I’ve always bedded the nesting boxes with pine shavings. The girls seemed to like it, and I found it easy to keep clean with a daily quick pick-up with a kitty litter scoop.

This photo is of the nesting boxes in the big barn. It’s twelve inches off of the ground and built from old barn wood. The HenCam coop has metal boxes, which I prefer because they are easy to clean – the bottoms pop out for scrubbing, and although I’ve never had a mite problem, if I did, I’d be able to disinfect them. But, when I moved the hens into the HenCam coop they did not lay in the boxes. First they laid on the ground, and then they discovered Candy’s hutch. Agnes and Philomena brazenly walked right in and laid eggs in the far right corner where it’s shaded but not too dark, and the eggs are hidden.

When Candy was younger, she’d never have let the hens into her home. I’ve seen her in full-bunny attack mode, with teeth bared, staring down a hen who dared to walk up her ramp. But, Candy has mellowed in her old age. Or, maybe she likes these hens.

In any case, I don’t want chickens or eggs in Candy’s hutch. Candy keeps her home immaculately clean. The chickens poop. I don’t want to collect eggs from in there, where they could be broken by a hopping bunny. I don’t want to hunt every afternoon for the eggs. I want them in one place, in the coop, in the nesting boxes.

What to do? I tried taking up Candy’s ramp and not letting the hens in. You might have seen agitated brown hens leaping at Candy’s house. I tried putting those hens in the nesting boxes in the coop. They wouldn’t stay put. One laid on the ground. One stopped laying, which isn’t a good thing at all.

What was it about the hutch that they liked so much? It wasn’t Candy’s grumpy company. It was the soft and deep bedding. My hens had found the equivalent of Frette sheets. So, I filled the nesting boxes with hay,

and the hens filled them with eggs.

Sometimes you have to give the girls a little luxury.

I’ve always used a heat lamp to brood chicks, but this year I thought it’d be fun to put a few day-old chicks under a broody hen. I’ve been told that a mama hen not only keeps the babies warm, but also keeps them active, teaches them to feed, it’s less work for the human, and is just darn cute. The idea is to take a broody hen, put her in her own house and yard and let her sit there on fake eggs for two weeks. You need separate housing for several reasons. First of all, chicks can’t get in and out of a typical nesting box that’s a foot off the ground. Those chicks will be running around the first day and you don’t want them tumbling to the ground. Secondly, unless you have a lot of space, the other hens in the flock will not be kind to the little ones. Mama will do her best to keep the babies from being pecked, but if it’s crowded, you’ll have bloodshed. Also, the chicks need special food for the first few weeks; to make sure that they get it, but not your entire flock, they need to be fed separately. So, a small broody coop and yard for the mama and babies is the best set-up.

The broody hen will be fine in her isolation. When a hen goes broody she doesn’t care about anything other than the eggs she’s sitting on. She won’t miss her friends. When the chicks arrive, tuck them under the mama at night, take away the dummy eggs, and in the morning the hen will be quite proud and possessive of her babies.

So, for this plan to work, I need a broody coop. Not only is my friend, Lauren Scheuer, an artist, blogger and chicken keeper, but she has power tools, and she knows how to use them! She loves building things from scrap wood, and I had a pile of lumber odds and ends and a discarded rabbit cage to work with. On an (amazingly) sunny day this week, Lauren, and her tools, and her fine dog Marky, came to my house to build the coop. I provided the coffee, the banana-currant bread, and an enthusiastic and encouraging audience.

First, Lauren sketched her ideas. We considered an Egyptian-themed coop, but settled on a simpler model.

Lauren plugged in her power tools and got to work. I passed her screws. Marky came over to check on our progress.

The red boards are from an outgrown soap box derby car.

Lauren let me use her electric screw driver!

Scooter and Marky napped in the sun. Lily is not pictured here. She was too busy watching for UPS trucks. It’s a full-time job, and somebody had to do it.

In just a few hours (and three cups of coffee) the coop was built. Now what I really need is a broody hen. I can usually count on Coco, Twinkydink, Lulu and Buffy to go broody in the spring, but so far, they have shown no maternal inclinations. Maybe if the temperature gets above freezing in the mornings, their broody switches will be turned on. If I don’t have a broody hen, I’ll have the time to turn the coop into that Egyptian folly that Lauren sketched. I’m sure she’d be happy to come back for more coffee and cake. I know my dogs would be happy to see Marky.

To see what Lauren thought about our broody coop day, read her blog, Scratch and Peck.

In just a few weeks there will be fifteen little fluff ball chicks in my barn. I’ve a lot to do before they come. I’m doing a thorough cleaning before they arrive. All living organisms have colonies of microbes living within them. The chicks will be going from the comparatively sterile environment of the hatchery to my property, which has had chickens on it for eight years, and wild birds and animals on it forever. It’s not a bad thing for the chicks to be exposed to the real world, but it will take awhile for their immune systems to gear up. They’ll be vaccinated for Marek’s disease, but there are many other hazards out there. Ideally, the chicks will make use of the good germs and develop immunity to the bad. This works if the bacterial load isn’t overwhelming. Since chicken diseases lurk in dust, I have used the shop vac and cleaned up the big barn. If you have the room, it’s best to range your chickens outside on ground that has never seen poultry. Of course, that’s not always possible. I have a pen of packed dirt. So, this weekend, during one of the brief moments of good weather, I took a pitchfork and turned the dirt over.

Sunlight is a potent disinfectant. Now, if only the weather would cooperate.

It was hard work. Lily did not help. She couldn’t resist the brief warm spell’s call to nap.

The goats said that despite all of the cold and rain, that it is springtime, obviously, because they are shedding. They bleated and me-ehhed and asked for a grooming, but I was too busy. So, Pip made use of an old horse brush that I attached to a post. Caper made do with a shovel. It doesn’t take much to make a goat happy.

Next up is to construct the brooder.

Although I was appalled by Tori Spelling’s outing with her chicken, and the press about house chickens, it’s not always wrong to take a chicken (or two) away from the flock. I have two  Bantam White Leghorns that frequently go on road trips with me.  I call them the “actresses who play Tillie.” When I do story times and school visits, one of them comes along. They are gentle, friendly birds who like to be handled. They are also independent and don’t get flustered when removed from the flock.This isn’t true for all of my chickens. The Australorps, Twinkydink and Blackie,  can’t bear to leave the barnyard. Lulu is an anxious bird and paces when away from home. The Golden Comets are active hens and get bored when confined to a crate. But Coco and Betsy, my two Bantam White Leghorns,  seem to enjoy the excursions.They are so small that I use a guinea pig crate for them to travel in. They particularly like that they have the food and water all to themselves. In the winter, they like that they are somewhere warm and preen and fluff and loll about in the clean shavings in the crate.

Magic happens when the children meet a chicken. A classroom of twenty fidgeting children stills.

Here I am, at the Groveland Public Library, explaining that different chickens lay different eggs. What an important lesson it is that the eggs that we eat come from living, unique animals!

I’d like to think that their rapt attention is due to  my ability to tell a story, but I know that in truth, it is the tiny white hen that holds their attention. At the end of the program, I put the chicken on my lap and I teach the children how to pet a bird -gently, softly, quietly and in the direction of the feathers. Then, one by one, they come up and pet Tillie. Everyone is quiet and respectful and careful. Magic.

My good little hen is rewarded with a bit of cracked corn and is soon home again, outside with her flock.

If you are interested in having me do a school or library visit, please email me for details. Teachers might also want to make use of suggestions on my teacher’s page.

I wish this were an April Fools joke. But it’s not.

Tori Spelling is one of those Hollywood people who resort to reality TV to maintain some semblance of fame. She claims to love animals. She says that she wants to bring the farm life to Hollywood. She has four hens in an outdoor coop and this Silkie is her house chicken. Silkies are sweet, placid, docile birds. I’m sure that this little hen doesn’t complain. But, I’m also sure that the chicken’s needs are not being met. Just like toy dogs that are used as fashion accessories and are babied in ways that are truly abusive, I’ve no doubt that this chicken isn’t getting the basics. Most important for chickens is to be in a stable flock of hens. This Silkie is kept apart. Also necessary is to have dust baths and be able to scratch in the ground. This hen is kept on hard floors. Chickens need to roost. This bird sleeps on a dog bed.

The photo was taken of Tori as she carried her chicken to an event at her boutique. It was staged for the paparazzi. Tori’s publicists were successful. The photo made it onto the nightly news and in People. I hope Tori had food and water waiting in the store for the hen. Silkies overheat easily. I know that Tori isn’t thinking of her animals because she also has a pet Nigerian Dwarf Goat. Just one. Goats should always have another goat companion. Tori’s goat is also kept as a house pet. Although he is (supposedly) trained to “pee-pee” outside, he leaves goat berries everywhere in the house. Tori Spelling has a toddler. Children should not be living with animal feces in the home.

I wish this were a Hollywood phenomena, but in the April-May issue of Mary Janes Farm, “The Everyday Organic Lifestyle Magazine” is an article about how to keep chickens as house-pets. They recommend that the hens wear diapers, which I am adamantly opposed to. Chickens should not have cloth surrounding half of their body. They should not have their nitrogenous poo held close to their bottoms. The magazine does say that the diaper has to be cleaned every 2 to 3 hours. Really? You’re going to be home, doing that? In the article was also a photo of two large hens living in a baby crib. Chickens should have a minimum of four square feet per hen. This was nowhere near adequate or appropriate. Nor was there bedding to scratch in, nor a nesting box, nor a dust bathing area. I was alerted to this by my friend, Trish Riker, in Michigan. Trish knows animals. She has sheep and chickens, and is a 4-H leader. Trish wrote a letter to Mary Janes Farm. I couldn’t say it better myself, and so, with permission, I am quoting her here:

Dear Mary Jane’s Farm,

I was initially excited to see that the April-May 2011 issue had an article on pet chickens. I was shocked however to see the piece on “house-pet hens”. It is true that chickens are the oldest domesticated animals and do make great pets, but I am 100% sure that their history does not include baby cribs, diapers and toenail polish. I found this article offensive and bordering on abuse. Chickens are meant to scratch in the dirt, poop freely and have other chicken friends as they are flock animals. Too many people confuse babying with love. I love my chickens, therefore I allow them to be chickens, not my spoiled children fulfilling some empty need.

In closing I think this article offends the real farm girls and if this kind of work continues to show up in your magazine I will not be renewing my subscription.

Thank you,Trish, for speaking up.