It’s urban chick season once again, and past Tangled Nest posts on chickens, coops, and chick-rearing are getting a lot of readers.  We thought we’d make things convenient by gathering our most salient “chicken wisdom” in one place. Here is advice gleaned from our twelve years of backyard chicken-keeping, taking you from fluffy chick, to sweet retired hen.

• How to make a simple biddy box
• Our Famous Urban Chicken Coop Plan
• Buff Orpingtons–our favorite backyard breed
• Using coffee chaff as coop litter
• A little chicken philosophizing–my theory of “Chickenomics”
• Thinking about chicken retirement

Here is a link to all of the Tangled Nest chicken posts ever (22 and counting). You can also access this list by clicking the “chickens” link in the categories on the sidebar of The Tangled Nest home page.)

We encourage thoughtfully deliberated chicken-keeping.  I truly believe that chickens are easier to keep than most people think.  They are also a long-term commitment, and it is worth thinking through the daily, yearly, and long-term dimensions of getting chickens for you, your neighbors, and the well-being of your hens.  If you’ve done that, and you’re ready, then you are in for a treat.  Chickens will be a beautiful addition to your household round.  Have fun, and we would love to hear about your experiences!

PS: Bonus link from Tom who still loves this story of a beautiful Ethiopian chicken-keeper he met in his travels.

In Seattle it’s a snow day–we are having our annual “snowpocalypse,” when a few inches of snow completely shuts down the city and sends cars skidding into the curbs and children flocking into the unfamiliar white stuff.

The snow is not just unfamiliar to our children; this afternoon I went to check on the chickens and found them completely flummoxed by it. They had managed to make it out the coop door onto a branch in the run, but were totally unwilling to put their feet down into the scary cold white stuff. It was two PM, and the entire coop was covered with a virgin, untouched layer of snow, more than six hours after dawn.

Ethel was brave enough to fly over to a box, where I found her pacing back and forth, unsure what to do next.

Watching for a while I saw their technique for getting across the coop without having to put a foot into the snow. Crafty!

Even after I pushed the snow aside, they remained completely unwilling to come off their perch. Bird brains!

4 PM update: they are still on the branch. How do your chickens handle the snow?

Last May, our older chickens went into Urban Chicken Retirement at my Uncle Joe’s farm in Maple Valley.  We’ve taken our aging flocks there in the past, where they  nibble away their golden years in wide sun-dappled meadows with horses as friends.  This year, since our chickens came to the farm, Joe has lost two cats and three of our four chickens, presumably to coyotes!  When we arrived for Thanksgiving festivities, we learned that the only chicken left happened to be our favorite-ever chicken, Marigold the Buff Orpington (of the famous Chicken Walk).  She was doing what any of us would do after seeing our colleagues picked off one by one by a toothed predator–she was hiding in a box in the barn, and hardly ever came out.

Joe's farm has a beautiful old barn and outbuildings.

Next to Marigold's box--another dusty treasure. Maybe I'll use this to finish the book I'm writing!

Marigold's Hiding From Coyote Box.

Poor Marigold! We didn’t think twice–we picked her up, dusty barn-box and all, and took her home.

It took a few days for everyone to work out the new pecking order, and we watched over them carefully as Marigold integrated with the existing flock, but now they are happy together, and Marigold is back to her old tricks.  She’s taught the other chickens how to climb up on the porch and peck at the back door for attention.

Introducing a new chicken takes several days, sometimes more. But it's usually safe to put them together in the roost after they are settled in the dark.

Ethel the Barred Rock was particularly disgruntled at first.

One happy chicken-family.

Urban chicken keeping is great for fresh eggs, sure, but sometimes it’s just a matter of the heart.  Welcome home Marigold.

This year’s cold summer didn’t deter the columnar apples.  We’re having our best harvest ever from these funny little trees, and Claire has fun going out to pick the fruit for her lunch each morning:

Remember the Bicycle Pea Trellis?  It is now surrounded by broccoli, and a few sugar pie pumpkins.  I should pick the pumpkins and cook them up, but they are so pretty and look so autumnal out there, I just can’t quite bring myself to do it yet.

In another trellising experiment, this one feeding our souls rather than our stomachs, the passion vines we planted from seed took over the corkscrew willow branches (see link above), just as I hoped they would.

A late-but-plentiful blackberry season brought plenty of foraging, jam-making, and pie:
Among our new batch of young “spring chickens,” Ethel the barred rock was the first to start laying.  They start with little tiny “beginner eggs,” very cute:

All the sunflower seeds are intended for sharing with the wild co-inhabitants of our neighborhood.  Goldfinches come through in intermittent flocks, and lots of chickadees and squirrels:

We continue our habit of sleeping outside through the summer and as far as we can into the fall before getting cold and miserable.  The last couple of stormy nights have been a bit eventful, and we’ve had to put the rainfly on (so can’t see the trees and stars), but we love it out there:

There seems to have been a bread-baking hiatus over the summer, but we’re back to our good old Deep PB&J with walnut cider bread for school lunch:

And in the “merry olde England” spirit of a smallholding, we’ve been busy making our own fun.  This summer Claire crafted a rather fancy hoop of PVC pipe decorated with colored tape, and all of us have been working on our hoopster moves:

I am writing with a light heart, but am feeling keenly that it’s no coincidence–is it?–that the call in our lives and communities to simple living coincides with a crisis in the industrial-economic-corporate complex.  We join so many who are seeking to create and re-create ways of living that make common sense, and draw out our innate enthusiasm, vitality, and delight.

Anyway–that’s a bit of what’s going on around our place.  We’d love to hear what’s happening at yours.  What are your autumn pleasures?

Chickens need a little extra attention in the heat, just as they do in the extreme cold, but they’ll be completely fine as long as a few simple needs are met. Like all birds, chickens can regulate their body temperature with some efficiency. Remember that birds have a higher body temperature than humans, so they don’t have to shed heat as soon as we do when temperatures rise.  They don’t have sweat glands, so when they do need to cool, chickens will pant, and maybe flutter the flap of skin beneath their chin–a spot with lots of tiny blood vessels, so heat is exchanged quickly.  Sometimes chickens will lift their feathers to air their skin.   These behaviors might make your hens look as if they are about to keel over from heat exhaustion, but they are perfectly normal things for hot chickens to be doing.

To keep summer chickens happy and healthy:

–Make double-sure they have constant access to shade.

–Give them fresh cool water every single day (even if you are usually too lazy to do it daily, as I sometimes am…). Not only is cool water refreshing to the chickens and good for their bodies, but any potentially harmful bacteria in the water grows more quickly and easily in the heat.

–If you normally keep water in the coop, consider it leaving it in a shady spot in the run/yard, so they will see it more often, and be reminded to drink.

–Make sure the nesting area is well ventilated.  Open all doors and windows, and if it’s stiflingly hot, consider wetting down the outside walls and roof with a hose to provide evaporative cooling.

–Make sure the girls have plenty of dry, loose dirt for dusting their feathers, which they like to do more often in the heat.  This helps cool their skin, comfort them, and as always, keeps parasites at bay.  Plus they are so darn cute, happily digging and dusting.

–Chickens do not like to have water sprayed on them, but if temperatures are very high, and the chickens seem worrisomely stressed, go ahead and give adult chickens a light misting with the garden hose.  If you leave a low sprinkler in a corner for awhile, they might even explore it and play in it on their own.

May all humans and chickens enjoy the relaxed beauty of the season!

Saying goodbye to Marigold, our favorite Buff Orpington ever.

We were a host once again this year for Seattle Tilth’s Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour, and one of the main questions would-be chicken keepers voiced was what to do with older chickens after they stop laying, or slow way down?  The numbers vary by breed and individual, but most chickens lay really well the first year, slow a bit in the winter the second year, then taper off after that, laying very little after year three or maybe four.  But these same chickens will live to be six years old, or more (and even if your chickens lay longer than this–all will outlive their laying days).  What happens after that?  This is a question worth pondering before you commit to urban chicken-keeping.  Few of us have the space to keep all those chickens while adding new ones to the flock, and feeding them can be expensive when you don’t get fresh eggs in return for all that organic chicken food.  We interact closely with our chickens, and are too attached to them to either eat them (Claire and I don’t eat meat, anyway) or donate them to the boa constrictor exhibit at our local zoo (which is an option some consider…).  So we are fortunate to have an uncle who lives in rural Maple Valley, and allows our older chickens to roam his fields in idyllic chicken retirement.  Recently we moved our young girls, Adelaide, Ophelia, and Ethel into the big coop, and the “old girls”–Chrysanthemum, Buttercup, Marigold, and Esmeralda–went to “live in the country.”  Our sadness at saying goodbye to these sweet hens was tempered by their evident happiness in the freedom of their new home.

Arriving at Uncle Joe's farm.

First wondering wander in more space than they've ever seen.

Settling right in to idyllic retirement.

Couldn't resist this photo: Buttercup in the buttercups.

New friends.

We’re very fortunate that for our elder-hens, “going to live in the country” is not a euphemism.  But not everyone has an Uncle Joe.  How do you humanely handle aging chickens in your urban coop?

(2011 addition: Our beloved Marigold came back to us from the farm six months later! Read the story here)

In a perfect storm of mismatched calendars, Lyanda was doing a reading in Portland this week while Kelly and Erik of the blog Root Simple (formerly Homegrown Evolution) were in the Seattle area, doing events in support of their great new book Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World. Then they literally passed each other on their respective trains as Lyanda came home and Kelly and Erik headed south to Portland.

Erik and Kelly check out our garden.

But while Kelly and Erik were in town, Claire and I were lucky enough to have them as house guests, and we had an opportunity to enjoy a leisurely breakfast at Bakery Nouveau and talk about their new book, their blog, and our mutual affection for chickens, gardens, crusty breads, and bikes.

Their new book Making It refines the tinkering, post-consumer, urban homesteading experiments from their blog, laying out projects in clear, practical step-by step instructions intended as an introduction to “the old home arts.”  The chapters move step-wise, from “Day to Day” projects like homemade tooth powder and herbal infusions, to “Week to Week” projects involving cooking, washing, and mending, and on to projects relevant to a monthly, seasonal, or annual time frame. Like making sauerkraut, or soap. Saving seeds. Brewing beer. (Slaughtering chickens! Gasp!) And finally, their special new passion, beekeeping.

Some of the Root Simple bees.

Erik showed up in a sweatshirt from his beekeeping club, Backwards Beekeepers, and we talked for a while about the quirky characters in the beekeeping scene, and the idea that it may in fact be the practices of modern beekeepers that are at least partly responsible for the epidemic of colony collapse disorder.  The book opens with the story of them getting their bees (which you can also see in this video), and closes with a 25-page section introducing beekeeping. “Backwards beekeepers,” it says, “manage bees as little as possible,” and Kelly and Erik have become advocates for this approach, and active members in the 600-strong LA-area club. They raise feral bees, don’t spray them with chemicals, allow them to build their own combs, and simply “let bees be bees,” an approach which is radically different from the heavily managed, chemically-dependent, honey-production-focused beekeeping that they say is the norm.

I wish I’d had time to dig deeper into the bees with them, but Amtrak awaited–it was time to buzz down to the train station and send them off to Portland, so that pleasure will have to wait till next time.

Meanwhile, I’m poking through Making It, trying to figure out which of their many great projects will be the first I try  – we’re overdue for a proper compost bin (page 230), and their section on soaps (148-162) has projects that range from super-easy to fairly complicated, but all look tempting. And I love the idea of homemade peppermints! (Page 134)

Follow Erik and Kelly’s blog Root Simple, and pick up your own copy of the book at your local bookseller or on Amazon.

Marigold the Buff Orpington

We’ve been keeping chickens for about twelve years now, and have had a chance to enjoy several breeds.  Sensible chicken choosing has to take many things into account–space, climate, and your priorities (temperament? ease of care? good layers? egg color?).  Over the years, we’ve settled on our  most important chicken characteristics:  we want heritage breeds that are dependable layers and that are also sweet-tempered.  Our chickens are part of our everyday food/garden/family life.  We love to be out with the chickens, watching them, interacting with them.  Claire likes to bring her friends out to the coop, and spend time there with the hens.  Buff Orpingtons are great layers–a lovely, nice-sized, brown egg from each chicken pretty much every day–but they also the sweetest chickens on earth.

Like a cat, Marigold loves to have her chin scratched.

Buff Orpingtons are an English heritage breed, quite fat, and absolutely beautiful in golden-yellow plumage and bright red combs.  This is the classic Beatrix Potter chicken, the round barnyard beauty with the many-toed socks that Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, the hedgehog laundress, found so troublesome to wash.

"And what are those long yellow things with fingers like gloves?" "Oh, that's a pair of stockings belonging to Sally Henny-penny--look how she's worn the heels out with scratching in the yard! She'll very soon go barefoot!" said Mrs. Tiggy-winkle.

The first Opringtons were black, and now they come in several standard colors.  But for some reason, the Buffs make the best “pet” chickens.  All of our Buff Orpingtons have had unique personalities (Marigold likes to go for walks, and Buttercup patrols the yard for squirrels–chasing them mercilessly), but they all share certain qualities:  they like to be scratched, held, and carried;  they like to sit in your lap while you read a book (preferably aloud so the chicken can hear); they never peck at you unless they are trying to get your attention (so that you will scratch, hold, carry, or read to them!).  They are just the best, sweetest, dearest chickens, and we couldn’t love them more.

One more good thing about them–unlike some of the other common backyard breeds, Orpingtons are too fat and heavy to get off the ground.  While your auracana might regularly make it over the fence into the neighbor’s dog-filled yard, your Buffs will stay put.

We’ve always kept a mixed flock for beauty, variation in egg color, and to try new breeds.  But we’ve decided that our new chicks this season will all be Buff Orpingtons.

The downside to Buff Orpingtons?  I actually think they might be louder than some of the other breeds.  They are definitely very keen to announce the laying of an egg, often at great length.  This drives Tom crazy.

Some thoughts on other common breeds:

Auracanas/Ameracanas:  The blue-green eggs are gorgeous.  Gorgeous!  The chickens are funky, with long legs and ear tufts.  Good runners.  The chickens are a bit high-strung.  They are great, dependable layers, but less “friendly” than many breeds.  We’ve loved having them, but as I mentioned above, we’ve decided to go with personality over blue-green eggs.

Silver or Gold-laced Wyandottes:  Beautfiul, compact little chickens, with lovely scaled plumage, but aloof, nervous, and not even the best layers.  I’ve kept them in the past because they are so pretty, but probably never will again.

Plymouth Barred Rocks:  Great girls.  Solid layers of medium-sized brown eggs, calm, even-tempered, good with kids.

Our lovely Barred Rock, Esmeralda. Look at that pretty orange eye!

Rhode Island Red:  Classic American breed, ditto comments on Barred Rock, but slightly more aggressive.  The copper-red feathers almost glow.  Can’t go wrong with these.

Chrysanthemum the Rhode Island Red shows off my very favorite chicken part: the fluffy bum.

I’m covering just the most common breeds here, because you can get them in small numbers at feed stores, which is how most of us get our chicks.  Keeping less common heritage breeds is wonderful, but they usually come from specialty hatcheries that require a minimum order of chicks per breed, usually more than urban backyards can accommodate.  To go this noble route, hook up with some friends and do an order together.  Learn more about rare heritage breeds here.

If you’re just starting out, see my post about making your own biddy box and raising chicks.

Meanwhile–happy Spring Chick season!  Enjoy, and tell us about your own favorite breeds!

As always, thanks to Tom for the wonderful photos.

I have received more comments about this shirt than any piece of clothing I have ever owned:  my spiffy, turquoise EAT MORE KALE t-shirt.  People stare, laugh, turn their heads to watch me pass on the street, nudge their companions, make grimmacing kale-is-yucky expressions, and–best of all–stop to talk.  I hear that folks love kale, hate kale (a controversial vegetable!), grow kale, have the best kale pesto recipe ever, credit kale with the curing of various ailments.  But the most common comment far and away is this one: “I know kale is good for me, but I’ve just never liked it.”

I have a Kale Calling:  I love kale, and I want everyone to love it as much as I do.  It’s beautiful, easy to grow year round in the Pacific Northwest, is glowing with health benefits, and–when fixed well–is truly delicious.  But let’s be clear.  I’m not talking about that cactus-like winter/Russian kale with the red veins.  If you are growing that, and you think you don’t like kale, and can’t get your kids/sweetie/dog to eat it, then it is time for a kale variety switch.  There are lots of good ones, but my personal favorite is the dark blue/black Tuscan Nero kale, also called “Black Palm.”  It grows into a small palm tree of kale (people sometimes think it’s bolting, but it’s not–it’s flourishing).  The leaves are the prettiest shade of deep blue-green, and it tastes sweet, even when raw, and especially after a frost.

Kale is dripping with radiant health:  vitamin C, vitamin K, iron, beta-carotene, lutein, calcium, indole-3-carbinol (which encourages DNA repair at the cellular level and may block the growth of cancer cells).  Also lots of other things, which I have never heard of and cannot spell, but which are reported to be very good for us, including nutrients that:  improve eyesight, prevent cancer and colds, boost brain function, possess anti-inflammatory qualities, enhance digestion, and, and, and…the list almost literally never ends.  In World War II, the U.K’s “Dig for Victory” campaign (the English version of the Victory Garden), promoted the planting of easy-to-grow kale to help replace nutrients missing from everyday diets because of food rationing.

Still, you can’t just throw the stuff on someone’s plate, steamed until rubbery, and expect them to love it.  No matter how you fix your kale, first remove the thick stems and central vein.  You can do this by folding the leaf over and cutting the stem out with a chef’s knife or, even easier, with kitchen scissors (or any scissors–I also cut pizza with scissors!). Then try this simple, classic Italian recipe:

Kale with Garlic and Olive Oil

Parboil a big bunch of kale in a large pot of boiling water with a couple teaspoons of kosher salt.  Parboil only for 2-4 mintues, until the kale is tender.  Transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water (pluck out with tongs if you want to save the water), then drain, squeeze out all the water you can, and chop coarsely.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of good, extra-virgin olive oil in an heavy skillet or wok over medium heat.  Add plenty of minced garlic, a pinch of hot red pepper flakes (to taste), and stir until the garlic is fragrant and just begins to color. Toss in the greens, and stir for a couple of minutes until the kale is nicely coated and seasoned.  Add a sprinkle of finishing salt, and some fresh ground pepper.  If you like, serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over the greens.  SO yummy!  This is really wonderful with farro, toasted hazelnuts, and some crumbled gorgonzola.

This day I added a little sauteed zuchinni...

Or try Kale Chips:

Cut stems out of the kale, then chop leaves into two inch pieces.  Toss to coat lightly with a good olive oil, and season as you like–with course salt, fresh ground pepper, a touch of cayenne…

Place the leaves in a single layer on a parchment-coated baking sheet, and pop them in a hot oven, 425 F, for 8-12 minutes.  Keep an eye on the chips!  They should just start drying/curling/coloring, but not become over-brown or brittle.  It’s a fine line.  These are so delicious–just like potato chips, you can’t stop eating them.  Even my non-kale-loving husband munches these till they’re gone.

To successfully freeze kale:  remove stems and lightly blanch as above before freezing.  Remove as much air from the container as possible before putting it into the freezer.  If using freezer bags you can mimic vacuum packing by putting a straw in one side, zipping the bag all the way up to the straw, sucking the air out, then quickly sealing the last corner of the bag as you pull the straw out.  It’s fun.

Try substituting kale for half the basil next time you make pesto.  Try sauteeing the greens in a little butter with some cinnamon, and serve in a roasted half of butternut squash.  Try a lovely harvest season soup of kale, whatever squash you have on hand, tomatoes, and white beans in a nice vegetable stock.  To inspire your kids to eat it, serve with parmesan biscuits (just toss a handful of parmesan into your favorite biscuit recipe).  Try telling us your favorite kale recipe so we can try it!

For your very own hand-screened and dyed “Eat More Kale” shirt, contact Bo, the Eat More Kale guy, at his studio in Vermont.

Claire's sign welcomed people to the garden.

Among the many lovely people we met were Alison, whose delightful blog called A Bit of Butter features vintage recipes, and Jessi, an ecological landscaper with a beautiful website and a special interest in gardening with chickens.  The garden drew almost as much attention as the hens, and the whole day reminded me how the interest in connecting with food and nature through our home lives is such a deep-running current.

The flow of people in the garden was steady throughout the day.

Recently there was a long article in the Seattle Times that was rather critical about the recent popularity of backyard chicken-keeping.  The author cited concerns about odor, noise, and quoted folks who said things like, “If people want to keep chickens they should live in the country.”  In a media frenzy that has played up the positives of urban chickens, I welcome this article as adding some nuance to the choice of whether or not to keep chickens.  My hope is that all of us will consider ways to grow some of our own food from home, to find that even in cities we are deeply connected to life and soil.  But the worst thing that could happen is for the chicken “trend” to end up being just that–a “trend.”  Chickens should not be “The New Black.”  It takes more than initial enthusiasm to keep chickens–it takes commitment over time, and occasionally some tough choices (if you are vegetarians like us, what do you do when you chickens stop laying?).  That’s one of the reasons we were so happy to be part of the Coop Tour–the very best kind of community event, where people could gather to ask questions, share experience, pet chickens, nibble peas, plan and scheme, see the reality while dreaming big.