Chix outside

April is stretching her wings, a regular occurance now-a-days














They stay under the chair a lot- must be safer




























Out in the open

A few friends

Hillsboro Dave














My nephew and cobuilder, Andrew














Bracing for the side (made of hardware cloth)














The building inspector

Co-Exist

It's possible to co-exist!

Rat-proofing the back fence

These pix are out of order, unfortunately.

Logs and dirt piled up, so I can plant peas or something

*A strip of hardware cloth

We dug a little trench (?) first, so if the rats tried to dig down, they would still encounter the hardware cloth. Good thinking, eh? Maybe the rats will just dig deeper????















Getting ready to use the nail gun....















After nailing up the hardware cloth, I put some old logs up against the hardware cloth and buried them with dirt. Later, I'm gonna plant peas or some vine that will grow up to the roof and help make shade. But the chicks might eat all the peas!!!

These shots were taken before we put in the hardware cloth....obviously....:-)

Hanging out in the living room

This is May, a Barred Plymouth Rock

The chicks aren't afraid at all!

Eeeeeewwwww

Don't mess with April. She's tough!

Mutual Curiosity

April, May and poop.

April faces off

I pushed furniture together, then put the chix on a sheet in the living room. For a while, Ernie snuggled up with me, but since April (the orange one) kept menacing him, my nephew took him up on the couch. Then Bailey wanted to join the pack and took Ernie's space. But April didn't menace Bailey for some reason. She just did soft pecks, which I take to come from curiousity.

Growing so fast

Monday, April 27th: I can't impress upon you (unless you already know :-) how fast the chicks are growing. Every day, I see new growth: longer legs, bigger feet, more feathers and/or down dropping off. In fact, they make the kitchen table dusty with their skin and down floating all over. Their new house (only 3 weeks old) is already too small for them and I can tell they want to get out.

They've been outside again, which is great because they are now old enuf to eat new things (e.g. lettuce or grit). I gave them some strawberry tops tonight, but they're not eating them. Instead, two chix are pecking on the side of their box.

For the first time, the chix are letting me pick them up without running away. This is great news. Once they realize I'm a treat-giver, they'll like me even more. But...honestly, they don't love me like the dogs do. I'm just a perch or something to peck (due to curiosity).

I'm glad they aren't scared of the dogs at all! In fact, they fly onto the dog's back to perch (they like to be up high- it feels safer). The dogs don't like it though. Like I said, I'm anxious for the chix to go outside; it's time, but I need to finish the pen. Hopefully, by this weekend.

Monday in the garden

Okay, okay. I don't really have a garden, but this past weekend, I stayed home and got lots of projects done; one being to mow the lawn and work on the chicken coop. So the back yard looks a lot better, but there's plywood and 1x2's all over the place. I've got big plans to start another compost pile (heat provided by dog poop :-) and plant this fancy grass seed I got last year. It's supposed to wild grasses and flowers and you don't have to mow it (more sustainable, eh?).

A friend helped me with the coop on Sunday. We rat-proofed the back fence with hardware cloth nailed to the fence and buried about 4-6 inches into the ground. But really, if a rat wanted to get into the coop, he could....

my friend is 48, in good physical shape (martial arts) and takes care of himself. Never-the-less, he had a full-blown (type 1) diabetes reaction (paramedics came, or he could have died). I was calm, cool and collected the whole time, but now I feel a bit un-nerved. I watched his personality change (from obsessing over a concrete strut near the fence) to walking unsteadily to arguing, falling down, knocking things over and generally acting drunk and strange. For instance, he didn't want to give the paramedics his finger for a blood poke. They said sometimes people get combative and they have to hold them down. Eventually, he did give up a finger....later, he was docile and cooperative. It's rough being out-of-control. You try to keep control any way you can. Anyways, his blood sugar was 27!, but he drank sugar water til it came back up to 107. Then the paramedics left.

Anyways, it's been my dream to sit in the back yard and relax since last winter!!! Now I'm really doing it. Yay!!! And the little chickies are happily eating small rocks. Did you know that because chickens don't have teeth, they swallow rocks into their "crop" where muscles rub the food and rocks together. Something like that.

This afternoon, a bunch of crows or something flew over my backyard several times. But they weren't crows because they had reddish-orangish wings. Hummmmm. The first chicken class I took said wild animals learn where to find their favorite meals, just like we do (i.e. the closest Big Mac). Hummmmm.

Bailey has been very calm with the birds, but....one flew a few feet today and she chased chomping her teeth. I heard her teeth bite together. She can't be fully trusted yet (or ever). In the meantime, the Golden (April) continues to chase Ernie. He's a wimp! But the RIR (May) is defending herself againt April. Humm? Who will be the top chicken? Must go in now. It's after 8:00pm and the chickens will want to sleep. Can't wait for this weekend. Gonna put the sides on the coop. Then, I need to build a door.

May and June 2

May and June

You can see the red on May's face- she's the Rhode Island Red. June has sort-of spotted feathers, sort off-- check this painting of a full-grown BPR....http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/chickens/plymouthrock/barred.htm

June, the smallest

Bossy April

She pecks at and chases the others. But this week, the Rhode Island Red (May) has been fighting back.

The smallest bird

Just chic pix

Chix in Living Room

Andrew and I had been holding the chix on our laps while sitting on the couch, but once their wing feathers grew in, they started flying away and we couldn't catch them fast enuf. (We're afraid Bailey might catch them first :-). Anyhow, my sister had the idea of pushing the living room furniture together and making place for them on the floor. Well, here it is. A fine set-up, except Bailey isn't allowed. Pooor Bailey.

The new, bigger brooder

The chicks grew so much, we had to switch out their brooder. Luckily, I knew this was coming, so I had already gotten a new box at FM. It's much roomier. See inside- my nephew put in a roost for the girls. I have to put their food and water on bricks, by the way, because the girls have grown so big. This way they don't have to lean over so far. Wouldn't want them to get sore necks!

The family

Andrew, my nephew, keeps putting the chicks on Ernie's body, which has caused Ernie to whip his head back and forth to find out what the hell is sitting on his back. Poor Ernie. The birds just treat him like a roost, not a living being (or out-species brother/member of family). I'm learning that my birds aren't very loving, like the dogs are. They only care about food and a high place to sit and survey their kingdom. Ernie is used to it now, by the way. Don't report me to the Humane Society, okay?

Chicks are GROWING!

Been working extra hours :-(, so no time to post. But today has been great, in that I took the chicks outside for the third time, BUT I let them wander about the grass. But...first things first...In just three weeks, they have grown soooo much. At least 1/2 their feathers have come in. Every single day, you can see the length of the feathers have grown. It's amazing. Their down is falling out and settling onto the kitchen table too. Their legs are longer and their feet are bigger. They are more curious and peck at things more. Plus, they stretch their wings and fly a little (a foot, perhaps). April, the largest (Golden Wyandotte) is the bossy one. She even flys at Ernie and/or pecks at him. He is scared of her (as he should be). However, Bailey is not scared, but she is not too predatory either. I let her smell them, but keep my hand around her neck just in case she wants a nibble :-). At least three times, she's opened her lips a little for more of a taste :-). And if a chick flys/runs, she WILL chase it. We've been sitting on the couch with them and today we all went outside. They stuck near to my chair for at least 45 minutes, pecking at the ground and eating grass and seeds. Then they finally wandered a little further. At one point, Ernie barked at squirrel and they hunkered down in the grass to hide. They stayed verrrry still for quite a while. Enjoy the pics. Jen

starting of the pen

The Pen

I'm very proud of the pen. It's like 5 feet by 10 feet and includes some existing plants (bamboo, a plum tree and other stuff). The birds will have enough room to roam (and peck and scratch and dig for worms & grubs). They will be sooo happy. And I! I will sit in the backyard and watch my new TV program (Talk about a good way to save electricity!!).

Here are all the pix of the pen in various stages. I still need to put up the sides and build a door. Also, I need to find some roofing material.

Hey hey hey. The chicks are growing soooo fast. In just 4 days, they are already taller. I've had to raise their food and water bowls. Their feet are practically bigger than their bodies too. Today I got them a bigger brooder (45 gallon plastic storage bin from FM), but they don't need it yet. The Rhode Island Red (RIR) and the Golden Wyandotte (GW) both have wing feathers coming in. The GW also has some very small tail feathers (mixed with fluff- looks like uncombed hair). The neighbors kids came over yesterday and we let the chicks walk on the kitchen table. The started jumping up into some potted plants. They are CURIOUS! Yesterday and today, I put them in a mixing bowl and took them outside. They chirped and ate their food and seemed so happy. Today they tried to jump out of the mixing bowl. Uh oh. If all three jump, I can't control them. They could break a leg or something. I'll have to find a deeper bowl or box or something. Meanwhile, the dogs are still respectful. Bailey just sniffs them; Ernie turns his head a way and/or tries to crawl in my lap. He's the biggest baby in the world.

Chick pix

Here are pix of the chicken pen. Liz's boyfriend put up more than 1/2 the roof (hardware cloth) and today (saturday), I put up one section. It took a long time cuz I had to fit the hardware cloth aroudn the tree branches. Had to cut some tree branches too. Really! I think these chickens are going to have a very nice pen. How many chickens get to roost in a plum tree. BUT, I'm not strong enough to squeeze the staple gun hard enough, so the staples are only going into the wood a little bit. I think a raccoon could easily pull up the roof and go inside for some tasty chicken meal-deal. Hopefully, Lenny (Liz's ex) can help me out tomorrow. See the pix!

picked up 3 chicks

Hi all, I picked up three chicks from the Urban Farm Store yesterday (friday). I got a Rhode Island Red, a Barred Plymouth Rock and a Golden Wyandotte. They are all big, productive layers. I wanted big chickens that will put Ernie in his place if he tries to molest them. However, the dogs aren't trying anything predatory (at least yet). They just smell the chicks or ignore them. Ernie, of course, wants the attn for himself. They don't seem to mind too much when I pick them up . They have some wing feathers coming in, so I'm hoping they'll be in the pen in 4 weeks (maybe six...). Attended another chicken class and learned more on Thurs.
I want to give them matching names (e.g. eeny, meeny, moe), but haven't thought of anything yet...can you help me???. I've been handling them at least 3-4x a day so they get used to me. And I'm letting the dogs sniff them too. So far, no predator behavior; just curiosity. Today (Sat) I sat on the couch with all three in my lap, but they climbed up to my shoulder and preferred to be there; under my hair even. My nephew sat next to me and cupped his hands around them so they wouldn't fly/bounce away. All the time, they were chirping. I was so happy that they felt safe with me. Did more work on the pen today. Took like two hours to put some roofing up around the plum tree. It's all very fun. See the pix!

The chicken run

Don't laugh- I know it's really dorky (some 2x4's are facing the wrong way), but the two hours we spent building today went by real fast. I can't call it a "coop" yet, cuz technically the coop isn't in the "run" yet. See how much I've learned .
The first two pictures were taken after the chicken coop party. Thanks to all who came, even in the crappy weather. Today, Andrew (my nephew) and I added more supports (framing), extra posts to keep neighbors dogs from being too interested and a place for a door. I'm ready to put the hardware cloth (a strong chick wire) on tomorrow or Sunday. The hardest thing will be building the door. I don't know how, but I'll figure it out as I go along. Will buy 3 or 4 chicks this weekend too- cuz if I don't, I'll never get around to finishing the damn thing .
Thanks to Joe, Chunshik and Dejah for the re-design. The chickens will now have a lot more space AND access to real live plants and grubs (thanks to some old rotting tree trunks). Thanks to CHUNSHIK for the electric saw. It rocks!!!! Jen