Another Chicken Update

The summer has flown by and fall is nearly here.  Our feathered companions have been great company and have provided a constant stream of learning opportunities as we've watched them continue to grow and develop.  Here are a couple pics of the flock which were taken about a month ago.

Monkey thinks the chickens are kinda cool, but Bug is a bit obsessed with them.  We often refer to him as the chicken whisperer.  He loves to hang out with them and cuddle them and giggle at their antics and give them treats.  He is completely comfortable around them and utterly fearless.

Oh, and he wants to BE one for halloween.  The first element of his costume arrived the other day.  (Thank you, Amazon!)

In the past week, we have experienced two big firsts.  I had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first egg and had been searching the internet for information about how you could tell when your chickens were about to start laying.  Most sites said around 4 to 6 months, and a couple places said the average age was 20 weeks.  So I counted off 20 weeks from the day we picked up our newly-hatched chicks (Wednesday, April 23rd) and I wrote on the calendar on Wednesday, September 10th "Chickens are 20 weeks" and watched the date get closer and began checking the nest boxes each day.  Low and behold, right on September 10th - the first egg appeared!  And it was a Big Event for our household.  Both kids had to pose for pictures with the egg.

I'll never forget when Bug exclaimed, "I'm so proud of you, chickens!  Great job!"  I was just as excited as a little kid too.  I did refrain from taking an egg selfie though.  That same day we had taken one of the hens to our homeschool co-op with us for Bug's Preschool/Kindergarten Animal Study class.  He was so excited to share his chicken with everyone and she was a big hit.  Everyone was amazed at how relaxed and friendly she was, and I gave Bug all the credit for socializing our birds so well.  I was a little bummed that we didn't end up taking the hen who laid the egg though, because she would have ended up laying it while we were there!

Even more exciting, this morning, Shane ate that first egg for breakfast and texted me this pic:

Egg number one was a double-yolker!!

Today we received egg #2 and I could tell its arrival was imminent because the hen was definitely singing the "egg-laying song" which is something else I came across in my internet research.  (There are plenty of YouTube videos of it if you're curious.)  It's basically just some very loud clucking: bawk bawk bawk bawk BA-GAWK! with the pattern repeated over and over.  If the song had lyrics I am pretty sure they would be "What's coming out of my BUTT?!  What's coming out of my BUTT?!"  It's rather comical.

Anyway, I mentioned above that we had two firsts this week.  The other first involves an intentional decrease in our rooster population.  Shane converted two of them to food.

This majestic creature is now in my freezer.  Weird, I know.

 
The kids and I went elsewhere and he and a friend took care of business.  I have not gotten a lot of details from him on the process (and that's ok!), but he was committed to learning how to do it, from a self-sufficiency standpoint, although I gather that he definitely did not enjoy it.  We still have four more roosters to eliminate and I know he is not looking forward to it.  My parents offered to take them to a livestock auction instead and we may take them up on their offer.  Not sure yet.  We haven't eaten the two he killed yet and while it seems very strange to have two creatures who were recently walking around my backyard, now inside my freezer, I am curious to see if I can taste a difference in fresh, organic-fed, cage-free chicken that we raised ourselves, compared to what comes from the grocery store.  Will let you know...

Chicken Update

Chicks grow up really, really fast.  Here are some pics to illustrate their growth rate:

The day we brought them home

At two weeks of age

At three weeks old

At four weeks old

Today, at five weeks old

That's right, five weeks!

They are no longer cute fluffy chicks, but lovely feathered little birds.  They still have a way to go to maturity, of course, but I am amazed at how quickly they grow up.

You may be able to tell from the last two images that they are no longer in the cardboard brooder in the basement, but have moved into the chicken coop.  We took them out there a week ago today, on Memorial Day, and they have settled in and seem quite happy and comfortable out there.  I think my husband (with the help of our friend, Pat) has done quite a nice job on the place - would you like a tour?

I want to turn that stump into a pretend fairy/gnome house, like the ones here.

Shane and Pat built a dutch door on the outside and a screen door on the inside.

Thanks to my Mom for the sign!

 

Here you can see the rustic/natural roosts Shane built out of some sturdy tree branches.

And here are the cozy nesting boxes he built.  He made them with a wire mesh bottom and a flip-up top for easy cleaning.  Not in use yet, but they will be in just a few short months.

This picture shows all three of our breeds nicely.  From L-R:  Buff Orpington, Australorp, and Dominique.  All chosen for their reputation for being good egg layers and supposed mellow/tame personalities.  The Dominiques are our favorites.  They're the prettiest and friendliest of the bunch for sure.

They really are charmingly entertaining and inquisitive creatures.  Bug and I go out and sit with them once or twice a day and just hang out and watch them.

Here they are clustered at my feet, tugging on the strings of my capris.  Silly birds, those aren't worms!

Photo credit:  Bug

 The boys are absolutely loving their new birdie friends - especially Bug.  He is quite the chicken whisperer.  They LOVE him and will happily sit in his lap and be petted, to his great delight.

 

  

And I must admit, I adore them too.  Enough to take a chicken selfie.  :)

A new learning exprience for the whole family... CHICKENS!

After doing a lot of reading and talking about wanting to do something to be more self-sufficient and more connected to where our food comes from, Shane and I decided that this year, we wanted to acquire a flock of chickens.  Of course that decision led to more reading, and Shane dove in in full force.  I got a pile of books from the library and Shane's favorite by far was this one.  He liked it so much that I bought a copy to keep on hand as a reference. 

The Small-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery

So, after asking around for recommendations for a reputable hatchery, we chose to get our chicks from Meyer Hatchery in Polk, Ohio.  After much research, we decided to get six birds each from three breeds:  Australorps, Buff Orpingtons, and Dominiques.  We were looking for breeds that were both docile/friendly and known for being good egg layers.  Not quite two weeks ago, the kids and I drove out to pick up our 18 little balls of fluff.  It was a scenic drive and we passed several Amish farms on the way.  We were actually behind a horse and buggy on the way home, to the kids' delight.

We even got to go through a little tunnel too!

So here are the chicks on the day we brought them home:

We have all been enjoying their company immensely.

Farmer Shane

Bug absolutely adores them and loves giving them (gentle) hugs and kisses.

They are currently in a brooder in the basement that Shane built out of some heavy-duty cardboard that he brought home from work.  They have a simple heat lamp keeping them toasty and a feeder and a waterer. 

So far, they're pretty simple to care for.  I go down once a day and change their water and refill their food, and just hang out and hold them for a bit so they will be used to human contact.  Shane has been excitedly catching bugs and worms to toss in to them as treats and they go nuts over them!  He also tosses in occasional handfuls of grasses and dandelions too.  For a few days a few of the chicks had some poo stuck to their butts and we had to wash them off with warm, soapy water (yeah, a little bit "eww") but then Shane read that if you give them greens you should leave the roots and dirt on them, which the chicks will also eat.  This provides grit to aid in digestion and proper non-sticky poops, and we haven't had any more issues with that in a week now.

Meanwhile, Shane has been busy working on creating their home.  He's converting a decrepit old shed that has been on our property since we bought it 14 years ago.  It sat on a decent concrete pad, but had crumbling particle board sides.   Also the roof was so low he kept hitting his head when he went inside, so he decided to move the whole frame off of the concrete base, have a friend lay two courses of block, move the frame back onto the block, and put new siding on it.  I didn't get a perfect "before" shot - the first two were taken after the frame was moved off the base.

Before.

 

Before.

Shane and our dear friend, Pat, putting up the new siding after they had moved the frame onto the new block.

 And now, here is the current state of the chicken house, after this past weekend's efforts.  He still has to make the man door and chicken doors and ramps, install the nesting boxes (which are built, but I don't have any pics of yet) and roosts, and securely fence in the runs.  Plans include two or three separate runs that we will rotate usage of.

 

It has been great fun throwing ourselves into this project, and it's amazing to witness the daily growth and development of the chickens.  We bought the chicks unsexed, so we don't know how many boys vs. girls we have.  The plan is to keep one or possibly two roosters, and all of the girls, and the rest of the roosters are going to become food.  I will admit that this is something I feel a bit squeamish about, however, I know that every time I eat chicken, an animal had to meet its end somewhere... and this way we'll at least know that they had a free and happy life, rather than spending their entire existence inside a huge farm standing shoulder to shoulder with other chickens in a living space the size of a sheet of copy paper.  Shane seems pretty confident in his ability to perform this task, and we have some knowledgeable friends and family who will probably help him out the first time.  I haven't decided if I will be present for that or not... I feel like I should be here for moral support, at least, but I may end up choosing to stay with the kids at Grandma's house instead.  Not sure yet.  I will continue to update on our progress in this adventure!  Oh, and here are two last pics, just taken this morning.  You can see they've already grown quite a bit in their 13 days here - they now have feathers on their wings and tails, and they're quite a bit bigger too.  They are really sweet and funny little creatures. 

We will be including the kids in the responsibilities of caring for them and collecting eggs each day, which will hopefully help them make a connection to where their food comes from, besides the grocery store.  So far, it's a wonderful learning experience for all of us.