The Big Chicks

I thought it was time for you to meet our other chickens. The ones we got from my best friend Rita.
This is Bonnie. I think she needs prozac. She talks a lot to herself and suffers from anxiety. She doesn't lay any eggs. Her goal in life seems to be going to roost first. In the backgroung is Josephine(white), and Conager.




This is Ursula, unfortunately she is no longer with us. She is in the big chicken yard in the sky.


These three chickens are the best. Mrs. Chicken in the back, then Abigail, and Josephine. They are Americanas and lay green eggs. They are consistent layers.

There are two more Meg and Amy. They are white, but only Meg lays eggs. Amy just likes to sit in the laying boxes.
More later. Kelli

Ouch!

Look what our chicken laid! The small one was a Large egg! This really big one was a double yolk. We couldn't even close the lid on the egg carton.

5 Weeks Old

First of all I apologize for taking so long to get these pics up. I deleted my driver for the camera and had to find the disk. So here they are my little darlings at 5 weeks.




Ummm, Are you my mother?!









Snow White

New Pen!

We finally finished the new outside pen! The chicks got to spend all day outside, and they loved it. They were flying and scratching just like the big chickens. Conager, our big rooster, started crowing though. I think he felt threatened by the new comers. When I put them back in there night time pen they settled down for a nap. They looked exhausted. :)

Her Shoes Were Number Nine

This is Clementine. She seems bigger than some of the other hens, and her tail feathers are much shorter. She is pretty comfortable with being handled. They sure are getting big.

4 Weeks Old!

Yesterday, I took them outside to their new pen. They were all taking dust baths like the big chickens. Now they are a bit gray, but they appeared to be having a lot of fun!
Snow White

Look how much they have grown in just three weeks!
Henny Penny

Field Trip

I took the chicks on a field trip to the front yard. They crack me up :)! They peep and chirp and run back and forth trying to find a bug. Today, Penny found a bug, and everyone started chasing her all over the yard. Cleopatra found some dirt and started dusting herself just like the big chickens. They are so darn cute.

Who's the boss?

I think our hens are not real happy with Conager, our new rooster. We only got one egg yesterday, and they are real jumpy. He appears to be establishing the pecking order, and my girls are resisting. The funny thing is when he does dominate one by putting his foot on them, the other hens will run to their rescue... It is interesting to watch. Ursula, who thought she was the boss out there is having second thoughts. There sure are a lot of feathers in the yard.

Other Chicks

Cleopatra
I actually have about three that look like this one, but when I put my hand in the cage this is the one that comes first. She is a little bolder than the other ones.

Rooster Cogburn
Now that we know who our rooster is, I thought I would put him on. He is such a cute little guy, and he is becoming more comfortable with me holding him. His name is Cogburn, Rooster Cogburn, and we have a female look alike that we name Little Sister. I will put her up later. Rooster is bigger than all the other chicks, and his feathers are longer. He is going to be really beautiful when full grown.

3 Weeks Old

Snow White is a timid little chick, but she is the only all white one.

Henny Penny
This little girl is the bravest and most adventurous chick of the lot. She is usually the first to approach me, which I think is great and if I have them outside, she will travel the farthest. I can't believe how much the chicks have grown. Only now that they are flying all over their little coop, I have started sneezing when I go out to the garage. I think all the little tiny feathers and down are tickling my nose.

Er, er, errrrrrrrrr!!

Jack's alarm went off at 5:00 this morning, and about ten minutes later so did the rooster! I jumped out of bed and ran out to the pen to let them out of the coop. I guess I was thinking if I let them out he would stop crowing. :) wrong...

I let them out and he was just getting started.:) He cracks me up. Jack and I both enjoy hearing the rooster crow. The last one was pretty quiet, but not this one. He wants the whole neighborhood to get up.

New Rooster!

I am so excited! I got a new rooster! His name is Fred, but I think I will call him Conager. He is the most beautiful rooster I have ever seen. I got him from a young lady who couldn't keep him. She appeared to love her chickens as much as me. :)

I brought him home this evening, and I wondered how the hens would react to him. He was very quiet when I brought the pet taxi into the chicken yard. Then I opened the door and he still didn't come out. Then all of the sudden he saw the hens and started squawkin', and jumped out.

The hens thought they might intimidate him, but he let them know who was boss. I stood back and laughed.

2 Weeks Old

I took these pictures of my favorite chicks. Although I am worried that Henny Penny might be a Rooster Cogburn in disguise! We will just have to wait and see. I recently moved the chickens to their larger pen in the garage. I gave them a red heat lamp to keep them warm at night. They really love it out there. They were running and flitting about during their wakeful times. Then all of the sudden they were sound asleep. They were exhausted from all the exercise. They slepted and slepted. Also I have been using a particular whistle sound to let them know I am around. When I whistle and put my hand down in the cage they come running. They jump in my hand, climb up my arms, and if I am in the cage with them, they will fly up on my knees. They are so fun and cute.





Snow White





Henny Penny

One week old

By the end of the first week, I could tell it was time to start working on their second home. Although they peeped contentedly, ate, drank, and slept, the chicks were putting on feathers. Whenever I opened their pen some would fly out! I began working on a box that was about 6' X 2' X 4'. It had the heavy hardwire on top and chicken wire on the sides.






Snow White





Henny Penny

Baby Chicks

This summer I acquired seven chickens. We named them Meg, (Jo)sephine, Abigail, Amy, Mrs.Chicken,Bonnie, and Ursula. I read everything I could get my hands on to learn about chickens. Later, I decided I wanted a Rooster and a friend gave us a little Bantam Rooster. I found him dead in the pen only two days after receiving him. There was nothing visibly wrong with him, so we decided he had died from a heart attack while trying to fertilize all seven of our large hens. I was very sad, but I gave him a nice burial.

I comforted myself by ordering ten pullets(baby hens) and one cockerel (baby rooster). I ordered them from Ideal Poultry which is in Texas. Here is a picture of them on the day they arrived.


Before the chicks arrived, I had to prepare all the necessary items to make their transition to our home easy. I bought medicated chick feed, watering can, and an eight chick feeder to dispense their food. Their first home was a rubbermaid tote with a hardware screen to keep the cats out should they wander into our bathroom, and pine shavings for the bottom. They recommended something like burlap or paper towels to put over the shavings the first week otherwise the chicks might eat them. Also I hung a 75 watt bulb in their pen and made sure the temperature stayed at about 90 degrees the first week. Forunately, the weather was quite warm so that was not a problem.

As soon as the chicks arrived I took them out of their little box and dipped their beaks in some sugar water. It took about 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon, and I used bottled water for the first day. Then I switched to regular bottled water for the first week. After the first half hour I gave them food. I watched the chicks closely to be sure they were all doing well.

By the end of the first week they had grown quite a bit and I dropped the temperature to 80 degrees. By this time they were starting to get their feathers. Recommend reading: Chickens in your Backyard by Rick and Gail Luttman