Category Archives: chickens

God Bless the Little Children

Posted on April 25, 2015 by jkmcintyre

The rental house south of us has a large back porch on the second floor that overlooks our chicken yard. Maymay grew up with our chickens – her little voice learning to say ‘Chicken!’ as she watched them from the … Continue reading →

Posted in chickens, Family | Tagged | 2 Comments

Sprouting greens for chickens

Posted on April 14, 2015 by jkmcintyre
[caption width="360" align="alignnone"] Successive sproutings of grains for the hens[/caption]

My chickens spent most of their time in a (large) enclosure that they have picked free of greens. I want them to be happy – and to produce healthy eggs, so I pick them dandelion leaves, I leave them piles of fresh cut grass. I mean to revisit the food fence and grazing frame, but then I saw this on Pinterest: sprouts.

I won’t extoll the benefits of sprouted grains here, but the list is long. Chickens can eat all parts of the sprouted grain, and Continue reading →

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Baby chickens in my shirt

Posted on October 13, 2014 by jkmcintyre

Photo Oct 13, 11 28 18 AM
Baby chickens are so adorable. I have some in my shirt right now. Seriously. I do. The weather is cooling off with the arrival of fall and the new babies are chilly more often than was the summer batch. Continue reading →

Posted in animal behaviour, baby chickens, chicken behaviour, chickens | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Neem oil to control chicken lice – a.k.a. I am such a geek

Posted on February 3, 2014 by jkmcintyre

Yesterday was sunny and ‘warm’ (45 F), so rather than watch the Superbowl, we treated our chickens for lice. After talking with fellow members of the Seattle Farm Co-op, I opted for the soapy bath with neem oil treatment in … Continue reading →

Posted in chicken coop / run, chickens, education, geek, pest control, Scientific, Sustainability, update | Tagged , , | 16 Comments