Category: Chickens

HOT SUMMER CHICKENS

7/7/2021

A steamy hot summer day is especially challenging when you're covered in feathers. The Lab hens, a Barred Rock named Rocky and a Black Australorp named Spicy Mildred, are both perfectly suited for the long winters we experience in the northeast. This great adaptation means they spend the harshest cold weather days in great comfort. Unfortunately it means hot summer days can be challenging for them.

Good thing they live at the Lab and receive great care! In addition to filling their water containers with ice, the hens enjoy having a fan pointed at them and feeling the breeze through their feathers. Icy treats round out our cooldown routine. The hens enjoy their chilly fresh food then relax the day away in the shaded backyard.

Introducing you to....

6/7/2021

There's two someone's we'd like you to meet! First is Rocky, a Barred Rock who is a little over six years old and has come to us at the Lab to live out the rest of her full life getting treats and love. She's incredibly smart and is very observant. She enjoys enrichment activities such as the hanging lettuce.

Next we have to re-introduce you to our Black Australorp who now has a name! We proudly introduce you to Spicy (full name Spicy Mildred).

Introducing....

4/8/2021

The recent unexpected passing of Sweet meant that Sour underwent a one week quarantine to be sure there wasn't a communicable illness responsible. It was a quiet and boring week, though we did our best to entertain Sour and provide her with daily company. At the same time, we were actively seeking out and vetting another local hen to keep her company.

After a successful quarantine period, a Black Australorp has joined us at the Kiddie Science Lab!

We're all still getting to know each other, and it's certainly been a new experience all around. The new hen is quite vocal! Check out the video below to meet her.

As with all the animals at the Lab, we need your help naming her! We surveyed some of our young scientists for suggestions and now it's your turn to decide!! VOTE HERE until May 10th then stay tuned for the big announcement!

She Really Was Sweet

3/28/2021

Unfortunately, this is not a post with good news, but one which hopes to capture the sheer joy that it has been to be Sweet's caretaker. I'm saddened to share that on Tuesday, March 23rd, the Lab hen, Sweet, passed away. She spent the majority of her final hours with me at my home, swaddled like a baby, as comfortable as can be given the circumstances. I'm grateful for the support of Heart of Brooklyn Veterinary Hospital during her final moments with me.

Sweet was a Rhode Island Red Hen, who arrived to the Lab under my care during summer of 2018. She and her partner Sour, arrived as pullets (teenage chickens) and quickly transitioned to the VIP life in the Lab backyard. Sweet was always the more social chicken, curious about the young scientists, and quickly learning that pets equals treats.

With our physical doors closed, the chicken care this last year has included creative ways to keep them entertained, like letting them explore the Lab and seeing what a bathroom looks like.

Sweet was....sweet. She was a surprisingly lovable and interactive chicken, who much too often climbed onto the window ledge to see what was going on inside. She actually laid her very first egg there, then screeched the most horrible sound in order to get my attention. I often wonder if that's what dinosaurs sounded like. Ultimately I had to teach her where to lay, which was an unexpected but rather hysterical responsibility.

That pretty much sums up what my experience has been caring for Sweet, unexpected but rather hysterical. There was always something with that chicken!

I'm thankful for the support and advice I've gotten over the years with the hens. Throughout this entire adventure, I've had people I can count on to help ensure they receive the absolute best care possible. Everything I've learned about hens (and know about living things in general) came to a head that morning, and despite how much it hurt my heart, I will forever be grateful that I fulfilled my responsibility to Sweet to the very end.

~ Ms. Carmen

Chicken Food

3/7/2021

The Lab hens, Sweet and Sour, are omnivores. This means they eat fruits, vegetables, and meat (in the form of insects mostly). In addition to this, they get dry chicken feed and scratch, which includes seeds, nuts, crushed oyster shells, and pellet feed. It's a little bit of everything! Check out some of what they eat below. Favorite foods include watermelon, red leaf lettuce, berries, and mealworms.

If you were a chicken, what would you eat?

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HOT SUMMER CHICKENS

Introducing you to....

Introducing....

She Really Was Sweet

Chicken Food

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