raising backyard chickens Archives - View from the Front Porch

28 01, 2022

Playing Chicken

By judythemorgan|2022-01-28T11:54:16-06:00January 28th, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Things have settled into a new routine here on Miller Farm since Rachel moved home with her two dogs. One of the dogs is Penelope, Max’s sister, who has lived on Miller Farm in the past. Cooper, however, is the newcomer. He is an Australian Shepherd puppy and is much larger and busier than the dachshunds.

Cooper gets along with everyone – even the chickens and ducks. In fact, he enjoys “helping” me refill the duck pond. By “helping”, I mean he plays in the water coming from the hose as I drag it to the duck pond.

He has even gotten into the chicken yard a couple of times. After realizing the chickens do not respond well to “herding”, he has given up.

He has been introduced to the chicken on a fencepost game. He was very curious. Penelope explained to him that the game involves waiting and watching while the chicken walks along the top of the fence.

Everyone, including humans, waits to see which side of the fence the chicken will choose.

Fortunately, most of the chickens have learned to return to their side. They don’t yet realize that Cooper would just attempt to herd them back there anyway.

6 03, 2020

Queen of the Coops

By judythemorgan|2020-03-05T06:34:30-06:00March 6th, 2020|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Beekeeper Brian recently began some renovation work in the chicken yard. Since we no longer have bantam chickens, he dismantled several of the smaller runs and stacked the coops.

The big chickens had a grand time scratching through the bugs that had taken up residence under the coops. They also enjoyed roosting on the stacked coops.

It seemed to turn into a game of “queen of the coops” – kind of like the children’s game “king of the mountain” only with chickens.

Also like children, there is always one who has to show off.

Now if I ever miss the excitement of sibling rivalry, I just look out back.

5 07, 2019

Unlikely Coop Mates

By judythemorgan|2019-07-01T17:01:08-05:00July 5th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

The chicks I brought home from school have grown considerably. I had them in their own pen but one of them kept getting out. Then they all started roosting on the chicken wire.

Every night I would go out and put them all in the coop so they would not get eaten by whatever was hungry for chicken at night. Then in the morning I would open the coop and let them out into their pen.

Eventually they all followed the chick with wanderlust and began exploring the larger pen with the big hens. They seemed to do fine so I stopped locking them up at night.

One morning I found all four chicks in a pen with one of our roosters.We had separated the roosters to prevent them from fighting. I was initially concerned about the safety of the little chicks. Apparently this rooster does not consider them a threat and is leaving them alone.

So once again my plan for organizing the flock is undermined by the plans of the chickens. Oh well, as long as everyone is happy and safe.

7 12, 2018

True Confessions of a Chicken Wrangler

By judythemorgan|2018-12-05T07:55:39-06:00December 7th, 2018|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I have a confession to make. I am tired of chickens.

I’m tired of hauling 50lb sacks of feed, filling 5 gallon waterers, chasing chickens back into a safe space and all the other “fun” things that come with being a Chicken Wrangler.

I was thinking Sunday about getting rid of them all.

Today I looked out the kitchen window and they were chasing each other around the chicken yard. I walked out to check for eggs and they all ran up to greet me in the goofy way chickens run, with their wings flapping. It made me smile. So I suppose I’ll keep them around for a little while longer.

The noisy roosters on the other hand…

15 06, 2018

Weed Control

By judythemorgan|2018-06-14T09:10:47-05:00June 15th, 2018|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

A friend in my Bible Study Fellowship class is a gardener. She was talking about weeding one day and I mentioned that I always feed the weeds to my chickens. They love scratching through and finding bugs.

Vicky started bringing her weeds to me. She would put them in a mulch bag and I would carry them home in the back of my car. The chickens are thrilled.

I made a video of the chickens eating to send to Vicky. In it you can see them scratching and hear them clucking with contentment. You can also hear the dogs barking in the background.

At one point, Custard comes running by but he’s too scared to stop and scratch with them. He prefers to jump up and get the leaves off the tree behind the pile of weeds.

Why spend money watching movies when the chickens provide such great entertainment for free?

31 03, 2018

Chickens in the News

By judythemorgan|2018-03-30T10:25:33-05:00March 31st, 2018|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

There have been a couple of articles about chickens in the newspaper lately.

One of them talked about free range chickens in Bastrop, Texas. Apparently the free range chickens belong to a chicken sanctuary which has done such a good job protecting them, the population has exploded. The city is working with a local zoo to provide a new home for the birds.