Yes, we have chickens. While not the easiets pets to keep, they certainly provide a degree of entertainment, the kids enjoy them, and they do earn their keep by providing a steady stream of fresh eggs. They are also a source of amusement as each has their own personality from KFC the rooster who has been described as a drunken pistolero to Rob who does her own thing and spends most of her time running from KFC.
In the short time we have had chickens we have lost two to sickness, battled mites, and thought we would lose KFC when he was afflicted with stargazing or Wry Neck. Being a chicken owner means you have to become an amateur veterinarian and have a real one on speed dial.
Can you give a chicken a bath? Yes! We had to wash all 18 when they became infested with mites. After the infestation we did a deep clean in the coop, replaced the roosting bars, and removed the wood chips.
The good news is chicken mites don’t like humans so while the cleanup wasn’t fun, they didnt care to infest us too!
During the hotter summer months we average 3-4 eggs a day but in the cooler months 10-12 is more common. Three of our chickens are Easter Eggers – they give us blue/green eggs. How cool is that!
The pile of white eggs on the bottom were found in a corner of our yard. We don’t know how long a chicken(s) was laying the eggs outside of the coop but we now do frequent sweeps through the yard to look for random eggs!
Meet the flock!
Finca Landis 