Our Chicken Farm Updates

The chicks should be arriving between March 5th to 7th, depending on which day they hatch. We will post photos of their arrival as soon as we can. We won’t be doing any photoshoots until the chicks are about a week old, as the day old chicks are still quite vulnerable after the long trip from the Mid-West.

All of the chicks are reserved.

Since we are currently starting a smallish late winter brood this year, we have decided to do a second brood in May. Despite the chick shortage currently impacting our area, I was able to reserve a decent number of Delaware, Blue Jersey Giant, and Easter Eggers that we will raise for six weeks through the whole month of May, and into the first two weeks of June. We have not decided whether to go through the whole process of reserving chicks from that brood or to just put them up for adoption in June when they are ready to go outside. We have a few months to think about that. Feel free to comment below or contact us to let us know your feelings on it. 2025chicks(~at~)2-email.me Replace (~at~) with @

The May brood will also be raised on Eggland’s Best Chick Starter/Grower Crumbles.

We have selected six popular breeds for brooding this year. We will not be brooding any special breed orders. We have the following breeds available for people to pick up the third weekend of April, when the pullets are six weeks old:

• Gold Comet
• Rhode Island Red
• Barred Plymouth Rock
• Welsummer/Welsumer
• Easter Egger
• Lavender Orpington

We always use bio security practices to protect the health of the chicks and for organic feed this year, we will be using Eggland’s Best Organic Chick Start and Grow.

We are not raising as many chicks this year so reservations will go quickly. We might brood another batch in May. Let us know if you might be interested in our services later in the spring. You can reach out to us on Facebook or Email us - if you have questions or need to contact us. This is a temporary address 2025chicks(~at~)2-email.me

I was recently asked by a customer how to remove Blu-Kote (Blue Kote) stains from fabric, clothing, and skin.

First off, the easiest solution is to wear gloves, long sleeve shirts, clothing overalls, aprons, etc, that are dark blue, whenever you plan to use Blu-Kote. Don’t use Blu-Kote inside your home, and don’t use it on a windy day unless you are in a protected, windless area. If you wear glasses, you may want to use clear protective goggles over your glasses. Just Say’n.

Chickens have a habit of “shaking” themselves right after you apply Blu-Kote and spreading it everywhere!

Removing the Blue Dye from Skin is relatively easy. Cotton balls (or paper towels) saturated with 70% Rubbing Alcohol will usually get it off your skin. Another option is a small amount of bleach, like Clorox bleach. Allow either option to set on the skin for about a minute, then thoroughly rinse it off your skin to avoid irritations.

Fabric and clothing are a bit tougher. You can try the rubbing alcohol solution. Don’t use bleach unless the fabric is white. Test on an inconspicuous spot first to make sure it won’t damage the fabric. Be sure to dilute the bleach with water, about 1:1, water and bleach, add to a spray bottle to use for white items. Afterwards, be sure to saturate the clothing/fabric with cold water so that the bleach won’t deteriorate the fabric. On some items, you might try using an ink remover, like Carbona Stain Devils, or Goof Off. Personally, I have had luck using WD-40 spray and an old toothbrush. I let it soak into the fabric for a minute, scrub with the toothbrush, let it rest another 15 to 20 minutes, then wash with dish soap in cold water.

Best of Luck!

The summer has been pretty normal this year. Not too many excessive heat days, which were easily handled with frozen water bottles at the peak of the day, fans, and lots of shade. Reminder that on really hot days, just having “water” out in their run is not sufficient. They won’t drink enough “warm” water to help them stay hydrated. They will do much better having water that is about 50 to 60 degrees F. Water that is over 70 degrees will be less inviting to them and anything over 80 degrees just won’t be consumed. I have a new trick for keeping some cold drinking water available during really hot days.

I purchased several Little Giant Complete Plastic Poultry Founts, 1-gal size. I fill the plastic jars about half to 2/3rds with fresh water (upside down without the base attached) to freeze the water in the freezer. After frozen, attach the base to the jar, turn right side up and place in the run at an hour or two after noon. Don’t over fill the jar for freezing. The frozen water will distort the shape of the ring and not attach to the base. I keep extra jars in the freezer for consecutive days of expected heat. As the frozen water starts to warm, it fills the base with nice cool water. Prior to that, on the first day of an expected hot day, before the birds come down from roosting overnight, I will fill their main water fount with cold water and a dose of electrolytes to help them get an added boost before the hot days hit. I only do this on the first day, and if the heat lasts for more than a few days, I will do it again a couple times spread out over the week.

We have sold most of our one year old laying hens to families in the area that were wanting to raise backyard chickens, with the exception of a few hens that have had some health issues. One had a prolapse. Another was over preening herself and was being over preened by others. The third has a pendulous crop. She will gorge on fresh green grass, and considering we move them weekly, she encountered an impacted crop that turned into a drooping crop. She is healthy, but lower on the pecking order, so we will be keeping her around as one of our older girls. We have these three in their own coop environment to protect them until they heal better, or if they don’t heal, we will find ways to integrate them into one of our other flocks. These gals are molting as the daylight starts to get shorter each day, So, extra proteins, less calcium, and a few healthy treats to help them heal and molt at the same time.

We plan to brood about 50 chicks organically in February for people located in the Portland, Oregon area. Let us know if you have an interest.

I don’t consider myself an expert. I listen a lot and read a lot, willing to try ideas and keep them if it turns out the idea is useful.

Chicks (and chickens in general) are drawn to the color of red. So when I first start out with a new brood of chicks, I use red feeders, and water bases, and most of all, red lights at night. Chicks will huddle under a red light to sleep, which is perfect IF one is using a heat lamp because it is red, and it does not harm their eyes. However, there is no need for a heat lamp if brooder warmers are being used. On the other hand, newly hatched chicks are not instinctively drawn to a warmer at the end of the day for sleeping and if the room is still relatively warm, some will get “lost” in a corner, cheeping in fear, but refusing to leave that corner. I have found that the color of lighting can be a huge advantage for training chicks, especially if raising more than a few.

During the day, I use all spectrum LED aquarium lights to simulate extra daylight which I place over the feeder/water and that encourages the chicks to leave the safety of the warmer to eat and drink throughout the day. (I keep the space where I start brooding the chicks at a warm 76° F during the day [not the 90° F recommended when using heat lamps, day and night.])

At night, after I change their pads… I call them “chick sheets,” I turn down the space heat to about 70° F, turn off the light over their feeders, and place a red LED light directly over their brooder warmer, for approximately 15 minutes, before turning out all the the lights for the night. About 10 to 15 minutes worth seems to be enough time for the chicks to finish up any eating they want to do, as they are gradually drawn towards the red light for huddling/sleeping purposes. After I turn off the red light, they will reposition themselves under the warmer and sleep until the sun comes up the next day. I always make certain that the chicks have access to natural light, in conjunction to the artificial lighting. The artificial lighting tends to act more like a “spring/summer” type of lighting that we don’t yet have during the last of the winter months, which is when I do all my brooding.

This lighting process becomes their first routine until, gradually, I no longer need to use the red light to draw them to the warmth of the brooder warmer when it is bedtime. Chicks do not need to eat at night if they have a full crop before sleeping. During the first week of brooding, eight hours of “night” is enough to allow for healthy digestion, and sets them on a healthy feeding structure. I use no Shavings in their brooder also helps during the first week. They don’t confuse shavings for food. They are quick learners. By the second week, they can go up to 10 to 12 hours without food at night, and you can then, gradually, train them to their instinctual day time eating/drinking to create a full crop before sleeping at night huddled with their buddies.

I have learned, through my own experiences, that there are more disadvantages to red heat lamps than advantages. I’ll always suggest that you do your own research. But I will share that the chicks having lighting all night long (even the red light) so that they can eat when ever, tends to contribute to pasty butt and other health issues. Of course, when raised by their momma hen, there is no “red light” and they only eat during the day when momma hen encourages them to eat. While I can’t totally replicate the momma hen effect, I can get them started to eat in the most healthy way possible so that they have a close to normal eating routine.

Check the chicks for full crops ( bubble chests ) at the end of each day. If certain chicks seem to be a bit too flat chested at the end of the day, you might isolate them for an hour with their own food and water, and then reintegrate them back into the flock before bedtime so that they too develop healthy eating habits and can keep up with the other chicks.

PS, I do not use “green” lights. {that was just for fun}