week 5 It's almost Coop Time!

Well this is the thing, I think Boss Barbie aka Ms W aka Butch is just a huge chicken! She's not as pretty as the other chickens, in fact, he (sorry, she) looks a little raggedy. Ms W still has some down left over. And it just looks a little weird. Who knows? She may end up to be the most beautiful chicken ever! We will see.

The coop will be delivered tomorrow. The chicks should be able to be moved to coop in the next couple weeks. I'll have to pick 2 chicks to adopt out; and Greer will have to take his two. I will be down to 8 birds....that is until the silkies get here in July.

henny penny

Week 4

Bess, Preening

Henny Penny, striking a pose

Bess

Ready To Fly to the Coop!

The coop is almost finished and not a minute too soon. I watched as a few of the ladies were flying high, a little too high and almost out of the pen. And the coop is BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait to post a picture!
I also realized that I will have to adopt out a few more of the girls. I really can only keep 6-8 chickens. And I have the silkies coming in July....what to do, what to do! I know I will keep Bess and one of speckled sessex....who I haven't named yet. They are the sweetest and really gentle. I'm having some doubts about Boss Barbie aka Ms W aka Butch. She/he is such a bully. Today Boss stuck such a Roo pose...making herself as tall as possible against Fat Head. And Fat Head matched her! So, now I'm wondering, do I have two roos? And I love the Buff Orpingtons! They are so fluffy and soft! Like little chicken pillows! I know I will want some blue/green eggs, so I'll to keep at least one of the amercaunas.

Week 4/ 29days old

Hi, my name is Gina and I am a chicken addict....

Chicks outside on Easter. 

I love these chicks! And I really mean that I LOVE these chicks! It's unexplainable. I don't even understand it. I can sit and watch them for hours. All I can say is they are really something. And this little Bess, is just so sweet. My husband, guessing what is on my mind, says, 'they are not coming in the house!' Well, I don't have any plans on being Bess in our home, but who knows! And anyway, he'll be fishing anyway...so...they do make chicken diapers....

                                                                                  Bess

                                                             Introducing Miss Henny Penny!

                                                                       Miss  Cinnamon


Hopefully I will get better pics of Cinnamon...OH, I'm pretty darn sure Boss Barbie is a Boss Butch...I we will see!

Week 3    Getting to know you, getting to all about you...

Going to try and take a really good pic of each of the girls today. After a somewhat challenging day, it's really nice to come home, sit and watch some chicken tv! I really want to get to know each chicken's personality. To be continued.....

And here's......

                                                                        Ms. Fat Head


Ms. Fat Head is my all time (at least so far) favorite chick. She is always right there first in line when I'm offering food from my hand. Oh and she is an Amercauna. Fat Head is really curious. We think she could be a he. She/He looks so different from the other Amercaunas.

                                                               Ms Boss Barbie aka Ms W.

Ms Bossy is my favorite....I know, I know, just don't tell Fat Head! She is always pushing her weight around. And is bigger than the other chicks. From the get go she's been picking fights with all the other chicks. Ms W is a Brahma. She will fly across the pen just to get at another chick. Also, very interested in eating from my hand. Not very shy. We also think she could be a he.

                                                                            Ms Anise

Ms Anise is a Silver Laced Wyandotte. She is not as brave as Ms W or Fat Head, but is still curious....seems to be very sweet.

                                                                      Ms. Cocoa Puff
Another Amercauna. She is a real beauty. Very sweet and really interested in pecking at my sneakers!

                                                                        Ms Blondie

Blondie is a Buff Orpington. I've read that the Orpingtons are the Golden Retrievers of chickens. I really can't wait until all her feathers have filled out. A little shy, but still right there next to the other chicks when I offer some hand fed food.



Well, that's half of my flock. I won't name Greer's two chicks. He will want to their naming. My husband asked me how many chickens I've planned to keep, especially since I will be getting 5 silkies in July. I really don't know. I think I'll just wait until that point. Of course the silkies will be in a brooder for at least the first 6 weeks, if not longer. So I have some time. Of course, I really will only keep, maybe, eight. Maybe I will keep the friendliest. I don't know how I will choose. Maybe I'll keep the biggest personalities. Who knows! But I'll worry about that at another time.

                                                                     Cinnamon
This picture doesn't really do her justice, because Cinnamon is a real beauty. She really is the color of cinnamon. She's a Americuana. And actually, I've decided to keep her instead of Cocoa. Should I assign the name Cocoa to another chick? Thinking I will give it to one of the sussexs.


Haven't gotten a picture of Bess yet. She may be my favorite. She's a brahma; but beautiful! And not at all like her sister Barbie. She was so sweet today. I picked her up  and never made as much as a peep. She was happy to sit on my lap. Maybe that's how I'll decide which ones to keep. I want to have friendly, happy chicks. Chicks that JW and Hanna will be able to carry around under their arms. If Happy Cows come from California, then Happy Chicks come from Southern Indiana!

Love a dozen!

Week 2

I knew this time was coming. The day when I would have to give up some chicks. From the get go, I was only planning on having 6 to 8 birds. But after they came home, I wanted to block that thought out. How could I give up any of them? I mean I wiped or checked each of their butts! And when they were really little, it was easy to think, 'Sure I'll keep 12, 15, maybe all of them.' But now they have doubled in size. I knew some would have to go. 

I started the difficult task of deciding who stays and who goes. I knew I wanted to keep 2 of each kind, plus my brother in law will take 2 of the americonas. Other than that, it was just by looking. I know, how shallow. It always comes down to looks! I gave three to a friend of my husband's and 10 went home with my daughter Lilly. Hopefully they all will have good homes, safe from hawk's, owls, and other meanies. 

After the thirteen chicks are gone, I start handling the chicks more. I have read that to ensure they are friendly, you have to hold them often. So now I spend a lot of time talking to, hand feeding and this is big, taking outside for field trips. Taking them outside is a total blast and they LOVE it! It really is fun watching 'Chicken TV!' Seeing them eating bugs, scratching the ground to make a dirt bath, and stealing stuff from each other's mouths, is sooo interesting! And they are figuring out who is number one..which no surprise is still Boss Barbie aka Ms. W. Also, Sandy our Lab, and Gary one of our cats, think they are a blast too! Or lunch. Introducing them to the chicks has given me a few gray hairs, but it seems to be going okay. Gary almost made contact, but I caught him in the nick of time. Pretty sure once they are bigger than pigeons, Gary won't be interested. And Sandy, she's a big chicken (sorry!). Let them give her a good peck, but no more worries.

Coming Tomorrow:

Pictures of chicks with their names.

P.S.

As soon as I gave away the thirteen, I ordered 5 silkies.....I know, I know. They will be here in mid July.

Sleepless Nights and Pasty Butts!

                     

                                                     
Week1        

Well, the first week was kind of a blur. Even though we had the warmest weather that I can remember in March (80's), I would wake up worrying that my girls were cold. It was just a flurry of fluffy puffs! I had ordered Buff Orpingtons, Brahmas, Sussexs, Silver laced Wyandottes, and Ameraconas....5 of each. So, I spent a lot of time just watching them, trying to decide which were which.

I also bought every magazine and book on chickens. One of the things all the reading told me to look out for was something called 'Pasty Butt'. Chickens do everything out of one hole. And sometimes their little butts get clogged up with poop. You have to clear the area with some warm water and gentle wiping. We only had 3 cases. And it only happened once. I think we were pretty lucky considering having 25 chicks.

Also interesting, there were days that they seemed to double in size over the course of one day! It truly is amazing. This is a picture of 'Boss Barbie' aka 'Ms. W'. She has the biggest tude in the whole flock. And actually, she may be a he. Not sure, but she looks different that the other Brahma, larger and stands taller. She's always picking a fight with the other chicks! She's also the first to really get a name! I've had lots of folks, especially one Facebook friend over a ton of name ideas. But it's almost impossible for me to tell the chicks apart enough to really name them yet. That will happen in week 3.

Chicks! Chicks! Chicks!

Hi There!
Just wanted to start a little blog about my new life with chicks! They've been a part of our family for almost 3 weeks now. And just like all the books and magazines say, it's taken just 3 weeks for me to become addicted. I am proud to say that I am a CRAZY chicken lady. I LUV them. I wanted to get this started earlier, but life happens. So, I'm gonna back track a bit. Hope you enjoy the posts; if not, I hope you enjoy the pics of my growing flock! And I will share pics just as soon as I figure out how to put them on the blog!

Day one:
Got the phone call, 'Chicks here on the 4:30 truck' Hooray! I am so excited! On my way to the Post Office, I was worried. Should I have driven my husband's truck...I mean, how big will the box be? Maybe the Jetta is too small to carry 25 balls of fluff?
Of course, those of you who have ordered chicks in the mail know (I didn't) the box they come in is really small...I mean...smaller than a shoe box small. They have to keep each other warm. Snug like a bug. So I put them on the floor of the Jetta and home we went.
I wanted to cuddle and say 'Hello' to each and every one...but what did my husband do? He opened the box, and gently toppled them in to the brooder.

We didn't have to show them the water or even point their little beaks in the food; they seemed to know exactly what to do! And then like any newborn, they laid down and slept.