Prairie Feature: The Fancy Farmgirl...

i am so excited to feature one of my absolute favorite farmgirls here on the prairie today...

tiffany {the fancy farmgirl} has been a constant source of inspiration for me...

her photography and her art are simply stunning...

i'm still on the hunt for a vintage prom dress so i too can be a fancy farmgirl... :0)

so without further ado may i introduce a fancy farmgirl to you...

I am so happy to be a guest here on the prairie today, and when Kristin and I spoke about it, I knew I should share something about the farm. Right now chickens are all the rage, and I want to show you the "pretty" about chickens, but I also want to talk about the real deal. How to raise them, what you need, and promote responsible chicken ownership.

Please don't go out and buy some chickens just so you can have a pretty coop! :) Unfortunately, I have seen that happen a lot lately!

It's all about the chickens. Yep, that's right, around here, if you are a chicken, you are automatically at the top of the pecking order. Yes, we love the donkeys, horses and dogs. BUT the HENS, they've got it made!

Next week, my friend Heidi of the blog "Birds of a Feather " http://hkwdesign.blogspot.com is holding a fun blog party called "Show me Your Coop". It is not too late to sign up for and participate in the party, and today here on Kristin's lovely blog , I am going to give you a sneak peek of my coop!! But be sure to join the party on the 15th of September to see my whole coop and everyone else’s!!

Ready ??

I own thirty chickens. Almost all of them are cochins, but I do also have silkies, frizzles, arauncanas and easter eggers. (For those of you who are not familiar with easter eggers, they are chickens who will lay either pink, blue or green eggs. Pastel eggs???? Yes, it is that cool!!!) All of my chickens with the exception of the araucanas and easter eggers have feathered feet, which I personally love. Chicken feet are ugly by nature, and by having their feet covered in pretty fluffy feathers is much nicer.

This is my favorite chicken, Liberty. We thought he was a hen when he was a baby, and he turned out to be a rooster. Normally I don’t keep roosters, because sometimes they can be mean, and also because if you do, your eggs will be fertilized. Now this does not bother me, but for some people this is a bother. What that means is when you collect your eggs and eat them, you may notice a small red “dot” in the white of the egg next to the yolk. This is actually the rooster’s fertilization and if left to nest upon, the eggs will grow chicks. If you don’t want to eat fertilized eggs, don’t have a rooster! (of course, it really is no different from a regular egg, so there is no harm in eating them this way of course…)

Liberty is a bantam cochin. This means he is much smaller than a regular chicken, and if he were a hen (as we originally thought) then he would lay much smaller eggs. Cochin is a breed of chicken known for it’s fluffy feathers and usually fluffy feet. Liberty certainly meets that criteria. Every time he bends over, his butt is so fluffy I just can’t stand it!



So here’s a little background on what you need to raise your own chickens. First of all, I free range my chickens. They have over an acre to run around in, and free access in and out of their coop. I have trained them to lay their eggs in the coop. Chickens are very easily trainable, and one way to train them to lay in the coop is to put fake eggs in the nest boxes. You don’t need a nest box per chicken, in fact they will always share unless someone is setting on eggs. A good general rule, is one nest box per 3-4 hens.

Chickens also need roost. This is in their nature, and they will be much happier if you provide this for them. They can fly up to the roost, or if you are like me, and clip your chickens wing, (sounds inhumane, but I will explain more in a minute) then you need to provide some way for them to get to the roost if it is up high if they cannot fly. I use a vintage ladder, which allows them to get to the roost, but also to use as a roost!

Wing clipping. I do it. It does not hurt, it is equivalent to you or me getting a haircut. I do it because I have dogs who like to eat chicken dinner and I don’t want my beloved chickens to fly over the fence. To clip a chicken’s wing, you only need trim one wing. This throws them off balance, thus not being able to fly. You pull out their wing straight and carefully cut only the last ¼ of the wing tip feathers. Clipping a chicken’s wing also makes it much more accessible to predators, therefore I recommend that they always have a safe place to be locked up, especially at night!

Chickens are by nature very stinky, and poop a lot. If you cannot free range your chickens, and must keep them cooped at all times, you will need to clean the coop on a daily basis depending upon how many chickens you have. It will get VERY messy, VERY quickly! Even my coop, where they only spend the night, needs to be cleaned bi-weekly or more. It is only this clean because of course I wanted to show it off all pretty! The coop also needs lots of ventilation. Chickens can die very easily and are susceptible to many diseases. Ok, now having told you all of this info, I want to tell you that having chickens is one of the most rewarding and fun experiences you can have. Having your own fresh eggs is amazing, and chickens make great pets. All of mine are very friendly, come when called and will eat out of your lap. And how can you resist this?

Here’s a fun and interesting chicken tip :

Not getting any eggs in the winter? Chickens need light to lay eggs. Leave a light on in your coop 24/7 in the winter to trick the chickens into thinking they need to lay!!

Here are a few more sneak peeks at my coop, and thank you Kristin for having me as a guest today! Feel free to leave a comment here or email me with any chicken questions at tiffanykirchnerdixon@yahoo.com and be sure to join me on my blog www.thefancyfarmgirl.com on the 15th of September for the coop tour!!



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Xoxo, Tiffany

tiffany girl...i really don't know how to *thank you* enough for doing such an amazing post...

i cannot wait to see the rest of the coop!!

right now you have me wishing i was an egg laying hen just so i could snuggle up under that fabulous chandie!! ;0)

oh..did you happen to notice the cow picture hanging in her coop?!?!

sigh...

i think i need to move a coop renovation to the top of the husband's ever growing list! ;0)

i hope you all enjoyed having tiffany here on the prairie and remember if you also have a coop you'd like to show off join heidi's "show me your coop" party by the 15th of september!!

prairie hugs,