1 more wall on the run and a roof and it's done!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
As you can tell from the pictures, the coop is coming along nicely. Good thing, since the girls move in in less than 2 weeks! I didn't know we were going to tile the coop and nest boxes until Bud came in to tell me he needed help. Ok, "help" turned into "guess what, you get to learn how to lay tile." It was the peel and stick kind and I didn't do a half bad job. Granted, there are some teensy gaps between some of the tiles but it's a coop! And my first time tiling! But now the coop will be easy to sweep out and mop if necessary.
The chicks are busy running amok. Four of the Orpies come running up to see me every time I go in the chick room. Most of the time I'm not wearing shoes (if the weather's warm, it's rare to see me in shoes at home) and they love pecking at my toes. Sometimes they'll stand on my feet too. FYI, chicken toes are rather warm. I went in to see them this morning before work and they started pecking at my dress pants! Ok, time for mama to go.
My mother in law's doxie, Bella, has fallen in love with the chicks. She comes over almost every day for a visit and she's really good with them. Sometimes one will wander over so she can sniff them and she just about dies from all the bliss. My dog, Hershey, is a bit spooked by them though. The first time she met them, one of them flapped her wings and Hershey freaked. Maybe it'll be better once they're in the coop. Bella will get to see them all the time!
The chicks are busy running amok. Four of the Orpies come running up to see me every time I go in the chick room. Most of the time I'm not wearing shoes (if the weather's warm, it's rare to see me in shoes at home) and they love pecking at my toes. Sometimes they'll stand on my feet too. FYI, chicken toes are rather warm. I went in to see them this morning before work and they started pecking at my dress pants! Ok, time for mama to go.
My mother in law's doxie, Bella, has fallen in love with the chicks. She comes over almost every day for a visit and she's really good with them. Sometimes one will wander over so she can sniff them and she just about dies from all the bliss. My dog, Hershey, is a bit spooked by them though. The first time she met them, one of them flapped her wings and Hershey freaked. Maybe it'll be better once they're in the coop. Bella will get to see them all the time!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
We had some excitement over the weekend - an emergency relocation. The kids were outgrowing the brooder and they can't go in the (still under construction) coop for another 3 weeks. So Logan and I put a tarp down in our old attached garage/my future bedroom and moved the gang in there. Plenty of room for everybody!
The girls went wild. Now they can run amok, flap to their hearts' content and not get shavings in the water! For the most part they stay on the tarp but they'll occasionally wander off it a little. Honestly, few things are funnier than two chickens chest bumping each other and flapping.
We started construction on the coop yesterday (happy Mothers Day to meeee...). Bud's having a good time with it, which is good since my construction skills are pretty much nonexistent. Pictures will be posted when it looks more coop-y. That reminds me, when I get home I have to find the ad for the solar powered doohickey that looks like a pair of glowing red eyes when anybody gets too close to the coop. I predict several neighborhood kids will be freaked out (mwahahaha...).
We're still not sure all of the Silkies are girls and we're starting to think Tweetie is older than the others. The rest of the Orpies are starting to look like what Tweetie looked like last week. Whatever. As long as she's a girl 'cause I'm not ready to deal with the whole meat chickens thing. We've thought about changing her name to Chickzilla because of her size but Tweetie stuck with us. I don't care if she's older than the others, she's still one of my babies. Hmm, maybe she'll be the first to lay...
The girls went wild. Now they can run amok, flap to their hearts' content and not get shavings in the water! For the most part they stay on the tarp but they'll occasionally wander off it a little. Honestly, few things are funnier than two chickens chest bumping each other and flapping.
We started construction on the coop yesterday (happy Mothers Day to meeee...). Bud's having a good time with it, which is good since my construction skills are pretty much nonexistent. Pictures will be posted when it looks more coop-y. That reminds me, when I get home I have to find the ad for the solar powered doohickey that looks like a pair of glowing red eyes when anybody gets too close to the coop. I predict several neighborhood kids will be freaked out (mwahahaha...).
We're still not sure all of the Silkies are girls and we're starting to think Tweetie is older than the others. The rest of the Orpies are starting to look like what Tweetie looked like last week. Whatever. As long as she's a girl 'cause I'm not ready to deal with the whole meat chickens thing. We've thought about changing her name to Chickzilla because of her size but Tweetie stuck with us. I don't care if she's older than the others, she's still one of my babies. Hmm, maybe she'll be the first to lay...
Friday, May 11, 2012
Girl look at my feathers...
I stretch out! When I walk in the brooder this is what I see, all of my humans staring at me...
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
(Mental note, post more than once a week)
Today marks the beginning of Week 2 of being a chicken mama and I think it's getting a little easier in many ways. I haven't spilled water all over the place trying to clean the water jug in about a week. However, I'm up to filling the feeder 3 times a day. I think it's time for a bigger one. I only had to change the bedding in the brooder twice that first week. Now it's pretty much every couple of days and my compost bin is loving it.
The kids are doing more than eating and pooping though, they're growing like crazy! Feathers are really starting to come in on the Orpies, so we're in what I call the "teenage phase". They still look a little like cute baby chicks, but you can start to see a little of the chickens they're going to become. Every time one of them stretches out a foot and the opposite wing, I tell her how pretty her wings are and what a big girl she is. The Silkies are still poofballs with what look like legwarmers made by Uggs.
We hit a dubious milestone yesterday - one of the Orpies got out of the brooder while we were gone. I got a frantic phone call at work from my oldest, Logan. "Mom, one of the babies got out!" Kids, if you're calling a parent at work with a chicken emergency, please clearly define the problem before Mama has a coronary. She got out of the brooder, not out of the breezeway and she wasn't being stalked by the cats. He got her back in the brooder and she's just fine. "Mom, what are we gonna do?" Umm, I guess we look carefully before we walk in the breezeway and we put a rush order on coop building!
For the longest time, I was worred that my little flock didn't like me. I tried to cuddle them, skritch them, love 'em up and nothing seemed to work. In fact, I was pretty sure Tweetie hated me. Ok, granted I was probably scaring them during Pasty Butt Patrol but it beats the alternative. I thought of it like when I brushed the kids' teeth when they were tiny - you'll hate me now but thank me later. But in the last few days, 3 of the Orpies have decided they adore me. One, who I think I'll name Honey, is a sweetie. She'll hop right onto my hand and snuggle in. If anybody else tries to get on my hand when Honey is there, she'll flap her wing at 'em. I think the secret was finding out where chickens like to be skritched. Unlike dogs and cats, they don't like skritches on top but boy, you hit under their wings or on their chests and they melt. Tweetie has decided she's Tyler's chicken, which is fine with me. I just want lovey babies, I don't care who they love best (although considering I'm the one who feeds, waters, cleans out bedding...).
Today marks the beginning of Week 2 of being a chicken mama and I think it's getting a little easier in many ways. I haven't spilled water all over the place trying to clean the water jug in about a week. However, I'm up to filling the feeder 3 times a day. I think it's time for a bigger one. I only had to change the bedding in the brooder twice that first week. Now it's pretty much every couple of days and my compost bin is loving it.
The kids are doing more than eating and pooping though, they're growing like crazy! Feathers are really starting to come in on the Orpies, so we're in what I call the "teenage phase". They still look a little like cute baby chicks, but you can start to see a little of the chickens they're going to become. Every time one of them stretches out a foot and the opposite wing, I tell her how pretty her wings are and what a big girl she is. The Silkies are still poofballs with what look like legwarmers made by Uggs.
We hit a dubious milestone yesterday - one of the Orpies got out of the brooder while we were gone. I got a frantic phone call at work from my oldest, Logan. "Mom, one of the babies got out!" Kids, if you're calling a parent at work with a chicken emergency, please clearly define the problem before Mama has a coronary. She got out of the brooder, not out of the breezeway and she wasn't being stalked by the cats. He got her back in the brooder and she's just fine. "Mom, what are we gonna do?" Umm, I guess we look carefully before we walk in the breezeway and we put a rush order on coop building!
For the longest time, I was worred that my little flock didn't like me. I tried to cuddle them, skritch them, love 'em up and nothing seemed to work. In fact, I was pretty sure Tweetie hated me. Ok, granted I was probably scaring them during Pasty Butt Patrol but it beats the alternative. I thought of it like when I brushed the kids' teeth when they were tiny - you'll hate me now but thank me later. But in the last few days, 3 of the Orpies have decided they adore me. One, who I think I'll name Honey, is a sweetie. She'll hop right onto my hand and snuggle in. If anybody else tries to get on my hand when Honey is there, she'll flap her wing at 'em. I think the secret was finding out where chickens like to be skritched. Unlike dogs and cats, they don't like skritches on top but boy, you hit under their wings or on their chests and they melt. Tweetie has decided she's Tyler's chicken, which is fine with me. I just want lovey babies, I don't care who they love best (although considering I'm the one who feeds, waters, cleans out bedding...).
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
It's a girl x 9!
I feel like one of those pregnant women who swear up and down that they'll chronicle every moment of their newborn's life, only to get smacked upside the head when Baby arrives and doesn't keep any sort of schedule.
My "babies" arrived on April 23 (6 buff Orpingtons) and April 25 (3 Silkies). As I was driving to Farm & Fleet to pick up the Orpies, my phone kept going off. I had posted something on Facebook that the big day had finally arrived and all my friends posted comments like "PICTURES!!!" So every time someone posted, my phone vibrated. That's not fun when you're fighting morning rush hour traffic.
Finally they handed me a box and the chicks I'd been waiting years to have were finally mine. I got them settled in the front seat of the car and began Facebooking pictures. I got them home, got them fed and watered and had to go to work (sniff). It would be three long hours before my oldest, Logan, got home from school to give me a progress report. Hooray, all 6 were running amok in the brooder! I got a bunch of adorable pictures when I got home and as soon as I figure out how to get them off my phone, I'll post 'em.
Only one of the Orps has a name right now, a big yellow one I named Tweetie. I'm really starting to wonder if Tweetie is really an Orp since she's so much bigger than the others, but the people at Farm & Fleet swore up and down that she's an Orp. Ok then.
I wasn't able to find a place where I could just order a couple of Silkies, so I went in on an order with a friend. Tyler, my youngest, drove out to Cathy's farm with me to pick them up and we only got lost once (for me, that's a record). Unfortunately, it was freezing cold that day so Cathy suggested that I crank up the heater in the car on the way home. Not a problem, except when the hot flash kicked in. So there I was, sweating my brains out in a overly toasty car. Luckily there weren't any cops on the highway because I was kinda speeding. We got the Silkies in with the Orps and there were a few tense moments when Tweetie showed them who's boss but by the next day my little flock was getting along just fine. Only one of the Silkies has a name right now, the black one which Tyler named Buttercup. I suppose it's better than his first choice, Sgt. Bilko. I don't want to know.
I'm feeling a little calmer about the entire experience. I don't feel the need to call my kids from work the minute they get home for a status report. We weathered a couple incidents of "pasty butt". In case you didn't know, that happens sometimes when poop covers a chick's vent (or "exit") and it blocks it up and the chick kind of explodes. Not cool. That's only something you need to worry about for a couple of weeks, which is good since 2 of the little buggers peed on me while I was trying to clean them up. So it's like being a mom, except I won't have to help Tweetie with algebra.
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