Red

On Sunday we heard a strange noise. My husband ran into the house saying, "what was that?" I said, "I think it might be Red..." Sure enough, we looked under the porch to see the source of the noise. The unmistakable "cock a doodle doo". A rooster crow.

Yes, we have a rooster on our hands. We have suspected for a while, but have been in denial up until more recently. Sunday's crow left no doubt in our minds. She is a He. City ordinances ban roosters where we live. So that means we have to find Red a new home. We will hopefully find someone who wants to have him as a pet; otherwise, we will have to eat him.

We had purchased Red thinking he was a she, but sexing of chickens is only about 90% accurate, and it is very common to get a rooster thrown in the mix. We pretty much knew for sure he was a rooster about a week ago. But we figured - no crowing, no harm. Until Sunday afternoon. And Monday morning. At 5:30 am. Six times in a row. :(

It is a very cute crow - unmistakably a baby crow. Soft and tentative and strange sounding. But definitely a crow. And it was funny - once he learned it he kept doing it several times in a row - like a baby finding it's voice.

We have a potential home for him, several hours away. Red is a rare breed called a Buckeye, and the breed is in danger of going extinct. His potential home is with a flock of Buckeye hens who the owners want to breed him with to perpetuate the breed. I couldn't think of a better home for him! He will have 10 acres and a harem of ladies to breed with. We will find out soon whether or not this will pan out.

We will miss Red. He is very friendly and curious and has much personality. He is also very beautiful with dark auburn feathers that glisten in the sun. It will also be sad to take him away from the rest of his flock, because they are a very tight knit family!

Here the six of them are snuggling in the yard.

Growing girls

Last weekend we went out of town for 4 days. This was the first time our chickens had been left unattended for any length of time. They did fabulous. They were quite self-sufficient, needing no-one to change their food or water the entire time (we did have a neighbor stop by to check). In the midst of that time, our littlest one began to grow! We returned home after our long weekend to find little Susie Q-ty Sussex covered in feathers and much larger than we left her! This was cause for celebration as we were beginning to wonder about her health. She is still quite a bit smaller than the rest, but hopefully she'll catch up eventually. We'll see.

The Finished Coop

Ned putting shingles on

I am pretending to help

The finished coop

The hens have their finished coop. It consists of 3 main sections. First, there is the henhouse, the interior section, which is where they sleep at night, and will be where they lay their eggs. The second section is the main area where they can roam around during the day. The third section is referred to as chicken Guantanamo bay. It is the open area directly under the henhouse. This section is walled with hardware cloth, which is impossible for any predators to get through. If we go out of town, we can can close off the main section (which has larger holed chicken wire) and leave the trap door to chicken Guantanamo bay from the henhouse open. That way the can still get outside and rummage around a bit, but will be safe from predators. Most of the time, all 3 sections are open to them. And if we are home, we let them out entirely to have free range of the yard. This is also a mobile coop, so that every few weeks we can move it to a new section of lawn. This keeps our lawn in good shape and always gives the ladies fresh grass/weeds to munch on.

Chicken Keep Away

Buffy finds a cherry

Even though our chickens have their fancy coop, whenever we are home we like to give them free range of the entire yard. Watching them run and chase each other around is always ripe ground for many laughs. One of my favorite things is watching them play keep away. This usually happens when one of them finds something intriguing to eat (a worm, a cherry, etc.). Instead of eating it quietly and inconspicuously, she will instead proudly pick it up, and begin to run. The others, noticing the obvious distraction, and wanting a piece of their own, will begin running frantically after. This begins a chase which can easily span the entirety of the yard multiple times. It is usually several minutes before any of them get a bite of the magic morsel, because they are all just chasing each other around. Usually the object will get stolen and passed around a few times; and eventually they all will get a bite. Chickens are very cheap entertainment!

Chicken Coop Deluxe

Ned is used to building multi-million dollar houses and just can't seem to bring himself to do something simple. So he designed a state of the art chicken coop that even the most distinguished of chickens would be proud to live in. Heck, I even think it looks pretty comfy. We still have not finished up the last details, but it's mostly finished. Here are some pictures in process:

Here I am opening the chicken coop with the built in posts to hold the door up. You can see the nesting boxes on the back wall.

Buffy and Fluffy are peeking out of the removable door we have at the nesting boxes for easy egg removal.
We have the heat lamp in there now for the little ones who are not feathered out yet.

More pictures to come when it's complete.

A Little Scary

The park at the City where I work has chickens which roam free throughout the trails. (And no, it is not in the country. It is less than 20 miles from downtown Seattle). This was met with much surprise and delight when I made the discovery a few years ago. You cannot always see the chickens, but every once in a while you will be walking along the path and see a couple of chickens or roosters walking around! One time a couple years ago we even saw baby chicks roaming about! Lately I have been running into two hens on my daily walk. The funniest thing about this is that I can tell you exactly what breed of chickens they are! Maybe I am a little too obsessed... :)

Wee One

Well our youngest chicks are 3 weeks and one day old today. Although we are slightly concerned about our littlest one. She was the same size as her birthday counterpart days after birth, but while the other one has been growing rapidly and feathering out, this little one is pretty much the same size. In fact, the other chick born on the same day is now nearly 3x the littlest one's size! She does not seem sickly at all - in fact, she has the most spunk out of all of them! She is a fearless little girl and will keep up with anything the big girls do. We are not sure what the problem is...

So today we made a call into the feed store. They said that it sounds like she has stunted growth, and that there are two possibilities: #1- she will one day soon grow all of a sudden and catch up, or #2 - she will be a dwarf. We are hoping for possibility #1. I did a quick google search on the web, and didn't find much in the way of helpful or hopeful information. I will just have to wait and see what happens.

Two Weeks Ago...

These little ones were born two weeks ago today:

And this one is older than 2 weeks, but we got her 2 weeks ago today:

They are growing so fast!

Empty Nesting

Me peeking inside the coop. It is further along than this picture now.

We moved all our little girls outside into the nearly finished coop today. It is exceptionally quiet in the house without their faint little chirping in the background. Don't get me wrong - they were never overly noisy. But you could usually hear some chirps or shuffling around. I miss that noise. Also, now to go visit them, I no longer can just peek in the box. I have to put on layers and shoes to go visit my friends. But they do seem to be enjoying their new home, and have MUCH more room than their cardboard box!

We unfortunately lost another chick. Goldie Locks, our Gold Laced Wynandotte, did not make it. Although it was sad, it was less traumatic than Queen Elizabeth's passing, as Goldie Locks died of natural causes. We're not sure exactly what happened, but she was looking weak one morning, and when we came home from work she had died. We buried her next to Queen Elizabeth in the field next door.

We went to the feed store today and they gave us another one for free. They mentioned that they think her batch might have been weaker because of their shipping. Baby chicks are generally shipped from large hatcheries. Egg yolks contain enough sustenance to last a chick for the first 24 hours after hatching, without any additional food or water. Because of this, they are able to be shipped fairly easily when they are first born. Their temperature is moderated because the boxes are shipped with the chicks squished tightly together. (Some people regard this as cruel, but when you think about it, in the wild the chicks would be squished together underneath their mother. Even in our own box, they squish themselves together as tight as possible in the corner.) Usually, this process works well, but in some cases, if the shipment is delayed, the chicks suffer. The shipment that Goldie was in came later than it was supposed to, and as a result, that batch of chicks has been weaker, and has had more losses than usual.

I have been very nervous about this new little one, checking on her often during the day. Worried if she is warm enough, worried about whether the others will attack her (chickens aren't known for their hospitality to new comers). But so far so good. A moment ago I checked on her and she was nestled in with the rest of them. You can see how much the three older ones have grown!

In other news the coop is in process, and will hopefully be finished by tomorrow. Pictures to come soon. We will put the three bigger ones out right away, and when the younger ones are old enough, they will join them. Meanwhile, they'll stay inside in their box a little longer.

The Newest Additions

This is our new Speckled Sussex. We don't have a name for her yet. She has pretty markings around her eyes, almost as if she is wearing makeup. She is the same breed as Queen Elizabeth was.

This is Goldie Locks, our Gold-laced Wynandotte.

Although their faces are different, both of them have chipmunk looking stripings down their backs. You can also tell them apart because the Speckled Sussex's striping is more red, while Goldie Locks' striping is golden. This picture is of Goldie Locks.


Both of these little ones were born on Wednesday, so they are only 3 days old! This is Goldie Locks next to an egg; you can see she is not much bigger!

And here is a picture of me holding all three of the little chicks we got this week. They all fit snugly into one palm, and were sleeping contentedly when this picture was taken :)

And Then There Were Six

Yes, that's right, we now have six chickens. We are officially maxed out according to our City ordinance regarding chickens. Thank-you, City of Everett, for imposing a limit of six, otherwise we might end up with 80! This morning we awoke to our newest little addition huddling under the heat lamp by herself while the other three were nestled together in the corner. It was such a sad sight to see, and when they all got up, the three big ones started pecking at her. We decided that it would not work to have one little one in with all the big ones. Additionally, we were bummed about not having a Speckled Sussex anymore, because they are just an all-around great breed. So, we decided to go to the feed store one last time and pick up a Speckled Sussex. Somehow we also left with a Gold-laced Wynandotte. I know, I know, it is getting a little bit ridiculous. But oh my goodness, they are cute! The kicker is that we came home to find yesterday's little one all snuggled in with the three big ones - she finally found her place, making our purchase of the new ones unjustifiable for our previous reasons. So we had to come up with new reasons, which are: they are cute, we're stuck with them now, and we will now have up to 3 dozen eggs a week once they mature! I already have interested buyers. :) I will post pictures tomorrow as our camera battery died.

Well it was a rough day without Queen Elizabeth. Last night I kept having dreams of rescuing baby chicks in peril. Needless to say it was not a very restful night. My husband wanted to try to get a new chicken today. I was not so sure... for one, it seemed too soon after losing Queen Elizabeth. Also, the chicks in stock were freshly hatched and I was concerned about the safety of a little one with our much larger flock. But, alas, we went to the feed store, and left with another little chick. She hatched on Monday - 4 days old today. She is a Sicilian Buttercup and is amazingly tiny! I am not sure, however, if we will keep her. The girl at the feed store convinced us that they were good egg layers, but upon doing more research at home, I found out she is an ornamental breed, with pretty minimal egg laying potential. So far the others are not too fond of her. I think they miss their Queen! I, however, think she is adorable.

We did find out today that chickens should always be in pairs, as it keeps them from fighting. This makes sense given their behavior last night and this morning without Queen Elizabeth. This new chick has helped to bring unity, but it's more like the three of them band together now and ignore this one :( We'll see how it all plays out.

Tragedy Strikes

Today we had a tragedy with the chickens. Queen Elizabeth, who was the oldest of the chickens, managed to fly out of her home today while we were at work. She unfortunately did not survive her escapade outside of her box. It was a horrific discovery, and was met with much sadness. Queen Elizabeth was the friendliest chicken and a favorite for both us, and the other chicks. They are not quite the same without her there to mother them. They seem to be fighting a lot this evening. Queen Elizabeth always kept the peace. I never realized I could be so upset over a chicken... I mean, I ate chicken for lunch. But I am extremely sad about losing Queen Elizabeth. Of all the chicks, she seemed the most like a member of our family. I will miss her very much. This is my favorite picture of her.

R.I.P. Queen Elizabeth.

Meet the Ladies

This is Buffy. She is a Buff Orpington breed. She will be golden colored and lay brown eggs. Her breed is known for being especially mild mannered and friendly.

This is Queen Elizabeth. She is a Speckled Sussex. She is 2 weeks older than the rest of the chicks. She has been like a mother hen to them, snuggling them under her feathers. I have been told she looks like a hawk - she does - but she is most definitely a chicken!

We haven't really named this one yet. She sometimes goes by "Red", sometimes by "Bucky". She is a Buckeye and is a Rhode Island Red mix. She is the runt of the litter but makes up for it with her feist.

This is Fluffy. She gets her name because, well, she is so fluffy! I don't have a good front angle picture, but she has cheeks that poof out right around her ears. She is an Aracauna and will lay blue or green eggs!

Why?

When I told my parents about my chicken adventures, my announcement was met with uproarious laughter. And of course, they asked a question which you yourself might be wondering: WHY? Why have chickens? That's a fair question. After all, my first reply, "for their delicious eggs"! Is quickly countered with, "but you can buy eggs for $2!"

So I think my main reason is probably the same as for why people have vegetable gardens: there's just something immensely satisfying about producing your own food. We have a strawberry patch and several raspberry bushes in our yard, which were already planted when we moved in. That first summer, after barely any work on our part, we collected enormous baskets full of goodies from these plants. What I didn't immediately eat, I shared with friends, made into jam, froze to eat over the winter, and used for baking goodies. The entire process was much more satisfying (and better tasting) than anything from the grocery store, even though it required more work. It's the same idea with the chickens.

Plus, baby chicks are just darned cute!

The Setup

It is fairly inexpensive and easy to get set up for baby chicks. Items we needed:

Box

Plastic

Pine Shavings

Feed Tray

Waterer

Lightbulb

We got the cardboard box and plastic from the dumpster behind a grocery store. The feed tray and water dispenser we got from the feed store (total about $10), along with the pine shavings (you can get a huge bag for less than $10 - will last for months). We splurged and got an infrared heat lamp ($8), but a 100 watt light bulb will also do the trick. It probably took about 10 minutes to set the whole thing up. Pretty simple!

The Adventure Begins

When I was in middle school, we had to take an aptitude test naming what fields we were most closely wired towards. My highest scoring category involved occupations such as forest ranger, farmer, etc. My family took immediate and lasting pleasure in teasing me about being "farmer girl". All their teasing never turned into fruition until this week, when I became the proud owner of 4 baby chicks!

My first memory involving chickens is when I was very young. I visited my mother's friend's farm, and she had some chickens. There is a picture of little me holding a chicken, and I LOVED it. While always a fond memory, I never thought much about chickens until I moved to Washington. Every spring at our local library there were seminars on raising backyard chickens. I never made it to one of these seminars, but the posters always piqued my interest and I thought it would be very cool to have a few chickens.

The past two years I have visited my sister-in-law in New Hampshire, who is also a chicken owner. On last year's visit, I helped feed them and gather their eggs, loving every second of it. This past visit, she picked up 1 day old baby chicks, which I was immediately enamored with! She educated me on different breeds (more than you would imagine), the care involved, and egg production. She also tried to send a couple home with my husband, but no poultry were allowed on the plane.

So, two days ago, we went to the feed store and picked up these adorable little ladies. The chicken adventure begins!