Scratchings:
a Chicken Blog
A Dozen of our Most Recent Scratchings
Hatching eggs! You can order now for pick-up or shipment when it suits you, pending availability.
As chick season heats up, I want to talk to you about Chick Flippers. These are people who place large orders from commercial hatcheries, have the chicks shipped in, and then list them for sale at a HUGE mark-up on Craigslist etc. They don’t disclose . . .
With over 5K eggs hatched, here are many of the things I wish I had known when I started.
Please oh please don't use a feather duster. Yes, they will love it, but when you find the one that got tangled in it and hung herself, you will feel awful.
As I have been sharing videos of the farm, kitty cam, chick cam etc., folks have been asking about the cameras. Well here’s the scoop.
Wyze cams: They are not costly, they set-up easily, and I can control them from my phone or from my Echo Show or laptop.
Feral Cats become Working Barn Cats
Mouse and rat control for me.
Cozy home for the unloved kitties.
Didn’t have to use poison.
Chocolate and flowers for Valentines? Alright, if you insist, but these as well! An egg skelter, chicken dish towels, egg gathering baskets, and an adorable chicken tumbler. Yes please.
ISA Browns are sweet, sturdy, and pretty layers of many medium and large brown eggs. Sexed at hatch as females are brown and males are white. Friendly and sociable, these are my go-to birds if I just want eggs, lots and lots of eggs.
Do you have a crazy chicken lady or gentleman on your shopping list? Of course you do. Here are some fun gift ideas.
Breeds & Breeding
ISA Browns are sweet, sturdy, and pretty layers of many medium and large brown eggs. Sexed at hatch as females are brown and males are white. Friendly and sociable, these are my go-to birds if I just want eggs, lots and lots of eggs.
“Hey, I purchased Olive Egger hatching eggs from you and the eggs you gave me are blue?! What’s up with that?” or “Hey, I purchased Olive Egger chicks from you and they grew up and are laying brown or blue eggs. What’s up with that?”
”Thank you for asking. It’s complicated.”
One of my customers — a first-time chicken dad — glibly remarked, “I think I’ll get into breeding, how hard can it be?” One of my more diplomatic friends responded, “You would be surprised.”
A Wheaten Olive Egger is a hybrid of Wheaten/Blue Wheaten/Splash Ameraucanas and Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Marans who will lay lovely medium to large olive eggs, often with speckles. The birds are lovely and sweet, and can have with muffs, or beards, or feathery legs, or all three!
This is the fun part of curating an Olive Egger Flock: selecting the prettiest eggs to hatch and then selecting the prettiest grow-outs to keep for next year’s flock refresh. Right now I have an Olive Egger Rooster and a Welsummer Rooster (dark brown eggs with spots) covering Bright Blue Egger Hens and Olive Egger Hens.
My Wheaten/Blue Wheaten/Splash Ameraucanas are quickly becoming my favorite flock. They are such easy-keepers, sociable, gentle, and laying so well right now. I can’t recommend them highly enough; lovely in appearance and temperament and they weathered this winter’s cold snap with ease.
Lost King Fluffybum. Grew out a replacement: Fluffybum Jr. Hens stopped laying. Predator attack. Ended up with 1 rooster and 1 hen, which is hardly a flock. But wait! Kind customers to the rescue . . .
One of my seasonal chores is a comprehensive flock check — I go out and catch and pick up each and every one of my 100+ birds. I check them for bugs, make sure that no-one feels underweight, ensure their leg bands fit properly, take their pictures, and decide which of the grow-outs I will keep and which I will share.
Wheaten/Blue Wheaten/Splash Ameraucanas are golden wheat colored with blue-grey trim and underfluff. They have the most adorable muffs and beards, lay blue eggs in the most gorgeous shades and are usually friendly sweet little birds.
Skånsk Blommehöna aka Swedish Flower Hens lay cream-colored eggs and are good foragers, good predator avoiders, and oh so pretty. They come crested and uncrested and hailing from snowy Sweden, they are unfazed by our rainy PNW winters.
Olivers eggs lay in all the shades of green, from minty to khaki. And the birds are just as pretty as the eggs!
My friend Kristy sent me this pic of an Olive Egger egg with a blue inside — isn’t it gorgeous? Even better, I was able to order some hatching eggs.
Swedish Flower Hens, aka Skånsk Blommehöna, are one of my favorite of Flower Feather Farm’s resident flocks. Because they are a land-race — naturally evolving on the land independently of human intervention — the breed sports a terrific variety of looks. They are beautiful on their own and make a hen bouquet when gathered as a flock.
Chick Care
As chick season heats up, I want to talk to you about Chick Flippers. These are people who place large orders from commercial hatcheries, have the chicks shipped in, and then list them for sale at a HUGE mark-up on Craigslist etc. They don’t disclose . . .
Please oh please don't use a feather duster. Yes, they will love it, but when you find the one that got tangled in it and hung herself, you will feel awful.
Well that depends on many things, chiefly the weather and what does your outside set-up entail. The rule of thumb is that they need to be ten weeks old if the over-night low is going to be around 30. That said, I put them out at four weeks at about any time of year. What? Yes. Four weeks, with supplemental heat.
My casual records indicate that 2% of the chicks we hatch won’t make it to Day 10. This is why a hen lays an egg nearly every day.
A sad story. One of my customers picked up a box of cute fluffy chicks, took them home and set them up in the brooder next to her kitchen. She then started dinner, cooking in a non-stick pan over gas.
No, this is not a dating guide. If you are looking for your soulmate, volunteer with an organization that aligns with your values and priorities. All those other volunteers are your pre-filtered field of candidates. Now, back to chicks . . .
Are you just planning on just one round of chicks? Let me save you the trouble of gathering up all the necessary supplies.
As chick season gets going, so do the waitlists for specific breeds. We have two ways to help you get the chicks you want: The Reservation System and the Notification List System.
Why I don’t work with shipped chicks, and perhaps why you shouldn’t either. Read and consider.
Farm Life
As I have been sharing videos of the farm, kitty cam, chick cam etc., folks have been asking about the cameras. Well here’s the scoop.
Wyze cams: They are not costly, they set-up easily, and I can control them from my phone or from my Echo Show or laptop.
Feral Cats become Working Barn Cats
Mouse and rat control for me.
Cozy home for the unloved kitties.
Didn’t have to use poison.
I saw this on PostSecret today, and wanted so much to contact the person who sent it in. Clearly, he or she imagines that the word “Fertile” on the label indicates that there is a developing chick inside — see the little picture he or she drew in the yolk?
Tis the season for all sorts of faux poultry people to up their intrusions into our Facebook chicken groups with their scummy-scammy ways. Here are some tips on how to recognize them, and what to do next.
Who knew that chicks were the path to fame and glory? Or at least a few more minutes of local airtime.
So I am taking a box of little chicks down to a customer and she declares, “So this is the lady I heard on the radio this morning!” Yup. I guess so.
I have been contacted dozens of times in the last few weeks by people wanting pullets and laying hens, and with the price of eggs, I understand. The trick is, that here at Flower Feather Farm, available pullets are far and few between.
Did you know that I maintain a list of Washington State breeders? My thinking is that if my chicks aren’t what you are looking for I would rather help you find some from another farmer than have you buy them at the feed store. Why not the feed store? Shipped Chicks . . .
Every wonder why sometimes your hard-boiled eggs peel really well and sometimes they don’t? Freshness. A too fresh egg won’t peel nicely. As all our eggs are fresh, this can be a problem sometimes. Solution? Instant Pot.
Oh happy day! We moved the meat chicks out from the brooder tower and into the Chickery today. Hurray!! Check out how happy they look.
Feed
Which Natural Farm Feed Product Should I Buy For My Chickens? Layer? Premium Layer? Broiler? Premium Broiler?
Did you know that you have the opportunity to participate in a Natural Farm Feeds Feed Co-op near you?
Flock Care
Well that depends on many things, chiefly the weather and what does your outside set-up entail. The rule of thumb is that they need to be ten weeks old if the over-night low is going to be around 30. That said, I put them out at four weeks at about any time of year. What? Yes. Four weeks, with supplemental heat.
I am really happy to be able to acquire, and to offer to you, Hemp Bedding. Reduces smell, is lighter and less dusty, warmer and dryer.
I’ve shared quite a few of my best tips and tricks for setting up a chick brooder, but what about the next step? When they are too little to just toss into the big girl coop, but too big stinky to stay in the house.
At this point, I put them in the big girl coop, with accomodations.
One of my seasonal chores is a comprehensive flock check — I go out and catch and pick up each and every one of my 100+ birds. I check them for bugs, make sure that no-one feels underweight, ensure their leg bands fit properly, take their pictures, and decide which of the grow-outs I will keep and which I will share.
Getting lots of broody hen questions these days; the ladies must be trying to get one more round in before winter.
Your broody hen has asked me to tell you that she is ready for some chicks, and we just happen to have some!
I kept hoping the warm weather would get here before avian bird flu did, but alas, both cool wet weather and bird flu are headed our way.
Our chicken yards used to be hard-pan due the the soil-killing properties of vast quantities of nitrogen-rich chicken poo. Stinky on good days, vile and slick on wet days. No more! We put down thick layers of mulch and it is so much better.
We frequently give our broody hens chicks to raise, easier for us and so much nicer for the chicks. We don’t separate them from the flock at all . . .
We are expecting epic heat wave this week and so many of the things we are doing to help our flocks weather this are untested. Nevertheless, this is what we are doing to prepare:
So your little floofs have grown up and are now big smelly teenagers and it is time to get them out of the house. I can’t help you with your human kids, as it is hard to fledge them in a time of quarantine, but I can help with your chicken kids.
Incubation & Hatching
Dalia Monterroso, author of Let’s All Keep Chickens, and President of Chickenlandia, honored us with an invitation to be a Bawk Tawk guest. And, as you know, I love to chat about chickens, so off we went.
Hatching eggs! You can order now for pick-up or shipment when it suits you, pending availability.
With over 5K eggs hatched, here are many of the things I wish I had known when I started.
As we enter the stormy season, you can buy yourself a little peace of mind in the event of a power outage.
Brooder Set-up Tips for Healthy Chicks and Hatchlings. Best waterers, best feeders, best brooders for your baby chicks and hatchlings.
Squee! Your pullet laid her first egg and it is so pretty and cute and you want more. You want to hatch this precious little egg. But don’t.
We don’t like to talk about it. We don’t like to think about it. And we certainly don’t want to discover it in our brooder in the morning. But chicks die. Some perfectly cute floofy little chicks just don’t make it, which is why hens reproduce themselves almost every day.
One thousand, three hundred, and fifty-six chicks later, and I still get excited when they hatch. Live-stream hatching link in the post.
Girl Chick? Boy Chick? How is one to know?
Sexing chicks. Alas, not as easy as we would wish.
Shopping
Chocolate and flowers for Valentines? Alright, if you insist, but these as well! An egg skelter, chicken dish towels, egg gathering baskets, and an adorable chicken tumbler. Yes please.
Do you have a crazy chicken lady or gentleman on your shopping list? Of course you do. Here are some fun gift ideas.
All the Posts, in Chronological Order
Bawk Tawk
Dalia Monterroso, author of Let’s All Keep Chickens, and President of Chickenlandia, honored us with an invitation to be a Bawk Tawk guest. And, as you know, I love to chat about chickens, so off we went.
Hatching Eggs
Hatching eggs! You can order now for pick-up or shipment when it suits you, pending availability.
Now What?
You’ve ordered your chicks and set your pick-up appointment. Now what?
Chick Flippers
As chick season heats up, I want to talk to you about Chick Flippers. These are people who place large orders from commercial hatcheries, have the chicks shipped in, and then list them for sale at a HUGE mark-up on Craigslist etc. They don’t disclose . . .
Incubation & Hatching Tips: LockDown & Hatching
All my best tips for hatching healthy chicks with loads of pictures and videos.
Incubation & Hatching Tips: Incubation
With over 5K eggs hatched, here are many of the things I wish I had known when I started.
Feather Dusters for Chicks: A Very Bad Idea
Please oh please don't use a feather duster. Yes, they will love it, but when you find the one that got tangled in it and hung herself, you will feel awful.
Wyze Cams
As I have been sharing videos of the farm, kitty cam, chick cam etc., folks have been asking about the cameras. Well here’s the scoop.
Wyze cams: They are not costly, they set-up easily, and I can control them from my phone or from my Echo Show or laptop.
Mouse & Rat Control for the Chicken Coop
Feral Cats become Working Barn Cats
Mouse and rat control for me.
Cozy home for the unloved kitties.
Didn’t have to use poison.
Valentine’s Gifts for your Crazy Chicken Lover
Chocolate and flowers for Valentines? Alright, if you insist, but these as well! An egg skelter, chicken dish towels, egg gathering baskets, and an adorable chicken tumbler. Yes please.
ISA Browns: Early Layers
ISA Browns are sweet, sturdy, and pretty layers of many medium and large brown eggs. Sexed at hatch as females are brown and males are white. Friendly and sociable, these are my go-to birds if I just want eggs, lots and lots of eggs.
Gift Ideas for a Crazy Chicken Lady or Gentleman
Do you have a crazy chicken lady or gentleman on your shopping list? Of course you do. Here are some fun gift ideas.
Wry Neck
Pullet with flopsy curvy neck + Selenium gel = Surprise!
Which Natural Farm Feed Product Should I Buy For My Chickens?
Which Natural Farm Feed Product Should I Buy For My Chickens? Layer? Premium Layer? Broiler? Premium Broiler?
Preparing the Coops for Winter
It’s wet and cold and dark and it’s going to get wetter and colder and darker. All month long we have been preparing the coops and runs for winter.
When Can I Put my Chicks Outside?
Well that depends on many things, chiefly the weather and what does your outside set-up entail. The rule of thumb is that they need to be ten weeks old if the over-night low is going to be around 30. That said, I put them out at four weeks at about any time of year. What? Yes. Four weeks, with supplemental heat.
Olive Eggers
“Hey, I purchased Olive Egger hatching eggs from you and the eggs you gave me are blue?! What’s up with that?” or “Hey, I purchased Olive Egger chicks from you and they grew up and are laying brown or blue eggs. What’s up with that?”
”Thank you for asking. It’s complicated.”
Fermented Feed
How we ferment the Natural Farm Feed for our chickens here at Flower Feather Farm.
How Hard Can It Be?
One of my customers — a first-time chicken dad — glibly remarked, “I think I’ll get into breeding, how hard can it be?” One of my more diplomatic friends responded, “You would be surprised.”
Hemp Bedding
I am really happy to be able to acquire, and to offer to you, Hemp Bedding. Reduces smell, is lighter and less dusty, warmer and dryer.
Dalia Monterroso, author of Let’s All Keep Chickens, and President of Chickenlandia, honored us with an invitation to be a Bawk Tawk guest. And, as you know, I love to chat about chickens, so off we went.