Back in Business

A few weeks ago our chickens suddenly cut their egg production in half. We just couldn't figure it out. We checked their water and food supplies, wondered if the change in weather was a factor or if the chickens were just getting older and not laying as much. I was getting pretty concerned because Paul had egg customers to whom he had promised eggs and we weren't able to fill the orders.

Finally I got a hint from a friend of mine that we should check the chickens for lice. Matt did check them and sure enough, that was the problem. He bought the last bottle of dusting powder off the shelf at the local feed store, so I guess other chickens in the area must be having the same issues.

The next morning, Matt and Paul dusted each chicken after it came out of the chicken house. Twenty eight chickens were properly treated and then the guys cleaned out the chicken house, sterilized it and put new wood shavings down. The chickens started laying their usual amount of eggs the very next day. Problem solved. Matt and Paul dusted the chickens again this morning for their second and final treatment.

The newest threat to our chickens is in the form of a hawk family that's taken up residence in our birch tree. They've built quite the aerie in the uppermost branches of the tree. I'm sure they thought it was a ideal spot with a plentiful food supply so nearby. I have a neighbor down the road who said that she lost all of her chickens to hawks, although she didn't have a chicken house for her chickens. I figured that hawks wouldn't bother full grown chickens, but I spoke with my Grandma last night on the phone and she said she had a friend whose Jack Russell Terrier was carried off and killed by a hawk (must have been a pretty desperate--or evil hawk).

Anyway, I have noticed that our chickens look up in the sky when the hawks are circling our yard and then they high tail it to the chicken house, well house or to the safe covering of the snowball bush. Last year we put up a fence to keep neighbor dogs out of our yard, but obviously that won't deter the hawks. Only time will tell, I guess. I would rather not have the scene of the flying monkeys of the Wizard of Oz replayed in our very own back yard.