Roomies

So our once, little fuzzballs are all feathered out and living outdoors...finally! The problem is that in typical fashion the older gals are going after them like sharks! Until the new 2-month-old ones get old enough to hold their own, I have to separate them for most of their waking hours. It's not that big of a problem because I need a bit of weeding done, and the 11-month-old girlies more than happy to take care of it! Really once they've laid their egg, they're much less cranky, but I've expanded the coop outdoor area to give the young ones some space to hide and the older ones some respite from their incessant and obsessive peeping when they all are in there together.

Chicken Snow

Bawk-Bawk Buh-KAK!

We got our first egg this morning!   It's so tiny and cute, I don't know if I could eat it (see the comparison in the egg carton)!  We think it came from Azelea, our Black Star.  E has daily chicken duty, and she was just beaming when she found it in our make-shift egg box laying next the the 'trainer egg,' a golf ball.  When she brought it up to the house, I actually screamed!

An Unexpected Visit

Those kooky gals of mine fumbled up our 10 steps to come pay me a visit on our deck this afternoon.  They sun bathed for a bit, then wandered around finding various interesting bits, and then just as quickly as they appeared they tottled down leaving a few presents behind...

Backyard Time

The sun came out today, and warmed up our backyard enough for us girls to get out for most of the lazy-ish day.

feet up

in the thorny roses

balancing act

Pullets

Pullet = teenage chicken; not a chick any longer & not a hen yet.

Our gals are big, cannot believe they grew so quickly, and are going to get even b-i-g-g-e-r. The coop isn't quite done yet, so after hanging out in the backyard all day we still bring them in at night. They love wandering around outside their run when we're out there. They flutter around in a tight group gobbling up grass and clover, and any little bugs or worms they find. I still have to keep an eye on E because she just wants to cuddle with them, like a puppy.  I even caught her taking Marigold down the slide on her lap a few weeks ago.  They are for the most part terrified of her, and have, what I believe, come up with a pretty ingenious strategy for keeping her away; they hang out in the rose bushes.  This also works well when they want to avoid coming in at night and we have to lure them with empty meal worm containers.  Petunia is now regularly clucking, while the other two still peep. All 3 have yet to grow their combs and waddles...still pretty sure we have no roosters on the premises.

At One Week

***Disclaimer:  I realize that nearly all posts this week have been poultry related, we are excited and I know that many of you very well may not be, so just to let you know I am aware of the situation and will be working on evening things out in the upcoming weeks.***

We've owned our chicks for about 1 week now and I would like to officially introduce to you; Marigold.  She seems like the oldest of the bunch, certainly the largest and was the first to spread her pretty wings and flutter around.  My guess is that she's at the top of the pecking order.  She's extremely alert and almost has a sixth sense for meal worm snack time!  My favorite quality about her is that she loves to stretch.  I didn't know chickens stretched, but she does...a lot.  She'll slowly reach one foot behind her and simultaneously fully extends the wing on the same side, for a drawn out r-e-a-c-h.  Here's our little redhead:

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Well, there has to be one in every crowd, right?  Azalea is proving to be it.  Quick, a little bit runty but feisty, and doesn't necessarily want to be held.  She'll steal food, and is slightly advanced in her skill building.  She was the first to catch on to resting on a perch; roosting.  E and I spent a few minutes showing the girls what it's all about (did you know that chickens sleep balancing on a branch or the like?)  Zalie grabbed right on with both feet and I'll often find her practicing on her own when I pop down for a visit.  She's hard to grab a shot of because she's fast and entirely black save her tummy & fuzzy little butt (with the cutest tail feather in history) and she's a bit suspicious and skittish around the camera.

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And finally Petunia.  D nicknamed her 'little Tania.'  She's sweet, mellow but social, and loves to be held.  She also has the prettiest markings, Cleopatra eyes and is my current favorite.  When we first brought her home she seemed like a friendly little puppy that just wanted to play with the others.  When we initially offered her a meal worm she just looked at it and walked away...but after watching the other two fight over them, she's in the game.  In fact I think she has a pretty good strategy;  she'll wait until one of the other girls (Marigold) snatches up the first worm, then Azalea inevitably will chase "the early bird who got the worm," and then Petunia will wait for the second available...smart little gal.

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It really is so crazy to think ahead by a few months and wonder what they will have transformed into by then:

When fully grown our Goldie will look something like this:

Scrappy little Azelea, like this:

And our sweetheart Petunia like this:

*Hen pic's from the internet.

Petunia

I just could not wait to bring Petunia home.  I fell in love with this girl's breed the minute I layed (ha-ha) eyes on it.  Beautiful (for a chicken).  N and I went over to Monroe Farm & Feed this afternoon and I was astounded at how many little peepers they had on hand, and ducklings too!  My stars, it was fun looking at all of them.  I was glad I had decided which variety I was going to take home, otherwise I would have been there for hours!  I noticed her right away, she was scratching around for food with the older pullets (teenager chick's) and her spunkiness impressed me.  I scooped her up, and she peeped all the way home, and really hasn't stopped.  She's exhibited energy the other two certainly did not upon arrival.  I could almost see their eye's roll when I placed her among her new brood.  She ran right up to Zalie (Azalea), and Goldie (Marigold) and they immediately turned their beaks up at her and pushed into a corner with their little tail feathers staring her down.  And I think I heard one of them snigger and whisper "OMG, who is that?"  I had to have a little talk with them about their little 'chick-clique,' and I think things have settled down.  Just a minute ago I went down to check on them (as I do like every 3 minutes or so) and they were all heaped in a little downy pile with their eyes closed dreaming of meal worms...only maybe not Tunie (Petunia) D thinks she's a vegetarian.

Chicks on the Brain

I've been obsessing about getting our very own backyard flock for a few months now.  D came up with the idea years ago, and only now did it seem feasible.  I've read this book from cover to cover, wandered all over the internet for coop plans and ideas, and studied breeds and varieties late into many nights.  I finally came up with a short list that we would most appreciate; winter hardy, great layers, and docile dispositions.  If anyone has some good pointers or advice send it on over!

For now our little chickadee's are doing great.  To be honest, I was a little worried after we brought them home yesterday.  They were pretty quiet and sleepy and not hungry or thirsty at all.  I also wasn't completely confident in how warm they were or weren't.  In fact I had to convince myself to stay in bed despite the fact I awoke a few times in the night wondering and worried about how they were fairing.  I was fully prepared to check on them in the morning only to find one or both dead.  But both were just peeping away, and they had happily made a mess of their food and water over night.  So, everything is great!  The only remaining slight issue is that we have a neighborhood cat that likes to wander into our garage occasionally when we leave the door open; I don't even want to think about how quickly he could carry one or both off, so door stays shut.

I can't tell you what a perfect fit these little gals seem to be for our family.  They need our care, but not too much. They're cute now and helpful later (eggs & fertilizer).   Quiet, not furry and they live outside!

And you haven't seen anything nearly as cute as a chick falling asleep all snuggled up next to her dozing buddy.

The Girls Are Here!

We got 2 of our 3 chicks today!  Azalea is a Black Star, and Marigold is a Rhode Island Red,  they're just 1 week old.  We will be picking up Petunia the Blue Laced Wyandotte later this week (she hasn't hatched yet). We are all egg-static (he-he) about our new pets, and they seem very comfortable in their new digs.  Come this summer they'll permanently move out to the backyard to their new coop, and by fall we expect to see a regular supply of eggs!  But for now we've set up a large plastic bin in the garage complete with a feeder, water, bedding and a heat lamp.  E is ga-ga over them, and cannot wait to introduce them to all her friends & family; come on by and meet them!