Every Mom Needs Encouragment

Watching Amelia, our momma hen, train her chicks to be independent has me thinking about our jobs as parents. The chicks are already six weeks old and Amelia has begun pushing her three littles into being more independent. Letting them go a little ways off on their own to scratch for bugs and grubs while she watches from a distance. They often try to stay by her side but she seems to be insistent that they learn to be independent chickens. She is constantly clucking instruction to them wherever they are and they are always following her everywhere she goes. We still see the littles trying to hide under her wing and snuggling with her. She will seem to sigh, and then let them in. The sign of a mom.

Amelia has been through a lot since she showed up at our coop door last summer and shortly after when she lost all her friends when a dog took out our entire flock except her. Her ability to fly is what saved her from the attack. (It is also how she got her name Amelia Egghart.) She is still mournful over losing the other chickens. She seems to be memorializing her loss and has collected nearly every feather from the other chickens that she has found in the coop. She has been placing them all in a special nest. Hannah found one of our roo’s feathers the other day and Amelia looked at her mournfully, Hannah gave it to Amelia and she added it to her pile or nest of feathers. 

There are the days when you can see a look on Amelia’s face that is so very familiar. It is a look you see in all moms of littles and not so littles. A look any mom will recognize as we have all had it at some point. It is that universal look a mom makes when she just needs a moment to breathe. To quickly enjoy a piece of dark chocolate or maybe a few sips of coffee that is actually hot. Just a precious moment to think clearly, if only for a second.

All moms need that moment. All moms feel that need. Sometimes we are just tired and really do need a break. When naptime means doing the dishes and the laundry instead of taking a break from doing. Because we know the importance of clean dishes and clothes outweighs our desire to just be for 10 minutes. Mothering is hard. And all moms are in this mothering gig together. 

As fellow moms, we should not be judging other moms for doing the very best we can at the moment. We don’t know the day or week or even the year that mom and child you encounter are walking through. We don’t know the life someone is living. We need to be cheering on our fellow moms and lifting them up with encouragement or prayer or help whenever the opportunity arises. We all need help and encouragement. We cannot walk the walk of mothering alone. God called us to be in community. I am very independent and while my kids were little my community was very small and at times almost nonexistent. There are times I remember feeling judged by the moms who only fed their kids organic and they didn’t have TVs to watch. These were moms who were supposed to have my back. I hope I have never made another mom feel like I am judging them because they don’t mother like I do. We all do our best to mother our kids in a way that is best for them to become independent, because let’s face it, they will be independent adults before we blink and they will be adults longer than they will be our littles.

Amelia is a great Momma hen and I do not blame her for wanting a moment to herself so she can breathe. I understand her sadness as she mourns her loss. Other hens would help keep the chicks distracted and she is walking the walk of mommyhood alone. I’ve been there and even though she is a different species, I know that feeling and I encourage her through extra treats. The chicks are going to be full grown before she knows it and then they won’t be underwing all the time. Though we are pretty sure she is ready to start laying again and she is trying to hide her nest ready to go broody yet again.

Next time you see a fellow mom, or dad, ask God to let you see them through His eyes. You might then know if they need a simple, warm, "I’ve been there," smile, or a quick prayer for extra grace, patience and wisdom, or a helping hand or quick word of encouragement. Sometimes a, “Hang in there.” and a smile is all it takes to brighten ones day.

“Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even the Messiah did not please Himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.” Romans 15:1-3

A Momma Hen and Her Chicks

Hatching chicks and raising chickens is such a great learning opportunity for kids of all ages. (Well, having animals in general.) In our homeschooling journey, we have always had the mindset that every life experience is a learning opportunity. You are never too old to learn more, and you don’t need a textbook to learn new things.

It has been so fun to watch Little Z learn about where chicks come from and how they grow. She has enjoyed playing with them and getting to name one of them, Chocolate. As she gets older she will learn more. I have learned more about chicken behavior and development with every experience and I know that I have not learned everything yet.

       Barnevelder                 Legbar            Wheaten Americauna
If Ethel turns out to be a roo we will call him Ricky.
Thankfully, Chocolate's name works either way.

We set 6 eggs under Amelia and 3 hatched out on day 21. Each chick emerged about 12 hours after the first little pip in their shell. 3 eggs did not hatch out. I have read in several places that the momma hen will push out the dead eggs from her nest if she decides that they are not viable, but after 2 weeks, she is still holding out hope, even though there is no way they will hatch this far out. I like that quality in her. She is not giving up on those 3 eggs that will not hatch for whatever reason. It’s the sign of a true momma. At the same time, we are watching her let her littles play while she clucks instruction to them, and as she shows them how to take the food out of the feeder and then walk in the waterer, stamp on the food and make it wet. Because, that is Amelia’s favorite way to eat her feed, as it was also the preferred method of our other hens. She is showing them how to scratch for bugs, dust bathe and all the other activities that chickens do. They come when she clucks at them. She pecks them on the head when they do not listen and then they obey. She fiercely protects them from any perceived danger. And they mimic all the behavior she models.

A Momma Hen and Her Chicks

As mommas, we hold out all hope for our kids, whatever the conflict they are walking through, that they will overcome and succeed. If they are walking through the valley we pray and hope that they will be able to climb the mountain and reach the top. We also show them what we have discovered is the best way to do all the daily tasks and the best way to eat our favorite foods. It is what mommas do. We model what we have found to be beneficial. They trust her and if we are doing our job, our littles trust us. Just a few observations as I watch Amelia walk out her life as a momma hen.

Hatch Day

It was fairly early in the morning, hardly anyone was awake and the coffee had just started brewing. Having yet to taste the elixir of life, I was not at full brain capacity yet but already the goings on of the day were in full swing, at least for some of us. Hannah had been outside to feed the chickens, which of course our roo had made sure all were awake about a half hour before dawn, when she came in with the most curious question.

“Mom, there is a little chicken trying to get into the chicken coop, what do I do?”

Now, we have a flock of chickens, our neighbors to the south of us past a small walnut orchard have a flock of chickens, and the neighbors to the west of us who share our fence have a flock of chickens. This stray could just be trying to find a home for chickens who love to be spoiled as the other flocks, are not spoiled like my hens. She could have easily heard that our coop is the best coop in the neighborhood. I’m sure that’s what the roos are crowing about some days. Bragging about their coops, hens and my roo, I’m sure, bragging about his crazy chicken lady (that’s me) and her girls who love to give them treats.

I told Hannah to let the hen into the coop and we would rescue her. She clearly had no flock that she was a part of from how she was acting. Her place of origin was a mystery. Our best guess is that a hen had hidden her eggs in the orchard and was attacked by a possum, skunk or racoon and this young hen was the only survivor. We fed her, and let her free range with our flock. We think she was about 12 weeks old at this point. Solomon our wonderful roo was happy to welcome a new hen to his flock of ladies even though the other hens were all on the fence about it. No hen wants to give up her place in the pecking order unless it means a promotion. The girls aptly named her Amelia Egghart as she is a rather proficient flyer. She was establishing herself as part of the flock and the rest of our ladies were beginning to be friendly to her. A few months later, a dog took out our flock, including our beloved rooster Solomon and amazingly Amelia was the only survivor. Our little rescue was able to survive the gruesomely vicious attack and became our one and only hen.

A Girl and Her Chicken
Yes that is a chicken the house.
#spoiledchicken

She became broody last month refusing to get off of her eggs. Instead of getting her to snap out of wanting to sit, we decided she needed companions. I asked a friend of mine if I could buy some fertile eggs from her and she graciously gave us for eggs from different breeds for us to set under Amelia. We were ready and able to now expand our flock giving our lonely hen some much needed companionship.

Barnevelders, Sussex, Americauna, Cream Legbar

Amelia was more than willing to bring the eggs in under her, we had six eggs and she wasn’t too sure at first if she could fit them all under tiny body, but she figured it out and sat dutifully for 3 weeks. They are hatching out today, starting with a little pip on one and then quickly a couple of others. I know that the rest will be quick to follow. We recently did some research and figured out that she is a rosecomb blue bantam hen. These hens are not known for egg laying or going broody , but this little survivor is very much a great egg layer of the cutest little cream colored eggs and a very broody little hen.

Eager to be a Momma Hen
These eggs are more than twice the size of the egg she lays.

We cannot wait to see how many eggs hatch or if we get roos or hens. Hopefully we won’t get all roos. Waiting for the little chicks to actually hatch out of their shells once the pip appears is a superb exercise in patience. It has been about eight hours since we saw the first little pip and they are still working on breaking out of their shells.

The Mystery Layer

We had a mystery layer. 

When we only had two laying chickens, we found an egg that looked much different from Penny’s white eggs and Oreo’s oblong pinkish brown eggs. It was more of an orb shape and a bit darker brown. We found it on a Sunday afternoon after church in a nest that hadn’t had an egg in it yet. It was cold and none of the chickens were giving up their secret as we inspected and interrogated each brown egg laying chicken. We suspected Sparky was the newest layer. However, we could not be sure. She had been showing all the signs that she was ready to start laying for a couple of weeks, but so had Daisy. It was time to be on egg watch. I calculated the approximate time the mystery egg was probably laid. Then figured out the earliest time the chicken would lay again. 

On Monday we were all on high alert. Checking the coop almost hourly to see who would jump in the box. We were so disappointed when Oreo was the only chicken that showed any interest in the boxes and she laid a very oblong pinkish brown egg. No other chicken laid on Monday. Super bummer. 

On Tuesday we went into the coop in the morning and there was another egg. None of the chickens were anywhere near the boxes when we approached the coop. And none of them were talking. Except to let us know they wanted out of the coop. Not one of them had the afterglow of laying an egg and none of them were singing their song.  {{ humph }}  This is such a frustrating dilemma. I have been meticulous with recording who has laid an egg on each day. 

On Wednesday Oreo graciously gave us an egg. But no other excitement in the egg diaries.

Thursday we kept checking the coop every hour and again every time we heard any amount of clucking at all. Around noon we heard some clucking and decided to go check. There we saw an egg in one box that looked just like the other two mystery eggs. Daisy was in a different box clucking out a song with all her soul. Peaking in there we saw a cute tiny little beige egg! It looks nothing like the mystery egg from Sunday and nothing like the egg in the box next to her. Daisy laid her first egg! It was so cute and she was so proud. She got out of the box a little while later all the while still clucking and placing straw on her back. Even after she was out of the box.

This made us deduce that Sparky was our mystery layer. But we hadn't found her in a box yet. That Friday our goal was to catch Sparky in the act. Checking the coop constantly we were determined that this would be the day we would confirm she was the layer. How hard could this be? Checking the coop every half hour I was sure we would catch her. Harder than you would think. We did eventually find her in a box laying late that afternoon. Watching her, we watched Sparky go in and do her thing then jump out. Total time was less than 30 minutes, a very efficient chicken indeed. In the 13 days she has been laying, she has given us 9 eggs. Not bad for a chicken who just started laying.

Our First Egg!

If you don’t follow me on Instagram then you probably didn’t see my huge announcement… the first egg was laid!!! We are all so very excited about this. It was a moment of taking so many pictures. 

Now, we were sure that our black sex-link Oreo was going to be the first to lay. She had been showing signs that she is ready to lay for about a month now. But no, we were really surprised by which chicken laid today.

This morning started out with us trying to figure out the configuration new roosting bars to help eliminate the roosting wars we have going on. (An entirely different saga going on there.) We had to kick the chickens out of the coop while we were installing it. And outside the door to the run all we could hear was serious squawking by Penny our Ideal. Now this chicken will squawk at you whenever you are not doing what she wants you to do so I didn’t worry about it. She couldn’t be roaming the coop while we were moving everything around. After Hubby got everything secured we opened the run door and Penny came marching in giving us a stern clucking to. Then she jumped into the nesting box she has claimed as her own and settled in.

We watched her for a few minutes then we decided to give her some privacy. Not even 10 minutes later she laid her very first egg! 

Now I am sure she was a bit confused about the whole ordeal. I would be. I let her sit there for a while as I was busy taking pictures, of course. Penny stood there for a few minutes then she started checking out her little baby egg. And she would then look at me and then look down. 

What just happened!?!

Then the last thing I expected happened. She rolled the egg under her chest and proceeded to lay on the egg. I watched her for a bit longer and she started getting more comfy and settled in. She started rearranging the straw in the nesting box around her. It was so very clear she was not planning on moving – she had gone broody on me! What!?! Broody? Really? Who has ever seen a hen go broody with her very first egg? This chicken has shown no signs of having a broody personality at any point in her short 21 weeks of life.

What was I going to do with her? I gave her some more time to come to terms with the major ordeal she just went through. Then for a brief moment she stood up to rearrange her egg and nest and I seized the opportunity to grab the egg. 

But not wanting to stress her out I put a golf ball that was in a different nest into the box. She was not happy with me putting my hands anywhere near her and she bit me. She settled herself in and I proceeded to tell the world of Instagram. 

It's so tiny! Just a little larger than a golf ball.

Sometime later I went out to check on her and she was out of the box and acting like her normal trouble making self. 

 

I wonder who is going to lay next…

Egg Watch

We are on egg watch here at the backyard chicken coop. Three of our chickens are 18 weeks old this week and two of them are closer to 19 weeks. And from all my research, most chickens start laying between 16 and 24 weeks depending on the breed. We are so excited about the prospect of walking into the coop and finding a beautiful egg that we check on the chickens several times a day. We haven't found one yet but believe me I will announce it to the world.

Oreo, our black sex-link, is one of the younger chickens but we are sure she will be the first to lay us an egg. Her comb and wattles have fully grown and became very red when she was about 15 weeks old it was then I knew it was time to start switching out the feed and add a dish of oyster shell free choice in the coop. Then a couple weeks ago she started acting like she was going to lay soon. She is nesting like she is preparing for an arrival, constantly building nests everywhere she can. One of those nests is in the bushes in the back yard – not where I want her laying eggs. What has thoroughly convinced us that it will be any day now is the afternoon she started clucking and pacing around the coop totally agitated and somewhat confused. And I kid you not, her facial expressions are exactly that of a girl who just started her cycle and was really not as prepared to deal with all of what comes with that as she thought. She kicked every other chicken out of the coop and kept pacing back and forth completely confused about what she should do next. We put her in a nesting box and let her stay in there while she kept clucking. After a few more minutes she started playing with the straw in the box and checking everything out. Then she just stopped and looked at all of us humans (me and the girls) who were staring intently at her.

Oreo in the Nesting Box

She had become completely calm and acted like nothing was wrong. She jumped out ate some food and drank some water then went out to the run with the other chickens. Everything she did was exactly what a laying chicken does (from everything I have read) when they are going to lay. The only difference… no egg! I was so bummed that after all of that, there wasn’t a prize in the box. A few more times she has behaved just like that since then and every time we see her, we very quickly put her in a nesting box hoping she gets the idea that if she feels like her bottom is going to explode (seriously I feel for those girls going through that almost every day) she will hop in a box herself.

Oreo ~ 17 Weeks

I am thinking of taking a poll about when she will start laying and then who will lay next.

Penny ~ 18 Weeks

What do you think?

Sparky ~ 18 Weeks

When do you think we will be getting our first egg?

Vanellope ~ 17 Weeks

And what lucky chicken will be next?

Daisy ~ 17 Weeks

Want to make a guess? The prize? The satisfaction of being correct.

The One About a Depressed Chicken

Poor Vanellope. 

Oreo decided that she was no longer happy being at the bottom of the pecking order. Being at the bottom of the flock really happened by default as she is the youngest of the chickens. When we brought them home she just naturally ended up at the bottom. In fact it seemed like for the longest time the pecking order was actually their age order. Oreo realized she wanted to be higher up and not at the bottom anymore.

So one day Oreo started to challenge Vanellope (who was number 4 in the line) for her spot in the flock. Have you ever seen a chicken challenge another chicken? I wish I could get a picture of this but sadly every time I see it, I don’t have any photo taking device on me or ready. (shocking I know) It happens rather quickly and randomly, so I would have to be just standing their waiting and waiting for her to decide to show her stuff or just be really lucky. Oreo would run up to Vanellope and puff her chest out (think chest bump) then sometimes peck her. Vanellope sometimes pecked back and other times she would just turn around and walk away. And then Oreo would go about her day. Until she decided to do it again.

Vanellope lost her position and is now at the bottom and became a bit depressed. Yep that’s right, depressed. Did you know chickens could get depressed? I didn’t know chickens could get depressed. What does a depressed chicken look like? Well, let me tell you.

Vanellope started to mope around her head not held as high. She would sit around off to the side instead of roaming the run or the yard scratching and pecking for bugs with the others. She would be the last one to go after any treats we put out. Sometimes she would hang back and just not go after any of them at all. She even stopped hanging out with Sparky all the time. Those two were practically inseparable when they were little. I felt so bad for her I decided to make a point of giving her treats before setting them out for everyone. We would go in to the run or coop and seek her out first before saying hi to the others. We made a point of making sure she knew that her position in the flock didn’t matter. She is still a great little chicken. After a few days she started to perk back up and be more playful. She stopped hanging back and starting moving in to inhale as many of her favorite treats before the others. While she is still at the bottom, she seems to be more okay with it. And she is running around like her energetic self again. 

This pecking order thing has many rules that this human doesn’t understand. How do they make the decision not to fight for their spot? When is it decided that there is a new order? Do the others have a say in the change? I just don’t completely get it. Chickens are quite fascinating creatures to study.

Click here to read about our
Chicken Adventures

Meet The Girls AKA Chickens

Meet the flock! When we determined it was time to buy chickens we decided to go to a friend’s feed store in a nearby town. It was a great excuse to go see them and get all we needed to keep the cute fuzz balls alive. Well... now, they aren’t so fuzzy but they sure are cute full of feathers. They love to do everything as a group and rarely will you see any of them doing their own thing. If they are, the others quickly follow suite as not to be left out of any of the fun. If you didn't know, chickens are very social and if you plan on raising chickens plan on having at least 3 chickens. (That way if something happens to one of them you still have two.)

Sparky - Rhode Island Red

Our Rhode Island Red named Sparky the oldest of the little chicks. Our son named her and as of late, the girls have taken to calling her Sparkle. She is the one in charge of our little flock. She will actually herd everyone into the coop if she suspects danger. And she seems to always be on guard keeping everyone safe. When she is ready to roost for the night I have seen her pacing and calling everyone to get them all to come in so she can sleep. It is quit amusing. She just started to try clucking which is hilarious to hear.

Penny - Ideal (Like a California White)

Our white and black Ideal named Penny Peckerton, loves to preen all the time. I have so many pictures of her preening her feathers. She loves hanging out with the humans and if we bend down she will jump right up on our hands, arms, shoulders, back or lap (if we are sitting). Then she will tell us all about her day. She was like that from the beginning. Our first night with her was like having an infant in the house. She would peep loudly calling out for us to come. As soon as she saw us she would stop peeping. Sooo incredibly cute and annoying all at the same time. Over all she is very docile and friendly and extremely gentle.

Daisy - Buff Orpington

Our Buff Orpington Daisy is one of the most docile chickens on the planet. She loves to be held and doesn’t mind any of the crazy antics my youngest might be up to with her. If you are anywhere close to being able to be perched on, she will perch on you. Even your head if you bend down while she is wanting some attention. When she was still a fuzz ball she would fall asleep mid stride, bite or whatever she was doing it didn’t matter to her. Such an easy going chicken.

Vanellope - Speckled Sussex

Our Speckled Sussex Vanellope is always busy and hates to be in one place for long. Catching this little chicken has proven to be quite the hilarious spectacle. She loves to run free but enjoys it when we are nearby. When we first got the chicks she was fourth in of the pecking order however little Oreo challenged her and now she is at the bottom. She got depressed (yes chickens can be depressed) for a few days. We would go out and give her treats first and spend extra time with her. Now she is a happy little hen again.

Oreo - Black Sex-Link

Our Black Sex-Link, Oreo is the youngest of the bunch, though from the beginning she has totally been able to her hold her own with the older ones. She seems to be the most distractable one of our little flock. She will be off doing her thing and then when she realizes that she isn’t with the rest of the chickens anymore and will quickly run to catch up.


It is amazing how each chicken has their own personality and preferences. It is so fun watching my girls with them and I love that they will go out to the coop just to hang out with the chickens during the day. All of the kids are learning the ropes of chicken keeping and I cannot believe how fond of these little chicks I am.

Click here to read about our
Chicken Adventures

Baby Chick Adventures

Baby chicks! A little over a month ago we embarked on a new adventure. We decided to start raising chickens! I spent over a month reading every book at the library and started researching online so we could know everything we needed to know about chickens before we even got them. What I have learned so far… as with raising children there is a ton of advice out there and until you actually become the owner of chickens you can only learn so much in advance. The rest just comes with experience.

We inherited a rather large coop that is almost 200 square feet; it just needed some – okay - a lot of cleaning and a bit of fixing up. And we needed to put up some fencing to make a run. We have been spending our weekends working on the coop and run and making sure our chickens are as happy as they can possibly be.

We bought 5 baby chicks all a different breed mostly so that I could tell them all apart. Each of the kids got to choose one and I chose the last one. The funniest part of the whole thing is seeing how each one of them is like a little chicken counterpart to the kid that chose it. Their personalities are almost completely the same.

I decided to start a whole series about this grand new adventure. We are all enjoying observing all their personalities come out. And I am really having a blast watching the girls try to train them to sit, stay and come. They have learned the word treat, very well and love it when we come bearing gifts of fruits and veggies. What about you? Do you have chickens? Any advice for a novice chicken owner?