Chick Pics

Well, its almost 3 weeks. Yes, they have hit that oh so awkward stage-half furry, half feathery.

Getting to Know Penny

Lately I have found the act of simply watching Henny Penny (our 1 year old survivor chicken) and Cherry (our goat) relaxing. Watching them as they free range, watching them watch me. In doing so, they have become more of friends than animals on the homestead. Penny gets irritated and impatient when Cherry is allowed to graze and she is stuck in her fence. She paces, back and forth along the fence with that angry little clucking. "I can't believe she is leaving me in here...I just can't believe it." Of course, we can't have Penny upset, so when she is allowed out, she runs to Cherry and stays right by her side, probably whispering about me. It's a wonder my ears don't burn.

Penny has learned she is not allowed in the brooder coop, even though the curosity about kills her. While I am feeding the wee ones, I will see her hop on the top step and stick her neck in the door just to see what is up, but never any further.

Today, one of the dogs was barking toward the chicken coop, the back side or the tool shed as it were. I went in, hoe in hand, looking for a snake. There is no way I could find it in there with all the cords and wires and hoses and snakey-looking things. There was no movement. I went over to the coop side and the baby chickens were fine, Penny was fine and I had an egg. That was encouraging. I decided to check more often just in case.

As the evening was upon us, and the sun was setting, I decided to take one more look in the coops. Penny was in the chicken yard, a little odd for that time of the day. I opened the door to the brooder coop and Penny just hopped on in, nothing stopping her. What in the world? She had never done that before. She didn't even look at the babies as she went to a corner. The chicks were fine, nothing the matter. Maybe there was something in her coop...I shooed her out. She was a bit huffy about it. I grabbed the infamous shovel that I keep near the coop door. As I was walking toward Penny's coop, I noticed the door had shut. I am not sure how, must have been a wind. As soon as I opened the door, Penny bounded in and I heard her fly up on the roost and whisper 'finally.' Oops! She couldn't get in her own bed. No wonder she was cranky! My bad. I think I heard her snore before I even got out of the gate...

Another Snake in the Chicken House

Not entirely unexpected, a snake made a snack of a few chicks. It ate at least 5 and smashed 3. Nope, this one didn't make the cut. I guess I am the angry one on the block. Nobody was here to tell me that he should live. He got several shovel shots to his head. The first one pretty much missed and just made him angry. That was fun! That's okay, it still didn't match my anger! Probably got him with the next two blows, but for good measure added a couple of extra...made me feel better anyway. One for each baby in his stomach! We patched up the only place we think he possibly could have gotten in. I should have known since Penny's egg production has been poor recently. I bet I have an egg tomorrow! For safe measure, I did the whole mothball thing around perimeter. Oh how I hate poison, but for now, I need to take all precautions until my chickies are not such an easy target!

Chicks Finally Arrived

I was starting to get worried. I usually get the call from the postoffice around 7 a.m. the day the hatchery says they will start shipping for that week. They made it and look really good. They are loud, eating, drinking and of course pooping on the paper on top of the straw in the brooder. And, they are colorful--not boring at least I knew what kind they were. On of my friends who is what I would call an expert regarding chickens, mentioned it might take weeks to months before I figured out what kinds I have. I will chock it up to another lesson in patience. Of course, I have already made some highlighted question marks in my chicken hatchery magazine that shows what the chicks look like, as well as the adults. Slow learner. However, I have learned that these little critters are going to stay behind locked doors for a while. We have a good size brooder in a larger coop with screen access to air of course. So they will have plenty of room once they can hop over the brooder side into the coop until I feel comfortable letting them out. I am also hoping no snakes find their way into that side. But I will do everything in my power to protect this flock! Aren't they cute?

More Chickens!

Dern you, Murray McMurray Hatchery! Why do you tempt me with your sales in my inbox! Yes, I am weak when it comes to chickens. Especially since we have the brooder built. I have 25 heavy straight run coming September 13. I ordered those about three months ago to ensure I would have everything ready and cleaned up. And last week, there was a special. Duke's Mix they called it. A plethora of variety. You know, my mother chastised me for just ordering all one breed of white chickens last year; she called them "boring." So, now I have gone to the other extreme. Yes, I clicked order now! And they will be here in two weeks. Oh dear, what have I done. I will have 25 more three weeks after that. Guess, I better divide the brooder. At least I know the ones I ordered in the past will be useful for eating and eggs. I guess even if I get fancy ones I can still eat them and their eggs. I will just call them gourmet.

Chickens

As a youngster, we had chickens. I remember throwing kitchen scraps over the fence I could barely reach over. I used to gather the eggs and play daredevil with the basket, testing if the force of gravity would really hold all the eggs in the basket if I swung it all the way around and upside down. (By the way, it did. Thank goodness.) I remember my great-grandparents, Mamaw and Papaw coming over to help us butcher/dress the chickens. Mamaw would take the chicken by the neck give it swing-not unlike my egg basket swinging-and in seconds it was over. I also remember the smell of wet feathers-not one of my favorite smells.


So there is some experience with raising chickens for eggs and meat. I haven't been ALL that involved until this year, however. This year we ordered 50 White Rocks per my request. A new breed for mom and the most she has ever had at one time. I do tend to be overzealous on new things (something I need to work on). I chose the White Rock because of the decent size for meat and the apparent good laying all wrapped in one. Not the best of both, but good in both.

The 50 White Rock and the 1 "rare" chicks arrived from McMurray Hatchery to our post office. The post office called us at 6:34 a.m. and off we went to pick them up.



We had their coop all cleaned with fresh straw, newspaper (so their food wouldn't get lost in the straw until they learned to scratch) and chick starter food in the feeders and two chicken waterers. We had the heat lamp hung and ready go.

As soon as we got home, we woke the kids up, as they are not yet accustomed to "farm hours," and we all went out there for the dipping ceremony. We took them one by one and put their little beaks in the water until they got a taste of it. It really did not take long, even with 75% novices, to get all 51 done. We watched them for a while and then let them be, checking on them every once in a while throughout the day.

So far so good. We have only lost 1, probably due to heat. We did make the decision to buy the chickens a little later in the year than traditionally. Even though mom says the chicken yard will be "boring" because they are all white, less the little black "rare" bird, I think everyone is pleased so far.