Equal Rights for Pet Chickens. Where are the Treats & Toys?

Webster’s defines pet as "a domesticated animal kept for pleasure rather than utility," but it should really read "a domesticated animal kept for pleasure more than utility". I enjoy spending time with my chickens but I also enjoy eating their eggs. However, that shouldn't negate their pet status anymore than my dogs because he guards our home. At my house our chickens have managed to achieve the same level of acceptance and neglect that our dog and cat have received over the years. The neglect isn't intentional it's just the fate of any pet that depends on a family's children for food and water. For instance, when I brought home a puppy for my kids, they swore up and down they would feed and water it every day. When I brought home a kitten they once again agreed to very similar terms but promising it would be different this time. The tortoise, the fish, and the frog where all purchased under the conditions that they would be cared for 24/7 by an elite team of super children who would never let them miss a single meal. As it turns out, if my wife and I didn't look out for our pets nutritional needs they probably wouldn't be alive today. Don't get me wrong, my kids love their pets and the mere mention of giving them away puts them on the brink of tears and causes my wife to spontaneously smack me on the back of my head. Her point is, no matter how barbaric she delivers it, that although we expect our kids to be more responsible when it comes to carrying for their pets, they are in fact kids. My dad tells me it’s God's way of punishing me for not always living up to my responsibilities as a child. My poor dad's memory seems to be slipping! Maybe the reason kids forget to feed their pets is because they mistake giving them treats for actually feeding them. In fact most kids treat their own diets very similar and would eat only ice cream and candy bars if they had the choice. However, I can't deny that giving treats to pets is one of the very fun parts of pet ownership and a great way to interact with your pet.

I am always reminded of how much my kids really do love their pets when we go grocery shopping, they get so excited when we stroll down the pet aisle gazing over the vast selection of treats and toys that are offered. We usually have quite a debate over which treat our dog or cat will enjoy the most and as far as my kids are concerned, when it comes to their pets, price is no object. As you can imagine my argument is typically centered around price as apposed to taste but on the other hand, how do any of us know what these treats taste like anyway? A few months ago, as my kids and I where strolling down the pet aisle of our local grocery store my six year old daughter Kassidi asked if we could get Bailey a treat. Bailey is Kassidi's favorite chicken because she’s the only hen Kassidi can nearly always catch in our backyard. When I explained to Kassidi that the grocery store didn't carry treats for chickens she immediately asked if we could stop by the pet store on the way home. I told her as gently as I could that I didn’t believe they would have treats for chickens either. She quickly corrected me as she explained in her little sassy way "Duh dad, I think a pet store would carry treats for pet chickens!" My first instinct was to protect my position and win the argument but then my curiosity quickly took over. I thought to myself, duh, there are tens maybe hundreds of thousands of chickens out there that are considered pets, maybe the pet stores do have treats for chickens. After all, our local pet store has treats for my tortoise even though the majority of the population wouldn’t even consider a tortoise as a pet.

Later that afternoon my kids and I loaded back up in the car and made a trip to the pet store each with their own opinion about what we would find. As we made our way in the store we were immediately greeted by two of the store owner’s Great Pyrenees dogs that typically spend there days sprawled out in the aisles of the store. If you have never seen a Great Pyrenees, they are huge white dogs that often weigh over a hundred pounds and if you didn’t already know how gentle they are, you would do your best to avoid them. As we made our way around the two behemoths I was greeted by the store owner Peyton. Admittedly I was a too embarrassed at first to answer Peyton honestly when he asked me what I was looking for and was certain he would mistake my inquiry for chicken treats for some type of chicken flavored treat for feeding some other animal. However, after several minutes of fruitless browsing I did what any man would do in my situation, I sent my kids up to ask for assistance. I positioned myself in a location that would easily allow me to hear the conversation without actually being associated with it in case Peyton or the customer standing at the counter started laughing. It wasn’t my proudest moment as a father, setting my children up for ridicule like that but in my defense I was ready to step in and take them all out for ice cream in the event they were humiliated.

My oldest daughter Skyler spoke to Peyton while Kassidi stood there with her body positioned to blast off in the direction of the treats she was certain existed so she could be the first to get her hands on them and to tell me I told you so. I wasn't surprised when he informed my kids that he didn't stock chicken treats but I was surprised when he mentioned several other customers had made similar requests for chicken treats and how he would consider carrying them if they were available. The woman at the counter paying for some dog treats and a bag of bird seed turned to my kids and mentioned how she threw fresh greens into her chicken pen as a treat for her hens. I stepped forward to listen more intently when my foot came down on one of the enormous dogs that had been sleeping on the floor in front of me. She made an odd yet vicious sounding grunt and quickly jumped to her feet knocking me into a tall cat collar rack that slammed to the ground. A bit disoriented, I spun around in circles trying to locate the sleeping giant I had awaken fearing that I was going to end up a dog treat. Fortunately as it turns out, she really was a gentle giant and had already laid back down like nothing had happened. I reached down to stand the cat collar rack upright pretending not to hear my oldest daughter when she sarcastically shouted "Good job dad!" “So, did you kids find what you were looking for?” I said, pretending that I hadn’t heard their conversation. Before my kids could reply the customer at the register said, “No, they don’t have treats for chickens but I told your kids about throwing fresh greens in the pen occasionally” and then said something that really struck me as both interesting and amusing, “I’ve even seen people hang cabbage for chickens to peck at, it’s like watching them play with a toy”. After several minutes had passed I completely forgot what a bumbling idiot I had made of myself as we continued to discuss our shared interest in chickens and possible treat options for them. Needless to say, I was completely blown away at this point; three grown adults and my children were standing around having a serious discussion about treats and toys for chickens!

Returning home that evening we felt somewhat defeated that we were unable to find treats for our hens but were comforted by our eagerness to see their reaction to a handful of cabbage from our refrigerator. So with cabbage in hand the kids and I raced to the coop in our backyard and threw the “treat” down in small pile that our curious hens immediately surrounded. Sure enough the hens seemed very excited and jockeyed back and forth acting as if the other hen always had the better bite. After several minutes of watching the hens enjoy their treat, I remembered what the lady at the pet store told me about people hanging the cabbage and how it was like watching them play with a toy. When I mentioned the idea to my wife, she said it reminded her of how we used to hang hay inside of a wire ball for our daughters rabbit to chew on, the ball had a bell that hung from it so you when you heard it ring you knew the rabbit was snacking. I gave my wife the old mad scientist look and hurried to the garage to find the wire ball; this was the kind of thing I do around the house that makes my kids like spending time with me but makes my wife think I’ve had too much to drink. However, when the ball was hung filled with cabbage, the chickens pecked, the bell rang, and we all laughed like a bunch of mad scientists!

Several weeks following our trip to the pet store, my kids and I continued to experiment with fun ways of feeding our chickens. We managed to come up with some pretty ingenious and entertaining methods for feeding and found many other treat options along the way like meal worms and peanuts that our chickens really seemed to enjoy. However, we still can’t help but feel somewhat disenchanted when buying our other pets’ treats and toys at a pet store or in the pet aisle of any store realizing that no one has taken the time or cared enough to develop something special for our pet chickens. I think its time we all stand up and demand that treats and toys be developed for our pet chickens so they no longer have to feel like second rate pets. I’m not one to stand up and champion a cause at the drop of a hat but I think it’s time backyard chickens across America had someone looking out for there snacking and playing needs. Sure it won’t be easy and I know I can’t continue to hide behind my kids to avoid ridicule along the way, but America’s pet chickens need me and I’m ready to fight for their right to be represented anywhere pet products are sold. If you could see me now, I’ve got that mad scientist look again!

America's Favorite Pet?

Chickens may be able to enjoy a reputation for being America's newest and coolest pet for many years to come. I'm talking cooler than pythons, sugar gliders, ferrets, bearded dragons, and certainly cooler than any dog or cat breed you could own. My daughter had told her friends all about her pet frog, tortoise, dog, cat, and chickens before they came over for a sleepover but when they entered our front door the first question out of their mouths was; "where are the chickens"? They spent a good hour chasing them around the yard, holding them, talking about how much the chicken loved them, and giggling as the chickens pecked food out of their hands. I'll admit these were kids from the city that had never been around chickens before but that is where the "pet chicken" movement is happening and if you walked into a pet store with children I guarantee the baby chicks would grab their attention away from the hamsters and guinea pigs. However if you purchased a hamster, the pet store would have the cage, waterer, feeder, bedding, treats, and toys you would need for new pet at a fairly affordable price. What about chickens? Would you know what to buy? Would the pet store have what you need? I would guess that most pet stores would not have everything you need and if they did the cost would probably be much greater than hamster supplies. Until pet stores catch on to that people in the city want to raise chickens more than likely you would have to go online to find everything you would need to raise your new pet from chicks to chickens. But do you really know what you need to raise chickens and could you really afford to buy everything it takes to keep chickens in your backyard. Sure there is some return on investment since the hens provide eggs for your enjoyment but that probably won't outweigh the costs involved. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk you out of raising chickens, in fact I'm actually trying to help you find the way. I am happy for those who have the means to buy expensive chicken coops but I refuse to except that America's favorite farm animal turned America's favorite pet should be geared toward the affluent few. I'm making it my goal this year to find and develop an affordable kit that has everything a person needs to raise a few chickens in their backyard so everyone has the opportunity to own America's newest and coolest pet. Even if you have the means to buy the expensive coop I hope to bring light to the subject of raising chickens so that there is no mystery in regards to what it takes and what you'll need. Meanwhile feel free to email your questions to productlab@randallburkey.com.

Jump In and Incubate

Some say the best way to learn to swim is to just jump in. For better or worse that’s usually my approach to most things I do in life. Although I admit, on the way down to the pool I might ask a question or two with the hope of getting some useful information that might keep me afloat. I strongly suggest before you “jump in” to incubating eggs, you ask several questions. This is especially true if you have kids participating. Trust me, if those eggs don’t hatch, you’ll be down at the pet store buying hamsters while trying to convince your kids that hamsters make much better pets. Then when it gets loose in the house, you’ll have to convince your wife that you’re not an idiot! Of course I’m speaking about someone else’s experience. I actually bought my kid’s gerbils. However since that time, I’ve asked the right questions and as a result successfully hatched thousands of eggs.

When I incubate at home, I feel an extreme amount of pressure because my kids think dad’s an expert on anything poultry related. In addition, my wife points out that anyone who has worked sixteen years selling incubators should have no trouble getting a few dozen eggs to hatch. She made that comment a few months ago when I was about to incubate 1 dozen buff orpington and 1 dozen barred rock eggs. But these were not just any eggs, this was my youngest daughters first experience with incubation and I wasn’t about to disappoint her, like the way I did in the driveway playing basketball and she asked me to “dunk it”. Well I may not be able to dunk a basketball, but I feel confident with my incubation experience, I can make good fertile chicken eggs hatch in an incubator. So before you decide to incubate some eggs, let an “expert” or if you are not my child and/or over the age of 10 (the age at which I can no longer convince you I am an expert), let an “experienced incubation guy” answer some of the questions you might ask before you jump in.

Each school year I provide an incubator for one of my daughter’s teachers and the Randall Burkey Company (the company I work for) generously allows me to pick any incubator I want from our catalog. FYI, if you want to be a hero to your kids, loan an incubator with some fertile eggs to their teacher. They love the attention they get from their classmates asking them all sorts of questions as if they were an incubation expert. I usually choose the Hova-Bator because its small, quiet and reasonably priced. I consider price in the equation because occasionally a parent will ask about buying an incubator. I want them to know they can successfully hatch eggs in one without spending hundreds of dollars. The Hova-Bator is a small styrofoam incubator that will hold about 41 chicken eggs or 120 quail eggs. The idea of styrofoam turns off some people when they first shop around for incubators. I think they picture an ice chest in the back of a pick up truck all banged up from a weekend camping trip. In reality just as styrofoam makes a great insulator for cold drinks, it also serves very well to hold in heat. Since you probably won’t take it camping with you, it should hold up well if kept inside sitting on a table.

Assuming you already have the Hova-Bator, you will obviously need some good fertile hatching eggs. If you don’t have a local source for fertile eggs, you can have them shipped directly to you from one of the hatcheries that advertise in the Backyard Poultry Magazine. Your best bet is to order a more common breed of chicken that is know for its high hatchability rate such as a rhode island red or barred rock. You may also want to order a few more eggs than the number of chicks you plan on having to compensate for a few cracked eggs due to mishandling during shipping, infertility or as in my case, my one year old son dropping them on the floor. It’s okay though, I’m pretty sure it was one of the infertile eggs. Keep in mind, even when good fertile eggs are handled right and incubated properly, you may experience only 60 to 80 percent of the eggs to hatch. Before the eggs arrive though, you’ll want to have the incubator up and running at least 48 hours if possible. This allows you the opportunity to stabilize the temperature and humidity. For chicken eggs, the correct incubation temperature is 99.5 F and humidity should be set at 50% to 55% RH. This will be easier to achieve and maintain if the room temperature is 70 to 80 degrees F and room humidity is 35% to 40% RH. Also, avoid placing it near a window that would allow direct sunlight on it during the day and where moisture tends to condensate.

The Hova-Bator is designed to hold an automatic turner that turns the eggs about every two hours, which is almost a necessity considering most people’s busy lifestyle. The turner is generally sold separately, so be sure to specify when ordering. The Hova-Bator does come standard with a thermometer only, not a hygrometer. The thermometer it comes with is a small mercury thermometer placed on a clear piece of plastic, which I personally believe has room for improvement. I prefer to place a digital thermometer/hygrometer inside that is easier to read and displays relative humidity. Although many people successfully hatch without measuring humidity inside the Hova-Bator, when a poor hatched is experienced, it’s difficult to diagnose the problem without having important information such as the humidity reading. Correct humidity inside a Hova-Bator is normally achieved by filling one of its bottom liner troughs with water while the eggs are turning and both troughs while they are hatching. Having said this, I would still recommend placing a hygrometer inside to take the guess work out incubating.

Avoid opening the incubator as much as possible. If you have kids or you are a teacher doing a classroom project, you might consider getting a picture window view Hova-Bator. It allows for easier viewing of the eggs, therefore less temptation to open the top which allows heat and moisture to escape. Trust me; you’ll be just as curious as your kids when those eggs get close to hatching. On the last three days of incubation, remove the eggs from the turner and place them on the bottom wire mesh floor. Raise the humidity to around 65% relative humidity. This prevents excess albumen from becoming like glue when it comes in contact with the surrounding air. Dry air can cause the chick to stick to the shell making it a more difficult struggle to completely hatch. This makes it even more important to avoid the temptation of opening the unit after the first one or two chicks have hatched. Remember, if you still have more chicks hatching, they will require the same warm and moist environment the first few experienced.

In my opinion, everyone should incubate eggs at least once in their life. It’s an experience that brings joy and lasting memories to both adults and kids. I encourage anyone who has the means, to loan an incubator to a teacher so kids who may not otherwise be able, get to experience it first hand. The Randall Burkey Company has provided discounts to teachers purchasing equipment for classroom use for years. Teachers tell us it is the most memorable point of the year for most students. They tell us that the halls are “buzzing with excitement” when the chicks start hatching. As for my youngest daughters first experience with incubating eggs, SLAM DUNK! We started with 24 eggs, lost one to the tile floor, leaving us with 23 eggs to incubate. Out of that we hatched 19 healthy baby chicks. If I do the math right, let’s see, I need to carry the one, that’s about an 82% hatch rate. Not bad at all! In fact, if you ask my 5 year old daughter Kassidi, she would tell you her daddy’s an expert!

Note: Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for incubation when using their brand of incubator.

Few Returns = Good Product

By now most of us have received our chicks and are on the way to having a fresh source of high quality eggs. The coop is built and the feeders and waterers are in place and you may have even set up the nesting box even though your chickens won’t be laying for a few more months. It really is a good idea to get everything together now why you still have daylight in the evenings to work with and before you start encountering any predator problems, it’s probably a good idea to start implementing precautionary measures to ward off a possible future threat to your chickens. We all do the best we can to predator proof our chicken coops so our hens can rest peacefully at night from a long day of foraging and egg laying but you don’t have to give a predator the opportunity to test your workmanship. Most of you are probably familiar with the Nite Guard product that has been advertised for a few years with an owl being shot in the eye with a red laser. This isn’t quite how it works but the bottom line is it does work. The manufacturer states that is will stop raccoons, owls, foxes, coyotes, cougars, and most other nighttime predators. The only real threat I have here in my part of Texas are raccoons, which although fairly cute are mean little suckers that have no problem with taking down your whole flock just to eat one bird. I have been fortunate enough to avoid any conflicts with the raccoons since I started using the Nite Guard but I also think my coop is designed rather well so my argument for the Nite Guard may not be exactly concrete. I will tell you this however, we have more repeat customers for this product who want to use them in other locations or for other applications such as protecting their gardens. We have shipped thousands of the Nite Guards out and rarely ever receive a negative comment or complaint from customers about the product. This makes me inclined to believe that it really does work. How does it work? The Nite Guard is simply a solar powered red blinking light that makes hungry nighttime predators feel uncomfortable because they feel they are being watched by something that might make them the prey. To be honest with you, when you see a Nite Guard for the first time your mind will probably be filled with doubt as you ponder how this tiny contraption could ever scare off a hungry coyote but think of this way; if you walked up to someone’s home at night and saw a tiny red blinking light on the porch you would probably ask yourself all sorts of questions. Is that part of the alarm system? Am I being video taped? Is someone pointing a gun at me? Come to think of it, they may make a decent theft deterrent as well (although I don’t think the manufacturer makes any guarantees for that purpose). If I were rate the Nite Guard on a scale of 1 to 10 I would have to give it a 10. Americans aren’t afraid to return a product when they are unsatisfied but they just don’t return this product and that alone speaks volumes.

"Will Work For Food"

My new poultry family consists of 2 barred rocks, 2 buff orpingtons, 2 silver laced wyandottes, and 2 golden laced wyandottes. This isn't a Noah's ark thing like my wife suggested because they're all females and I can't afford any hanky panky in the chicken coop because I have a limit on the number of chickens I can keep in my neighborhood. This was a result of a late night family discussion that narrowed down our selection based more on availability than anything else. As most of you are probably there is a chick shortage this year so avoid the rare breeds unless you're ok with receiving them in 2010! However, I'm ok with what we were able to get because let’s face it; the easier to get popular breeds became so popular because they are an all around excellent breed. They're almost 4 weeks old now and probably the most entertaining "pet" a family can have. They are also a real reminder to someone in the poultry supply business of what a chicken is all about. I keep a feeder full of chick starter and a baby cake supplement snack inside their little outdoor coop and yet my wife and I toss in a bug, additional feed, or even a piece of grass and they act like I might if I found a hundred dollar bill in a parking lot. I'd pick it up and run like hell with my wife and friends chasing me around trying to snatch it from my hands. That's what these little well fed chicks are like inside their all you can eat buffet/coop. Its perfect proof to me that chickens don't want to fed, they want to forage. Every time we try to make their lives a little easier by providing them with a 20 pound all you can eat "buffet of feed in a bucket" we rob them of their natural instinct and desire to forage for food. If our chickens could write, their sign would read "WILL WORK FOR FOOD". The "Free Range" Feeder is probably the first real answer to the chicken’s request. I know what you're thinking; isn't that cheating? Yes it is but with smaller tracts of land and greater egg production demand we are required to supplement their diets. That doesn't mean we have to completely remove the fun associated with being a chicken. Just watch your chickens for a little while and you'll see what I mean.

Think Automatic Waterer This Summer

Although we all know the importance of making fresh water available to our chickens throughout the day, as summer approaches we should stick post it notes all over our homes with “don’t forget to water the chickens” written on them. It really is no more work than it was during the winter, spring or fall but we’re given fewer chances to be forgetful in the summer unless we want a yard full of rotisserie chicken. I guess that’s why so many people are interested in purchasing automatic waterers versus traditional. That’s why I am so surprised of the narrow selection really available out there for the average backyard poultry flock. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good choices available but just not many of them. By far the two best selling (and for good reason) automatic waterers are the bell style waterer and a heavy duty plastic automatic trough waterer. The bell style waterer hangs and is fed by ¼” plastic tubing and the trough must be connected to pvc pipe or a special adapter can be added to allow it to fit onto a garden hose. We have found the bell style waterer to be the easier of the two to keep clean since it stays off the ground and is virtually impossible for the chickens to roost on. The trough however is excellent for a small grown flock and is designed fairly well to prevent roosting. My toughest challenge however with any auto waterer is getting water to it. I don’t have running water at my coop because it’s a mobile chicken coop but during the summer especially when I’m on vacation, I don’t mind having a hose run across the yard. There is no doubt in my mind a broader selection of automatic waterers should be available in the near future and each should demonstrate how they would effectively work in the specific scenario for which they were designed. We will do our best in the near future to provide more pictures and videos of auto waterers in real life situations. Stay cool my friends.