Take the Chicken Challenge!

We've recently hosted several general farm and "Be a Chicken Farmer" tours at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm, and it's been fun to introduce area children to our chickens.  I wanted to share some interesting chicken facts that we've shared with our farm visitors in this True/False Chicken Challenge!  The answers are located at the bottom of the blog post.  Don't peek! 

1. Chickens have to be rounded up to come inside at night.
2. Roosters are needed for hens to lay eggs.
3. You can tell what color a hen's eggs will be by looking at her ear lobes.
4. Roosters only crow at sunrise.
5. Chickens sleep in their nests.

How did you do?  Are you feeling cluckingly confident, or chicken challenged?  And now, here are the answers (drum roll, please):

1.  Chickens do not need to be rounded up at night -- they instinctively know to get inside when it gets dark so they will be protected from predators.  We merely secure the door, thankfully.

2.  Although they probably wouldn't believe us, the roosters are NOT necessary for the hens to lay eggs.  Hens lay eggs regardless of whether there are roosters to mate with and fertilize their eggs.  Eggs are collected 1-2 times each day and refrigerated, which stops an embryo from forming IF a rooster shared a special moment with that particular hen.

3.  Strange, but generally true.  The Learning Farm chickens have red ear lobes, which indicates that they lay brown eggs.  Chickens with white ear lobes lay white or lightly colored eggs.  Chickens with pierced ear lobes do not hang around our flock and are clearly rebelling against something ... but would still lay eggs I imagine.

4. Roosters crow any time they feel like crowing!  They can be really loud, which is one reason why cities that allow backyard chickens do not normally allow roosters, only hens.

5. Chickens do not sleep in their nests, but instead perch on roosts.  The roosts look like wide ladders full of cooing chickens snuggled together on the rungs at night.

If you would like to chicken-challenge your children, sign them up for Farm Camp at the Learning Farm this summer! We have several camps specifically focused on chickens, but all camps include some chicken experiences.  Spaces are limited, so register at www.prairiecrossing.com/farm/learning.php today!  Information about farm tours is located on the website too.

Special Needs Chickens

About a month ago, we discovered that one of our chickens could no longer move one of her legs. We brought her into our office to isolate her and see if her health improved -- she seemed generally healthy, except for her leg. She lived like a queen in a large dog crate for about a week, supplementing her regular diet with fresh greens that by luck had been started as a seed viability test. We changed her newspaper bedding many times a day. Her digestive system certainly worked. This was not a sustainable solution for our farm chicken ....

In a small backyard chicken setting, a chicken with only one functional leg might be manageable. In a modest-sized farm chicken operation like the Learning Farm's, this chicken required special care that we did not have the capacity to provide. She was not able to compete with the other hens to access food and water, and would not survive in the flock. We were not able to continue nursing her inside for the long term, and her leg was not improving.

The hens' future looked uncertain, but bleak. Culling birds who are injured, diseased, or past their egg production years is an unfortunate production-flock management reality. None of us were eager to end this hen's life, but we knew we were unable to care for her.

I dug through my email box and located a woman who adopted a few hens from our last flock. I emailed her, changed the newspaper in the crate again, waited, and hoped for a new home for this chicken.

Success! Within short order (but a few more newspaper changes) this person connected me with a woman who not only wanted to adopt this chicken, but actually had a home for her in a special needs flock. The perfect scenario! Kerri is a vet tech and "chicken eggspert" who has chickens of her own, in addition to helping other poultry hobbyists (www.thechickeneggspert.com). Kerri dubbed the chicken "Rhoda" (she is a Rhode Island Red), and took her home to join a one-eyed rooster, a one-legged hen, and a few new friends. Whew!

I recently heard from Kerri that she x-rayed Rhoda's hip and found that it was dislocated. While Rhoda was under anesthesia, she put the hip back into place, but the surrounding tendons and ligaments were unable to adequately support the joint. Although her hip pops in and out depending on how she moves, it doesn't seem to be painful. Kerri continues to provide excellent care to Rhoda and hopes that with continued cage rest, eventually her ligaments will tighten up and provide more stability to her leg.

Rhoda's future plans include making new friends, munching on grass, and discovering bugs. We're happy she has found a new home, and thankful for people like Kerri who work hard to care for special chickens, and support the growing backyard chicken phenomena!

Hen House Helpers needed!

Have you ever wanted to work with animals? Do you want to have a unique experience that makes a difference and contributes to the availability of local food?

Volunteer as a Hen House Helper at the Prairie Crossing Learning
Farm!


The Prairie Crossing Learning Farm offers a real farm-work volunteer experience helping to care for our flock of free range chickens. Hen House Helpers (HHH) volunteer for a regular weekly shift at the farm – either in the morning (9-10 a.m.) or afternoon (3-4 p.m.).


HHHs collect the eggs, wash them, and package them for sale. There are also substitute HHH who fill in when needed – the regular HHH is responsible for finding a substitute when they can’t cover their regular shift.


I am currently looking for volunteers for the March 18 – June 9 session. I will also hold a training session for new HHH once the schedule has been finalized.


Interested? Available to cover a Tuesday afternoon or Thursday morning
shift? Please email ecummisford@prairiecrossing.com

Chicken Valentine!

I wanted to share this beautiful chicken valentine from Abby -- a talented young artist who volunteers with her family as a Hen House Helper at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm.


I'm speculating on the artist's inspiration (always a dicey proposition), but I know that Abby developed a special relationship with one of the chickens, who she named "Lucky". I love her beautiful chicken drawing, and the possible double entendre with her use of the word "lucky". I am so thankful that Abby loves our chickens and that her mom emailed this to me on Valentine's Day!


All of our chickens are lucky to have enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers like this young girl and the rest of her family. Our Hen House Helper program connects volunteers with a rare opportunity to do real farm work with our flock of free-range chickens. It's educational, helps support Learning Farm operations, and is FUN! More information about our Hen House Helper program, including how to get involved, is at www.prairiecrossing.com/farm/learning.php


The mission of the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm is to educate and inspire people to value healthy food, land and community through experiences on our farm. We LOVE receiving stories, pictures, drawings, poetry, etc. about our farm! If you have something to share, please send it to ecummisford@prairiecrossing.com


Thank you to Abby for the picture that now hangs by my desk, and to her parents for granting their permission for me to share it!

"Chicken" Chickens

After such strange and unseasonable weather this winter, I was anxious to see how the chickens responded to the recent snow. After all, it's been a LONG time since these chickens have seen measurable snow! These chickens came to the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm last November as day-old chicks, and didn't venture outside until February. Even if they did experience snow last season, does a chicken have a long term memory? Hmmm.

I wondered if the chickens would be excited ... like my children who love to play outside until I fear for their extremities. Of if they would be exuberant ... like my dogs who run like crazy whenever it snows. Or if they would be confused ... like my cat on the day I carried him to a patch of snow on the back porch (he looked really interested from inside the house, and I thought I'd broaden his horizons).

I didn't imagine that the chickens would be too "chicken" to even venture outside. Sheesh. If you look closely at the picture above, you might see a chicken barely peeking outside at the snow. 165 chickens, and zero footprints on the very shallow snow outside their door. I've since learned that this is typical for chickens, and that they wait for humans to shovel a path for them through the snow. Not a bad gig.

It's hard for me to judge the chickens for their dislike of snow, because it's not too far removed from my own feelings. My family will affirm that I too mostly wait for others to shovel the snow. Like the chickens, I would rather be toasty warm inside during a cold wintery day instead of trudging through the snow. This reminds me that I need to give Logan Beausoleil credit for venturing out to see what the chickens were doing in the snow, and taking this picture. Because I was too chicken. And forgot my snow boots.

Whether they're enjoying this weather or not -- the chickens are working hard to produce lots of tasty organic eggs. If you're the sort who loves the snow, hike/ski/sled to the Prairie Crossing Long Barn during daylight hours and purchase some. Or send your friend. Although I forgot my snow boots yet again, I will head outside to purchase eggs tonight. They are absolutely worth it!

They're back! Farm-fresh organic eggs!

After a brief lull, the egg production is starting to increase slowly. There are plenty of eggs in the Long Barn for sale today! We expect production to slowly increase as the days get gradually longer after the winter solstice.

That's good news for everyone who loves farm-fresh organic eggs, and for those of us who look forward to more daylight hours!

Stop by the Prairie Crossing Long Barn today to purchase eggs for last-minute holiday baking! To purchase eggs, follow the posted instructions in the barn.

Hen House Helpers, hens and hawks -- oh my!

I have had the pleasure of volunteering at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm for almost a year now. I was so excited for the opportunity to care for (but mostly pick up and pet) chickens! Since last December I have gone to the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm in Grayslake as much as I could to see those little balls of fluff, and every time I’ve been delighted with the squawking, energetic hens awaiting me.

Perhaps that’s why, only several weeks ago, I was especially surprised to walk in and spot a bird in flight in the henhouse! Somehow a clever hawk had made its way into the henhouse and was swooping over the poor chickens. My mother and I panicked and ran to get help.

Luckily two farmers were just next door. They ran into the Hen House and tried coaxing the hawk outside, but had no luck. As soon as the other helpers left to get more equipment, my mother opened a large side door and the hawk successfully flew out of the Hen House.

This experience demonstrates how in touch with animals we seem to have gotten since volunteering! Between watching them grow and (sort of) saving their little lives, volunteering at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm has always been exciting.

Hen House Helper "D"

[Editor's note: Thank you to "D" and her parents for volunteering as Hen House Helpers! Thanks also for sharing this story with our blog readers.]