Egg Color

Henrietta's Green Easter Egg and Peppers Brown Speckled Egg

They are like Easter eggs - you don't need to color them!  I have always been amazed that you can tell what color the chicken's eggs will be by the color of their earlobes…you heard me correctly…their earlobes.  If they have white earlobes you will get white eggs.  When I tell people this they always smile - they didn't even know chickens HAD earlobes!

Oh and don't expect the eggs to always come out of the nesting box clean, they sometimes have hay or chicken poo on them.  You can rub it off or wash it off with some soap and water…but be aware that if you wash your eggs you will remove the natural protection layer and thus need to refrigerate them to keep them fresh. 

I'm off to clean the coop and collect eggs now!  

- Rita

Toxic Foods: Don't feed these to your chickens!

Leftover food would normally head to the trash or garbage disposal in a chicken-free household, but in our house we always question whether we can feed our leftovers to our clucky friends!

Just like humans and other animals, some foods are toxic to chickens. Here is a comprehensive list of what foods you cannot feed to chickens...

Plants in the Nightshade Family

Potatoes, tomatoes and tomato plants
in addition to...
eggplant, tobacco, and pepper (bell, chili, etc.) leaves.

Avocados

Especially the pit and the peel. The pit contains a fungicidal toxin called persin, which is fatal to many animals. Don't feed them to your dog or cat either!

Fruit Pits & Seeds

Peach pits, apple seeds, cherry pits, and apricot pits all contain traces of a compound that turns to cyanide in the bloodstream.

Citrus

We've tried to give our chickens grapefruit in the past, and after a few initial pecks, they strut away in disinterest. Since then, I've come across articles that have stated not to feed chickens citrus because it can cause a build up of citric acid that may cause excessive feather plucking. No citrus from now on!

Onions

Onions contain a toxin called thiosulfate, which causes damage to red blood cells. Thiosulfate is also toxic to cats and dogs!

Raw Meat

Chickens can eat meat, but to avoid any chance of your flock contracting a disease, always cook meat before feeding it to them.

And of course...

No chocolate, candy, sugar, alcohol, rotten food, and nothing that has been sprayed with pesticides or chemicals!

Know of any other foods you can't feed to chickens? Post it in the comments below!

- Rita

Helpful References: Fresh Eggs Daily City Girl Farming The Prairie Homestead Ready Nutrition

Did you know? Chickens Love Watermelon!

If chickens had a favorite season, it would be summer. Lush foliage, lots of bugs, and scrumptious summer fruit are just a few reasons!

I give our chickens an extensive variety of foods to keep them healthy and to make sure their eggs are as nutrient rich as can be. One of the summer foods they love most is watermelon - they peck it right down to the rind!

You have a little something on your beak there, Nuggy... 

- Rita

Building the Coop

Urban Oasis Coop

I informed my husband one day that I wanted to have backyard chickens, and he promptly went to Home Depot to purchase supplies. With plans present only in his dynamic mind, he set to work constructing my lovely chicken house.  Everyone in the family helped, my son Nick and daughter Allie stretching wire and nailing the boards.  I painted it red with white trim upon completion and we added a corrugated metal roof.


The coop was built with wire under the flooring - you don't want rodents or raccoons to get in and eat the flock!  This is non negotiable - they WILL find a way in!  Use chicken wire around the edges, make sure you have a roost for them to sleep on - a spool or 2x2 is fine, and a nesting box or two for those lovely eggs.


I find metal feed and waterers to be best, and I love the retro look, but beware if you use vinegar in your water - metal will rust.  If you plan to use vinegar, get a plastic waterer.  Apple cider vinegar is great for the chicken's digestive tract, just a tablespoon per gallon is the perfect amount.

If you don't have a handy dandy builder wiz husband, a few of my favorite places to find super cute pre-constructed coops are William-Sonoma and Wayfair.

Got a question about coop construction?  Post it here!

- Rita

It's Apple Pie Season!

Apples are ripe a bit early this year - they are dropping from the trees - time to make pie!

Apples have always been a September thing in the Northwest, waiting for those first apples to ripen right when school begins. I remember as a kid coming home from school, picking apples and biting into their juicy goodness.  Mine are organic so we always take care to look for the occasional worm. This year its been unusually hot here in Seattle, so apples are dropping from the trees!  Time to make yummy apple treats...first up: Apple Pie!






The best part of making apple pie is that all the ingredients are right at my fingertips!  I just walk out the backdoor and two apple trees offer their fruit up to me in the first rays of sunlight...I always use my Grandma Larsen's pastry recipe for the crust, and I use Grandma Opal's pie filling from Allrecipes.com - its the best!

Rolling the dough, peeling and cutting the apples is relaxing for me, I love to create and this is one of those creations that you get to devour after it's done!  Allie's boyfriend Hans helped her pick apples for me this morning.  He is back from Norway and doesn't love sweet American desserts - but he loves my apple pie! - I think because it's almost savory in it's pastry goodness.  Tonight my in-laws are visiting from Phoenix so we had a lovely dinner followed by my apple pie and ice cream...it was great to see them and spend time just catching up.

Edith and Pru lounge underneath our green apple tree.

The chickens have lots of fallen apples to peck at and eat this year, but usually they circle my feet waiting for me to drop one so they can have a treat.  Who knew that chickens would LOVE apples so much?  But this year, there are so many that they tire from eating them and go looking for other garden treats.  Just like humans, I guess they can experience too much of a good thing.  So then they just lounge among them, taking the occasional peck, secure in knowing yummy treats are close at hand.

- Rita

Welcome to my Yard

Pepper hanging out in the Oasis

Its a postage stamp size, but in an urban environment it allows the chickens enough room to roam and vegetation to enjoy...an urban oasis!  Apples fall on the lawn for them to peck, blueberry bushes provide hours of entertainment as they hop straight up in the air to pluck them, bugs and dragonflies circle the flowers and the grass is organic and delicious. 

The Coop du Jour

I thought the yard was missing some life, so chickens were just the ticket!  I would have hours of fun watching them run around, clean up all my bugs and lay me beautiful eggs every morning.  This is all true but like anything in life there is the dark side.  There is poop to scoop, diseases to deal with and molting happens!  Still its worth the bit of work it takes and I enjoy the challenge...I am the Urban Chicken Whisperer after all...

- Rita