Posts from the ‘Chickens’ Category

Jul 17

Chickens are Like Fluffy Little Pigs

I tried kicking the chickens out of the coop today, since it was coop cleaning day, but they didn’t make it any further than the doorway.

Apparently the cool dirt was calling to them, so they dug a hole and rolled around in it like little pigs. What a beautiful thing to watch.

It was so cute that I shoo’d them into the yard and removed some pavers from their coop floor. Now they have a little dirt patch in their coop and don’t need to wait for their weekly yard visits.

Notice how the hens and chicks are a family now and the chicks are getting bigger and fuzzier. Even the hens are looking healthier being away from roosters.

The picture above is of the chickens rolling in the dirt. Below are pictures of the dirty coop and the chickens taking a stroll around the yard.

Jun 30

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My Chickens Are Finally Acting Like Chickens

Meet Brownie, Hazel & Henny Penny. Buttercup is also somewhere in the coop.

Jun 18

Chicks Are Getting Fuzzy

Brownie & Buttercup are starting to get big and pretty fuzzy. The last couple days they even started getting too big for their brooder. Sadly, we moved them into the closed hen house with a heat lamp and plenty of straw, food and water.

I already have anxiety and want them back in the house. They seem fine and almost happy they’re in a bigger spot. I just miss them and their little cheep cheep cheeps.

Let’s hope I get some sleep tonight.

Jun 11

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The Hens Hate Us

In case you didn’t know, we brought home two one year old Silkie hens from my mom’s house a couple weekends ago. Not only do Henny Penny and Hazel hate us, but they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do and this has me worried.

They don’t eat out of their feeder, use the roosting pole, eat yummy veggie treats, lay eggs (except one) and they sure don’t stink. We did have one VERY large poop today – good news!

And here I thought the chicks were going to be the hard ones – we brought home two of those as well – they’re in the house.

Because I’m a “problem solver,” I went in their coop today to see if I could make things a little better for them. I started by raking up their old shavings – this got them all in a tizzy. Henny Penny started squawking and flapping around. Ok. The rake is bad. Hazel then made an attempt to get away from Henny Penny and got a hand full of clean shavings dropped on her head – oops. Now she really hates me. They eventually calmed down and hid in the coop corner. I quickly finished adding the new shavings, and threw down some feed AND scratch on the coop floor. Head down – I left the coop.

I hope they come out of their hiding spot soon to eat their food – I need to see more big poops before I’m happy. Next, we’ll work on laying eggs.

If you look closely at the picture, you can see them in far right (the dark spot) laying on top of each other (next to an urn of our outdoor cat’s ashes). Poor things. I’m sure eventually they’ll learn to tolerate us.

But The Chicks Love Us

Brownie and Buttercup are a true joy. They entertain us like little comedians. I’ve heard people say they watch their chickens, now I know what they’re talking about. These little guys are eating, drinking, and pooping A LOT. All good signs. They actually poop so much that we have to clean their brooder at least once a day.

We’re not quite sure if we have hens or roosters yet – it appears that Buttercup has a couple pink feathers so may be a rooster. If we do end up with a rooster we’re going to try to keep him anyway – since we don’t have rules against this in our town. It’s only a problem if he gets too noisy & the neighbors complain. My neighbors love me.

One neighbor did have a rooster for a bit and only got rid of him because he was getting mean. We’ll see. I’m not one to give up pets…

These little guys have a couple more weeks in the house before we’ll start introducing them to the chicken coop. We’re still not sure if one of the hens in the coop is their mom. Maybe that’s why they hate us?

Jun 3

Weekend at Mom’s Farm

My mom and step-dad have a farm out in the middle of nowhere (Omak, WA). A typical weekend visit includes milking goats, watching chickens run around, petting horses, giving milk to baby goats and eating a lot of great food. And that’s exactly what we did this past weekend.

As a child I lived on a small farm with dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, horses, goats, a cow, a turkey, peacocks and geese (I still hate geese). It seems as though every day I had chores to do – replace shavings, clean horse stalls, stack wood, and etc. It’s funny, as an adult, I long to live on a small farm again. Just something I can be proud of while providing for my family.

Here are some pictures from our weekend at my mom’s.