her to a little box, with a warming light.

She was mostly dry, so we figured she’d be alright. Man, can this little chick make a LOT of noise!!

On day 23, two more eggs began to hatch. That was yesterday. The kids and I were fascinated as we had the chance to watch one of the chicks hatch completely from its shell.

It started like this. Just a small hole pecked in the shell.

After several hours, the hole got a little bigger.

Getting closer!

A wing is free!

Pushing with her feet. Com’mon baby!

Out pops her head!

And she’s out!! Still attached to the umbilical cord.

And here she is! Chick #2.

The other chick has not completely hatched yet. She’s still working on cracking that shell!

I was so thankful that both Titus and Jada got to watch the entire process. Both of them pulled their little chairs up to the incubator, and excitedly watched every step of the process. It was so great hearing their enthusiastic remarks. This was my first time ever watching a chick hatch, too, so I was equally thrilled!

None of the other eggs are showing any signs of cracking. I wonder if they will. Nevertheless, this first attempt at hatching out our own chicks has been very rewarding… and a great educational tool!

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Photo from Carla Emery’s book The Encyclopedia of Country Living.

When incubating eggs, there is a way to find out whether or not a chick is actually growing in there. This process is called “candling”. Long ago, it was actually done using candles, but nowadays there are many different ways to do it. You can buy special “candling” equipment, or simply rig something yourself. The idea is to shine a very bright light through the eggshell in a dark room, which illuminates the shell and allows you to see what’s going on inside!

Tonight, we candled our 15 eggs. What we used was very basic- a desk lamp and a small box. In the top of the box we cut a hole, just big enough that the egg could barely sit down in it, without falling through. We laid the lamp down on a table, and put the box over the light bulb. With all other lights off, we put each egg, one by one, over the light shining through the hole in the box.

You guys, this is so exciting! It’s almost as good as seeing a sonogram!! The light shines through the eggshell, and if it’s fertile, you will see a little chick growing (and moving!) inside!! I squealed with excitement when I saw that first little chick moving within its shell.

After 72 hours of incubating, you should be able to easily distinguish between fertile and non-fertile eggs. The good ones will have spider-like blood vessels spreading within (see picture above). It’s best to candle early on; if you have an egg that is obviously not fertile, it is still safe to eat after being incubated for up to nine days.

I wish we would have candled our eggs sooner though. Ours have been incubating for two weeks now, so the chicks are quite developed. Once the chicks are so far along, they appear to be a large dark mass within the shell. Some of mine moved, so it was easy to tell that a chick was alive in there. But others just looked like a dark shadow. I’ve had a very hard time distinguishing between good eggs and bad ones. It wouldn’t be such a big deal to just leave them alone, but I read that the bad ones can rot and actually explode- spreading bad bacteria all over the other eggs, and making a big, stinky mess in the incubator!! So I definitely want to get the infertile ones out.

There are some eggs that I think are bad, but dang, I’d hate to throw one out if it’s actually alive!! I found this site to be somewhat helpful, as it shows several photos of good and bad eggs. I’m gonna have to candle them again and really take a close look to determine whether they are in fact growing or not.

Any experienced “candlers” out there who can give me some help with this? How can I tell if the dark mass inside the shell is alive or not if I don’t see it moving?

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When we first got our incubator we were so excited, we could hardly wait to use it! When we got home we grabbed the first two fresh eggs we found and stuck them into the styrofoam contraption. We figured we’d just add eggs as we got them, until we had as many as we wanted to hatch out. Fortunately for us, some of you quickly corrected me and advised that we collect eggs first, and then put them into the incubator all together at the same time. I quickly realized the wisdom in this, as we wouldn’t want some chicks hatching out sooner than others, disturbing the unhatched eggs.

We decided to start over, and do it the right way. Oh, and we were pleasantly surprised to find an old egg turner in my husband’s grandfather’s house, so that will make things much easier this time around. I won’t have to worry about remembering to turn the eggs by hand three times a day!!

Okay, so this is my first time doing this, so I’m no expert, but I’m gonna try to break it down for you like the books say how to do it. Please feel free to add your own two-cents if you see something I should mention.

Step One: Test Run The Incubator

If this is the first time using your incubator, or if it has been a very long time, you’ll want to plug it in and do a test run to make sure that it can hold the correct temperature steadily. Follow set up instructions.

You’ll need to run the incubator for 6-8 hours to make sure that the desired temperature was maintained. Chicken, Bobwhite Quail, Pheasant, Duck, and Guinea all need a 99.5*F hatching temperature. Goose and Turkey eggs should be at 99*F.

Step Two: Collecting Eggs

Once you know your incubator works well, you are ready to begin collecting eggs to hatch. You’ll need fertilized eggs, so if you don’t have a rooster, you will not get chicks. If you do have a rooster, and have seen him mount your hens, then you can assume that the eggs are fertilized.

For the best hatching success, your birds should not be eating a laying mash. Rather, a free-range diet with lots of greens and protein, and very little grain, is best. There is also a “breeders ration” feed that you can buy if you need to. If your hens are very young, and have just begun laying, give them several weeks before collecting their eggs for incubation.

When gathering your eggs, make sure to handle them very gently. Carry it on its side, or with the egg’s large end up so as not to cause the air cell inside to rupture. Don’t wash the eggs. Try not to handle them too much, you want to limit the shell’s exposure to bacteria.

You can collect eggs for up to two weeks before incubating, but using them within a week is best. Keep them in a room with temps between 45*F-60*F. The fridge is too cold, so don’t keep them there. If you want to write the date the egg was laid on the shell so that you know how old the egg is, make sure you use a pencil and not an ink pen. If you have very cold nights, collect your eggs before they are exposed to the low temperatures.

Step Three: Incubating

Your incubator needs to hold some humidity, so make sure you have a little water in the bottom of it. I’m sure each model is different. Mine has moisture rings in the bottom for holding water. Keep an eye on it daily, and add lukewarm water as needed.

If using an egg turner, set the eggs in the turner with the small side down. The turner will rotate the eggs very slowly. It will probably look like it isn’t doing anything, but after several hours you should notice the eggs at a different angle.

If you are not using a turner, make sure to rotate the eggs at least 3 times per day at the same time every day. Do not shake or jar them. Gently roll the eggs with the palm of your hand until they have been turned half way. You can mark an “X” on one side of the shell to help you with this. Turn until three days before the scheduled hatching day.

Do not put any eggs too close to the egg turner motor. Place a thermometer in the incubator so that you can keep an eye on the temperature and adjust it accordingly. Laying the thermometer across the top of the eggs will give you the most accurate reading.

Usually you can expect chicken eggs to hatch after 19-21 days of incubating. Bobwhite Quail and Pheasants take around 23 days. Turkey, Duck, Goose and Guinea hatch after about 28 days.

I’ll write about the hatching process when that time comes!

So, I’ve got 15 eggs in the incubator right now. 4 of them are Rhode Island Red/ White Leghorn mixes, one is a bantam/ Leghorn mix (not sure what that’s gonna turn out like!), and the rest are White Leghorns. I hope hope hope that we have a successful hatch!

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It’s funny, you can always tell when a hen is laying an egg. All of a sudden the whole flock of chickens will start going crazy making all sorts of noise! Even the rooster gets in on it, not crowing, but clucking. Man, are they loud! And from within the commotion you’ll hear the hen that is laying making the most noise of all…

Bock, bock… BA-GOCK!!!

And then, just as suddenly, it will be silent again. The chickens have gone back to contentedly pecking around, and there in the nest sits a warm egg.

Lately, we’ve been outside in the garden when the hens start telling the world about their imminent egg. The kids and I will stop what we are doing, and see if we can find within the woods where the noise is coming from. See, our hens have just recently decided that their laying boxes aren’t good enough anymore, and are now laying in the woods instead. This makes for fun daily egg hunts. But, the noise is helpful as it at least points us in the right  direction!

Fortunately for us, they’ve found one spot in particular to their liking- a shady place in the leaves, hidden underneath a fallen tree. And it helps that they all lay in the same spot, instead of finding their own little nests throughout the forest! It’s like the girls line up single file, and patiently wait their turn to lay their egg in the community nest.

Today we found the jackpot! Over the past few days we’ve collected some eggs from the laying boxes, so we haven’t bothered checking the woods. Boy, these girls have been busy!!

It never gets old either. Finding a whole clutch of eggs hidden within the trees is always fun, for me and the kids!

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