My Chirpy Chicken Coop

Keeping Rodents Out Of The Coop November 28, 2021 (Eliza sitting amongst the chocolate mint near our coop!) During late fall and into winter, when the temperatures are dropping, and the field mice and rats are looking for a nice warm, safe place to spend the winter as well as a readily available food source nearby, your chicken coop is looking pretty good to them right about now! It's filled with soft bedding, chicken feed, and protects the rodents from predators like weasels, mink, and fox who enjoy a little mouse snack! Mice and other rodents not only can carry disease and contaminate the area with their droppings, they can transmit lice, mites or ticks to your chickens, and they will eat your chicken feed and chew all kinds of things you don't want them to. Not only that, often snakes, weasels or other varmints will travel using the tunnels mice dig - and that's the last thing you want. So ridding your coop and run area of mice is really important. Here are some helpful

  A Memoir To Lafayette November 21, 2021 (Our last memories made with Laffy!) I'm once again so grieved as I write this. As you know, our area is not zoned for roosters, so we had been soundproofing the coop in the mornings so that the neighbors would not hear Lafayette. However, the neighbors had their satisfaction- Lafayette is with us no longer, we had to rehome him. For awhile now, our new neighbors had been complaining over and over about Laffy- even once saying they wanted to kill him! Finally, after a final complaint, our family decided to rehome him. On the morning of November 20, 2021, I spent my last waking hours with Laffy, feeding him treats, playing with him, letting him roam around one last time with his ladies. We eventually packed him up into the car and drove an hour to a farm (if you could call it that, the place was kind of inhumane, and some guinea fowl were mating with the chickens!) where we gave him away. We said our goodbyes, and Lafayette crowed a final cr

  To Heat, Or Not To Heat...That Is The Question November 14, 2021 (The flock hanging out in the coop on a chilly fall day!) To heat or not to heat your chicken coop in the winter.....that is the question. Dry shavings, wood, chickens, plus a heat source....not a good combination. An often debated topic among chicken keepers is the subject of heating your coop or not. But in this case, it's best to listen to your chickens. Some chicken experts flat out say no - never, ever heat your coop. Their rationale is that people have been raising chickens forever, even before electricity was invented, so chickens don't need heat. Remember, generations ago, chickens most likely slept right in the barn along with other, larger farm animals - maybe snuggled up next to a fuzzy sheep or roosting on the rafters above a pen full of warm cows. Farm families also generally kept fairly large flocks since they were using their chickens for eggs. The average farmer had a lot more than 4 or 5 chicken

Annual Hug A Chicken Day 2021!!! November 7, 2021 (A collage of me and my fam hugging our chickens!) So easily overlooked by many, it seems fitting to draw attention to these amazing animals.  Chickens not only deliver fresh delicious eggs to our door, but they also make fantastic pets.  They are capable of emotions and bring much joy to my family on so many levels. During the entire day on November 5th, Hug a Chicken Day,  people across the globe will be hugging their chickens and posting their pictures to this event.  On this day, please take the time to honor your chickens for all that they provide to your family and the world.  I hope to be joined by fellow chicken keepers in saying thank you. Last, but not least, mark your calendars. Maybe this one might just set some sort of world record. Did you remember to hug one of your chickens today? How different would our lives be without them?  I am grateful for their eggs, their companionship, entertainment, lessons in life, the respons