The Coup de Coop

Let me just say up front, flock integration is not for the light hearted.  Anyone watch the Bad Girls Club on the Oxygen channel?  Yeah, completely trashy, bad-girl drama (makes treadmill time at the gym fly by!).   Yup, that's what we have going on at the Second Street Chicken Ranch -- just substitute "chixs" for girls.

The two Blondie's arrived yesterday afternoon and my plan was to slip them into the coop after dark, once my girls had retired for the evening.  Well, it had been a long day and I was tired, so after a little meet and greet between cage wires, I decided to do a more formal introduction.

I carefully placed the larger Buff Orpington on the roost outside...she stayed put and looked around curiously. So far so good.  The second Blondie, the smaller of the two, was a bit more excited and she flapped her way down into the pen.  Talk about being blindsided; in a flash Henny the Dominatrix, pulled a beak full of feathers from the little Orpie. Ouch! Next she did her best wrestling move off the ropes to flattened the new girl and pin her down.  Yikes!  Big Blondie stood stock still on the roost - can you blame her?

Helen decided to tag team with Henny, and in a dust up, Big Blondie got tossed off the roost. She too lost a clump of feathers immediately.  The rest of the flock was in a complete panic trying to stay clear of the mayhem. Oy! 

I tossed in some lettuce and thankfully things settled down for a few moments. It didn't last and at one point the new girls were cornered; Helen on one side and Henny on the other.  It was brutal.  I did my best not to intervene but I finally grabbed the new girls an pitched them into the coop.  Much to my dismay,  they jumped back down and into the "ring."  I really don't see how anyone could witness a cockfight; hen pecking is brutal enough.

Well after a few more rounds of getting the s%#@ kicked out of her, the little Orpington got smart and retreated to the coop.  "What the hell," is what I could imagine big O saying...move over sister, I'm right behind you!  They stood in the doorway together, blocking the entrance.  As I went in the house, I turned to see Henny midway up the ladder.  This should be good...but the Blondes held their ground and Henny backed off. 

This morning I half expected to find two pecked to death Orpingtons in the coop.  What I did find were two blondes still in the doorway.  My girls had been shut out and shut down. Shut up!

Tonight the Blondes (who will have names soon) were still holding the fort - a coup of the coop, if you will.  Hey, they got it made - the food is in the coop along with water and cozy nest boxes. Maybe blondes aren't so dumb!  And, even under such unwelcoming circumstances, they left me a beautiful cream colored egg.

My girls, on the other hand, are grumpy and probably hungry (I set out another waterer).  They need to get it together.

It's dark now and my plan was to go out and put one or two of my "good" girls on the roost in the coop. But to my surprise,  Henny was already on the roost inside the coop, along with Flame.  I put Harriett on the roost inside and left Helen and Penny on the outside roost.  The Orpingtons were still roosted in the doorway.  This might work out after all...

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Okay, the title of this post is not what you are thinking...although if things don't turn out as expected, it could be very soon.

The Second Street Chicken Ranch is taking full advantage of the City of Coeur d'Alene's recently amended chicken laws by adopting two new girls to our flock.  Tonight we will be adding a pair of blond bombshells (aka Buff Orpingtons), and bring our flock to seven.

My colleague and fellow city chicker, Ben Fairfield, has decided to disperse his flock of Orpingtons for a new and younger flock of Rhode Island Reds.  Since his girls are just over a year old and have plenty of laying potential left (and to otherwise stay their pending execution), we are making room in the coop. 

So, tonight, under the cloak of darkness (really!), we are slipping the new girls into the coop.  Tomorrow morning when everyone wakes up - Hello - new roomies!   I've done a bit of researching and I keep reading that adding new hens in the dark is one of the best ways to integrate a flock -- that, and copious treats to keep them busy.

Should be an interesting evening - I just hope they don't keep us up all night with their cackling and feathered pillow fights...

The Slow Season

This has been quite the slow growing summer. Thanks to a very mild winter that lasted until the end of June, the garden has been just sluggish (in more ways than one) this year.

The tomatoes look good with lots of green fruit; but this time last year we had been picking tomatoes for at least two weeks. The squash and cucumbers are just now starting to blossom. If we are fortunate enough to have a somewhat "normal" September, the Second Street Chicken Ranch should have an abundance of tomatoes.

We have had excellent success with our lettuce and sugar snap peas.  The Tom Thumb variety of butter head lettuce is my favorite this year.  These "single serving" heads are about the size of your fist with a delicate, creamy flavor.  I wasn't sure if the snap peas were going to make it through the very cold and very wet spring; and was certain that the seeds had rotted in the ground. But, they pulled through and even though it took a while for them to get going, they have been fantastic! Large, meaty peas that are sugar sweet!  These are even sweeter when a bag of 15 or so, sell for $4 a pound in the grocery store. 

Here's a pano-view of our raised beds -- it's the first full year of using this form of bed.  Hal says I'd have more room if I took them out and used this entire area for garden, much like I did in previous years.  But, I think I'll give the raised beds another year.  I am limited in my space due to the giant maple (Max) and walnut (Wally) trees in the backyard.  This corner is the only sunny spot I have.

Speaking of Max, a few years ago I placed a single Hen-n-Chick plant in one of his crooks.  Look what I have now...a hen, pullets and chicks! These things will grow anywhere.  My super creative friend, Julene, recently posted a bit on hens and chicks on her blog, Present By Design . You can also find a link to her website in my Groovy Links section.

Below are a few recent images from the flower garden.  I'm glad to see the bees back in action.

Vote for CdA Community Roots

I need your help.  The CdA Community Roots Local Food Share program has the potential to win a $10,000 community grant through Capella University's Public Service Challenge.  My friend, Laura Sankovich is a volunteer with Community Roots and is a faculty member with Capella University.  She has submitted the Community Roots video as her Public Service Challenge entry.

Community Roots is a Coeur d'Alene volunteer-based program that collects excess produce from local farmers, markets and community gardens to distribute to local food banks and other assistance facilities. A $10,000 grant would go a long way in helping this program.

So, all I need you do to is vote for Laura's video here!  The top 3 videos will all receive a $10,000 grant.  Take a minute and vote for the video and help this great community service! 

Chicken Unlimited

The Coeur d'Alene City Council voted Monday night to amend its chicken laws from three hens to an unlimited number of hens (no roosters and no other types of fowl).  This of course makes the Second Street Chicken Ranch very happy since we were breaking the law under the former ordinance! 

I would like to again thank Mike Kennedy and the City Council members for taking the time to review the issue and for revising the ordinance.  I would also like to thank the community of CdA Urban Chicken Ranchers for speaking out and educating our City Council on this issue.