Eggs!!!!!!!!!

The day has finally come.  We have egg producing hens!  These are the first two eggs.  I guess that means that two of the five hens have begun laying.  These eggs are shown in a "extra-large egg" egg carton to give you a sense of our eggs' size compared to the grocery store. 

Our boys weren't too excited about eating them.  They want to hatch the eggs.  I think they'll get used to it as we continue to get new eggs every day for the next year or so. 

I am really excited about this.  I'll let you know how they taste in the next entry.

He lives, He lives....

I asked everyone I know, "Do you want a rooster?  I'll throw in a hen."  But to no avail, even on craigslist, roosters are just not that popular.  But I underestimated my neighbors!

So Gummy got the big break of his life, literally.  Our three closest neighbors have all said that they either haven't noticed the crowing from the rooster (Gummy) or they don't mind.  This is great for me because now I don't have to slaughter my boy's one special chicken.  Yee Haw!

Now, I promise, to upload a recording of Gummy's crow for next post and pictures too, he's really pretty.

Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!!!!

We may be in trouble. Gummy, yep the trouble maker, is up to no good again.  I guess I can't blame him, it's in his nature.

It is true, Gummy has made his presence known with a loud Cock a doodle doo.  It really sounds more like Errr E Errrrrr a-Ooooo!.  If the neighbors start complaining I think it will either have to be lights out or maybe I can give him away on Craigslist.

I'll try to get a recording to post next time.

The Chicken Tractor and a Finished Coop

It has been almost 4 weeks for the chickens in their new home.  The good news is that they love it, the bad news is that the ground under the coop is starting to stink.  I really should have moved the coop at least a week ago to prevent the ground from getting so smelly.  On top of that it thunder-stormed for about 36 hours straight the past 2 days so that the backyard is a swamp.

All of this means is that today had to be the day that the coop needed to be moved.  We decided to move it to the rear of the yard. I guess that's about 30 yards away from its current location.  I went to the hardware store and bought some heavy duty chain to hook up to the sides of the coop and then to the back of the John Deer Tractor (lawn tractor that is, model L100, the smallest one).  It was time to see if the "Sleigh" method on the bottom of the coop would work, I was crossing my fingers.

Well,  once hooked up to the coop, the tractor had little traction in the rain soaked yard, so Missy pushed the coop from behind as I drove the tractor.  We had to do a lot of reversing then forward to jam the coop out of the ruts.  Finally I devised a plan to place PVC tubes under the coop so that it could "roll" across the yard.  This worked, and made towing the coop much easier.

Oh, did I forget to mention that I locked all of the Chickens up in the shelter during the big move.  They seemed to be okay with all the jerking around, no injuries and no super loud squawking 

Once finished I replaced the food, water, opened the shelter door, and then replaced the ramp.  The chickens were very happy, probably because the were no longer be jerked around in that shelter, and enjoyed pecking around the fresh grass.

My next problem was cleaning up all of the poop from where the coop was.  I took a shovel and just scooped it all up then placed it into a trash can for composting.  The ground was so wet from the rain that I ended scooping up about half poop and half true dirt, oh well.  I learned my lesson and will move the coop more often now.  Plus next time I'll move it when the yard is not a complete marsh from rain.

Last but not least, I finished painting the coop!  I finally took the time to paint the trim white, see the pictures below.

Tune in next time for some wild chicken antics!

Oh, one last thing.  No eggs yet, I don't expect any until fall.

This picture shows the distance traveled in the move.  Notice the dirt patch on the bottom right and the coop on the middle left side of the picture.

This picture shows the ground after I scooped up all the poop.  I hope it will make good fertilizer after it "cooks".  Notice the trail the coop left as it traveled through the rain soaked grass.  The coop is in the upper right part of the picture behind a the oak tree.

Another picture showing the trail.  The pictures really do not show how wet the yard really is from the rainfall. Every step you take you sink about an inch and a half!

The ultimate "Chicken Tractor".

Close up showing the chain hooked up to the coop and the tractor.  I wasn't sure, but that little John Deer really hauled the load (with Missy's help of course).

View showing the rollers we used to help the coop move through the rain soaked yard.

And Finally, the fully painted coop!

Let me know what you think.

Chicken Wranglin'

I decided to take the boys and the dog outside so that we could all work together to catch the chickens and put them up in the shelter.  Since they are bird brains they need someone to show them what to do.  Well it worked.  Wesley and Henry were very good at yelling at the chickens from the outside of the coop.  The chics would hide underneath the shelter.  Then Henry or Wesley would yell, "Get out of there you chicken!".  Bigsy, the dog, would just put the fear of the chicken God in them, they wouldn't go anywhere close to her location.  I would then try to keep her behind the shelter so the chicks wouldn't go underneath it to safety (away from us).

Once the chickens were flushed out from beneath the shelter they were easy pickings.  I would catch them then put them into the shelter.  They were very happy once in the shelter.  There was one escapee, the last one to catch, that managed to escape out of the coop.  Those little chickens are fast, but I was able to wrangle it and put it in the shelter.  Fortunately Missy held Bigsy or it would have been a blood bath.

I also started painting the coop.  Next entry I'll upload a photo of the coop fully painted.

Chickens are in the Coop

The chickens have spent their first week in the coop.  The first night was the hardest (for me).  The chickens did not understand how to climb the chicken ramp into the shelter for the first week, so they just huddled in a corner over night.  Hence I did not sleep well the first night.  I just kept waking up imagining that a raccoon had gotten to them.  Of course they were just fine in the morning.

Now that they have spent a week in the coop a few of them have figured out how to climb the ramp into the shelter.  But they aren't smart enough to sleep in the shelter yet.  They'll get the hang of it shortly.


Here are a few new pictures.  They really seem happy with their new home.

Henry and Wesley inspecting the chickens.

 Henry and the chickens

The chickens wondering what to do with the ramp.

The chickens really seem to enjoy there new home.

"The Coop will be quite operational when your chickens arive"

I have finished the coop!  Although I still have to paint it and do the trim work in a couple of areas but it is move in ready for the chickens!  Tomorrow will be the big move in day.  I'm excited, the chickens will be too.

Below are pictures of the coop, enjoy.

All finished!  Just needs paint and a little trim on the corners and around the windows. 

 The access door to the enclosed area is on the back and the run's access door is on the left.

 The doors are open in this view.  All of the doors lock (and you can put a padlock on them) to help keep out crafty predators such as coons and opossums.

 Another view of the run access door open.  Look closely and you can see the chicken ramp into the shelter.

 View from the front showing the run, chicken door (open), ramp into the shelter, and the run access door open.

View from the front with the chicken door closed and the run access door closed.

 Inside the shelter area.  You can see the three nesting boxes below the window.

The roosting bar is at the top of the shelter area.  I figure the chickens will roost on the top area of the back wall and the rooster bar (which is just below the back wall).

 Another view of the shelter area.  You can see the nesting boxes on the right, the chicken access door on the left of back wall and the roosting bar a couple of feet above the nesting boxes and chicken door.  

 In this picture you see the nesting box access door below the window.

 Now the nesting box access door is open.  This will allow for easy egg collection.  The door also locks and can be padlocked to prevent predator theft and keep out unwanted humans.

  The nesting box access door in action.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures.  Next ones will have chickens in the coop!

Breaking News

Henry's chicken "Climber" has fulfilled its naming prophecy!

We went out to lunch and low and behold to our surprise, when we got back from lunch "Climber" was out of the brooder and on the garage floor hanging out.  She must have jumped through the top front of the brooder where there is a small gap of about 2.5 inches.  Just enough for a chicken to get through.

Fortunately she was easy to catch.  She didn't run away from me, she just stood there patiently and waited for me to pick her back up.  Luckily no broken feet either.

I definitely need to finish the coop.  They must need more room than the brooder provides.  I might take them outside to run (one at a time) so they can get more exercise.   I'll let you know how that goes.

New pictures and video of Gummy and Friends

I thought I would take some close up photos of the chickens and Gummy.  They are all doing well, nothing new to report.

Stay tuned for new coop pictures.  I will be attempting to finish it this weekend.

Skeeter or Weezie 

Don't look at me! 

 Gummy is on the left.

That's Gummy.  Notice he is redder above his beak (that's where his comb will come in). 

They say the color of their ears will be the color of their eggs.  What do you think?

New video below.  I was attempting to get Gummy to react to the camera.  But he was a bit shy.  Although there was another chick who took an interest in the camera, this could be trouble (2 roosters?!).

Them chickens are get'n big

I really need to get the coop done soon because the chickens will outgrow their brooder within a couple of weeks.  They have lost almost all of their chick feathers.  Gummy is still aggressive and he has a redder color above his beak where his Comb will come in.  I think he will be a rooster although I'm not positive that will be his fate.

The coop is looking good!  The roof is now on.  Just paint, shingles, trim, doors, chicken wire, nesting boxes, and a few more things and I'll be done (one weekend project... yeah right).

Lots of feathers on the feat. 

 Curious little creature.

There is no escape. 

Gummy is facing the corner.  You can't see his comb, but the others are a light pink above the beak.

Weekend 2 of construction

It looks like I'll only be working on the coop today, so all I could finish is the run framing and part of the roof.  I would have put the roof on too but I just ran out of steam for the day.

 right side

left side

It's just a really big bird house when you think about it.

The Chicken Coop Construction has begun!

I had wood and supplies delivered on Thursday so that I could start building the bird's outdoor chicken coop.  Started on Friday, was out of town Saturday and Sunday, and worked on it more today.  I thought I would be further along by the end of the day today but the 95 degree weather really took the energy out of me.  I think I made good progress nevertheless.  One more weekend (maybe two... for the shingles) and it will be done.

Here are some pictures.  The walls are up for the "house".  The next steps are to put on the roof, doors, windows, trim, and then the chicken wire.

Left side with window cut out.

 Front with Chicken door that leads to the enclosed run which will be surrounded by chicken wire.

 Left side with window and egg access door (bottom part).

 Back door cutout for human entrance to clean out the coop.

View looking down into the enclosed section.

The roof will cover the enclosed area and the run to keep everything dry.  The chickens will also be able to stand in the shade beneath the enclosed area on hot days.

Week 4

No pictures today.  But I'll upload new ones tomorrow.  The Chicks are getting much bigger.  All of their new feathers give them an appearance of being much larger.  I also had to clean out there brooder today and then add fresh pine shavings.  After I was finished, and then put the chicks back in the brooder, they were having a great time in the fresh shavings.

This weekend I plan to build there permanent home, my backyard chicken coop!  I ordered wood and had it delivered today (I would have just picked it up myself but I do not own a truck).  So tomorrow I start constructing the coop.  It will be awesome.  I plan on uploading before and after pics, so be ready.

Let's start our engines

The little girls are now just flutter bugs.  Every time that I see them they are fluttering from one end of the brooder to the other.  I guess they're just practicing and having fun.  Note that their feathers are continuing to come in, especially on their legs and their tails.  But I'm still unable to confirm if they are boys or girls yet.  Yes, Gummy is still the little pecker.

New photos and videos below.

Shake a tail feather!

Gummy's in the back right corner.  He may not look intimidating but he does like to bite and peck (it doesn't hurt).

Please excuse the shaky video shoot, I took this video while holding a camera phone inside the brooder.  I think the chicks felt corralled.

From two angles.

2 weeks strong

It's been two weeks and all of the chicks are still alive!  They are doing really well now.  Very active and are beginning to eat more.  They're taking on individual personalities too.  The really white feathered chick always pecks at me when I pick them up.  I hope he's not a rooster.

Their new feathers are coming in even stronger now.  They are even becoming daring.  I had the top of the brooder open while I was changing the water and one of those suckers tried to fly out the corner.  She couldn't make it all the way to the top but I was surprised how high she could get in the air.

Here are new pictures showing their new feathers.  Plus a video.  The lighting could be better for the video, I'll work on that for next time.

Good shot of new feathers.  It looks like she loosing them, but she is actually losing the baby feathers and growing the long normal bird feathers.

They were curious about the camera.  Funny creatures.

Pine Shavings

Today was the big unveiling of the pine savings for the chicks.  I had been using paper towels in the brooder, but thought they must be old enough for the pine shavings.  Apparently newly hatched chicks will eat the pine shavings and die.  My chicks did just fine.  Actually they loved it!  They were tossing it around, scratching it, and even taking "dust" baths in it!  It was funny.

Here is a photo and a video.   They really are having a blast in the pine shavings.

It's kind of hard to see, but the chicks are going wild in the pine shavings.  They remind me of the velociraptors from Jurassic Park (the movie).

1 Week and Counting

It's been over a week and the only trouble I have had is the "Pasty butt".  I had to give a different chick a quick bath.  It worked.

There wing feathers are still coming in too.  Below are a couple of pictures of the birds sleeping.  Sometimes they sleep so deeply that you think they are dead.