Monthly Archives: March 2010

It has been fun observing the development of our hens, and yes, it appears a pecking order has been established. The one we used to call the “mean one”, Poppy, has settled down into a really rather pleasant hen. She would probably be considered the dominate one in our little flock. See her story: Poppy-A Problem Chicken. She was such a trouble-maker in the beginning. We  almost culled her from the flock. She is no longer a “pecker” now and was the first to bravely confront the two small dogs that came into our yard the other day. Although she was safely behind a fence, she came out scolding and cackling, ready to fight. Since there is no rooster in the henhouse to protect the girls, often the dominate hen will fill the role.

Rosie has a piece missing from her comb.

At the bottom of the pecking order is Rosie. She is chased away from food and is pecked when she gets too close to one of her flockmates. Rosie loves to sit on our laps but when another hen wants to join her, she is chased off. Every night when the hens go inside to roost, the others get on the top roost first (the most desirable location) then try to keep Rosie from finding a place next to them. It is painful for us to watch as she desperately tries to fit in. As you can see, her comb shows evidence of her abuse. A piece is missing.

Now, in defense of Poppy, Daisy, Tulip, Sweetpea, and Petunia, Rosie can be very annoying!  She is an absolute glutton! She runs to the treats first and hogs whatever is in the bowl before the others get their fair share. If I find a snail in the garden and throw it into the run, she ALWAYS gets it first. If I have something in my hand and she thinks it might be something to eat, she will fly (I do mean fly) 4 feet into the air to get it. I’ve had more than one welt on my hand inflicted by Rosie’s beak in search of a treat.

There doesn’t seem to be any physical characteristics that establish the pecking order in our six hens. It’s all in their personality.

People are looking for information on building chicken coops and want to know how much floor space is needed for a coop and run. I know, because, many visitors to this site and to my garden blog site click on “A Chicken Coop for a Garden” and “A Space for Chickens“. I think that building your coop is one of the most important steps you’ll take to ensure success in backyard chicken keeping and a little research before beginning the project, is in order. Due to space limitations, some folks are looking for a coop that will fit into their yard and garden, but still fulfill minimum requirements for healthy, active hens.

Ladder provides vertical space for hens.

Most books and articles advise you to have at least 3-4 square feet of floor space for each hen and 10 square feet per hen if restricted to an indoor environment. Our little henhouse is a compact 20 square feet. It was designed for four hens and we have six. Opps, I got carried away and couldn’t stop bringing home those cute little fluffballs. There are two four-foot roosts, two nest boxes which hens can enter from the inside, and a bar for them to hop up on to get into the next boxes. This tiny henhouse would not have adequate space if the hens had to be closed in during the day.

The outside run measures 8′ x 16′. We put in a ladder for vertical space, which the hens love. The hen spend the day outdoors. In this mild coastal climate, they need only be locked in from dusk to dawn, and only to be secure from predators. As I walk down the path at daybreak, I can hear their low agitated clucking, scolding me, for sleeping beyond first light. They scurry past my legs as soon as I lift the hatch. They are like children being released for recess.  The run is partially covered, providing shelter on rainy days.

There are many ideas and recommendations for building coops on the Backyard Chickens website. For years, people have been posting designs and pictures of their chicken coops to share with others. On their forum, you can post individual questions about coop design and you will have a group of chicken enthusiasts to give you advice.

Adding salt and vinegar is supposed to make easier to peel.

Peeling a fresh, hard-boiled egg can be a frustrating experience. As most of you know, eggs from farms or backyard hens are exceptionally tasty but oh-so-hard-to-peel when hard-boiled. The shell sticks to the membrane inside the shell and, when peeled, a good deal of the white comes off with it. The problem is caused by the moisture content  in fresh eggs. The egg-shell is porous and normally, over time, the egg looses moisture. Supermarket eggs can be weeks or even months old. Dehydration causes the membrane inside the shell to separate and the liquid inside the shell to thicken.

Plunging eggs into ice water should make easier to peel.

Whenever I give my extra eggs to someone, I remind them that these less-than-week old eggs will be hard to peel if hard-boiled. A little research, I think, is in order to see if there is a way to make the process easier. There are step-by-step directions on WikeHow using salt or vinegar to help toughen the membrane surrounding the white of the egg and as a result, making the shell easier to remove. At What’s Cooking in America I found an article that suggested that adding salt to water before boiling makes the whites of eggs rubbery. All articles I’ve found suggest you use eggs at least a week old or more for hard boiling.

Just for fun I set up my own experiment. I selected week-old eggs from Tulip (the Ameruacana), Daisy (the Buff Orpington), and Rosie the (Rhode Island Red). I figured that if I used the eggs of just those three hens in both experiments, I’d eliminate at least one variable. See, I was awake during my 8th grade science class. I let the eggs come to room temperature, covered the eggs with cold water (1 inch over the top), put 1 Tbs. of vinegar and 1 Tbs. of salt, in one of the pans, and brought the water to a simmer. In the other pot I used plain water. I let the pots simmer for two minutes,  covered them, and removed the eggs from the heat. I let the eggs sit, covered, for 15 minutes.

Fresh eggs still hard to peel!

I drained the eggs, shook the pans so that eggs would crackle, and put them into bowls filled with ice water. When the eggs cooled to the touch, I peeled them, (that is, I tried to peel them).

The results? Not so good. The week-old  boiled eggs were nearly impossible to peel without damaging the whites. I saw no difference in the ones simmered in salt and vinegar, and the ones simmered in plain water. The eggs were tender and delicious and no green around the yolk (which is caused by boiling them at a high temperature). What I learned: next time I’ll set aside a dozen eggs for two weeks before boiling them, use plain water, and maybe I’ll try this technique! I’ll let you know what happens. If you have the secret of cooking fresh hard-boiled eggs please tell us about it!