When I first made a home for my hens, I really liked the idea of a small moveable tractor.  Something that could be rotated around the garden or dragged up onto the lawn.  I made mine from scratch after looking at lots and lots of pictures.  I am not a builder so I tried to make it as easy as possible.  I built a simple A-Frame, put hardware cloth on 2/3 of it, and enclosed the other 1/3 for roosting and nesting.  On the rear, I attached a couple old large lawn mower wheels so I could pick up the front and drag more easily.   It was not real attractive but the hens never complained and gave me lots of eggs.   I like the idea of a portable coop (although I have changed to a stationary one that I find attractive and gives me easier accessibility to cleaning).  Since I like the idea of a moveable tractor, I wanted to share with you one I found online that seems attractive and very functional.  I haven't dealt with this company but their prices are on their website.  They have a couple different versions available depending on how many hens you have and how big you want it to be.

Go to http://www.eggcartn.com/ to see their selection.  They have a couple nice Youtube videos available that show their product in greater detail.

They seem pricey to me (but I'm pretty cheap), but their features seem pretty great.  I liked that they could be enclosed, that would help with our cold winters...but I would want to make sure they had some airflow to minimize fumes from droppings and build up of moist air which could lead to frostbit combs.

Community Cluckers

I found a great blog from a fellow chicken enthusiast that you may enjoy. I don't eat my hens but if I got hungry or lived outside the city where I could raise more, I wouldn't hesitate.

Community Cluckers

Wintering Backyard Chickens

KSL Article on Wintering Backyard Chickens


KSL wrote an online article yesterday about keeping your chickens healthy during the winter.

Keeping the snow out of the run and the wind off the chickens is my priority.  It is easily done by wrapping the run in plastic and leaving some room at the top for air flow.  

Now with Christmas Lights!

One of the best things I have done this year is buying a heater for their water.  I picked one up at Amazon.com because I had a gift card, you can usually buy them locally at farm stores such as IFA or Cal Ranch. The metal waterer that I have has a built in thermostat and turns on at 38 degrees...how nice is that!  No more frozen water!

The Ugly Side of Chickens

This time of year brings the ugly side of chickens.  Most of my hens are molting.  Molting is an annual process where chickens lose their feathers and new ones grow in place.  One thing I have noticed is that the older the hens are, the less they molt.  Some of my oldest hens are molting very little or not at all.  I have also noticed that they do not like to be held while molting.  I wonder if it is uncomfortable as those feathers grow out.  

Henrietta our leghorn mid-molt

It looks painful to have those feathers coming through the skin.

Sam has lost feathers around neck and back.

 One other problem with molting is egg production stops.  That's only a problem for us that want eggs, the hens need all the strength and nutrients to be invested in feather creation.  I know the new feathers will help them in the cold winter but I find it interesting that they don't lose the feathers earlier.  It has already started to get cold here!  If you notice from this last picture, I have already wrapped their run with plastic sheeting and stapled it to the supports.  Here is a close up of the run.

This keeps the wind off them, keeps the snow out when it comes and keeps them a bit warmer.  I leave a space at the top for air flow.  It's interesting in the winter, there will be several feet of snow around them, I'll open the door to feed them and they'll look outside and and want no part of it.  They don't even want to venture out in the cold!

A side note about my herb garden in front of the chicken's pen.  There is a window arch/keystone at the bottom right of the picture, this was from one of the windows in Lorenzo Snow's house when he settled Brigham City in the mid to late 1800s. (See History).

Doing Double Duty!

One of my brown egg layers decided she wasn't quite done and gave us one more (although smaller) egg.  This is the first time I have seen this in the 4 years or so I have had hens. 

Wow, How Things Change...

Chicken Behavior

I love sitting in the backyard watching my hens go around, doing what they do.   A storm came in this afternoon and the girls went to their favorite spot under the lilacs to keep out of the rain.  They go to this spot for shade and for protection when something menacing is flying around overhead.

My wife got me a nice Adirondack chair for Christmas a while back.  I find watching the hens in the backyard quite relaxing.  Usually when I sit in that chair, they expect treats and are quick to come visit me and see what I have for them, usually an old piece of bread or handful of scratch.

Shortly after we got hens, I found them in my wife's flower garden doing something that surprised me.  They were digging holes and rolling around in them...I thought they were insane.  I seriously thought something was wrong with them.  Well, I found out this is completely normal.  Maybe it is part of why some people consider them 'dirty'.  the interesting thing is, as they roll around in dirt, it is called a dust bath and actually cleans them and keeps mites and bugs from living on them. 

Another interesting thing to observe with chickens is the pecking order.  My oldest hen is quite the mother although none of them are her young.  If she gets something particularly yummy to eat, she'll pick it up, set it down, cluck a few times, pick it up, put it down and cluck a few times and will keep doing that until the others come over to check it out.  She'll usually at that point leave it for one of the other hens to eat. 

In the pecking order, someone has to be on bottom, it has been whatever hen I added last.  Now I know adding one hen to an existing flock is difficult and sometimes dangerous as you upset that order.  There are some ways to minimize the effects of that.  I'm happy to say, just this week, the hen that was added last is now accepted on the roost with all the other girls.  This is a good thing!

I learned something about their behavior when they lay eggs as well.  Often when they are done laying eggs you will hear clucking.  I always wondered what that was all about.  I thought perhaps it was that they were happy that they laid or perhaps it was painful (an egg is large in proportion to body size)!   I read somewhere that it is a way for a hen who spent the last hour on a nest to reassociate with the flock.  Think of it this way, out in nature, the flock wanders around together eating and one of the hens sits down under a bush to lay an egg.  The flock just doesn't sit and wait for her, they keep moving around.  But they are social creatures and travel for the most part together.  When the laying hen is done, she needs to communicate (sometimes loudly) to the rest of the flock so they can get back together.

As you just sit and watch them, you'll be surprised at the social nature of these birds and their characteristics.  I have a mixed flock of 2 Rhode Island Reds, 1 Leghorn, 1 black orpington, 1 Ameracauna and 1 Polish.  I like the variety.  I find the characteristics and personalities of each breed fascinating as well.

Sam-I-Am (green egg laying Ameracauna)

Henrietta (Leghorn)

Rosie (Rhode Island Red/Mother hen of the flock)