The Protected Eggs

I have know for a couple of weeks now that at least one of my leghorn (white egg layers) and one or two of my Americauna's were hiding eggs from me. Tuesday morning I went out to take them some treats and heard one of the leghorns singing her egg song. Since she is white, it was not hard to find her. And this is where she was! There were 18 white eggs and 3 green/blue eggs in that nest, under the poison ivy! I was only able to save one of the white ones, since it had just been layed it was still warm, and therefore the only one I knew for sure how old it was.

Chicken Stories

Fresh eggs for breakfast anyone?

One morning last week, G accompanied me to the two chicken coops. We went to take care of the little chicks first. Meanwhile the big girls were next door fussing and gripping. G turned around and yelled to them, "You people would never make it in a commercial chicken farm, in that cramped up space!"














And this last photo is of Tuxcedo, G's white Americauna. She looks sort of scarry here, but all in all and nice little chick.

The New Chicken House

Here are two photos, one of the house that my new chicks were living in until Saturday; and the new house that they moved to Saturday afternoon. This new house design, I had been toying around with in my mind. But then I checked a book out from the library

titled Raising Chickens. Lo and behold there was a chicken coop just like the one I had envisioned in my head.

So I proceeded to tell Kenny about it and show him the picture in the book. He said "that is very strange because I just saw on Craig's List a camper top for free". Next came the trip to Pilot Mountain on a very dark rainy night, to pick up the FREE camper top. All the while my youngest son proclaiming what a "redneck" his mother had become. The other two being a bit more red neckish themselves thought all this was pretty funny.

Alas my wonderful husband (of 19 years today) who was on his spring break last week, made my vision- a reality. I really think the little girls enjoy it. They sit on their roosts and look out the sky lights. And I can look out there and see their little heads bobbing around in the morning.

NOTE: The Moravian style arched door way. ~;>

The Chicken Whisperer

Well the new chicks arrived last Thursday morning. They were hatched and shipped on Tuesday. All arrived safe and sound. The box that Kenny came home with was full of little chirps. We promptly dunked all their beaks in water and that is all it took, all 16 chicks figured out how to eat, drink and poop. They also soon learned that Rosey the Wolf Dog would guard their every move. But that is OK because she also breaths hot air on them to help keep them at a toasty 95 degrees.




Also during the one week and one day that the chicks have been here G has decided that the white Ameraucana is the one that he wants as his own. She is very calmed compared to the others. His favorite thing to do is carry her around in the hood of his sweat shirt. She will also sleep on his arm while he walks around with her. She also likes to pretend to fly while sitting on G's a hand. It is the funniest thing. We say that Rosey thinks she is a human, well this little chick thinks she is a "lap dog."

Chicken's Have Been Ordered

After much debate with myself, I decided to order more chicken's. I have decided that the amount of chickens that I have is somewhere in the middle of provided the amount of eggs for my family and having enough to sale. So here is what I ordered:

These are Jersey Giants, this was Kenny, Jake and Ben's idea. They just get real big, about 10 pounds.
These are Barred Holland. They will be bigger than my Sexlinks, but not as large as the Jersey Giants. I had decided that I wanted some Barred Rocks, just because of the way they look. But then I found these and they lay white eggs.

These are Americana's, they have good personalities, are very reliable egg layers and the eggs are many shades, including green and BLUE. Can you guess who wanted these other than me?

So anyone need some EGGS? I will have plenty to sell next fall!

Conversations Between Brothers...

Jake was putting up the eggs tonight, naming each egg as he put it in the carton, "Fred, George etc....:" Graham asks "you name all of your eggs?" Jake responds "Well yes, they are all baby chickens" I said "No, they don't have a daddy" Jake says "Yeah that is right we don't have a rooster," He looks at Graham in his most serious face and orders Graham to "go get friendly with the hens."

The Ups and Downs of a Backyard Chciken Lover

A week or so ago, it was a bright beautiful sunny Saturday. So I decided to put my Peace Lilly out on the back porch for some winter sun. It got dark, I brought it inside. I sat it in its normal corner in the dinning room. The next morning a second bright shinny Sunday morning, I was enjoying my breakfast. I looked over at what I expected to be my nice fresh flower, when I realized about half of the flower was gone. I looked a little closer and realized that something had ate about half of the leaves, leaving only the veins of the leaves. I think "hum, what insect would be on my back porch on a winter day?" Then it came to me. It was not a insect, but a fowl. Chicken, to be exact. 10 of them! Had attacked my poor flower!

Also, last Monday, the boys and I went to spend the afternoon with Mom. Kenny was in the basement studding. Rosey was with him and the chickens were grazing in the yard. One of the chicken's were missing that night at beak count. We later found some piles of feathers. Kenny said it looked like maybe a hawk had got it. We have also heard since then that a hawk killed a neighbors rooster. So I have been clipping wings and keeping a pretty close eye on the girls. ~:>

Pe Pi

So today I am out in the chicken run, the chickens and the dog are on the outside of the run in the woods. Rosey is standing on one side of the tree peering around a tree at Chicken Alice. Chicken Alice is peering around the other side of the tree with her one good eye, looking to see where Rosey is. This went on for several rounds. Mean while I am standing there laughing so hard I am about to pee in my pants. Eventually Rosey saw another chicken and lost interest in the one on the other side of the tree.

Ah, life is good today... ~:>

A Hawk in the Pine Trees

I had a terrible fright his morning. I was here at the computer; I heard my chickens making this awful sound. Rosey was inside with me. So I ran to the door, onto the back porch, (by that time Rosey was all the way to the chicken house). I saw something moving in the trees behind the chicken coop. As I started walking toward the coop, a hawk flew out of the pine trees, above the house and over the road. I immediately started counting beaks. All my cute little chickies were still there. But now I am scared for them. Since the hawk has found them, I am sure it will be back. The chickens stay out during the day. But I still have to put Rosey up because she does not like strangers. I am afraid she will bit anyone who might come up on the property, while I am not here. It was so funny she knew just as well as I did when we heard that odd clucking that something was wrong with them. I never dreamed that chickens would be so entertaining and have such personalities.

Three Eggs Today.

All last week there were 2 eggs on most days. This morning we had 3 eggs! Anyone got any good recipes that use a lot of eggs?

The photo above is the first 2 we got last week. I had to splurge, I cooked them in butter, just like my papaw used to. Yummy!

In other news, I am still trying to recover from camp last week. G man has not recovered either, even though we came home around lunch on Saturday. This morning he was really mean and grouchy. So I sent him to his room to read. A few minutes later J came and told me he was asleep.

Hope to blog some more with photos from the week.

Eggs!

Eggs! We have Eggs! Five Eggs! They were all in a pile, in the corner. I guess we have had eggs for a few days and I just had not found them. Kenny found them this afternoon.

We think the speckled one was the first one, it was on the bottom of the pile. And here we think is the proud MOMMA! Carmel, she has been scratching a lot lately not eating from the feeder as much. She also has the largest and reddest waddles and comb.

Chicken Updates

We have added roosts to the chicken tractor several weeks ago, because my girls were fighting over space to roost in the egg door. So now a few roost on the ledge of the egg door, a few on the roost that Kenny put in and one, named Pie, roosts on the bracket on the wall that the bug light hangs on. This being the highest in the coop. I have been told that the chicken that roosts the highest is the dominate hen. Congratulations PIE!

Rosey is still at her post, guarding "her" chickens. Sometimes she gets a little mixed up in the way things should be. Like take this picture for example:

One other funny happening-last night I was in the chicken yard, refilling the feeder that is always empty and suddenly I got pecked on the leg. Most evenings the girls are not this aggressive. In the mornings this is more likely to happen. I looked down to see the offender swallowing and a mosquito sitting on my leg. So I am thinking my little chicky that I was about to punt kick accross the yard was really just tring to protect me!

Chicken Flower...

I posted this same photo on this web site. I was very happy to learn that people thought that all my chickens were pullets. I also learned that there were no Rhode Island Reds in the group. But that is OK. I am not a chicken snob. I just want eggs. I just hope those people were right and they really all are hens, and no roos. B is upset, he wants to be woke up by roos. Some times we just need to be careful of what we wish for...right?

More Chicken Tails

Well the girls had their first full day of being true free range chickens. They spent the whole day Saturday out of the fence. They quickly decided that under my curly willow in the parsley patch was their favorite spot to be. We did have some issues with them jumping up on the patio, but a leaf rake seems to have taken care of that pretty well. However I am wondering if I will have any parsley left?

Life's Little Pleasures

Oh how I wish I had a camera in my hand when I experienced these two things I am getting ready to tell you about.

On Wednesday, I saw one of the chickens running across the chick yard. Upon a closer look I realized the chicken was chasing a butterfly. It was such a cute thing to see. A brown chicken chasing a orange butterfly. And the butterfly knew just how far the chicken's head would reach. Which is where the butterfly stayed on several passes through the yard.

Then last night J and G and i were sitting in the yard, each boy had a chicken. J lulled his almost to sleep. I noticed there were lots of big mosquito's flying around. I told the boys to go put the chickens up and we needed to go because of the flying tormentors. G picked up his chicken, put the chickens head around where the mosquito was flying, and the chicken ate the mosquito. Now this is one reason that I was interested in chickens, to eat bugs, but I didn't realize that you could point out a bug and the chicken would eat it! G proceeded to do this two more times. Needless to say, G and that chicken are going to be great friends!

Chicken Update

Over the weekend, we replaced the chicken play yard, left over from the twins toddler years, with a real temporary fence.

Well, today is Monday and as you can see they have got to the top of the fence and to the top of the post. However, the jar in the window is the jar that their food stay in, and they know it on site. So I am hoping they will not be so successful at their "flying" up to the top of the other posts. The other photo is of J, feeding the chicks dandelion leaves. They will peck at the leaves as long as you hold them. The twins think it is great fun for the chicks to eat from their hands. The chicks think it is great fun to peck at the sapphire in my ring, if I am holding the dandelion!

Chicken Tractor (aka: chicken coop)

Over the weekend the chicken tractor was completed and moved to the yard. Which meant that the chicks got moved to the yard too! It is really close to the house for right now. But it is moveable, that is why it is called a chicken tractor. My knowlege of chicken and chicken talk has grown in the past two months.






This is the egg door. The nesting boxes will be in front of these two doors. That way we can reach in and get the eggs from the back. That is IF they nest in the nesting boxes. I have heard some people put straw and golf balls in the boxes to show the hen what to do.





Here they are in their new digs. Ready to explore the world.











And here we have a green snake caught in the hen house. Don't look to happy about that either.

Rosey and Her Chicks

Last Wednesday I brought home 10 baby chicks. We (Kenny and I) were a bit worried about what Rosey would do. Last week she looked over the side of the box, when ever the boys were not around. She just stands there and watches them.

Well, yesterday I had to add space and taller walls to the brooding box. The chicks were flapping around and about to fly out of the box. I found one sitting on top of the water can. So after I added the extra box and taped the flaps so they would stand up taller, I realized that Rosey could not see over the sides any more. So I cut one of the flaps of the box so that she could look in on "her chicks". Rosey stands there so much with her head hung over the side that the chicks do not pay her any attention. But when I stick my hand they get all up set. Maybe I can teach Rosey to change food trays and water bottles!