Dead Chicken

Woke up, let the chickens out of the coop but one didn't leave. She was one of the americauna chicks. Older now, about the size of a bantam chicken. This, of course, is sad, but also concerning. The chicken looked wet and slimy from the top of her head down to the bottom of her neck. Yes, it looks like a snake tried to eat her but she was just too big.

I've fortified the base of the coop and I'm going to put up additional screening. I hope that helps. Poor thing. When chickens are asleep, they are "sitting ducks". It's kind of like being under anesthesia.

Teddy took a trip today

Wow, I am truly in awe of my bantam rooster, Teddy. He survived quite an ordeal today.

It all started when Scott, Evan and I left out to run errands today. We took the truck (F-350) b/c we needed to pick up some feed and supplies among other things.

First, we drove to the mailbox, about a little over 1/2 a mile down a dirt road, stopped and got the mail. Then we drove approx. 15 miles to the electric co. to get some account info. changed. Then we drove to Austin, on the highway, doing between 70 and 80 mph. We stopped at the OC Condos to drop off some stuff, then we went to the dry cleaners to pick up some of Scott's cleaning.

It was at the dry cleaners that Scott tapped on my passenger window and said, "Is this ours?" He was pointing toward the back of the truck and I had no idea what he was talking about.

I got out of the truck, looked by the back wheel and saw my beloved Teddy clucking under the truck. I was dumbfounded.

We tried to catch him but he kept running under cars in the parking lot. Eventually, we managed to manuever him across the strip mall property, across over to the OC Condos we had left and locked him in one of the backyards. Then we spent a good bit of time chasing and lunging at him in the backyard.

Scott finally grabbed his little leg and I got a good grip on him. He was very sedate in my lap on the way home. I told Scott I hoped that Teddy wouldn't poop on me on the way home and Scott responded that he thought Teddy probably already had the "poop scared out of him" from his ordeal. I think he was right because he didn't poop on me for the whole 30 mile ride home.

Poor Chicken!

I am so thankful that Scott was able to catch him and that it was a happy ending. I honestly don't know how he made it. There were so many times that he could have jumped out or fallen to his death. It was incredibly windy today, too, which is probably why he was there in the first place--to take shelter from the wind.

Anyway, I think he has a strong will to live and I'm glad:-)

This is an old photo of Teddy and me. He's a sweetie.

Out of the mouths of babes...

OK, so this morning I am putting Evan in the car and as I am buckling him, he snorts from a stuffy nose. I sweetly say, "Oh, poor baby, you've got boogies?" Boogies are what he calls snot and boogers.

He replies, "Yes, momma, I got boogies." Nothing out of the ordinary about that, BUT, then he follows with "I don't eat boogies, I drink boogies".

Um......hmmm......OK. I guess the good news is that it sounds like he knows he shouldn't eat them. After that, I'm at a loss.

Moving on. We have some more chicks. Evan loves them. He is so gentle with them, thank goodness.

Chicken Growth

Well, my newer chickens are growing up. I think the last time I reported on "Coop News" I had purchased some americauna chicks. They are almost full-grown now and they dwarf my bantams. Scott says they look a bit "hawkish" and more like predatory birds rather than chickens. I cannot wait until they start laying b/c they are supposed to lay blue eggs. These are 2 of the 4 americaunas.
This is what they looked like as babies:







I gave away the other set of chicks and all of my roosters except for Teddy, my black cochin. He's such a sweetheart. He never gets aggressive and is pretty quiet for a rooster.



I really didn't need any more chickens, BUT, back in May I was buying some feed and I saw the cutest little bantam chicks. There were only seven left and I knew I shouldn't come home with 7 chicks, so I asked for 4. HOWEVER, they were looking to get rid of the last of them, so I got all 7 for the price of 4. Lucky me!



Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of them when I first got them and I lost one, so now I have 6, and they are cute! As they get more mature, it looks like I've got some white cochin bantams, and some mixed bantams, one in particular is looking more like a porcelain bantam. I don't think any of them are purebred, though.






Everybody gets along great. Ever since I got rid of the other roosters, it has been very peaceful.

Chick update

My chicks seem to be doing well. They are feathering out and getting bigger.

This is what the chicks look like at approximately 2 1/2 weeks old. You can see their feathers sprouting out. They are kinda gangly-looking at this age. It's sort of an "in-between stages" look but they'll turn pretty over the next few weeks.


I've also added 4 ameraucana chicks to the group. They look very different from the others. I've never had ameraucaunas but I am very excited. They lay BLUE eggs. So far, my chickens have just laid the regular brown and beige, so I can't wait to see some blue ones in the mix!

Here's what they look like as chicks. Very different from my

other chicks.

Chicken Names

Jeni asked what I call my young chickens. Well, I feel like the black and gold rooster is Cleveland and the burgundy rooster looks like Fillmore. My 2 black hens are Claudia and Ladybird and my lacy brown hen is Nancy.

I'm keeping up my Presidents & First Ladies theme for their monikers.

Chicken Update

Well, I gave away a few more roosters. They are the first 3 photos here. The last 2 photos are the chickens that remain. I also got rid of Chester a while back b/c he was so aggressive toward people. These last 3 roosters I gave away were way too aggressive with one of my hens, Eleanor. Poor girl! The chicks are almost completely grown up and are very cute, I think. They have interesting color variations.

Halloween

I decided that Evan's costume would be tied in with our home life this year, so I got him a chicken outfit for Halloween. I had hoped to get all of the chickens around him to make the photograph look like he was just another chick in the coop. Unfortunately, neither chickens, nor Evan pose for pictures when asked, so I was lucky to get what I got.

Also, I don't know if I mentioned this earlier but Eleanor has gotten into the habit of jumping on me when I'm outside. She usually jumps onto my head and then I gently push her down to my arm. I guess it's fun for her b/c she seems to enjoy spending time riding on my head and/or arm. She's sweet. Anyway, Scott took a picture of her once and when I was photographing Evan, I got another pic of her hanging out on ME. She's a hoot.

I'm planning on taking Evan into town for Halloween to what it's all about. I hope it goes well...

The Chicks Are Growing Up

Wow, my little chicks look so different now. They are feathered out and look sort of like miniature copies of adult chickens. They are very cute. They have claimed the hummingbird garden as their turf. The older chickens don't normally hang out there so I guess they decided to take up residence there. They are kind of making a mess of it, though. They love to scratch and kick a lot of the mulch out of the garden and onto the walkways. I feel like I'm constantly sweeping it back in the garden. That's OK, though, b/c it seems to keep them entertained.

Evan is still addicted to the water hose. Anytime he sees it on, he runs for it. He ends up soaking wet but very happy.

Lucy past away

Something Killed Lucy Today.

She had a big gash in her side and there were two places under my "Hummingbird" Oak Tree that were scattered with white feathers.

I was out running errands and having lunch with my sister midday, which is when it happened.

She was a very good and very sweet chicken.

I'll miss her.

the chicks are starting to feather out

The chicks are five days old and they are starting to feather out. They are incredibly cute!

The Chicks Have Hatched!

The chicks are here!

They hatched yesterday. They are adorable. Right now we have seven chicks. When I checked on Eleanor yesterday, there were 2 dead chicks and 2 eggs that didn't hatch. The strange thing is that Eleanor was sitting on approximately 18 eggs in the beginning. We ended up with 11: 7 live, 2 dead and 2 unhatched. What happened to the other 7 eggs? I really don't know. I wonder if a snake or something got to them?

Eleanor & Lucy are laying eggs!

Eleanor is getting broody. She's sitting on her nest right now. Last week she laid 4 eggs but left them. I think since it was her first time she wasn't interested in hatching them, but now she and Lucy have laid a bunch and she's sitting on them, all by herself, taking care of the eggs. The other chickens are out in the yard but she's staying in the coop. I think it is very sweet. I ate the first 4 eggs. They were yummy! But I think I might see if she can hatch these little guys. I like the idea of little yellow chicks running around.

We are collecting the eggs that Lucy leaves each day. She lays the brown ones and Eleanor lays the light beige ones.

My Rooster and Me

He is the sweetest rooster, I have to say. I think he is the best chicken! I still need a name, though.

Chickens like Puffs

I've discovered that chickens like baby veggie puffs. I originally got the puffs for Evan. They are Sweet Corn flavored and he absolutely hates them. Something about corn is a total turnoff for him. I've gotten babyfood with corn as one of the ingredients, like "squash and corn" or "sweet potato and corn"--anything with corn he absolutely will not eat. So, I had this entire can of corn veggie puffs, so I figured "what the heck" and tossed a few to the chickens. They acted like it was Crack Cocaine. It was wild. I'm planning on buying some more just for them.

They are starting to venture into the yard. So far, they've only felt comfortable testing out the Hummingbird Garden, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they realize they have a great, huge new place all for the taking. I love my chickens.

Chickens

This past weekend we finally realized a long- standing goal of mine. Scott and I brought home 5 new members of the household. Please join me in welcoming my beautiful new CHICKENS.

We've been in the process of converting my greenhouse into a chicken coop off and on for the last couple of months. We finished on Saturday and picked up my sweeties on Sunday. They are the softest and most gentle little things. They are a few months old, as I didn't want to jump right into the chick raising process. I do have 2 roosters, though, so we may end up with some chicks soon enough. They were all raised together by a woman who treats her chickens like members of her family so they all get along beautifully.

Oh, kind of a new thing for me, I am picking little pieces of dried up, previously chewed veggie puffs out of my hair right now. Evan is learning to eat the puffs and he spits out about half of them. Sometimes he's covered in sticky, deflated puffs, it's very cute. Anyway, I guess some mashed up puffs made it from his hands to my hair and I must have slept in puffs.

Lovely.