My, How Time Flies

It has been almost 2 weeks since I had anything new to post. Sorry to leave you hanging. The chickens are doing well and are about 2 1/2 months old now. We will not start to look for eggs until the first part of July. The Rhode Island Red chicks are looking just like Rhode Island Reds look. I am very intrigued by the Americauna chicks. Out of 6 chicks, there are only 2 that look similar to each other. One chick is white, another chick has a black body with a brown head. One chick is a beautiful dove grey color (we are calling her Bluebell). The other three have a combination of black, brown, light brown, and almost yellow. It is this group that has 2 almost alike. They are almost hawk-like in their appearance and one looks like a golden eagle. Their beaks are different from the Rhode Island Red chicks. They look like they are longer and more hooked than other beaks. I do not look forward to a warning peck from these birds. Although we have no roosters, the hens will protect their nests when there are eggs in them. I guess it is a built in chicken thing. My husband has been learning what pecking order really means. It is not always the biggest chicken that has the most power over the other chickens. It is usually the chicken who has been there the longest. The others get in the pecking order when they arrive. The last arrivals will be at the bottom of the totem pole. It is funny to watch them when you put food in the pen. We give the chickens all the table scraps we have from vegetables and grains. The 2 chickens who were there first are given a wide berth by the others who are lower in the order. They know which birds they can crowd and which ones will give them a peck to put them back in line. I will try to get pictures today of all the chickens and post them tomorrow. Happy chick watching!

New World

I am sure you have heard the old expression "chickens wake up in a new world everyday". Well it is true. The little chicks never cease to amaze me. They are growing every day and some are starting to be the leaders. I am a little surprised that it is a couple of the Americauna chicks who are the boldest. They come right up to me when I get into their enclosure to help add feed to the feeder. They don't get close enough to touch, but I think they are defending their territory. I had one jump into the water dish while I was in there yesterday. Fortunately it was empty because I had washed it out and was getting ready to give them fresh water. It has been rainy here for a couple of days and the chicks don't seem to mind too much. Of course they are in a covered pen and don't get wet. It will be about 2 more months before we start getting eggs from these new chicks. I am still excited about seeing eggs with green or blue shells. I will definitely be posting pictures when that happens.

New perch

The little chicks have learned that the board going across the middle of their pen is a place to perch. It is about a foot off the ground and they fly up to it. I have considered putting a ramp up to the perch, but haven't decided whether they need it. If I put one up now for the low perch I will have to put one up for the permanent higher perch. I am concerned that if a predator were to get into the pen it could walk right up to the perch and grab a chicken. As it is they are safe on the roosts with no access except for flying. I have not seen rats or racoons fly so they cannot get onto the perches. Of course I have seen none of these rodents near the pen because our laborator retriever's bed is close by. She would set off a ruckus if they approached. This would alert us and we could take care of the problem. More later.

The chicks are doing great outside.

The little birds seem to be very happy to be able to be in the sunshine outside. I worried about them a little bit at first because the nights were still chilly. I hoped they would have enough sense to huddle together for warmth and they did. I would check on them every few hours to make sure they all had gone into their little houses. I guess I would have put more heat sources out there for them if they looked cold. They are starting to eat clover leaves. I pull some every day and throw it into the pen. They just looked at it at first, but then they got curious. After a few started pecking at it, they all got interested and had to check it out. The big chickens look at them through the chicken wire and I don't know what they think about it. I am sure they don't remember being chicks and doing the same thing. I think they just see the water dish and want to get a drink instead of going to their own dish which is about 4 feet away. Lazy birdies.

Moving Day!

The day has arrived for the little chicks to move outside. We have closed off part of the hen coop for them so they will have their own area. They will be safe from predators and also from the big hens. They have two shelters with lights for warmth and when they huddle together they will make some body heat. I had to catch them one by one and they were not too happy about being carried outside. Of course I could say they were "chicken". Once they got into their new enclosure, they began to explore and quickly found their food and water. I had put down some straw so they were scratching around in it looking for something to peck at. Tomorrow I am going to put some grass in for them to eat. They will like it, I am sure. I have included pictures of the big chickens, the new chick area, and the chicks in their new home. We won't let them out in the yard until they are bigger. Right now they could go right through the fence. That would be a tragedy in the making. More updates to follow as new things progress. Happy Scratching!

Moving Out!

This is the week when out little birdies will be heading outside. We have started getting their new home ready. It will be a space inside our chicken coop that is separate from the mature chickens. They will have their own separate feeder and water. If we put them directly in the coop with the big chickens, the big ones will pick at the little ones. If a chicken sees something different they will peck at it. This would be deadly for the younger birds. I will post a picture of them in their new surroundings as soon as we move them. Stay tuned.

Flying chicks!

I was out in the sunroom where the chicks are and I heard a racket. I looked over to where the chicks are and one had flown up to the top ring of the kiddie pool. Oh my, it is time to put the net over the pool. Otherwise we will have chicks all over the house. Chicks in the kitchen, chicks in the bathtub, chicks in the living room. Totally unacceptable! So, on goes the net. Now I have seen a couple of the eyeing the net, I wonder if they are planning their next move. Hmmmm. Tune in for the next adventure!