We sit on our patio and watch the hummingbirds feed six feet away. It's fascinating. They are feeding often since they are storing up for their long migration flight.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Eight Together 8/29
Just another video about the joys of chicken ownership. I should say chicken parenting. :)
Today we needed to get more food for the younger chickens. They have been on the baby chick food. Now that they are three months old, they got what I call toddler food. Won't be long till they will be on egg layer feed. OH, just think how excited I will be when we get our first egg from one of the little ones!!!
All Nine Together for First Time 8/29
After Harriet, Red and Sophia were out in the yard, I let them in with the younger six. This is the first time they have all been together. Red, the Rhoad Island Red, is the leader of the pack. It's the nature of the breed. She is alpha chicken. If I didn't have her, I think I could have them all together now. But since I don't trust her yet with them, we will keep them separated unless I'm with them.
Once the younger ones are closer to full grown and a little closer to her size, we'll try to put them all together permanently. They will learn to obey her and/or stay out of her way.
But aren't they cute?????
Hawks gone/Birds out
The big girls have been cooped up (no pun intended) for about two months. Not they they don't have plenty of room and activities in their coop and playpen area. But they love the grass, bugs in the garden, and dirt baths along the back of the house. With the return of the hawks and the hatching of two baby hawks, it has not been safe for Harriet, Red and Sophia to be in the yard. The parent hawks, especially the probably 16" daddy hawk, had gotten fearless in coming near the chickens. We have been sitting in chairs by the chickens and he has sat in the tree right above them. One day as I did dishes and watching the chickens from the kitchen, the little ones started to race around and fly in their area. They were frantic. I was just about to dry my hands to go see what was wrong. Didn't the daddy hawk come around to the front of the pen (he had been on the side behind an evergreen) and sit right next to pen on the ground. Forget drying my hands. I went racing out the door to chase him away.
We have not seen or heard hawks for almost two weeks now. It's safe for the older, tamer chickens to have freedom in the yard again. They are very happy with that.
Sorry for how jerky this video is in spots due to me walking up the yard.
Most people love the way Sophia (the white silkie) walks. It's great from the back. That's the main reason for this video. Harriet and Red are the leaders and roam about the yard. Sophia looks up and realizes they have moved, so she runs after them.
New Friend
On August 13, Parke woke with a start at 3:15 am. We run an air filter at night. I hadn't heard anything, but he said," There is a noise." I said, "What?" He repeated, "There is a noise." Wanting to know what kind of noise, I again asked, "What?" as in what kind of noise. Parke, thinking I wanted him to repeat what he said, again said, "There's a noise." (This would have been funny at the time if I had not been scared due to insufficient knowledge.) I finally almost yelled, "What kind of noise? The cats?" (They all sleep in the basement at night and have been known to cause quite a commotion.) "Someone outside?" I continued. "No, the chickens." Parke said. We have never had a middle of the night incident with the chickens in three years. We have never seen evidence of any nocturnal animals trying to get at the chickens. I raced through the house, turned on the flood lights, and ran down the yard. Parke, in his usual slower pace, came out with a flashlight, cautioning me that there could be some wild animal that could attack me. Oh, yeah, I forgot that option in my haste to protect my girls.
Chickens are blind in the dark. At dusk, they will find their nighttime roosting spots and stay there till daybreak. As I ran toward them, there were four little chickens running around in the playpen area. Something had spooked them so much they risked running in the dark. We could find no animals. But the tarp that hangs down the back of the kennel was disturbed. Something had been there.
I put the four girls back on perches, and we all went back to sleep.
The next two days, we saw a new orange young cat around the chickens. We are assuming that was the cause of the alarm. I have made friends with this new kitty. I feed her on my back porch. She is very affectionate. If I provide food for her, hopefully she will let my chickens alone.
We have not seen Miss Grey for several weeks now. We are fearful that the hawks might have gotten her. Maybe her owner has replaced her with Miss Orange. In the last week or so, Miss Orange has not bothered the chickens. :)
Here is a pic of her coming for a snack.
New Van Plates
Got a new business van in June. Jon got me the plates for my birthday. Do you think my clients will think I'm deranged? We won't tell them about the chickens. :)
Sunday Breakfast
On Sunday morning, 8/16, Parke took his breakfast outside. He must like the company of nine cluckin' chickens instead of a cluckin' wife! haha
Week of August 16, 2009
The girls like when we make salad. They get scraps of tomatoes, the insides of peppers (they love the seeds), etc. They are the cutest garbage disposals!!!
Cantelope Snack
Haven't updated for a while. On August 5, the girls (9-10 weeks old) had cantelope for breakfast.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Sleeping on Perch
I just went out to see if the babies went into the kennel for the night. Five of them were on this perch. Laney was sitting in the play pen area. You see, chickens can't see when it's dark. So, wherever they are when it gets dark, that's where they have to stay. I put Laney on the perch with the others. She'll learn to go in at night. But isn't this adorable to see them all lined up?
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
New Living Arrangements
These chickens certainly have taken more time than we ever thought. As they have grown, we've had to change their living space. Today's project was to really enlarge their area. They will now have the kennel as their protected area from the weather. They have about half the circumference of the "play pen" area to run around.
We've had a little trouble with pecking. Laney came to us with most of her head feathers plucked. Seems that once someone does that, other chickens will continue the practice. Backyard Poultry (yes, we get that magazine!) says that chickens can be pretty mean to each other. They need lots of space to play so they don't beat up on each other. As of today, the little girls have much more area to occupy themselves, instead of being interested in poor Laney. The magazine also said to spray iodine on the area that is being plucked. We did that to Laney and to Honey (who got attacked by one of the bigger birds when she got into their area a couple weeks ago). Hopefully it heals their wounds and discourages the others from pecking.
I made an error at the end of this video. It is not eagles we have trouble with. It's hawks! We have a pair that return to our neighbor's yard every year. There are two babies. So, we have four hawks living within 25 yards of my chickens. We hear the hawks continually. They sit in the trees over the chicken area, just hoping to get in. Of course, we have the entire top covered. We will be so glad when the hawks fly south. The big girls like running around in the yard, but we can't risk letting them out since mama and papa hawk are trying to find things to feed their young.
Most Recent Video of Girls
I was in North Carolina last week. So here are the girls at least two weeks older than previous pictures.
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