It’s good to be back writing on this site again after taking several weeks off for the summer. As I write tonight, the kids are getting to bed and hopefully getting a good night’s sleep before the first day of school tomorrow morning! The wake-up in the morning might present some challenges as they’ve enjoyed a healthy couple months of staying up late and sleeping in! That’s the point of summer break, right? But when you raise chickens, like it or not, there are not breaks! When the sun comes up, they’re up and ready to get out of their coop, eat some breakfast, and start another day of free-ranging around their domain!
While I haven’t written in awhile, I’ve been watching and observing the hens behaviors all summer long. They are truly fascinating! Earlier in my “chicken raising career” (meaning a couple months ago), I had to learn to deal with minor issues such as introducing a new hen into an established flock, dealing with a hen who had gone broody, keeping the flock hydrated during the heat of the summer, and even finding some trustworthy chicken-sitters when we decided to take some vacation time. I’m happy to report that we tackled each of those issues and successfully overcame them. Another issue, however, that I really felt like was somewhat out of my control remained how to protect the flock when I wasn’t around. There remains, still today, the ever present threat of predators both daytime and during the night. Much to my surprise, the hens actually pulled their fair-share of helping out in this last issue and things have remained relatively safe! I’ve learned by observation that these animals have a language all their own! And their communication between each other isn’t just to send out an alarm when something doesn’t seem safe. Below, I’ve outlined some of the situations I’ve noticed their communications and have validated these with some pretty reputable poultry web sites! Continue reading “Sounding the Alarm!”