Time to stop raising birds....

On Saturday morning, I took the mutt for a walk as usual, and noticed something was amiss with my smaller chicken tractor- where the two laying hens and the rooster lived.

Something ripped open the nylon netting, tore the chicken wire apart, ate the three chickens, and then flipped the tractor over on its back.

The hole, measuring about 20cm high, by 30 wide. There were other places the wire was ripped, but this was obviously the way in- with the wires pushed in.

Feathers and a trampled waterer.


So let's figure out the cost of my birds...
1. The birds themselves- 8 turkeys at 1500 yen each (four were eaten by animals as chicks) 4 laying hens at 500 yen each. My friend Ken gave me two birds for a birthday gift, and I got 8 male Plymouth Barred Rocks for the price of shipping.  I think I am forgetting some in there, but let's just put the total at 15,000 yen ($150).
2. The chicken tractors were not so expensive, total about 5,000 yen ($50)
3. The birds have eaten about 20 bags of feed, which is absurdly expensive here- 20Kg for 1000 yen ($10), so that is another 20,000 yen. ($200)

From these birds, I have actually received maybe 30 eggs, and four chickens, which were similar to flavorful tires, and a stressed out wife, who wants to make delicious food but is stuck with rubber chicken. There are still four turkeys and two chickens left. If the turkeys won't be eaten by predators, they will eat another 4 bags of feed, so the grand total will be 44,000 yen ($440) for 10 birds.


Yep. That sucks. And I wouldn't have paid a dollar for the birds we have eaten so far. Who wants chicken flavored chewing gum? Not me.

At the supermarket, you can get two thighs for 400 yen ($4), and breasts for about half that. So per cut up chicken-breasts, thighs, legs, and wings, let's say 800 yen ($8). And they are tender.

Nope, Japan and backyard chickens don't seem to mix.

The "No More Secrets" Chicken Tractor

Well, the secret of the chickens lasted about a whole hour after I left for work before the lovely wife asked "What did you kids go and pick up at Ken's house?"

Of course, my lovely daughter told her the truth, as I had instructed her to do if asked. It went over very easy (since they were birthday gifts- all of you out there who want chickens but have spouses who are against the idea- have someone you know give them to you as a gift- it works great!).

And now the chickens have their own chicken tractor! Woo Hoo!!!
For those of you who don't know what a chicken tractor is, keep reading. If you do, just skip the next paragraph.

My chicken tractor is rectangular box 1825mm by 850mm by 850mm. The sides are 30mm plastic coated chicken wire, and the roof is a combination of netting and steel roofing panel. It has no floor, so I can drag it around my orchard to fresh grass every day. I made it in four panels, and just screwed them together with 65mm coarse thread screws. All in all, it took about an hour and a half to build and set up. Of course, the nest box is not installed yet, that should take another half hour or so. It was a lot of fun.

The chickens love the new pen- Hot, the hen, was eating tons of green weeds and scratching for ants, while Dog, the rooster was keeping a wary eye on the big guy who so rudely grabbed him and his wife by the legs and carried them upside down to the new tractor.

Japanese Hinai Chickens

Woo hoo!!!! I've got chickens now!
Two of them, to be exact. A birthday gift from my friends Ken and Yuko.

There is only one problem..... they are surprise chickens.

You see, my lovely wife doesn't like chickens. She likes to eat them, but live... they kind of freak her out a bit. And she doesn't want any more animals around the place. (Of course, she said that before she adopted our two cats while I was at work, so I think it is only fair...) That is why I haven't told her yet. I'll wait until we have enough eggs for an omelette. Once she tastes real eggs, she may come around. If not, we will have a nice chicken dinner or two.

They are Hinai-jidori, one of the "big three" Japanese chicken breeds, along with Nagoya-cochin, and Satsuma-jidori.
The breed is a stabilized hybrid between male Hinai-dori (notice no "ji") - which was designated a living natural monument and can no longer be legally eaten in Japan- and  female Rhode Island Reds. The crossing made a bigger chicken, and they do have a lot of their mothers in them. I can hardly tell the difference. And it is legal to eat them.

But anyway, they are happily ensconced down in the orchard, and tomorrow, or the day after they will be in their new chicken tractor! More about that one later.