Posts Tagged Buff Orpington

Draining Rainwater from the Outdoor Run

It has been an eventful holiday season in the ole chicken coop. Heavy rains along the coast brought unexpected flooding. We live on a slight downslope. Water drains from the forested open space behind our property and on down the hill. Standing water has never been a problem but, then again, we’ve never had 10 inches of rain in such a short amount of time. During the heavy rains, the empty gopher holes looked like little springs with clear water bubbling up and out. Wonder where the gophers are hiding?

Making its way downward to the ocean, the water spread across the outdoor run and stayed there. It was two inches deep in areas. The hens spent much of their time on the milk crates and the ladder. Luckily, the indoor coop has a cement floor that stayed high and dry but these birds are used to being outside and only go inside to lay and to roost at night. For two days, they waded about in confusion. Eventually we made a small trench through the outdoor run that provided an escape route for the sitting water.

Ameraucana and Buff Orpington are Laying Again!

The good news in the chicken coop had us all cheering (even the hens). Our dear Daisy, a pretty Buff Orpinton, was ill last spring. See “Daisy is Ill”. She hasn’t layed since then. Daisy is one of my favorite hens: gentle, tame, calm. I consider her a pet. After her first molt in the fall, she began laying those beautiful brown eggs again. I think that she is as happy as we are. Tulip, the Ameraucana, also finished her molt and has resumed laying her green eggs once again. What a pleasure to find those lovely pale green eggs among the brown.

Golden Laced Wyandotte is Molting

There are more falling feathers in the mud of the chicken coop. Petunia is experiencing her first molt. The golden laced Wyandotte, the prettiest and the meanest of the six, is shedding her golden fleece. She and Sweetpea mope around, listless and lethargic, with bare bottoms and necks, waiting for their new coats to grow in. When they do, they’ll look renewed and refreshed and will hopefully resume laying again. We’ll all be happy, then.

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Deciding which breeds of chickens you want for your backyard chicken project is a pretty important decision. There are books and magazine articles on the subject and I found the hatchery catalogues to be  quite helpful (and fun to browse through) as you plan on which breeds would fit your needs.

Before making a decision on breeds for you, ask yourself a few questions. Are you raising chickens for eggs, meat, or pets? Do you want steady layers, calm birds, pretty birds, show birds, or just plain sweet birds. Do you have space for the larger breeds or would you prefer a flock of the small bantams? Do you live in a climate that has extremes that may threaten the health of your chickens? Some breeds are called “dual-purpose” breeds so if you put in a “straight run order”, meaning there will be both hens and roosters in the arrival, you will be able to butcher the roosters for meat and keep the hens for eggs. Hey folks, this is the real world!

Now I can only speak about raising chicks for egg layers because this is where my experience lies. When I was searching for the right breeds, I knew what I didn’t want. Growing up we had Leghorns for big beautiful white eggs. They were “flighty” birds and nervous and didn’t make cuddly pets. I knew I was only getting 4-6 hens, and that there was a real chance, that with a calm breed, I could make egg-laying pets. I’d had bantams before, and while they were great at cleaning up bugs in the garden and taking care of chicks, they were “broody” and not the best of layers.

Six Pullets at 12 Weeks

I finally settled on six beautiful, calm (most of the time), self-reliant breeds. They are considered ideal free-range chickens because they are good foragers. I chose an Orpington, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, silver-laced Wyandotte, golden-laced Wyandotte (all lay large brown eggs) and an Ameraucana (who lays designer olive-green eggs). All of them lay about 5 eggs a week except the Ameraucana. She only averages every other day; but hey, they’re green!

We don’t have a rooster because we have good relations with our neighbors and I want to keep it that way. Roosters are an asset because they are protective of their hens and keep order in the flock. But they do not effect egg-laying. You will still get beautiful, tasty eggs without a rooster in your flock.

Do your research before getting your chicks. Do not get more than your coop can handle (see my article on “A Problem Chicken” that was published in a local newspaper), and nurture them as they grow. A little planning in the beginning can prevent unhappy situations for both you and your hens.

“Daisy” is a fluffy Buff Orpington. A big, beautiful blond. Sweet, tame, the first to greet us, the first to be on our laps when we sit nearby. She is somewhat “motherly” to the other hens, although she’ll never hatch eggs and be a mother because we have no rooster. She was the first to lay an egg and has laid an egg every day for the first three months of her adulthood. If I had to pick one breed of chicken for a backyard hen project, I’d pick Buff Orpingtons. Daisy died at the age of 5 1/2 years. She remained sweet, friendly, and calm her whole life. We miss her.

“Sweetpea” is just as her name implies. A cuddler by nature, she’s the only hen who will sit still for any length of time, sometimes closing her eyes and enjoying the lap of a human as her coop-mates hop off and on human knees. Her breed, Barred (or Plymouth) Rock, are known to be good layers of light-brown eggs, steady and quiet hens. If you look carefully at Sweetpeas’s comb, you can see a chunk missing in the back. One of the other hens became annoyed with Sweetpea, pecked her, and tore off a piece of her comb. We encourage Sweetpea to stand up to the Wyandottes but it is not in her nature. At age six now, she is still friendly and gets along well with her two younger companions, Penny and Ginger.

“Poppy” is strickingly beautiful. A Silver-laced Wyandotte with black and white feathers, she is also the most temperamental of our six hens (see story “A Problem Chicken”). Poppy likes to have her back scratched by humans since there is no rooster around to do it for her. She is still high-strung and has a tendency to chase the chickens that are lower on the “pecking order”. Poppy lays beautiful light-brown eggs. She passed away at the age of five.

“Rosie” is our little Rhode Island Red. No flock is complete without this standard breed. She lays eggs that are medium brown in color. Rosie is our little “chow hound”. When we are in the garden, she watches our every move, hoping we’ll find a tidbit such as a snail or a potato bug for her to devour. She grabs food away from the other hens and if we carry in a bowl of treats to the hens, she will jump into the air to reach for it. She reminds us of our “late” Chocolate Labrador Retriever who would do anything for food. Rosie is now “late” herself. She died in early January 2011 (see “Rosie Passed Away”). I can’t bear to take her picture off this site because she was so much a part of our flock. We miss her. I would like to get another Rhode Island Red. They are consistent layers and good pets.

The name “Petunia” sounds so sweet and Petunia looks sweet. But Petunia is not! She is the most timid of all the hens and is quick to run if we reach to pick her up. The pretty Golden-laced Wyandotte is quick to snap at other hens and can be downright cruel to Rosie and Sweetpea, pecking their heads if they come too close. Petunia could best be described as “edgy”, but she is a part of the flock and remarkably beautiful. Petunia was one of those chickens that caused such chaos in the coop that we made the difficult decision to re-home her. See the story of Petunia’s new home here.

“Tulip” was one of the first three chicks we bought. She was (and still is) an observer. She watches the other hens, the humans, and is ever alert to danger. Her Ameraucana breed is known for laying blue or green eggs. Tulip’s are a light olive-green, very subtle and “tasteful” in color. Tulip usual lets the other hens eat first. She is in no hurry to grab a snack. She is the first, however, to dip her beak into the yogurt bowl. Tulip loves yogurt and cottage cheese. Tulip passed away on April 26, 2012, after suffering from a common disease of hens called egg yolk peritonitis. She was very pretty and very dear.

Penelope “Penny” and Ginger

“Penelope”, who we call “Penny”, and “Ginger”, came to us at about five months of age. Our neighbor, Jacob, raised them as a school project. Jacob did not know that they were laying eggs because they were “free ranging” in his yard and were good at hiding them. We were down to two old hens so I was glad to have these wonderful young layers. It was hard for Daisy and Sweetpea to accept these two young “upstarts”. The young hens had to sleep on a lower roost and wait until the two older hens had finished eating at the “treat bowl” before they could approach. It took about three weeks before things settled in.

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