Oh yes, we're going the distance for this passion and interest. Some, okay many, people have told us we are crazy. They are just chickens;to us they are not. And while we are building the Magic Kingdom of Chickenland, we are learning a lot along the way.
Don't believe us, then listen to the chicks.
The task is easier if you have the right tools.
Marigold on the favorite perch
Verbena looking on says, I know that's right.
When you've tried something once, it is easier the second time.
Verbena makes the leap
When it is raining and raining (all week people!), it is best to just sit tight.
Daisy waits
and waits
When it keeps on raining, try new things.
Lily hops on the bin just like the other girls have been doing; she's been a late-bloomer.
The chicks trying Egg Custard for the first time. I got the recipe from the Fresh Eggs Daily book.
Doing the task together is more interesting and it goes faster.
Forsythia and Myrtle playing "I Spy"
Stay focused even if others start to stray.
Sometimes resting is best.
Petunia and Violet find a perch
Marigold & Petunia napping
Forsythia & Verbena looking outside, high, and low
Lastly, when frustrated with the weather, talk with your friends
Petunia & Violet
The gaggle
Marigold & Forsythia warming under the heat lamp
The question around the water cooler, "what's up with our coop?"
Cock-a-Doodle-Doo I was turning over the straw under the chicken coop when I heard it. Thankfully Scott was out in the yard too so he knew just which one did it. This one. On New Year's Eve. 19 weeks old. What the $%#! Noooooo, is what I wanted to shout. This wasn't supposed to be happening at 19 weeks! From what we'd read, by 8-12 weeks you'd know if there was a rooster in the hen house. I emailed pictures of Lily to the hatchery, but with the holiday we didn't hear back right away. I also snapped a picture of Verbena. I say snapped because to be honest, I'd been having trouble telling the two of them apart for the past month. So while Scott was holding Lily, I went in search of Verbena. I didn't have to look far, she was right behind me, looking at Lily in a puzzled way. See Verbena's puzzled look? The fact that I couldn't tell them apart should have been a clue as to what happened on New Year's Day. Yep, anoth...
Daisy Today was the last time we'd get 6 eggs in one day. Dear Daisy laid an egg today and then died sometime later. My heart is broken. When I let the girls out to free-range in our yard, only 4 came out. The Orphingtons, Forsythia and Daisy, did not. I checked the egg boxes, fully expecting to find Daisy in hers. She wasn't there. I checked the other boxes and found Forsythia. I looked on the roost bars, under the coop, and the attached run. No Daisy. Then I looked in the "tunnel", a breezeway connecting the bottom of the coop to the run. There was sweet Daisy, she could've been sleeping. Oh my girl. Daisy was a gentle giant, so sweet. She'd allow you to pick her up and sometimes she'd settle in your arms. She'd hop up on my chair and come visit in the yard. Daisy was inquisitive and yet scared of an umbrella. She got along with the other girls as well as people who came to meet the chickens. I've tried to think of what we di...
Little Tweets We've been so wrapped up in the chicks that I haven't shared any updates, many apologies. Check out Marigold watching Lily preen herself. It's amazing what the chicks know what to do. Here is a bird's eye view (haha) of our brooder (the place the chicks live for the first 6-8 weeks until they get their feathers and thus are coop ready). We got the idea from this awesome site, Fresh Eggs Daily . A plastic box, shelf liner, and a wire fence frame in the lid keep make up the brooder. There is a tunnel that leads to another box. It took the chicks one day to travel to the other box. Here comes Daisy through the tunnel with Lily watching. I came across the book Fresh Eggs Daily in the Spring when we were investigating renting chickens. Oh yes, you can. Check out them out, Rent the Chicken . Renting chickens didn't make sense for us, but I could see how it would work for others. Here's another place that rents chic...
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