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.

RIP Dog the Rooster

Dog the rooster, age unknown, now is residing dismembered in my freezer.

I'll miss you Dog. I hope you are delicious.

Hot Mama!

Our Akita Hinai-jidori hen (her name is "Hot" if you recall) has hatched one of the two eggs she has been incubating. Man, that chick is so cute!
Now we are waiting for the next one to pop (hope it does, since a feral cat has eaten all but four of the other chickens).

Ouch! Two Turkeys Down

R.I.P. Thanksgiving and Christmas (two of the turkeys). Now how do I tell Mike that his two turkeys disappeared?
So sad. Went out to the pen yesterday and found that two turkeys and the aurocana pullet were just gone. Then tonight, when I pulled up in Kay, I saw a white and black cat hanging around the pen. I think it got them. So it is time to get a live trap and contact the humane society.

I hate stray cats, and I don't care who knows it.
Don't let cats outside, and for crying out loud, spay and neuter your pets!

Gobble Gobble!

Turkeys! Four of 'em!
Along with one Araucan pullet, two Barred Rock pullets, and five Barred Rock cockrels.

An Egg!

Hot the hen has finally laid an egg!
I'm so proud of her!
of course, for some reason she laid it on the hard, wooden shelf next to the soft nest box filled with dried leaves.....

But back to the story-
It was a medium to medium small cream colored egg.
I am hoping that this is the start of an egg laying phase for her. Most chicken related information I find says that chickens go through cycles of laying and resting. Like we do with work. Five days on, two days off. I never noticed when I was a kid, since I had 12 hens back then. There were always eggs in the nest box.

Now if only I could find a way to make her broody, that would be great. Eggs are nice, but I want more chickens first!

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.