Field Trip!

             Guest post today! While Mum was out teaching her humans, I got to take the chickie-babies on their very first field trip dun dun dun .... outside.

The weather was questionable last week, sunny and 70's and then suddenly hail for two hours. Not prime baby chick weather to say the least. But for the last three days it's been sunny and gorgeous.

There was a pet corral hidden in the barn which ended up being perfect, just tall enough that the bigg'uns can't fly out but low enough that I can get in if I need to. They had water, food, and I draped some shade over one corner when I noticed them panting. 

At first they refused to leave the bedding, but soon adjusted to the new environment. Eris was first to investigate and also first to inform me that the little ones can escape.  They're still juuuust small enough that they can squeeze through the spaces in the grate. Luckily, she was more panicked about getting back to her friends than running away.

Such a variety of coloration!

Yes, I'm ready for my close up

Ariadne's partridge coloring

Diva (center) is the lightest of our giant cochins and the fluffiest!

When they were nervous about leaving the bedding, I ended up leaping in the pen myself and bribing them to explore. Of course, I sat still too long and it was decided that I make a perfect perch. When Circe made her "grass is greener on the other side of the bars" attempt, I had three chicks sleeping on one arm and two more preening on my knee. Not my swiftest rescue attempt, as you can imagine.

I was hesitant to leave them alone, even if it was just a quick dash to the garage for more feed. If you listen closely, at around 1:10, you can hear why.

All in all, I think they had a fun time- I know I certainly did! They definitely tuckered themselves out playing "keep-away" with all the new things they found (leaves, dandelions  spiderwebs). As long as the weather keeps, these afternoon field trips should become a daily occurrence until the run is ready.

Meet the Goddesses

They grow up so fast!  We didn't name them right away, although we put together a list of names of goddesses. We wanted to see whose personality would match - give time, sure enough, that's just what happened. The Cochins are three weeks old now; the Orpingtons are two weeks old. 

Meet the Goddesses: 

She is growing light bluish black feathers with white tips - quite interesting

She seems to be the watcher - always on the lookout and guardian of the little ones. 

These two are hard to tell apart, but I can usually find them together - preening.

Li'l Bit here has me a bit concerned - she's half the size of the other Cochins. She eats plenty, and gets rest. She's even smaller than my Orphingtons. Wonder if she's maybe a bantam in disguise. 

These two are pretty oblivious to everything. 

Eris & Circe - like Thing One and Thing Two . . . always up to mischief. We had to make a chicken jail just for them and they were only two days old!  They would dive-bomb the others and bounce off their heads. Eris even reached up and grabbed one of the Cochin's legs and pulled her off the perch JUST so she could have that spot!   Chaos and Mischief I tell you and they're only somewhat better behaved after three days in chicken jail. 

Hours of entertainment - and they change a bit everyday. Their permanent home and run is our next weekend project. 

Television for the Cats

I was up early grading some papers for school and I noticed our Berlioze sitting on top of the brooder.  My little chickies blissfully unaware of the lurking furball.

About an our later, I found Bijou lounging in what has become her favorite chair - laid back like she was watching television.  I now find her here at some point everyday. 

for the veggies

In spite of cold rainy weather and a few snow flurries, we made progress on a few projects at Our Haven. 

Our greenhouse foundations sits, waiting - we just found out our selection is on backorder until the end of May. So, we put our energies into making the raised beds.

Our plan is to start with two 4'x8'x24" beds and get things growing. In June, we'll add four more. 

 It was a bit cold, not to mention wet, so my sailor started a nice warm fire to work by.  We (he) did all the cutting and prep up in the barn out of the weather. 

 He also expanded his wishlist to include a table saw, saw horses, a work bench, and stand for his work light. For now, we make due with what we have - and it works.

 We used 1x8x12 cedar. Hubby cut the 12 foot section into one 4ft section and one 8ft section, each 12 foot piece gave us half the course of the box.  After everything was cut, we were ready to begin assembly. 

 Here is one of the long sides. We plan to sink the box a foot into the ground for stability and to prevent torquing from frost heaves. These puppies aren't going anywhere. 
 

Just when the sides were assembled, the sun came out! It was perfect.  I knew about where I wanted them, but not quite. I wasn't sure of how the size would impact the layout of the ground space, and considering that a crookedly hanging picture bugs me from two rooms away, I needed to stake them out and get a feel for the visual impact they would create in the space. 

Of course about 10 minutes after this picture was taken, the skies opened up and we had to call it for the day. Hubby staked the sides in place so we could finish up in later. 

Milder rain today allowed us to finish putting together the first veg box. Originally I thought three courses (24 inches) would be enough. After we got the wholes dug, and the sides sunk in, I realized that working from standing at that height wouldn't be the best angle for our backs since none of us are shorter than 5'10. We decided to add a fourth course to make it a bit taller. 

Once the box was set, we added galvanized chicken wire to keep rodents from being able to burrow up and then loaded about 6 inches of gravel for drainage. Now all that's left is to fill with my garden soil recipe and plant. Woohoo!

Cheep! Cheep! Sounds like chickens.

I have memories of feeding the chickens when I was a little girl (like 5 or 6) and my gram sending me out to collect eggs, of my mom having to comb chicken stuff out of my hair because I'd spent the day with the hens in the coop, and I remember my parents had the meanest rooster on the planet - used to chase me down and peck at my ankles while I rode my bike. Even still, I was excited at the thought of finally having a place to have my own chicks.

After 25 years, my sailor and I are finally settled - no more moving - and have put down roots in the Pacific Northwest. Our Haven is perfect for everything we want (including room for chickens). I was elated to find our property had a ready to go chicken coop that only needed a bit of cleaning, painting, and minor tlc. Thank goodness because our To Do List is full enough with building a greenhouse and raised veg boxes for the garden, not to mention mending fences.

This is our coop and run. The coop section is the back half. The front half is a shed. Eventually it will be part infirmary and nursery area, but for now it's just a shed. I'm keeping the brooder in the house for now. It's easier to keep an eye on them.
The next order of business, now that the brooder is done, is to get the coop and run ready. See the rectangle area, once upon a time, it was a run. We're going to extend it behind and out for more space.  

We live in the middle of nowhere, next to a state park. and have to worry about wolves, coyotes, bear, bobcats, weasels, you name it. Needless to say, we're going to be extra careful with the run area: set in concrete, hardware cloth, solid construction.

Here they are . . .
The first batch of babies, five Giant Cochins, are just about two weeks old now (Did I mention that I've been busy?) 

This is what they looked like when we got them home. 




This little bit was alert from the get go. She's turned out to be the guardian, and rivals Diva for pecking order #1. Let's just hope she's not a he. 

Look at that face!





The second batch are about a week old, we got them last Friday. Five Orpingtons (two buff and three that look like blonde chipmunks). 











If things go well, I want to add five more to the flock - golden Wyandottes come in in about a month. We'll have 15 in all. That's enough for a start.


I have to say that I am SO thankful to have found Back Yard Chickens
and The Chicken Chick  while doing my research. They've been so full of relevant and helpful advise. I highly recommend stopping by for all things chicken.