Chicken update

One of the hens (either buffy or buttercup) became broody lately, which means she was sitting on the eggs trying to hatch them.  Which is fine if you have fertilized eggs and need a broody hen, but is very bad if you don't because the hen won't leave the coop until the eggs hatch (and they will never hatch because they are not fertilized) and can stop eating/drinking, get mites, they don't lay eggs, etc.  So you have to break her by doing things like putting ice packs in the nesting boxes, physically removing her and locking her out of the nesting boxes.  She was determined!  I would lock her out of the coop/run, and she would just circle it over and over and over trying to get back in the nesting boxes.  Any time I left it open, she would go back and lay on the eggs.  But we got lucky because it only took about a day to break her for good!  I was worried at first because apparently, you can't break some hens, and you have to give them away to someone that needs a broody hen.

The hens have become so domesticated that they now will sit by the French doors and peck on the glass to be let inside!  Any time we leave the doors open they run inside.  It's pretty funny.

And they got a new sign for their coop/run! :)

Egg Numero Dos...

So after the initial excitement of finding an egg last Friday, we diligently checked every single day thereafter...only to find empty nesting boxes. :(  The chickens were out all day Saturday, Sunday and most of Monday so it's possible that she laid another one outside and a critter ate it (because I looked everywhere- a REAL egg hunt!), but even when she was locked in the rest of the week, nothing!

Well, what did we find Friday afternoon?  Another egg!  And this time, it was in one of the nesting boxes instead of the coop floor- what a fast learner!

I'm not sure if she's just a once a week layer or if she's just learning, but the second egg is BIG.  We are going to have some nice fluffy omelets eventually. ;)

Everett insisted that I take his picture with the egg since he didn't get a picture last time...

First Egg!

I completely forgot to post what we found in the chicken coop on the night of Friday 12.12.14...

We cracked it open, and it was perfect!

It's now Sunday evening, and we still don't have another egg...we keep checking!  They only lay eggs 4-5 a week so who knows when the next one will come.

It was Goldie, our Red Star/Golden Buff, who laid the golden egg. :)  It's funny because she is actually the smallest bird...but has the biggest comb.


Now we just need to teach her to lay her eggs in the nesting boxes rather than right from her roost where it falls onto their poop board.  Yuck.

More Backyard Chickens!

 The chickens are getting BIG.  They grow super fast.  Here they are in their run...

And this is how they sleep at night on the roost in their coop (which is a really hard photo to get!)...

And here is my favorite, Oreo...

So what I have learned so far (keeping in mind that my hens don't even lay eggs yet!)...

1. Baby chicks look like they are dead when they sleep...and freak you out at first.

2. You can research which breeds to get forever, but despite their 'known' temperament, they have their own personalities, just like people.  My friendliest is a barred plymouth rock, and my two buff orpingtons are not friendly, despite their reputation of being the lap dogs of chickens.  One of my easter eggers is extremely skittish- the worst of the bunch- and another is mediocre friendly.  So you just never know.  I say if you're getting chickens, go by the biggest egg producers and the ones you think look the best (which are barred plymouth rocks in my opinion!).

3. Chickens eat a TON (oh my gosh, I'm going to go broke buying them food- they never stop eating), and waste even more than they eat.  They like to scratch so they get more food all over the floor of their run than they eat.  Gary is in the process of building something to hopefully remedy that. 

4.  I think chickens poop more than they eat.  They must poop every 3 minutes or something.  Seriously, I've never seeing a living thing that poops as much as a chicken.

5. They are generally easy.  They are pretty quiet and low maintenance.  However, it is one more thing to do- you do have to fill up their food and water once in a while and clean their coop/run once a week.

The low down for anyone considering chickens (which I'll try to continually update since I was searching ALL over trying to find blog posts from "normal" suburban people who own chickens)...

I LOVE when we are sitting outside together as a family, and we have chickens free-ranging around us.  Love it.  It makes me feel warm and fuzzy. ;)  They are fun to play with, and the kids (and Rylee!) love them. 

Our hens absolutely love to free range- as soon as they see me walking towards the coop, they all run to the door and tear out the second I open it.  It really solidifies my reason for raising chickens in the first place- I can't believe that most (probably all if you are buying from a store) eggs come from chickens that are confined all day every day of their lives.  My hens even go back inside their coop at dusk all by themselves and settle themselves on their roost!  All we have to do is go shut and lock the run door- easy peasy!

However, like I said, they do poop A LOT.  Luckily, ours mainly free range in our flower beds, so I love that the plants are getting nitrogen rich chicken poop as food, but they also hang out in the grass sometimes so there is poop on our grass.  And you have to keep them off your hardscape, or it's covered in poop.

We don't love our coop/run.  So now I want Gary to build a new one.  You simply can't know what will work for you until you have them.  The coop part is actually decent, but Gary did have to put that roost (in the photo above) in himself because the roosts that come with the coop are super low (below the nesting boxes, which is bad because then they sleep in the nesting boxes- chickens want to roost on the highest point in the coop).  But ideally, I want a walk-in coop.  Even though the bottom pulls out to clean the poop, it still kind of hurts my back.  I'd also like more high roosting space because I don't think they will all fit up there when they are full grown.

I sort of hate the run.  Even though I can step inside, I have to slightly bend over, and it's just hard to get in there, and really hard to clean.  The open part underneath the coop is just stupid.  The chickens love it under there so there is a ton of poop, but there is no way for me to get under there to clean.  And because our coop is on concrete, we are still trying to figure out what to put on the ground of the run, the easiest way to keep it clean, etc.  We're not doing a great job right now so we are attracting a ton of flies.  Which is driving me batty because our old house was completely fly infested (without chickens!) because I swear they built it over a cow farm or something, and this house did not have flies, and now we are fly infested again.  GRRR. 

But overall, if you are considering chickens, I say, go for it!  I think the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. :)

Backyard Chickens- Literally

We've been taking the chickens outside for a few minutes, two at a time, but tonight, we decided to take them all out together and let the roam for the first time in the backyard.

It was all good because they had their regular bodyguard...

But apparently, they still don't love grass because Pepper jumped up on my toes, and eventually, this happened....

Oh, and have I mentioned that my children, you know, the ones that OWN chickens and are supposed to help me, won't hold the chickens?  Every other child that has come over has held them.  But mine won't.  They won't even let them be on their laps unless they put paper towels over their legs.  Awesome.  This is how close Everett got to them while outside...

Oh Pepper...

Guess who learned how to fly up on to the side of the crate?

And guess who thinks it's extremely entertaining?

Bring on the Eggs!

I'm really excited for my organic, cage-free, fresh eggs...too bad I probably won't get any for at least 5 more months.  Most people still think I'm crazy, but here is a little tidbit that summarizes some of the reasons I decided to raise chickens. :)

Compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:
• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

The conventional egg industry wants very much to deny that free-range/pastured eggs are better than eggs from birds kept in crowded, inhumane indoor conditions.  Factory farm birds never even see the outdoors, let alone get to forage for their natural diet. Instead they are fed the cheapest possible mixture of corn, soy and/or cottonseed meals, with all kinds of additives.  The USDA isn’t helping consumers learn the truth, either: “Allowed access to the outside” is how the USDA defines “free-range.” This inadequate definition means that producers can, and do, label their eggs as “free-range” even if all they do is leave little doors open on their giant sheds, regardless of whether the birds ever learn to go outside, and regardless of whether there is good pasture or just bare dirt or concrete outside those doors!  http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/tests-reveal-healthier-eggs.aspx#ixzz37wtAppZJ

And I have to say, taking care of chicks is EASY.  Like, really easy.  I'm sure it will get a lot more challenging (and messier!) when they are full grown, but for now, you get cute little cuddly (ok, they aren't so much cuddly) chicks that are super easy to care for.

And who could resist seeing Pepper stretch out her neck to sleep on Buffy?

I've already told Gary that I want to move again to have an even bigger yard.  With a bigger coop.  And more chickens. ;)  Here's a piece of advice for you- if you live in a house with a fairly smallish yard- stay there because you don't know what you're missing.  I was perfectly happy with the size of the yard at our tract home.  Now that we've gotten the taste for a big yard, and playing with the kids back there, I want an even bigger yard!! 

More Chickens?!

Our three new additions arrived this morning from Ohio!  Introducing, Buffy II, Buttercup and Oreo...

I took Oreo's picture next to the other Barred Plymouth Rock, Pepper, to show the size difference.  These chicks are born only FIVE days apart, and I'm shocked at how much our original batch grew in just 5 days!!!  I read that chicks grow at an alarming rate, but geez, this is crazy!  

Chickens- Our Motley Crew

Although I found it near impossible to get good photos of these little Mexican jumping beans, I tried!

Elsa (Easter Egger)

Anna (Easter Egger)

Goldie (Red Star/Golden Buff)

Lacey (Silver Laced Wyandotte)

Pepper (Barred Plymouth Rock)

Their new best friend, who is a little overly obsessed with them...

Their new larger brooder...

And my photo assistant. :)

The local feed stores did not have any baby Buff Orpingtons so in order to replace Buffy, I had to order THREE more chicks because they cannot ship less than 3 at a time or they will die.  Oy Vey.  So I ordered two more orpingtons so in case another one dies, I have a back up!  And another Barred Plymouth Rock because they are my favorite looking bird.  In case anyone talks to Ella, the story is that Buffy had a tummy ache and had to go the doctor, but she is feeling better and will be able to come home on Tuesday.  Ella asks about her EVERY day.  Now I just need an explanation as to why we have two additional chicks!

New Chicks and RIP Buffy

Our chicks were born and shipped on Wednesday so we had to get their brooder all ready.  Ella made a sign that said, "Welcome Home Chickens"...

They took less than 24 hours to get here, and since I'm trial, Gary had to take the day off to pick them up and care for them (which is funny since he is not into the whole chicken thing!)...

So it should be a happy day, but the buff orpington (named Buffy) seemed weak since she arrived and wouldn't eat or drink.  I was forcing her to drink from a dropper but couldn't get her to eat.  We assumed she was stressed from the travel, but all the other chicks were great, eating a ton, drinking walking all around.  She kept to herself like in this photo...

So I put her in her own box so the others wouldn't pick on her...

But this morning, she was gasping for air.  I just held her and she kind of jumped out of my hands so I put her back in her box, and she stretched her legs out and stopped breathing.  I cried!  I'm SO sad.  Of course, she was Ella's favorite so the first thing Ella asked was, "where is Buffy?"  We told her that she is at the doctor's office because her tummy hurts, and we're going to try and replace her today because I think the feed stores carry that breed.  Even Rylee loved her!

I knew that it's not uncommon for a chick or two to die upon shipping, but I didn't think I'd be so sad!  Maybe because I was taking so much care of her, holding her, feeding her, etc.  RIP Buffy!

Now on the other hand, one of our Easter Eggers, who Ella named Elsa, is a total b*tch!  She picks on everyone, won't let anyone sleep if she's not sleeping- definitely the alpha.  I put her in timeout sometimes. ;)

Their names are Elsa, Anna, Goldie, Lacey and Pepper.  And hopefully another Buffy will surface today before Ella gets home from school.  I'll post a photo with which is which later.  Once I'm out of mourning!

Chickens are Coming! Our Coop

After hours (days, really) of research regarding the coop, I finally chose and ordered one, which meant that I could order the chickens!  I went WAY over-budget on the coop, but I didn't want Gary to have to make one, and it's hard to find pre-fab ones that are big enough.  Most of them say they are for 3-4 or even 4-6 chickens, but after reading tons of reviews and forums, apparently, they are really only good for 1-2 chickens, and if you don't have enough space in the coop and run, the chickens will peck at each other.  Gary will still likely have to expand the run, even though it's allegedly big enough for 6-10 chickens!

I think I'm going to paint it white with a navy door so it matches our house- hee hee!

I ordered the chickens from Meyer Hatchery, which has a fabulous reputation.  I ended up with a Barred Plymouth Rock, a Red Star/Golden Buff, a Buff Orpington, a Silver Laced Wyandotte and two Easter Eggers (want to make sure I get enough of those beautiful blue/green eggs!).

They will arrive the week of July 10th so open invitation to come hold our baby chicks!  We want to make sure they get lots of handling so they are friendly adults. :)