Summer Chicks ~ 15 Week Update

 

With our very busy schedule, activities and my recent neck/back injuries I’ve just not had any motivation or time at all to update and post on my blog.

As some of you know I’ve even tossed around the idea of just shutting down my blog because maybe then I’ll feel like I have gained some kind of control in one part of my life and my world might stop spinning so fast.

I figured that with the big drop in comments, no one would miss my blog anyway.

But some of you have told me otherwise and for all of you, I want you to know I appreciate you and will try to keep blogging, updating and keeping in touch.

And even though I still want to share the details of how I spent last weekend, I realized the other day that it’s been several weeks since I last did an update on our summer chicks, who are now 15 weeks old.

They are doing great and have really grown up! I still call them the chicks, even though they are almost the same size as the rest of our hens.

The integration into the main coop and hen house went smoothly.

It only took two nights of us carrying most of the chicks into the hen house at dusk for them to figure out that was where they needed to roost at night.

There haven’t been any fights or aggressive behavior between the older hens and the chicks and everyone is getting along well.

This week we decided to let them all out together for the first time to free range and the chicks were cautious, but very excited about exploring their new environment.

Trying to figure out all the confusing things in their new space.

They all seemed to enjoy the extra room to run around, flap their wings and explore all the vegetation and interesting and tasty insects.

The chicks are still very friendly and like to gather around wherever we are standing or sitting down.

Some of them still jump into our laps as soon as we sit down, and a few of them love to be picked up and carried around.

I am very happy with the way this flock of chicks have progressed and Jen and I have enjoyed watching them grow up.

                                          The End

     

Summer Chicks ~ 9 Week Update

 

The chicks are now 9 weeks old and have been experiencing a lot of changes over the two weeks.

(Faith, the broken-toed Easter Egger chick is doing great. You’d never know she has two misshapen toes)

First we moved them from their garage brooders into the temporary mini-coop inside the outdoor chicken coop. They spent a week inside the mini-coop, getting used to living outdoors, with a dogloo as their shelter.

(Matilda, our Buff Orpington hen, bought as a chick last summer)

They shared a fenceline with the 12 big hens and they all spent the week getting used to one another. I find that this is the best way to integrate new chickens into an existing flock.

(Golden-laced Wyandotte chick)

I don’t know what I was expecting when the day arrived that I decided to release the chicks into the main coop. Probably a little more excitement than actually happened. But I’m grateful that no one got hurt and that everyone seemed to get along.

(Jen introduced a Speckled Sussex chick to our Speckled Sussex hen, named Spotty Dottie. Dottie was very curious, clucking and cooing while she checked the chick out.)

    

“Yes, you’re spotty, just like me”

For the first day or two, both groups pretty much stayed with their own: the big hens stuck together and the chicks stuck together. Whenever a chick and big hen happened to get close, depending upon who the big hen was, there was sometimes a little pecking and mock charging, just to teach the chick to respect it’s elders.

It’s been a week that the chicks have shared the main coop and they are pretty well integrated and can be seen side by side with the big hens.

(Ameracauna hen, named Fertile Myrtle and a Blue Wyandotte chick)

Some of the big hens like their personal space more than others, though, and they will remind a chick to move on.

(Golden-laced Polish hen we named Pat Benatar. She was born here last summer. She is the daughter of our bad boy rooster Sid Vicious)

For those of you who remember Sid, do you see the resemblance to that handsome devil?

Flock Dynamics are interesting, though.

(Our 4 year old hen, Barred Rock Betty)

Mrs. Cotton, our 3 yr old Japanese Silkie hen, and Phyllis Diller, our 3 yr old Golden-laced Polish hen are two that seem to chase and peck a chick just because they can.

I’m guessing this is because they tend to be the ones that are lower in flock status and are pushed around by the other big hens. So, they are exercising their newfound ability to push someone else around.

So far, so good, though. There is plenty of room in the main coop for everyone to have some personal space, to peck and scratch and just be a chicken.

But I do have some concerns about all these changes and transitions still to come.

The dogloo has a nightlight inside of it and the chicks naturally navigate their way inside every night for bedtime, while the big hens head upstairs each night, into their big hen house, which also has a light inside. I’ve noticed the chicks investigating the big hen house during the day, but they seem to know to sleep in the dogloo at night. Pretty soon, though, they will outgrow the dogloo, it’s already becoming a tight fit, and the chicks will need to move into the big hen house at night.

(Liza Minelli, our Black Star hen that we bought last year)

I do worry about that transition, because, even though the hen house door is always open, there are corners inside where a chick could get caught by a grouchy big hen and get beat up. And as the chicks grow, it will become more crowded inside, which leads to more arguments as chickens demand more personal space. Even though it will be difficult to do, I know it will be necessary to sell at least 10 of the chicks when they reach laying age, because our coop is just not big enough.

(Poor old Suzie, our 4 yr old Silver-laced Wyandotte, agrees. These chicks and all their high energy, just wear her out. )

A lot to think about.

But for now, we’re just enjoying the chicks, who are some of the tamest chicks we have ever raised.

Of course, we hand-raised them, just like we did our first batch of chicks, who are now 4 years old and very friendly, too.

We’ve had different groups of friends stop by to meet the chicks and they always comment on how friendly, calm, and sweet they all are. They are always surprised that the chicks don’t run away when someone reaches down to pet them or pick them up. In fact, they seem more like dogs, and are practically jumping up and down to be picked up and given attention.

Or standing on your shoe.

Woe to the person who sits down inside the chicken coop and doesn’t like chickens on their lap, shoulders or head.

(This is my special girl, Ruby an “Easter Egger” chick. As soon as she sees me she races to me, then follows me everywhere until I sit down, and then she hops right into my lap)

Truly, the minute you sit down, a flock of chicks come swarming all around you. It can be a little intimidating if you’re not used to it.

(This is ShyAnne, Jen’s very special “Easter Egger” chick)

But the chicks mean no harm. They just want to have their necks, backs and heads stroked, and they will nuzzle and cuddle you right back.

   

   

Who knew that petting chickens could be so relaxing……

ZzZzZzz

Something to Look Forward To

 

 

It’s inevitable. Chickens don’t live forever and they reliably only lay eggs for the first couple years.

Most of my chickens are close to four years old now, although I do have 3 chickens that are just over a year old. We have also lost a few chickens over the past four years, either through death or predation or a mystery disappearance. On a good day, our hens might give us 3-4 eggs. Most days we only receive 1-2 eggs.

For a family of five, that’s just not enough. We like to have green chile breakfast burritos more than once a week and my kidlets gobble up any pancakes or waffles I make using our hen’s eggs. And during the summer, one of our favorite lunches is a delicious egg salad sandwich. 

We need more eggs. Simple as that.

But I haven’t bought a factory-farmed, store-bought egg in almost 4 years now and I don’t want to start anytime soon. Fresh eggs from happy, free-range hens not only are healthier, they also taste better.

So I recently placed my order through Privett Hatchery and I’m beginning to feel like a kid waiting for Christmas! My chicks won’t arrive until June 23, because two of the breeds that I chose won’t be hatched out until then.

I can wait. But barely.

Just like an expectant Mother preparing for her newborn's arrival, I’ve been cleaning and preparing the indoor brooder and all it’s accessories (water bottle, feeder, lamp, bedding, etc). And getting the outdoor Mini-Coop/Quarantine pen, within the main coop, ready for this new flock of little biddies. My daughter, Jen, whom we fondly call The Chicken Girl, is beside herself with excitement for the chicks’ arrival.

And I am excited about the different breeds and “Coop Candy” I ordered. Privett’s is a local New Mexico Hatchery, located a few hours east of my small ranch. Four years ago a friend and I went into together to order our chicks. Some local Feed Stores also carry chicks, but the selection is usually slim with only 2-3 of the most common breeds, like Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island or New Hampshire Reds. Nothing wrong with any of those breeds, but it’s just more fun to shop through a more varied and unique selection of chicken breeds. 

We already have Silver-Laced Wyandottes, Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Ameracauna, Japanese Silkie, Polish, Welsumer, Speckled Sussex, Brown Leghorn, Black Star and Buff Orpington.

So, when I ordered, I went with a couple of our favorite tried and true breeds, like the Speckled Sussex and the Ameracauna. And chose a few new breeds, too, like Blue Wyandotte, Golden-Laced Wyandotte, and Silver-Laced Cochin. Yep! Lots of lovely colors to brighten up our coop. I love it! 

Most Hatcheries have a minimum chick order, usually 25, for the safety of the chicks during shipping and since I was just starting out raising chickens back then, I only wanted a small flock. So going in together with a friend was the perfect solution. This time around, we want to raise a few chicks and sell them as pullets as there seems to be a large market for pullets because folks don’t want the extra work, mess, space, cost and the waiting of raising chicks to the laying hen stage.

We don’t mind. The chicks are one of the most fun parts of raising chickens, so we’re ordering 25 biddies and will probably sell 10 of them when they become pullets. We figure that the money we make from the sale of the pullets will pay for our entire order of chicks.

And we are also excited about hand-raising this batch, just like we did with our first, original flock of chickens, because we learned the hard way, that allowing our constantly broody Japanese Silkie, Mrs. Cotton to hatch out and raise chicks, while certainly convenient, caused the chicks to grow up less friendly and less willing to stand still to be picked up and loved on as adults.

We did manage to tame the chickens that we gave to Mrs. Cotton to raise, but they still aren’t as pet-like as our original batch of chickens that we held every day and hand fed. Back then, it was a common sight around here to find a chick or two in someone’s lap while they surfed the internet or watched a movie. And as soon as we sat down outside, it wasn’t long before a chicken hopped into our lap for some affection and snuggling.

All our old hens still try to jump into our laps, but they don’t jump as high as they used to.

So, it’s time to bring some new chickies into our flock.  

Let the Count Down begin!

Froze to Death and Thank You

 

First of all I want to say thank you to all of you wonderful folks who were so generous and made donations to Walkin N Circles Ranch Horse Rescue through yesterday’s post. Everyone at WNCR is so thankful for your kindness and the assistance and generosity of the local volunteers who jumped in to help. Because of everyone’s help, the horses now have fresh water and the water pump and pipes are getting repaired, probably as I type.

Of course, WNCR can still use any donations you‘re able to offer just in case of any other emergencies that arise as well as to feed and care for all the horses and one donkey throughout the year. So if you are planning on shopping on Amazon. com, please consider going through the WNCR link on their website, so a portion of the cost of your order can be sent directly to the horse rescue.

Thanks again!

 

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This really has been the coldest storm we’ve ever had here. We’re used to snow and those who live up here above 7,000ft expect it and actually enjoy it. But it usually melts in a day or two, and we rarely ever get temperatures below zero, and certainly not double digits below zero!

My llamas and goats are staying inside the barn even though they can wander out into their paddock whenever they want. Apache looks like she’s walking on high heel shoes with the thick snow balls on her hooves. She comes to me asking me to remove them every time I’m up at the barn. Zuni our GSD usually loves to play in the snow, but even she is finding a bare spot in her paddock to keep her feet from freezing.

And poor Dobbie, who never likes to leave my side and is always eager to head up the hill to the barn with me is unable to because the two times she’s tried, the snow on her paws has been so painful that she cowers and cries in pain. It’s as if the snow is holding the –27F degree temps within. So, she stays inside and only ventures as far as the back patio to do her business.

The chickens are also refusing to come outside of their house, even with the layer of straw I laid out for them. Today I saw Mr. Cotton our Japanese Silky rooster outside trying to enjoy the sunshine, but having to take turns standing on one leg, to keep one foot from becoming too cold. He gave up not long afterwards and went back inside.

Speaking of chickens………….

 

I’ve got something very sad to share.

 

Not all of our animals survived our arctic blast of 27F degrees below zero here in Central New Mexico. We lost one of our precious chickens, a little black hen, named Ebony.

This was Ebony last winter.

What is is even more sad about her loss is that she was born here in our very first clutch of hatched eggs. Her Daddy was the infamous, bad boy Sid Vicious.

That’s Sid, with Ebony in front, and her sibling roo beside her, last winter.

She was a very sweet little hen and gave us the cutest little white eggs, perfect for making snack-sized hard- boiled eggs.

I found her yesterday morning tucked inside one of the nest boxes. Sometime around 2:30 in the morning I had woke up to let Dobbie outside and something told me to peek out at the chicken coop. When I did I noticed that the chicken house was dark and the heater bulb must have burned out. I rushed out there and noticed that the walls were coated in ice crystals. I replaced the burnt out heater bulb with a new bulb, but I guess it was just too late for Ebony.

This photo is from last summer.

She succumbed to the cold and froze to death.

We’ll miss you, our pretty, little black hen.