As the weather starts to get colder, it's time for us to prepare the chickens' winter home for their return!
The Learning Farm chickens spend the summer roaming the farm in their Egg Mobile, a brightly colored pioneer-style covered wagon. It's lovely to "camp out" during warm weather, but the chickens need more protection from the frigid Chicago winter. Brrrrr!
Luckily the chickens also have a cozy winter home in the Learning Farm Hen House, a permanent structure that is attached to our Egg Wash Station. Our current flock of chickens spent their early days inside this warm structure as they matured from day-old chicks last November to full-grown chickens.
And now it's almost time to move back "home." Except . . . there are other chickens in their house! While the Learning Farm chickens traipsed around in the Egg Mobile, another Prairie Crossing farm business' chickens settled into the Hen House. A chicken time-share, if you will.
As with all moves, there is a lot of cleaning that needs to be done beforehand. With chickens, there is a LOT of cleaning! And then, even more cleaning, sanitizing, and airing out of the Hen House. All this cleaning is important for general safety reasons and for the continued health of the flock.
Healthy chickens = healthy eggs = healthy people!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Media (and candy) hungry hens
I got a call a few weeks ago from a local reporter, Sheryl DeVore from the Grayslake Trib Local, doing a story on backyard chickens -- she wondered if our hens might be available for a photo session. Of course! Our hens LOVE media attention so we set a date for Sheryl to visit. I arranged for our regular Friday morning Hen House Helpers to come a little later than usual so they could be part of the story too.
It was a beautiful day on the farm, and the hens were very enthusiastic subjects! The Hen House Helpers demonstrated how they gathered eggs -- some of the younger (and shorter) children in the family carefully reached above their heads to gather eggs in the upper nest boxes. All the nest boxes -- high and low -- were diligently checked and emptied by the children. Nestled carefully in the egg baskets, the morning's eggs were collected and ready to be washed.
Before we headed to the Egg Wash Station, Sheryl wanted more shots of the chickens in their outdoor chicken yard. The EggMobile is constructed so that volunteers can collect eggs without entering the chicken yard, but she wanted to walk around inside with the hens and get the full chicken experience. We turned off the electric fence, opened the gate, and she slipped inside.
The chickens were very excited to see their visitor! They hustled over and crowded around her feet -- anxious to get in the newspaper I'm sure. As you can imagine, it's difficult to take pictures with over 150 enthusiastic chickens clamoring at your feet. The kids and I tossed in some "chicken candy" to distract the hens and give her some breathing space to take photographs. What is "chicken candy"? It is a mix of grains with some bits of corn. The corn is not particularly good for laying hens, but they LOVE to eat it -- hence the infrequent "candy" treat.
The hens were happy, the reporter relieved, the children entertained -- AND Sheryl had taken some wonderful shots of the beautiful Prairie Crossing Learning Farm hens. The end result was the following two TribLocal articles (plus some extra video/photo footage embedded in the first article):
http://triblocal.com/grayslake/2011/09/05/learning-farm-raises-chickens-for-eggs-education/
http://triblocal.com/round-lake/2011/09/05/residents-want-backyard-chickens-legal-in-county/
Enjoy! If you have a chicken story you'd like to share on the blog, please let me know.
Erin Cummisford
It was a beautiful day on the farm, and the hens were very enthusiastic subjects! The Hen House Helpers demonstrated how they gathered eggs -- some of the younger (and shorter) children in the family carefully reached above their heads to gather eggs in the upper nest boxes. All the nest boxes -- high and low -- were diligently checked and emptied by the children. Nestled carefully in the egg baskets, the morning's eggs were collected and ready to be washed.
Before we headed to the Egg Wash Station, Sheryl wanted more shots of the chickens in their outdoor chicken yard. The EggMobile is constructed so that volunteers can collect eggs without entering the chicken yard, but she wanted to walk around inside with the hens and get the full chicken experience. We turned off the electric fence, opened the gate, and she slipped inside.
The chickens were very excited to see their visitor! They hustled over and crowded around her feet -- anxious to get in the newspaper I'm sure. As you can imagine, it's difficult to take pictures with over 150 enthusiastic chickens clamoring at your feet. The kids and I tossed in some "chicken candy" to distract the hens and give her some breathing space to take photographs. What is "chicken candy"? It is a mix of grains with some bits of corn. The corn is not particularly good for laying hens, but they LOVE to eat it -- hence the infrequent "candy" treat.
The hens were happy, the reporter relieved, the children entertained -- AND Sheryl had taken some wonderful shots of the beautiful Prairie Crossing Learning Farm hens. The end result was the following two TribLocal articles (plus some extra video/photo footage embedded in the first article):
http://triblocal.com/grayslake/2011/09/05/learning-farm-raises-chickens-for-eggs-education/
http://triblocal.com/round-lake/2011/09/05/residents-want-backyard-chickens-legal-in-county/
Enjoy! If you have a chicken story you'd like to share on the blog, please let me know.
Erin Cummisford
Friday, September 16, 2011
Heroic Hawk Helpers
While I'm on the topic of hawks, I also had an opportunity to be a "Heroic Hawk Helper" last Friday. I realize this is a chicken blog, but ....
The Learning Farm hens are out in the pasture with their mobile hen house -- the EggMobile -- for the summer. While they're in their "summer home" one of the farmers participating in the Prairie Crossing Farm Business Development Program, Nick from Midnight Sun Organics /http://midnightsunorganics.com/, is using the Learning Farm's indoor Hen House for his layer and meat chickens.
I hurried past the Hen House last Friday afternoon -- quickly finishing up my tasks before I headed out of town for a weekend with some high school friends. To be honest, I was probably already thinking about our plans to participate in the Susan Komen walk together, and working through the logistics in my head.
I glanced in the Hen House and spotted Nick completed surrounded by chickens. I've heard that Nick's turkeys (who make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner by the way) follow him around like he's the Pied Piper, so my curiosity was piqued.
I poked my head in to see what was happening, and he quietly gestured for me to come inside -- a small hawk had apparently decided to join the flock! The hawk was not big enough to be a threat to the chickens and he didn't even seem to notice them, unlike his big "cousins" from my last post. I'm taking some poetic license here in assuming the hawk was a "he" -- he sought out a huge group of female birds AND was lost but showed no signs of asking for directions. But I digress . . . .
Nick and I started plotting about how to convince him to leave. I held the door open while Nick tried to shoo him out, but although the hawk flew right towards the door he kept landing on top of it. Nick was wearing goggles to protect his eyes and I was covering my head and closing my eyes. It was not a perfect plan. We propped the door open with a board so we could both try to corral him out. I decided to live dangerously, and opened my eyes. Thankfully it worked, and he was off!
Perhaps we should coin a new expression about the "hawk in the henhouse" whenever we feel stuck and are not sure how to handle a situation -- we all need someone to point us in the right direction, and provide a little comic relief along the way. A rooster in a hen house knows what to do, but a hawk? Not so much!
Erin Cummisford
The Learning Farm hens are out in the pasture with their mobile hen house -- the EggMobile -- for the summer. While they're in their "summer home" one of the farmers participating in the Prairie Crossing Farm Business Development Program, Nick from Midnight Sun Organics /http://midnightsunorganics.com/, is using the Learning Farm's indoor Hen House for his layer and meat chickens.
I hurried past the Hen House last Friday afternoon -- quickly finishing up my tasks before I headed out of town for a weekend with some high school friends. To be honest, I was probably already thinking about our plans to participate in the Susan Komen walk together, and working through the logistics in my head.
I glanced in the Hen House and spotted Nick completed surrounded by chickens. I've heard that Nick's turkeys (who make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner by the way) follow him around like he's the Pied Piper, so my curiosity was piqued.
I poked my head in to see what was happening, and he quietly gestured for me to come inside -- a small hawk had apparently decided to join the flock! The hawk was not big enough to be a threat to the chickens and he didn't even seem to notice them, unlike his big "cousins" from my last post. I'm taking some poetic license here in assuming the hawk was a "he" -- he sought out a huge group of female birds AND was lost but showed no signs of asking for directions. But I digress . . . .
Nick and I started plotting about how to convince him to leave. I held the door open while Nick tried to shoo him out, but although the hawk flew right towards the door he kept landing on top of it. Nick was wearing goggles to protect his eyes and I was covering my head and closing my eyes. It was not a perfect plan. We propped the door open with a board so we could both try to corral him out. I decided to live dangerously, and opened my eyes. Thankfully it worked, and he was off!
Perhaps we should coin a new expression about the "hawk in the henhouse" whenever we feel stuck and are not sure how to handle a situation -- we all need someone to point us in the right direction, and provide a little comic relief along the way. A rooster in a hen house knows what to do, but a hawk? Not so much!
Erin Cummisford
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Of Hawks and Hens
I came to the farm one evening a few weeks ago for a Hen House Helper training session, and found 3 large hawks dive-bombing the chickens outside the Egg Mobile in the chicken yard. The roosters were raising the alarm LOUDLY and the hens were making TONS of noise. It was not a peaceful night at the farm to say the least.
We tried to scare the hawks away, but were not very successful. I called my husband and kids to the farm -- I know they can make lots of noise and create distractions -- and sent them into the chicken yard to hoot and holler. The hawks were not scared of my family, the family I was supposed to be training, or the other people who heard the panicked calls of the chickens and came to the farm to investigate. They peered down on us from their perches in the trees, determined we were neither predator nor prey, and blithely ignored us while they went about their work.
Although the chickens were too large to be carried away by one of these birds, it was a scary experience and a startling reminder of the web of life. The majestic hawks we loved to spot hunting along the side the road were now hunting our beloved chickens! The kids were particularly concerned about the chickens and wanted to camp out at the farm to keep an all-night vigil. Homework, bedtime, a good night's sleep and the morning school bus made that an impractical (and temporary) solution.
At the end of the day though, despite the many layers of protection for our chickens -- the electric perimeter fence, the secure Egg Mobile that is closed each night, the Nite Guard Solar (registered trademark) predator deterent http://www.niteguard.com/, the roosters who alert and corral hens to take shelter, the covered areas under the Egg Mobile door and feed area, the trees they are often pastured under to compromise Red-Tail hawks' preferred hunting methods, the chickens' proximity to people, etc. -- we can't completely protect them from harm.
As many farmers say, the only way to completely eliminate predation is not to pasture chickens. We keep our chickens off pasture until they are fully grown -- Red-Tail and Coopers hawks have low rates of success with fully grown hens. We do our best, then hope for the rest -- and that's life on the farm.
Erin Cummisford
We tried to scare the hawks away, but were not very successful. I called my husband and kids to the farm -- I know they can make lots of noise and create distractions -- and sent them into the chicken yard to hoot and holler. The hawks were not scared of my family, the family I was supposed to be training, or the other people who heard the panicked calls of the chickens and came to the farm to investigate. They peered down on us from their perches in the trees, determined we were neither predator nor prey, and blithely ignored us while they went about their work.
Although the chickens were too large to be carried away by one of these birds, it was a scary experience and a startling reminder of the web of life. The majestic hawks we loved to spot hunting along the side the road were now hunting our beloved chickens! The kids were particularly concerned about the chickens and wanted to camp out at the farm to keep an all-night vigil. Homework, bedtime, a good night's sleep and the morning school bus made that an impractical (and temporary) solution.
At the end of the day though, despite the many layers of protection for our chickens -- the electric perimeter fence, the secure Egg Mobile that is closed each night, the Nite Guard Solar (registered trademark) predator deterent http://www.niteguard.com/, the roosters who alert and corral hens to take shelter, the covered areas under the Egg Mobile door and feed area, the trees they are often pastured under to compromise Red-Tail hawks' preferred hunting methods, the chickens' proximity to people, etc. -- we can't completely protect them from harm.
As many farmers say, the only way to completely eliminate predation is not to pasture chickens. We keep our chickens off pasture until they are fully grown -- Red-Tail and Coopers hawks have low rates of success with fully grown hens. We do our best, then hope for the rest -- and that's life on the farm.
Erin Cummisford
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Memories of Chicken Camp
Chicken Camp Memories -- by Emma Brown, Prairie Crossing Learning Farm Intern
What I loved most about being a part of Chicken Camp and leading some of the chicken activities was seeing how excited the campers were about the various activities related to our flock. Collecting the eggs was always an exciting experience, especially when there were hens in the nest boxes who didn't want to give up their eggs! It was great to hear the campers say "yeah, they might peck you but it doesn't hurt!" I was happy to see that the kids wanted to be a part of tending to the chickens and, even if they don't understand it yet, they are acting as a part of our community food system. That's something I think everyone should be aware of, and these campers started learning about it at Farm Camp!
One of the best memories I have of Chicken Camp is about a particular young camper. He loved the chickens, and the only thing he loved more than the chickens was feeding them mulberries from the tree near the chicken yard. Every time we went over to the chickens we picked mulberries from the tree and also the ones that fell on the ground. He would feed the chickens from his hand and by the end of the day his hands would be covered in sticky purple juice.
The day of our celebration, which is always the last day of each camp, the camper's mother shared with us that when he came home from Chicken Camp the previous day, he stated that it had been "the best day of his life!" We were so moved and so happy to hear that he had such a great time. I will never forget him and his love of the Learning Farm chickens and feeding them mulberries!
What I loved most about being a part of Chicken Camp and leading some of the chicken activities was seeing how excited the campers were about the various activities related to our flock. Collecting the eggs was always an exciting experience, especially when there were hens in the nest boxes who didn't want to give up their eggs! It was great to hear the campers say "yeah, they might peck you but it doesn't hurt!" I was happy to see that the kids wanted to be a part of tending to the chickens and, even if they don't understand it yet, they are acting as a part of our community food system. That's something I think everyone should be aware of, and these campers started learning about it at Farm Camp!
One of the best memories I have of Chicken Camp is about a particular young camper. He loved the chickens, and the only thing he loved more than the chickens was feeding them mulberries from the tree near the chicken yard. Every time we went over to the chickens we picked mulberries from the tree and also the ones that fell on the ground. He would feed the chickens from his hand and by the end of the day his hands would be covered in sticky purple juice.
The day of our celebration, which is always the last day of each camp, the camper's mother shared with us that when he came home from Chicken Camp the previous day, he stated that it had been "the best day of his life!" We were so moved and so happy to hear that he had such a great time. I will never forget him and his love of the Learning Farm chickens and feeding them mulberries!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Broody hen surprise!
Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time!
Having gathered eggs on my grandparents' farm as a child, and as a volunteer Hen House Helper at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm, I have benefitted from many "close encounters" with chickens.
Tuesday I was collecting from a particularly broody Barred Rock Hen. I lifted the hen with my right hand and reached in the nest with my left to avoid being pecked. As I lifted the hen, she laid a warm, elastic egg directly into my hand!
Unbelievable! To see the "act of laying" up close and personal was truly amazing! Thanks to the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm for this experience!
Cynthia Horine
Editor's note: Thank YOU, Cynthia -- for volunteering your time as a Hen House Helper, and for sharing this amazing story with us!
Having gathered eggs on my grandparents' farm as a child, and as a volunteer Hen House Helper at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm, I have benefitted from many "close encounters" with chickens.
Tuesday I was collecting from a particularly broody Barred Rock Hen. I lifted the hen with my right hand and reached in the nest with my left to avoid being pecked. As I lifted the hen, she laid a warm, elastic egg directly into my hand!
Unbelievable! To see the "act of laying" up close and personal was truly amazing! Thanks to the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm for this experience!
Cynthia Horine
Editor's note: Thank YOU, Cynthia -- for volunteering your time as a Hen House Helper, and for sharing this amazing story with us!
Friday, July 15, 2011
How to trick a broody hen . . .
I'm trying a crazy experiment with the hens this week. Many of the Learning Farm hens have become "broody" -- this means they are spending a lot of time sitting on their eggs hoping to make them hatch. Although that seems to be the hen's plan, it does not align with the Learning Farm's plan to package their eggs for sale!
We do have a few roosters in the flock, but we collect eggs twice a day and refrigerate them, which stops any fertilized eggs from developing into chicks. This is easy to explain to you, but challenging to communicate to the hens!
Based on my quick research, broodiness is not desirable in a laying flock for several reasons. First, they sometimes peck the volunteer Hen House Helpers -- it's not painful, but it's surprising! Also, broody hens may neglect their own health by not eating or drinking as often as they should, and their egg production may diminish.
Ready for the crazy experiment? I read that broodiness can be curbed by lowering the body temperature of the hen's underside. I read about some labor-intensive ideas for doing this, but came up with an easier, though crazier idea instead. We are going to try to reduce broody behavior by placing plastic eggs containing plastic ice cubes underneath the hens who exhibit the most "pecky" behaviors.
It's so crazy, it just might work! Even if it doesn't it can't hurt to try, and it's been fun learning more about chickens. I never anticipated using my undergraduate psychology degree on chickens . . . .
We do have a few roosters in the flock, but we collect eggs twice a day and refrigerate them, which stops any fertilized eggs from developing into chicks. This is easy to explain to you, but challenging to communicate to the hens!
Based on my quick research, broodiness is not desirable in a laying flock for several reasons. First, they sometimes peck the volunteer Hen House Helpers -- it's not painful, but it's surprising! Also, broody hens may neglect their own health by not eating or drinking as often as they should, and their egg production may diminish.
Ready for the crazy experiment? I read that broodiness can be curbed by lowering the body temperature of the hen's underside. I read about some labor-intensive ideas for doing this, but came up with an easier, though crazier idea instead. We are going to try to reduce broody behavior by placing plastic eggs containing plastic ice cubes underneath the hens who exhibit the most "pecky" behaviors.
It's so crazy, it just might work! Even if it doesn't it can't hurt to try, and it's been fun learning more about chickens. I never anticipated using my undergraduate psychology degree on chickens . . . .
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Chickens on the Farm Camp!
Whew! Last week the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm had our first Chickens on the Farm Camp! A great group of 8-10 year old students spent some quality time with the lovely Learning Farm hens.
During the one week camp the children learned about chickens, fed them, collected eggs, did chicken-related crafts, and more. The hens received a lot of attention last week!
Sound interesting? All of our children's Farm Camp programs involve collecting eggs and interacting with the chickens. Young farmers also dig in the soil, care for plants, harvest crops, and even prepare their own snacks during some camp sessions.
The Learning Farm has some spaces in the following Farm Camps:
Sweet Peas (4-5 years) -- Using Our Senses to Explore the Farm
Session A: July 19 - July 29 (2 weeks), Tues. - Fri. from 9-11:30 a.m., $200/child
Session B: Aug. 2 - Aug. 12 (2 weeks), Tues. - Fri. from 9-11:30 a.m., $200/child
Hungry Caterpillars (6-7 years) -- Plants and Animals on the Farm
Session A: July 19 - July 29 (2 weeks), Tues. - Fri. from 1-3:30 p.m., $200/child
Session B: Aug. 2 - Aug. 12 (2 weeks), Tues. - Fri. from 1-3:30 p.m., $200/child
Chickens on the Farm (5-7 years) -- ONLY ONE OPENING LEFT!
July 12-15 (1 week), Tues. - Fri. from 1-3:30 p.m., $100/child
Great Garden Gang -- Exploring Fall on the Farm (5-10 years)
Sept. 1 - Oct. 6, Thursdays from 4-5:30 p.m., $90/child
Registration forms can be downloaded at www.prairiecrossing.com/learning/farm.php We hope to see your young farmer at Farm Camp this summer!
Stay tuned for fun stories from last week's Chickens on the Farm Camp . . . .
During the one week camp the children learned about chickens, fed them, collected eggs, did chicken-related crafts, and more. The hens received a lot of attention last week!
Sound interesting? All of our children's Farm Camp programs involve collecting eggs and interacting with the chickens. Young farmers also dig in the soil, care for plants, harvest crops, and even prepare their own snacks during some camp sessions.
The Learning Farm has some spaces in the following Farm Camps:
Sweet Peas (4-5 years) -- Using Our Senses to Explore the Farm
Session A: July 19 - July 29 (2 weeks), Tues. - Fri. from 9-11:30 a.m., $200/child
Session B: Aug. 2 - Aug. 12 (2 weeks), Tues. - Fri. from 9-11:30 a.m., $200/child
Hungry Caterpillars (6-7 years) -- Plants and Animals on the Farm
Session A: July 19 - July 29 (2 weeks), Tues. - Fri. from 1-3:30 p.m., $200/child
Session B: Aug. 2 - Aug. 12 (2 weeks), Tues. - Fri. from 1-3:30 p.m., $200/child
Chickens on the Farm (5-7 years) -- ONLY ONE OPENING LEFT!
July 12-15 (1 week), Tues. - Fri. from 1-3:30 p.m., $100/child
Great Garden Gang -- Exploring Fall on the Farm (5-10 years)
Sept. 1 - Oct. 6, Thursdays from 4-5:30 p.m., $90/child
Registration forms can be downloaded at www.prairiecrossing.com/learning/farm.php We hope to see your young farmer at Farm Camp this summer!
Stay tuned for fun stories from last week's Chickens on the Farm Camp . . . .
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