The Chick Chat

Employee of the Week: Toby

Americana (Easter Egger): 200-240 Medium Blue eggs per year

Toby is the mutt variety of the “Americana”. They are considered mutts because they are generally Ameraucanas mixed with Easter Eggers or other color laying breeds. They are recognizable by their beards and muffs, cheek poofs, and colored eggs. I love Toby, she’s one of the favorites on the farm. She is sweet and docile and lays bright blue eggs. She can be a little spitfire but she is the sweetest bird we have.

Red pepper flakes:

Red pepper flakes are great to give your chickens as a dewormer and worm prevention.

Chickens can’t taste/feel capsaicin but it will burn worms sitting in their stomach. Capsaicin is what makes hot peppers feel hot.

Most dewormers are a “use only when you know there are worms present” and can actually be harmful when used as a preventative. Red pepper flakes can be used anytime and should be given as about 1% of their feed. So for a 50lb bag of feed you would add about 1/2lb of the red pepper flakes.

Make it yourself:

Fun fact! You can make red pepper flakes yourself and you can use any type of hot pepper.

- Take any leftover hot peppers you may have (I’ve used chili, cayenne, banana, and habanero peppers)
- Remove the stems
- Cut in half, lengthwise
- Bake in your oven at 170° until brittle
OR
- Use a dehydrator until brittle (each dehydrator is different)
- Crush into flakes* (Food processor, blender, mortar and pestle, etc.)
- Add it to their feed

*WARNING since these are hot peppers packed with capsaicin the air can be incredibly spicey. They may smell wonderful but do not make the same mistake I did; do not intentionally sniff them.

Did you know?

Chickens have a 300° panoramic view but cannot see directly in front of their faces

🎶 Boots with the fur 🎶

The girls are telling me they are cold by only giving me 4 eggs, but at least they gave me pretty eggs!