Suburban Chickens: Round Two

As many of you have read, my chickens were the target of a diabolical attack by local raccoons.  Since my last post, I caught one other small raccoon and relocated him as well.  I’ve set the trap a couple more times and had the bait stolen both times without the trap closing, so they may be getting smarter, or just luckier.  Thankfully, they have not attempted to penetrate the newly improved chicken fencing and hopefully won’t.

New hens enjoying some water on a 90 Degree morning

Following the death and mourning of my chickens, I gave a call to the place where I got my chickens last year.  Smoke Hollow Farm, located in Pittstown, NJ, and is a facility for training and showing  American Saddlebred horses.  Like any farm, they also have other animals like sheep, goats and chickens to keep them busy.  When I called, I spoke to a farm hand, and he told me they had plenty of pullets (hens almost old enough to start laying) and had both Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks.   When I first was looking into getting chickens I wanted to have Barred Rocks because not only were they hardy and good layers, they were also pretty birds.  A dual purpose bird – good for both meat and laying -they grow larger than the Reds and are also very docile.  Once the most popular bird in the country, the Barred Rock is certainly a great backyard chicken.  So a few days after I called the farm, I went and picked up three of each.  I told the owner of the farm (who remembered me from last year) about the death of my hens.  She was glad I wasn’t giving up and told me to double check my fences for small holes that they could squeeze their way into.  She let me pick out the chickens, and it was pretty funny trying to grab them by the legs as they scurried about.  While it wasn’t pretty, I did grab the last one on the first swipe.

I brought them home in a box, and they fought a bit on the way home.  They weren’t raised in the same pen so they were not familiar with each other.  I released them in the enclosed outdoor area and not in the coop itself, which I think was a mistake because the first night they all tried to sleep outside instead of inside of the coop.  Because I was nervous the raccoon would return, I went out and put them all in the coop and then closed the door so they couldn’t run out.  They were very nervous of me and the new enclosure and weren’t venturing much outside.  I could not remember how I got the first set of chickens to relax so I decided I would try and dig them worms to get them comfortable with their pen and with me.  It worked like a charm and pretty soon they were right next to me waiting for the next clump of dirt that potentially held delicious worms.

A Barred Rock with a luscious piece of grass

The hens were still getting used to each other and setting up the pecking order, with the older (but not larger) Rhode Island Reds bullying the younger Barred Rocks.  A new behavior I noticed was that the Barred Rocks would pick up a worm and run to a corner before eating it.  While I was digging, one of the Rocks picked up a worm that had to be hanging at least 6″ from its mouth and then had to dodge tackles from the Reds as she bobbed and weaved to eat her prized worm.  Another interesting behavior is how the Rocks sleep.  Instead of sitting up like the Reds, they hang their heads straight down and look almost dead.  It was very bizarre to see the first time.  They also make a much quieter noise than the Reds that sounds more like a chirp.

Getting new chickens is exciting and having a new breed is certainly adding to the experience.  The Reds are a little bit older and one laid her first egg yesterday.  It was only  the size of a golf ball, but hopefully it’s the first of many, many eggs.