Welcome the warmer weather with this hearty cobb salad with green onion vinaigrette. It combines hard-cooked eggs with spring vegetables.
This fully adaptable recipe can be adjusted to meet your tastes. As the seasons change, use goat cheese instead of blue cheese. You can also use butter lettuce with the romaine or swap out the radishes for cherry tomatoes.
It’s the kind of meal you can enjoy any time of the year.
Servings: 2 to 4
Ingredients
Dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 green onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Salad
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup baby spinach
2 to 3 hard boiled eggs, quartered
5 radishes, sliced
3 strips cooked bacon, finely chopped
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
Preparation
Add all dressing ingredients to a single serve blender, and puree until the onion and garlic are very finely chopped and all ingredients are combined. Set aside.
Arrange the romaine in a serving bowl. Add the spinach in the center of the salad. Place the eggs in the center of the salad on top of the spinach.
Working in circular rows, layer the radishes, then the bacon, the red onion and finally the blue cheese. Combine the ingredients as you portion out servings.
In David Burke’s New American Classics (2009), Chef Burke relates, “Legend has it that Cobb salad was invented by [Robert] Bob Cobb, the owner of the world-famous (and now defunct) Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles … It is said that the salad came about when Mr. Cobb needed to make a special presentation to a regular diner who had demanded ‘something made just for me.”
Apparently the kitchen had bits and pieces of cooked chicken and bacon, avocado and Roquefort cheese along with the necessary salad makings. Cobb used his artistry to put them together in a unique way.
In The Story Behind the Dish (2012), author Mark McWilliams wrote that “weary of the familiar items on the limited menu … Bob Cobb prepared himself a salad of chopped leftover chicken and some other ingredients for a late-night meal. The dish might have been a one-time experiment if some of the movie industry’s leading players had not stopped in.”
The Brown Derby had a reputation as a hot-spot for Hollywood celebrities. A few saw what Cobb was eating and ordered the same.
A theory also exists that Robert Kreis, the executive chef at the Brown Derby, created the salad in 1929 (the year the Brown Derby’s Hollywood location opened) and named it in honor of Cobb.
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2021 issue of Chickens magazine.
Dill may immediately bring to mind a jar of crunchy, kosher pickles. But you can use this fine, feathery herb for far more than just flavoring cucumbers!
Native to western Asian and the eastern Mediterranean, dill has been a favored culinary and medicinal herb for thousands of years. Documented use of the herb can be found in an ancient Egyptian medical text believed to have been written around 3000 BCE.
A member of the plant family Apiaceae, related to parsley and coriander, dill derives its modern name from the Norse word dylla, meaning ‘to soothe or lull’. This surely refers to the herb’s historical use in soothing stomach upset and digestive complaints.
Dill’s scientific name, Anethum graveolens, can tell us quite a bit about this pungent herb. The genus Anethum combines ano and theo, which together mean “upwards I run.”
The specific epithet graveolens roughly means “producing a weighty odor.” By combining these words, we learn that dill is a tall, vigorously growing plant that produces a notable aroma.
Dill in the Kitchen
Dill is surely most well known for its use in making pickles, adding a fresh, spicy flavor and aroma to the cucumbers. But this versatile plant can also be enjoyed in myriad other dishes.
The leaves and stems, often referred to as dillweed, can be used to flavor egg dishes, salads, vegetables and fish. The herb loses its signature flavor when dried, so be sure to use fresh dill whenever possible.
The seeds of the herb are also quite useful to the culinarian. Use them to season vegetable dishes such as carrots, cabbage or winter squash. Their flavor tastes similar to caraway seeds and can serve as a substitution in breads or other baked goods.
Try infusing dill seeds in vinegar for a bright and flavorful condiment or salad dressing!
Dill has been prized by herbalists since antiquity for its healing qualities. The most common herbal medicinal crafted from the herb (and still used widely today)? A tea brewed from the seeds.
Simply infuse two teaspoons of lightly crushed dill seed per cup of water, steeping the mixture for around 10 minutes. Drink three times daily to ease stomach upset, cramping and other digestive complaints.
Dill is an antibacterial herb and can be used to brew a mouthwash to promote oral health, or the seed can simply be chewed to help freshen bad breath. This antibacterial action lends itself to topical uses for dill as well, most notably as a cleansing wash for minor wounds.
Dill seed extracts are also available on the market and are widely touted for their anti-aging, skincare benefits.
Dill is as easy to grow as it is to enjoy! Plants prefer full sun but will tolerate a bit of shade.
Dill forms a substantial taproot and does not transplant well. So direct sow your seeds into the garden after last frost in the spring.
Sow seeds about 1/2 inch deep and thin plants to a distance between 8 to 12 inches apart. This will ensure that your dill has plenty of space to bush out and produce lots of tasty leaves.
Consider sowing seeds every three to four weeks for a continual harvest! Dill will easily reseed itself if allowed, so keep a good eye on your plants.
Dill can be a wonderful companion plant for many of your favorite garden veggies. Growing dill alongside cabbages and other brassica crops will encourage growth of both crops. It can be planted with tomatoes as it makes an excellent trap-crop for tomato hornworms.
And if that’s not enough, pollinators absolutely love dill! Growing even a small patch of the herb will attract numerous bees and butterflies to your garden.
Harvest dillweed as needed throughout the season. Once the herb begins to flower, foliage production will slow down. Allowing your plants to mature will provide you with plenty of dill seed to use in all of your recipes.
And don’t forget to set a bit of seed aside to plant again in next year’s garden!
Angie McEwen grew up on on a small hobby farm in McLeansboro, Illinois. And now she spends her days running Chicken Scratch Poultry alongside her husband, Larry McEwen.
“I’ve always been fascinated with anything feathered,” says Angie.
The McEwens initially purchased their farm in 1995 and raised three children there. Then Larry discovered fertile eggs on eBay, including Black Copper Maran eggs fetching $800 for four eggs.
“Suddenly Larry was hooked on things feathered, also,” she recalls.
We talked to Angie about her favorite heritage breeds and multi-hued eggs. We also spoke about the rewarding nature of dealing with poultry all day.
McEwen says she decided to make heritage breeds the focus of her farm so that she could offer “poultry that are difficult to find and that have stood the test of time.”
She adds that heritage breeds are often “not always the easiest birds to produce.” Large hatcheries often shun them for this reason.
“I enjoy focusing on the true breed, how that chicken is supposed to look and behave,” she explains. “When you look at our photos on our website and you order that chicken, when you grow that chicken up it will look like the photo.”
Asked about her favorite color of eggs, McEwen picks those of her Welsummers. “Each hen puts her own touch or signature on each egg,” she says. “Some hens put a fine spattering of speckles and some lay dark mahogany colored eggs with big dots. They’re just beautiful!”
Second place goes to the Ameraucana eggs. “This is the most misunderstood and confused breed in the United States thanks to the high production hatcheries. A true Ameraucana will only and always lay a blue egg [and] they’ll always have a slate gray leg.
“They’ll never have green, yellow or orange legs.”
One of the most eye-catching heritage breeds that you’ll find roaming Chicken Scratch Poultry? The farm’s resident Black Laced Wyandottes. McEwen describes them as “super friendly birds” that are a great fit for families with small children.
“When hand-raised as a chick they will be the chicken that will always eat out of your hand,” she says.
“I think the breed I’m most proud of on our farm are the Olive Eggers or anything that lays the green egg on our farm,” says McEwen, citing an unofficial breed of bird that lays a particular color egg.
“I created those breeds myself. Our farm was actually the first farm in the United States to make, name and sell the Olive Egger back around 2008.”
McEwen sees pleasing regular customers as a key part of running a heritage poultry farm. “This year a lady emailed me and said. “It’s time for me to order more chickens. My hens I got from you are now 8 years old and I need some younger girls for egg production.
I still remember the day I peeled back the crisp, brown husks from my very first “Glass Gem” corn harvest. Sure, the seeds I’d planted many months before were bright red, purple, orange, blue and even green. Nevertheless, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
The flint corn I’d managed to produce included every shade of the rainbow.
I could’ve ground the firm kernels into flour, popped them like popcorn, or used the intact ears decoratively. Instead, I chose to save most of those first seeds, so that I could grow subsequent generations and share this special variety with others.
Curious to see what kinds of colors you might end up with? You don’t need tons of space to grow a small block of Glass Gem corn, and the end result is pretty magical.
Or you might want to turn to Native Seeds/SEARCH, an Arizona-based nonprofit seed conservation group. Native Seeds/SEARCH sells Glass Gem corn seeds derived from the original folks who worked together for many years to grow out and preserve the seed of this unusual variety.
A Little History
Just who were the people behind the colorful corn? First and foremost was Carl White Eagle Barnes. Barnes was part Cherokee and very interested in growing out and reintroducing several heritage corn varieties.
After seeing some of Barnes’ corn seed up close, Greg Schoen, an area botanist and horticulturist, was intrigued. Via a 2015 SeedBroadcast “Seed Stories” interview, Schoen shares much of the back story about Barnes and his work.
“I was attending a native plant gathering in the southwest part of Oklahoma,” Schoen recalls. “There was an elderly man there with a couple of glass display cases with all of these different native corns. There were probably two or three that were about 4 inches long—maybe not even that—with all of the colors.
“Not just the earth tones and the reds and such, but all of the rainbow colors were in there in some way.”
According to Schoen, a lot of Barnes’ colors came from Pawnee miniature popcorns and, he suspects, an Osage flint corn variety. Schoen continues, “In the course of the work that [Barnes] did, he was finding a lot of corn varieties that had been lost to a lot of the tribes…. As he started growing these out, he started to see other characteristics show up.”
Eventually, Schoen, along with José Lucero of Santa Clara Pueblo and Bill McDorman, former executive director of Native Seeds/SEARCH, would begin growing out generations of the rainbow-colored corn, too. After several years, they stabilized and popularized Glass Gem corn.
Getting Started
Glass Gem corn can take up to 120 days to reach maturity. Because springs where I live have been extra rainy over the last few years, I’ve had to start my seeds inside and very carefully transplant them when the soil is finally dry enough to work.
Ideally, though, you should plant seeds directly in the garden right after your last average frost date.
For best results, space individual Glass Gem corn plants about 6 to 12 inches apart within rows that are about 30 inches apart. If you’re pressed for space, you can also plant sets of three or four seeds in a single mound. Then, plant a few of these mounds a few feet apart.
Because corn is hungry for nitrogen, I amend my soil with finished compost at planting time and again at the end of the growing season.
To naturally deter insect pests, I also plant loads of marigolds near the corn patch. Of course, that may not be enough to fully safeguard your crop. You should check your plants at least once each day for signs of trouble.
Sharing These Gems
If you do have lots of room and want to help spread this seed, Schoen recommends growing 200 to 300 plants in all. (To avoid cross-pollination, you’ll also need to be sure you’re not growing it too close to other types of corn.)
Before collecting your seed, allow the corn to dry completely within ears. When it’s time to pop off your kernels, select the most colorful, robust-looking seeds to save and share next season.
The raucous cackles I heard coming from our chicken run could have meant any number of things.
Maybe two hens were fighting over some tidbit. Some individual may have invaded another bird’s space. Or, most likely, nesting box wars were underway!
Sure enough, when I arrived at the scene of the kerfuffle, I witnessed an unholy brawl taking place within the henhouse.
Three chickens were fighting over their divine right to sit in one nesting box. From their respective positions, Charlotte appeared to have arrived first. But Turquoise had climbed in and was pecking (none too delicately I might add) the former on the head.
Meanwhile, Carrie stood by, screaming curses at her two fellow heritage Rhode Island Reds.
Then, to my amazement, Carrie climbed into the box, head downward, tail up and soon, three chickens were a writhing ball of wrath. And inquiring minds may want to ask: How did Carrie intend to lay an egg after she had face planted herself in the nesting box?!
Now we humans may not understand the reasons behind such a brouhaha. After all, numerous other nesting boxes may exist in a coop, and fresh, sweet-smelling bedding may be scattered about throughout.
But in the minds of many hens, only one box can exist for laying an egg. And fair play (meaning waiting your turn) doesn’t exist in the chicken world.
Peculiar Poultry Preferences
So why do hens seem to usually desire (perhaps “demand” would be the more accurate verb) the same box to deposit an egg? Kristin and Justin Duke operate Mr. Animal Farm in Moneta, Virginia, and specialize in raising chickens and goats.
“From what I’ve read and understand, it’s an evolutionary adaptation,” Kristin Duke says. “One hen lays an egg there, and the next hen which comes along, sees the egg and thinks that must be a safe place to sit and lays her egg there. Before long, that particular nesting box becomes the place to lay an egg.”
My wife, Elaine, and I have two runs. In one of them, the henhouse features three nesting boxes in a row against the back of the structure. The left box adjoins the left wall while the right box has an open space to its right. The box on the left is almost always the only one that contains eggs.
Rarely does the middle box hold an egg within it. And the right box, in the building’s 10 years of existence, has never held the honor of being chosen.
We believe that the left box became the original hot spot because of the security that the left wall and the building’s back provides. A hen can sit there, face the building’s portal, and be instinctively aware that she only needs to watch in front of her—the only direction that danger could possibly come.
Again, the feeling of safety that a certain nesting box presents seems to be paramount in a hen’s mind.
Bruce Ingram
The Worst Possible War
Normal egg laying can obviously result in nesting box wars. However, things can go nuclear quickly when one or more of the hens become broody.
“Justin and I have two Ameraucanas that are both 6 or 7 years old, and they no longer lay eggs of their own,” Duke says. “This year, they both went broody at about the same time. And they both demanded the same box.
“There was no point in trying to separate them. They both would go steal eggs that our other chickens had laid and roll those eggs back to and up into the nest, squabbling all the time over the box.”
This story has a happy ending, however. After the eggs hatched, both Ameraucanas calmly shared mama hen duties. Neither one seemed to care which chicks were theirs. The instinct to care for and protect their offspring kicked in. That’s often all it takes to make a broody hen—or hens—content.
Duke has seen as many as four of her Silkies, which are a smaller breed, in a nesting box at the same time. But I have never observed more than three of our Reds in a box simultaneously.
However, Elaine and I may hold some sort of record for most eggs under a broody Red at the same time—20!
The situation took place several years ago when Wednesday, then a 6-month-old pullet, unexpectedly became broody. Normally, from our experience, our broody Rhode Island Reds will push out eggs from a box once they have 12 to 14 eggs under them. Perhaps these eggs are ones a hen has sensed have “gone bad” or that another hen may have laid in the nest. It may also be that a random egg just happens to be the odd one pushed out.
We were dismayed that Wednesday had so many eggs in the box, because it was quite clear from the many brown ovals protruding from all sides of her lower body that she was not successfully incubating six to eight of them.
Finally, one day we witnessed the reason why so many eggs were present.
Another hen was sitting in the nest with Wednesday, and the latter was too inexperienced as a mother to force the other hen out or to use her beak to roll out the surplus eggs. The only solution was to discard eight or nine of the outer eggs and remove Wednesday and the remaining ones to a broody pen.
The Broody Pen Option
Duke and her husband prefer to let their hens resolve their issues regarding use of the nesting boxes in their coop. However, sometimes for the sake of goodwill and peace on earth—and when a brooder becomes so confrontational with her fellow females that endless warfare is the norm—it’s just best to send the hen to a broody pen.
Simply stated, Elaine and I no longer harbor any false hopes that our hens can settle their nesting box wars among themselves, specifically if one of them has become broody.
For example: This past spring, 4-year-old Mary, our best-ever mother hen, went broody for the fifth time. She is very predictable regarding her annual matronly mood, always seeming to decide between May 1st and 3rd to do what she does best—devotedly set on eggs for 21 days or so or until they hatch and then raise chicks.
Every spring, we even set up her pen in late April in anticipation for what is to come.
That pen is in our basement and consists of two tarps, both doubled up and positioned on top of each other on the floor. A childproof fence is arranged in a 6-foot-by-3-foot rectangle on top of the two tarps, and the covering is an old screen door. A waterer and a feeder is placed within, and we’re ready for chicks.
This setup is inexpensive and works well for us. The fencing is left over from when our two grandchildren were young. And the screen door is just an old one that wore out and we happened to keep.
Frankly, the reason we keep the pen in the basement is that we immensely enjoy witnessing the entire experience from day 20 onward.
Mary softly clucks to the chicks as they try to chip their way out of an egg. The cheeps come from beneath her. Then, the glorious morning when we see little puffballs peering out from under their mother.
Next, we observe the first ventures to the waterer and the feeder as Mary shows the chicks where their nourishment is, meanwhile emitting the food cluck.
Enjoyment aside, a final and very important reason to remove broody hens from their flock is the safety of the chicks. Once, we left Mary inside the henhouse, and the first chick that hatched was immediately attacked and killed by the other hens. We don’t ever want to experience that horrible spectacle again.
But, again, the best way to end nesting box wars between a broody and every other hen in the flock is to move the sitting female to her very own pen.
Arata70/Shutterstock
Bedding Options for Nest Boxes
Several possibilities exist for nesting box bedding. Elaine and I have tried sand and the traditional straw. We found sand heavy and very difficult to remove from the box and henhouse floor. On the plus side, though, sand is extremely absorbent.
Like us, Duke favors straw. But Paul Hinlicky, who operates St. Gaul Farm in Catawba, Virginia, along with his wife, prefers a third option.
“Pine shavings are far superior to straw,” he says. “Just throw several handfuls into a nesting box, and you have fragrant smelling, absorbent bedding. Plus, where we live, a bale of pine shavings cost $5, while straw costs between $7 and $8.
Hinlicky uses the deep-litter method for the henhouse floor and a modified version of it in the nesting boxes. “When the nest box shavings become soiled, we just add a couple handfuls more of them,” he says. “So we don’t have to empty out the nest box bedding as often as we did when we used straw.”
Regardless of bedding preferences, some people add lavender or mint to their nesting boxes. These herbs help suppress any foul odors. Other chicken fanciers position droppings boards under the roosts and remove the waste every morning, depositing it within a compost bin.
If you’ve become weary of the endless nesting box wars going on in your yard … well, gosh, it just occurred to me that there is no solution to ending these skirmishes! I guess we all will just have to become used to them.
That is, of course, unless these battles involve a broody hen. Then, you might want to consider a broody pen.
Sidebar: Odor Control
Paul Hinlicky, who operates St. Gaul Farm in Catawba, Virginia, along with his wife, emphasizes that the best thing he has ever done to decrease odor has been to adapt the deep-litter method.
Basically, this management system involves periodically covering soiled litter with multiple layers of fresh litter, often pine shavings. Doing so allows the pine shavings to absorb the heavily nitrogen chicken waste, creating, in effect, a compost bin within a henhouse.
Hinlicky, however, prefers a different bedding, one that doesn’t cost anything.
“We collect bags of leaves in the fall and save them until we need them for the floor of our coup,” he says. “Every time the poop piles up, we just empty another bag of leaves into the house.
“When it’s finally time to remove the layers of pine shavings from our nesting boxes, we just throw them onto the floor before we add leaves. The shavings are fluffy and blend right in. With this system, there’s no need to clean out the coop more than once or twice a year, and odor is never a problem.”
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2021 issue of Chickens magazine.
Congratulations … it’s a flock! Your chickens might be tiny—they might even all fit in the palms of your cupped hands. But they are finally an actual presence in your life versus something you’ve simply imagined.You suddenly have several little fluffs depending on you for food, water, heat … for everything they will need to survive. And leading off the list of requirements is a brooder.
A brooder is the container that will house your babies for the first two to three months of their lives.
Yes, you have undoubtedly gone to great lengths to buy or build a coop for your chickens, and they will eventually happily inhabit it. For now, however, your hatchlings are too little to live outside on their own, especially without a mother hen to safeguard their survival.
Instead, your chicks will contentedly live within the controlled environment of their brooder, monitored and cared for by you. These five guidelines will ensure your brooder is ready to receive your infant flock.
Choosing a Brooder
A brooder can be any type of container.
Plastic storage totes make excellent brooders. They are relatively inexpensive, can be transported with ease, and are a cinch to keep clean. Their tall, sturdy walls will keep your little ones securely contained, especially as they start hopping and jumping about.
By cutting an opening in the tote lid and lining it with 1/4-inch hardware mesh, you can keep adventurous little flyers in. You’ll also keep curious children and house pets out.
Cardboard boxes are a popular choice for brooders, especially since they can be composted and replaced once they become too soiled. If you choose to go with a cardboard box, make sure you choose a rugged, durable carton that can survive an accidental water spill. Be sure to have several replacement boxes broken down and on standby should you need to suddenly swap out a soggy brooder.
While a cardboard-box brooder might not be as sturdy as a plastic-tote brooder, it’s definitely easier on the wallet. Plus, you can dispose of it when done.
Brooder kits are available for purchase online from farm-supply stores, hatcheries and sites such as Amazon. These kits contain the essentials to outfit your brooder and typically include a short, fence-like enclosure within which to keep your chicks.
These are fine for the first few weeks. But as your baby birds start stretching their wings, you’ll need to replace the enclosure with something taller to keep your flock contained.
Not satisfied with the available brooder options? If you’re the handy type, consider building your own. By constructing your own brooder, you can decide the dimensions of this chick habitat and customize such details as a heat-lamp holder, vinyl flooring and even adjustable perches to help train your chicks to roost.
The drawbacks? Home-built brooders tend to be very heavy and difficult—or impossible—to transport.
The very first brooder my husband Jae built for us was an impressive 3-by-5-foot pine masterpiece he constructed in my office. It stayed in my office until Jae disassembled it four months later, once our flock had moved out to its coop.
Location is Everything
Keeping chicks inside your house may not be something you bargained for when you decided to keep a flock. The last thing you want is to stroll through a room and detect the barnyard odor emanating from your chick habitat.
Cleaning your brooder every couple of days will reduce that smell. It will also reduce the amount of dust generated by the chicks’ bedding.
To help minimize this further, consider keeping your brooder in a location that you can close off from the rest of the house. Laundry rooms, basements, mud rooms and garages offer ideal locations for your chick brooder. However, you may find yourself willing to keep up the continual maintenance just to watch your peeps’ antics from the comforts of your home office or living room.
Time for Bedding
Your chicks will spend the first week or so of their lives sleeping in assorted cute and occasionally disconcerting positions. This includes the sprawled-out chick “carpet” that will have you checking each and every one of them for signs of life.
To keep your baby birds comfortable and clean, you’ll want to cover the bottom of your brooder with approximately 2 inches of bedding. Bedding provides cushioning for sleepy peeps, plus it absorbs moisture from their droppings. Popular bedding materials include shredded paper, wood shavings, alfalfa and timothy hay, and straw.
Each of these has its benefits as well as its drawbacks.
Shredded paper, while inexpensive and easy to find in home offices, can contain inks and other chemicals that can adversely affect a bird.
Wood shavings, especially the cedar variety, produce dust and contain natural acids and resins that can irritate a chicken’s respiratory system.
Timothy and alfalfa hay can be costly and often comes in hard-to-store bale.
Straw is inexpensive but tends to mildew much more quickly.
There are alternative bedding materials available, too. Eaton Pet and Pasture, for instance, sells a naturally grown hemp animal bedding that the manufacturer claims is dust-free.
Ready, Steady…
Regardless of the bedding you choose, you will need to keep it covered for the first three or so weeks or until every chick is walking—or running—without hesitation. As they learn to maintain their balance and walk, chicks require a flat, non-skid surface for their feet to grip.
Bedding does not provide this.
Some chicken keepers use shelf liner (the kind that has grips and comes in rolls). This can be lifted out, rinsed, dried and put back. Plus it provides the kind of surface chicks require for walking.
Most people use paper towels, which can be replaced daily. But do not use newspaper, as the slick surface of this and most paper products may cause the chicks’ feet to slip out from under them. This leads to a condition known as spraddle leg.
The yolk that has sustained your chicks from just prior to hatching typically processes through their digestive system by the time they are 24 to 48 hours old. This leaves your little ones hungry and thirsty.
To avoid being subject to incessant peeping, have your chick waterer and feeder prepared. Chick waterers are typically round saucers with a central Mason jar-type container that fills the attached saucer via gravity.
If you have bantam or very small standard chicks, consider adding marbles or pea gravel to the bottom of the saucer. This will raise the saucer’s water level and keep these tinier babies from drowning.
Chick feeders come in two basic styles: dish and trough, each covered by a lid with multiple access ports. For small flocks, a dish-style feeder is fine. But if you have more than a half-dozen chicks, a trough-style feeder is better. It allows for more birds to feed at the same time.
You’ll need to clean both the waterer and feeder frequently. If not, algae and scum will build up inside the waterer. Also, little chicks may perch and poop on their feeder.
Train Your Birds to Eat and Drink
Just because you’ve equipped your brooder with a feeder and waterer does not necessarily mean your peeps will understand their purpose. Chicks by nature are inquisitive creatures that may have eyed these contraptions with curiosity, then toddled off on another adventure.
If you’ve had your chicks for a couple of days and they are peeping with hunger or thirst, you will need to show them what to do. Take a pinch of chick starter and sprinkle a little trail from where the chicks typically congregate to the feeder. You may have to do this a couple of times before they catch on.
To teach them to drink, take one chick and slowly, gently dip the tip of its beak into the water. The chick will stand back, tilt its head up, and swallow.
Repeat this with the same chick one or two more times. Then select another chick and follow the same steps. Once a couple of chicks understand where and how to drink, the rest will follow suit.
Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot
Baby chicks are unable to regulate their body temperature for the first few weeks of their lives. Chicks hatched by hens spend most of their time tucked under their mother’s wings, using her body heat to keep warm. Your brooder will therefore need a safe and adjustable heat source to ensure your chicks do not succumb to hypothermia.
A stand-alone brooder heating unit, such as the kinds manufactured by Brinsea and by K&H Pet Products, fits neatly within your brooder. They provide your chicks with a heated shelf or archway where they can snuggle in toasty comfort.
These heating units are easy to clean and safe to handle when heated. But they can be a bit pricey, especially if you are raising more than a dozen chicks.
The more common alternative is the brooder lamp. It’s basically a shallow metal dish with a special heat bulb in its center.
These are effective, but they are also dangerous. Heat lamps that have fallen into brooders have caused devastating fires. To protect your chicks and your home, use a wire lamp cage over the face of the lamp to prevent the bulb from coming into contact with flammable bedding.
If possible, keep your brooder’s lid—customized with that hardware-mesh insert—on to keep the brooder lamp from falling in.
Temperature Adjustments
For the first week of your flock’s life, the brooder temperature should be approximately 95 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature will drop by 5 degrees with each week of life until you reach room temperature.
Adjust your heating element accordingly, either by programming the temperature directly or by raising the heat lamp several inches. Your chicks will let you know once you’ve reached the correct temperature.
If it’s too cold, they will all crowd together under the heat source. If it’s too hot, they’ll scatter as far from the heat source as possible. When it’s just right, they’ll carry on with their regular chick activities.
Consider getting a brooder thermometer to hang inside your chicks’ habitat (duct-taping it to the wall works), as this will help you gauge how warm it is within.
Once you reach room temperature—approximately 70 degrees—you can turn the brooder heat source off during the day. Since many households program their thermostats to lower overnight temperatures in order to conserve electricity, you may wish to turn the brooder heater on for nighttime periods until the chicks are fully feathered.
In these welcoming conditions, your tiny flock should flourish and grow. Occasionally, however, unexpected circumstances occur which affect your chicks’ ability to thrive. We’ll discuss these in the next installment.
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to my house, of course! I am an 11-year-old who loves keeping chickens. Now, I realize I’m barely out of the hatchling stage, but boy, I can tell you a lot about these birds.
4-H Chickens
I joined my local 4-H livestock club when I was 8 and started keeping chickens with the 4-H poultry project known as the “Chick Chain.” After just a few meetings and picking up my new chicks that were ordered, I knew that this was something that I would stick with.
I quickly fell in love with raising my newly acquired chicks and everything that went with them! They quickly grew from the brooder box, and they’ve now claimed half of our property.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to become a young entrepreneur. My operation started with selling my birds’ fresh eggs to family and friends. But, quickly, I became interested in more rare and critically endangered breeds.
I currently have about eight flocks consisting of:
Golden Cuckoo Marans
Red Shouldered Yokohamas
Ayam Cemanis
Blue Jersey Giants
Standard Blue Laced Red Wyandottes
I’m currently working on my own, homegrown line of White Marans.
Purely Made Studio
Family Affair
My mom shares our birds on social media, and my dad created a pretty neat website. Through these avenues, we share my flocks with others to offer their fertilized eggs.
I ship my bird’s hatching eggs all over the United States for other poultry enthusiasts to hatch in their incubators. It’s pretty thrilling to think that my birds from right here at my house now have “chick children” in almost every single state! My business’ name is “Emma Soo’s Cuckoos,” and I can’t wait to see how it keeps growing.
I love 4-H, and it has changed my life. It has taught me poultry, rabbit and swine nutrition. It’s given me much responsibility, knowledge on many breeds and their egg production.
4-H has given me problem-solving skills, record-keeping skills, some veterinarian medicine knowledge and obviously a whole lot of brains about running my business.
I also enjoy getting a little competitive by competing in poultry and livestock judging events as well as pageantry in my spare time. It’s fun to show my birds and create educational poultry exhibits with my family for local and state fairs.
My favorite would have to be the annual National Peanut Festival in Alabama!
As of February of 2020, I was able to compete for and earn the title of Jr. Miss Northwest Florida.
I take this title and job very seriously. The title has given me the perfect opportunity to share my passion for 4-H and chickens with other children my age. I have actually been able to share this passion and knowledge thru many pageant interviews and presentations, and have earned the name of “chicken girl” by my fellow pageant sisters.
After realizing all of the great skills, and knowledge that 4-H and pageantry have given me, I decided that I should spread the news of 4-H!
I have recently created a platform named “The Eden Project” just for this. My main focus for my platform is to get out in schools and provide other children information about 4-H in our community. I aspire to inspire, so that they too can take advantage of what is out there just waiting for them to discover. Who knows, maybe it will bring them just as much joy and forever change their lives just as it has mine!
Emma lives and attends 4-H in the Florida panhandle with her family and chickens. For more information about 4-H, visit 4-h.org.
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2021 issue of Chickens magazine.
If your ATV or UTV has been hard at work all winter, you can start by removing seasonal enhancements like tire chains, weights and snow-clearing implements such as plows or blowers.
There’s no reason to drive around with a machine covered in dirt and grime. Give your ATV or UTV a thorough cleaning from top to bottom, inside and out.
Don’t just focus on exterior surfaces. Remove buildup out of hard-to-reach nooks and crannies, too. If your machine has a radiator, make sure it’s clear of debris.
And don’t forget the spark arrester—clean it out to keep your machine operating at its peak.
Tighten Loose Bolts & Connections
Months of negotiating “all terrain” can loosen bolts and weaken connections between parts of your machine. Go ahead and tighten any bolts that have worked loose to ensure nothing breaks or falls off.
This is good advice for any piece of machinery. I once had a muffler fall off a snow blower after all the connecting bolts rattled loose.
Change the Oil
Chances are, you’re due for an oil change. And even if the oil is still good, you might need to change from a winter-grade oil to a standard-grade oil more suitable for use in warm temperatures.
In addition to changing the oil, you should consider replacing your oil and fuel filters. Consult your machine’s user manual for part numbers and guidance on how often to replace filters.
Clean (or Replace) the Air Filter
The air filter is an important component, making sure your engine breathes air free of dust and dirt. Air filters should be cleaned frequently and replaced every so often (consult the manual) to prolong the life of the engine.
Check All Fluids
Oil and gasoline surely aren’t the only fluids your ATV or UTV requires. Check the manual for guidance on topping off other important fluids—transmission fluid, brake fluid, coolant, etc.
Replace the Spark Plugs, If Necessary
If your engine is running rough—or if it has trouble starting—the spark plugs may be at fault. Check the manual for guidance on how often to change them out.
Charge or Replace the Battery, If Necessary
Cold weather can be unkind to batteries, so coming out of winter, your ATV or UTV may need its battery charged or replaced so you’re not struggling to bring your machine to life when you need it.
Get up to Date on Lubrication
Lubrication is an often-overlooked maintenance step, but properly greasing your ATV or UTV will help it operate smoothly and reduce wear and tear. Consult the manual for instructions on how (and where) to grease your machine.
Check Tire Conditions & Pressure
Give the tires a quick examination—are they holding up well, or do they have cracks and worn treads?
Replace worn-out tires if necessary, then check the pressure and fill the tires to their appropriate PSI level for maximum performance and safety.
Examine the Brakes
Brakes are among the most important components of an ATV or UTV and should be treated as such. Examine each element (calipers, brake pads, etc.) to ensure they’re working correctly.
Test the brakes under safe conditions to make sure they respond as expected. Replace worn-out parts as needed.
Get Started on a Busy Spring of Farm Projects!
Congratulations! At this point, your machine should be ready to roll. Nice work!
The term “chicken run” is an oxymoron of sorts. The structure, in fact, serves to keep your chickens from running all over the place. Since many towns require keepers to enclose backyard birds within fencing, you should consider a chicken run both essential and mandatory for your flock.
Aside from this, you can design your run however you want. Just remember to take into consideration how you wish to raise your birds when you review these three chicken-run styles.
My Big Backyard
If you wish for your flock to free range and always wanted an enclosed backyard, you can look into installing a property fence.
You’ll first need to check with your ordinance director or home-owners’ association regarding permitted fence types. You may need to survey your property line, too. Also inquire if you’ll need your neighbors’ permission.
Next, select the fencing best suited for your property. If you have a 1/4-acre suburban backyard, a cedar or vinyl privacy fence provides a functional and attractive enclosure. If your flock will roam multiple rural acres, a split-rail fence lined with 1/4-inch hardware mesh will keep your chickens in and local predators out.
Be sure to take into account the cost of both the installation and at least one gate through which you can access to your front or side yard. Bear in mind that, as a property fence, your yard will open to aerial predators such as hawks and owls. So make sure that you have a few emergency shelters—under a deck, beneath a playground fort, etc.
Your hens can hide there if they wander too far from their coop.
Most backyard flocks spend their days sunning, scratching and dustbathing within the safety of a traditional run, their very own fenced-in yard. This style of run attaches to or surrounds the chicken coop, keeping your flock enclosed from the moment they emerge in the morning to the hour they head in to roost.
A traditional run typically consists of hardware mesh securely attached to wooden posts or hooked onto T-posts. A gate is necessary to provide you with access to the run—and the coop—for maintenance and flock care.
But, with a traditional run, this can be anything from a sturdy barn-style door to a length of swinging hardware mesh.
5 Factors for a Safe (& Comfy) Run
Bear in mind these five important factors when building a traditional run:
Provide your chickens with at least 10 square feet of space per bird. If you have plans to expand your flock, build your run to the maximum dimensions determined by the number of birds you are allowed to keep.
Don’t end your fencing at ground level. Instead, bury it at least two feet underground. Pack the soil well. Cap it with an “apron” of 1-inch patio blocks to deter digging predators (foxes, skunks, weasels, etc.).
Build your fence as tall as possible. Coyotes have been known to leap over fences six feet tall, so you may need to overlap your fencing if you plan to bury the bottom underground. A tall chicken run also ensures birds can’t hop or fly out.
Never use chicken wire as fencing. While it may keep your flock in, chicken wire is notoriously flimsy. Predators such as raccoons, bobcats and bears can easily tear it apart.
Reinforce the bottom 2 feet of your run fence with 1/4-inch hardware mesh. The mesh on regular run fencing features openings large enough for chicks to hop through … and worse. Quarter-inch mesh will prevent you from ever coming across decapitated hens grabbed by hungry raccoons who feasted on their prizes from the outside of your run.
To provide your poultry with as much protection as possible, consider a fully contained run. A contained run is just like a traditional run when it comes to dimension and safety guidelines.
The biggest difference, however, is that the run is capped by a roof. This prevents climbing, jumping and flying predators from accessing your birds.
This huge positive is offset by the negative that any grass and plants within a covered run will be starved for the sunlight and rain necessary to survive. Many chicken owners do away with grass completely, putting down sand or pea gravel as flooring for their flock and making run maintenance much easier.
If you choose a contained run for your flock, make sure the roof is angled to redirect rain and snow away from the run.Iinspect it regularly for wear, tear and weather damage.
With your coop and run ready to receive your new flock, it’s time to bring those babies home. We’ll discuss what you’ll need for your birds’ first few months next time.
Although the uninitiated may think that the work ends with the final harvest of the season, seasoned growers know better. Now is the time to repair everything that’s broken and to get things in order for a new season.
And for the days when spring weather doesn’t allow field repairs, work is the high tunnels can keep you warm, dry and productive.
Here are some high tunnel upgrades to consider.
Install a Temperature Alarm
This upgrade isn’t about improving efficiency as much as it is about protecting your tunnels from disaster. No matter what kind of ventilation and heating systems you use, failure is always a possibility. Propane heaters can run out of fuel and GFCI breakers can trip in the middle of a heat wave.
Thankfully, alarms can alert you if the temperature in your high tunnels goes above or below a certain threshold.
And, also thankfully, these alarms can be as cheap or expensive as you want them to be.
At one farm I worked on, we wired some batteries to a megaphone and an analog thermometer. The whole setup cost maybe $30. At the other extreme, you can purchase wifi-based systems that send alerts to your phone.
Either way, some sort of alarm will give you the peace of mind of knowing that you’re not one oversight away from losing an entire crop.
For growers without electricity in their high tunnels, roll-up sides are a necessity. Coupled with some gable vents, they should give your tunnel all of the ventilation it needs, even in the hottest months.
Even for growers with the luxury of electricity, roll-up sides offer some real advantages. They:
require no electricity
don’t come with any of the noise of an exhaust fan
allow for a pleasant cross breeze that makes working in the tunnels a pleasure
In case you’re not excited about manually rolling the sides up and down, however, you can install motors to do the work for you. You can also hook these motors up to a thermostat so that they open and close at set temperatures.
Upgrade Your Endwall Material
For those doing any sort of season-extension growing in their tunnels, improving insulation is well worth the effort. One of the best ways to improve your tunnel’s energy efficiency is to upgrade your endwall material to something with a higher insulation rating.
Corrugated or double-layer polycarbonate works well on sides that you want to allow light in from. For north-facing (or already-shaded end-walls), consider paneling the outside of the wall with boards and hanging some sort of rigid insulation on the inside.
If you’re interested in further improving your tunnel’s insulation (and not afraid of a little digging), consider insulating the perimeter of your high tunnel. The job entails placing foam board 2 feet down around the outside of your tunnel.
It’s not a job for the faint of heart but also won’t take as long as you think. The boards will mitigate heat loss to the outside and will retain your soil’s warmth well into the shoulder seasons.
No matter which upgrades you choose to tackle this winter, take advantage of your tunnel’s balmy winter temperatures to make them function a bit better next season.
