Shed Building Plans: chickens

Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts

I Love My Chickens but

I absolutely love my chickens! They are amusing to watch and greet me with total enthusiasm as long as I dont try to touch most of them. Some breeds are friendlier than others but hey, I am not complaining. They like to be invited to a picnic. We learned this while having a bbq party when my best friend and her little boys were here visiting. They love macaroni salad and um, chicken. I know its wrong but they were stealing it off of plates of very small children. Canibals. I actually felt guilty cooking whole chickens I raised for that purpose on the grill where my little ladies could see them until they ravaged the little people.

But then they did this to my whole entire porch and I dont feel nearly as bad. They now take their afternoon siesta on my porch with the cats. They had a little hawk scare last week when a hawk was on the porch trying to take a bird with her. I scared it away but the chicken gals now love the porch. They also like the dog house in the dog run. My dogs have never used it. They also love the area around the lawnmower in the wood shed. They sleep on the lawnmower, John Deer and chicken poop. Nice combo.

We just unblocked the nest boxes, filled them with straw and fake eggs. Now we wait. I sure hope they start to lay soon. They are almost 17 weeks so they should start soon. I check every day. So far they arent earning their keep but I am rooting for them.

On a florally note, I still have some things in bloom. My coneflower is still looking pretty good. These were purple magnus but they really arent that tall. Maybe next year.

And here is the only butterfly bush I did not kill this past winter. It is called a Honeycomb and it is really a pretty bush. I am very happy to have this one make it and hope it will be here next year too!

I Love My Chickens but

Chickens Grand Adventure The Search For Bugs and Worms

Last night we decided to let the chicks out of their run. We have always planned to allow them free range but they needed some size to live through it first. None of our animals are vicious but cats will be cats and bird dogs will be spanked. Just kidding!

Yes, you see shade cloth on the west wall of the chicken run. It also wraps around to the south for about six feet. It just got too hot for my little peeps so I created a sun block. Clever, huh? Here they are wondering why I left the door open for them.

In this photo you can see the ones in the back wondering what the hold up is. "Run for it, would ya?"

Here they are actually realizing there are bugs in that grass! Grasshoppers be gone! Gone I say~

And of course the goats have to come check things out! They didnt stay long as they really werent sure what the heck the chickens were. Ollie could not have cared less, he used to live in a coop with the chickens in his last home. I think he was staying away so we didnt put him back in. Maybe he likes other goats more now.

And of course, Monica is still the only photogenic bird we have. She poses for pictures and then jumps in your lap. She isnt shy. Love her!

So all in all, I think they girls (and two boys) had a wonderful time on their first adventure. Shooing them back in wasnt too difficult but it helped to have two of us. We were even rewarded with the sound of a rooster crowing this morning. Anyone want a rooster? Free to good home!

Chickens Grand Adventure The Search For Bugs and Worms

Chickens as Pals

Heres my girl, Monica. My favorite chicken. I sure hope this one is a girl because I am keeping her either way. She is the sweetest and most trusting of all the chicks so far. I am naming them in the order they become my pals. Oh yeah, and I have to be able to pick them out. This one has white lines on both of her eyes, kind of like eyeliner. She also comes running when I come out to play with them. Rachel is the second one to become friendly and she just has white cheeks. So far these ones have been easy. All of the nice chicks are barred rocks and I am not sure why that is. I am happy to get what they are willing to give me though. Ross is the third friendly one and he has a twin. So we have Ross-a and Ross-b. They both are equally happy to be held so I am never sure which one I have. All the other chickens are wild for the time being.

And here are some of the standoffish chicks up on the roost like big kids. Too funny. They dont sleep up here yet but they will before we know it. They are 4 weeks old now and a kick to watch. I do a lot of just sitting and watching their antics. These critters are also a great way to get rid of extra lettuce which in truth is probably why several like me now. I am not too proud to bribe my friends but dont tell them that.

Chickens as Pals

Run on Chickens

When we planned to order chickens for eggs, I never in a million years would have imagined that they would be hard to come by. I called and was online all morning with different reputable hatcheries from around the country. There has been a huge run on chicks. I was looking at ship dates in late May and early June. Maybe. No one could guarantee that I would even get them then. Some places had some but not all of what I would like to order and other places had next to nothing. I guess America is starting to see that knowing your food and its source is of vital importance.

So here is the lineup of what I ordered from Randall Burkey this morning. This first picture is of a Barred Plymouth Rock. Docile, good layer and cold hardy.

This one is a Black Australorp. Also prized for its friendly nature, good large eggs and cold hardiness. I find that I am attracted to speckled chickens and tried to order a couple kinds of solid colored birds to make them an attractive mix.

This one is called a Buff Orphington. A pretty and large bird that is friendly and curious. Great for egg production and can still lay in good conditions during the winters of Idaho.

This beauty is called a Gold Laced Wyandotte and they are truly pretty birds. My husband was still skeptical about the probability of a pretty chicken until I took him back to the egg ladys house and he got to see one first hand. My friend, Brenda, has truly been my inspiration for having my own backyard flock.

This one is a Silver Laced Wyandotte and is a relative of the golden one above. Both are friendly and mild mannered coupled with great egg production. I love the pattern in their feathers. Each feather looks like its own lace piece. Very pretty!

And last but not least, I ordered this interesting one. It is a Speckled Sussex. Good in all of the categories that mattered to me. I like the unique feathers and coloration of the whole bird.

These images are all borrowed from Google Images as I dont even know for sure yet when my chicks will ship. We are going to begin building our chicken house in the next week, I hope. I ordered a total of 30 birds which is about double what I needed. I figure there will be a learning curve even though I researched all winter. The hatchery I ordered from had a 25 bird minimum and I just have a gut feeling they will conveniently be out of at least one they promised me at shipping time. Most places have a 25 bird minimum as they are packaged to keep each other warm. I also paid extra to have them sexed so I have as few roosters as possible. We have quite a bit of family close by that will benefit from my over zealous ordering habits. I will keep you updated on our progress. I cant wait to start being a chicken keeper!

Run on Chickens