Puddle

 

Puddle visited us this morning...

Have a happy new year!

Time flies

  Well this is new. Last I put on here the young ones had just moved outside. They are now living in the big coop, and look like big girls. Here you can see our Wyandottes(only two now, the third died), Eleanor, Betsy, and Amelia. They're all laying eggs now, and Betsy just came out of her first broody spell!

   Puddle and Harriet are living in our jail... Puddle hadn't been fitting in with our other roosters, and Harriet had some crop issues so they moved in. And have set up an apparently permanent residence.

   Annie has an impressive pair of cheekpuffs, which she's learned how to fling them away from your hand when you go to touch her.

   Blondie ate an egg a couple days ago... and she pouted when I cleaned up what she hadn't eaten.

   I will put more on again soon!

  The chicks have been growing...

                                                          And growing...

And growing.

                                                   And we got...Wyandottes!!

When we first got them they were way to small to be in with the other girls. They were younger than we thought...only a day or two old. So we separated them from the rest until they got strong enough to be with the rest.

                                           They've been growing too.

They get along with the others pretty good now, dispite their size difference.

   Puddle is still going outside at night to sleep under Lulu. Puddle is to the size where she (or is it he?) cant go under as much- when she goes under Lulu's wing and you can see her head and tail, but it's good enough for her.

 

I'll keep putting pictures on as they get older!

 

Brand new Cheekpuffs!

                                                        Ta-da! 6 new Americanas!

              We're going to name them after our other cheekpuffs that have died(of course Clara is still going strong, so we're in the process of finding a new name for the remaining one).

                   Puddle has moved into the house with them, although she is still going outside with Lulu at night for a couple of nights. It took a few minutes but they're all buddies!

   

   Everyone has been enjoying the nice weather we've been having!

                         Puddle has been growing so fast! Her feathers are so cool, they look like Silkie feathers with some of Sunshine's orange. It'll be interesting to see what she turns out like.
                         I'll put more pictures on as the chicks grow!

Puddle is here!

                                                              This is Puddle!

                                                     She hatched Friday night.

                                                  Lulu is very protective of her.

                                                          They took a selfie!

                                             Here is happy grandma Sunshine.

  She is the only one of the four eggs to hatch. A few days before the hatch date we candled the 3 fertile eggs and they were all doing fine. But, sometimes that happens. We're hoping she's a hen, since she's the only one to hatch.
  She looks a lot like her mom at that age, doesn't she?

                 Here is the brooder box thing that mom built in their coop for them.
 
  I will put more pictures on as she grows!

Update

  It's been quite a while since I've done a new post, and I think it's about time for an update. 
 
  Lulu is currently sitting on four eggs! We candled them a few days ago, and saw veins in two of them the other two's shells where to thick to tell yet.
  Poor little Clara is the last remaining of the cheekpuffs (Americanas). She is protesting the cold weather, and sitting on her own personal spot on the roost most of the day.
  Mini Trouble has been doing very well in the big coop with Trouble and they have been getting along amazingly well the last few weeks.
  In the jail, only Fanny (Abe) and Cluck remain. Cluck has been molting. Certainly not the best timing for that. It looked like a chicken exploded in their house from all the feathers she lost.
     We only have 26 chickens now. Hopefully all of Lulu's eggs hatch so we can bring that number up a little. I will put some pictures of the chicks on here when they hatch. =D

Here is Pinky.

In the house.

Monday night the other chickens(mainly the Black Stars) in her coop were picking on her.  She's molting, so she looks really bad and they all just weren't getting along.  So we brought her in the house.  She actually kinda likes it in here.  Today she has dusted in her bedding at least 5 times.  We let her out to explore this afternoon and she had fun preening, and preening, and preening, and preening...right in the middle of the living room.  

Our dog, Trixie, is kind of scared of her, but Pinky has been throwing food out of her chicken kennel for Trixie to eat so she doesn't mind to much.

Last week Martha, our wonderful mud loving hen, died.  She had been acting strange lately like she was cold and tired, so last Thursday we brought her in the house so she would be warm, knowing she wouldn't live much longer.  

She died that night. 

We are going to name a chick we get this year Martha after her.

News from the Coop.By Peep

 A lot has been going on lately.
 First they moved Bella from the bantam coop to the big coop-my house-and we were getting along okay untill this big bird came and stole him. Sadly he never came back. Erin said that was fine with her but she doesn't get along with anyone anyway.
 Then Buffy started looking and acting weird.She got very big and round and she just wanted to sit on the roost and do nothing.That didn't make sense to me I would've wanted to go out and play if I was her but I guess she didn't feel very good.The other girls wanted to pick on her so I roosted between her and the others a few times.Then a week or two ago she got better but the others still wern't happy about her so she spends her time on the top of the nest boxes and on the roosts.
 They tell me it's 2015.I don't know what to think of that.
 Now Mini Trouble,Trouble's other grandson is living in the big coop with us.He's used to sleeping in nest boxes an he thinks its safe. But we can't lay eggs when there's a rooster in the nest box so the people have to keep taking him out.
 Yesterday they were cleaning out the coop so us chickens escaped.We had a ton of fun running around in the cold.Untill they were done and had to put us in.We didn't want to go in though. Even round little Martha the Americauna wanted to stay out.
 Well I need to go look for food maybe I can work on putting on some pictures later.
    Written by Peep With help from Olivia.

Update on the Chickens

 Sorry I haven't done anything on here for a while!

Fuzzes "grandkids" have been growing so fast!
 Bella the oldest is sadly a rooster.Mom and Dad have been calling him Fella but I think I'll always call him Bella.
 Mini Trouble is also a rooster.His crowing is the worst sounding crow I have ever heard.
 Splat is the only girl of the silkies this year.Fuzz has been giving her "egg laying lessons"in the nest boxes.
  We will be looking for homes for both roosters.
 Trouble has the 8 young hens in with him.At first he was discusted..but now he has a buddy of one of the young Rhode Island Reds.
 We built a new coop for the bantams.So that left the tractor to become....
JAIL.Some of the older Red Stars,Both Black Stars,and Fanny(Abe) were being mean or to rough on the other chickens so they have moved to their very own Jail.
 All of the chickens have been doing pretty well exept an older Rhode Island Red died of some unknown disease.
 I will try to get some pictures of the new coop,the younger chickens,and the jail on here soon!

New Arrival!

Trouble's a grandpa, Fuzz is a grandma!

Hatched 5/20/14, Fuzzette's (this Fuzzette's name is Fluff) little chick Bella (if it's a pullet)!  A little explanation here:  Fuzz and Trouble had 4 chicks, 3 pullets (all named Fuzzette) and 1 rooster (Toot).  So, Fuzz and Trouble are grandparents, Fuzzette (Fluff) is a mom.  She has 2 more eggs due to hatch next week that are currently being incubated by Fuzz.  We attempted to hatch 3 of Sunshine's eggs, unfortunately, it turned out they were not fertile eggs.  

The nest boxes on the small coop, insulated for winter but seem to keep them a little cooler in the heat too.  We're almost done building a third coop (another little one) to be able to separate the little chicks out a little and have more of them!  

Notes about Breeds

Just some spring notes as we're thinking ahead . . . from our experience with chickens so far:

1. Americanas don't seem to be very winter hardy, or maybe very hardy in general. Our remaining Americanas are always roosting in the hen house towards late afternoon on cold days, they frequently are all fluffed up and just looking cold.  This is the only breed we've had trouble with a prolapse on too.  The breed is so interesting to look at and very friendly, and you can get so many different colors, but probably not one we'll be getting more of.

2.  Red Stars (also called Red Sex-Link, they are easily identified as male or female by their markings as chicks), in our experience, is a very "picky" breed.  Ours "pick" on everyone . . . we have very few hens that have full tails because of them.  In fact, some have no tails and some have few feathers in their rump too.  We've seen them pick right in front of us, that's just not a nice trait to have.  They lay nice, brown, uniform eggs, but needless to say, there won't be any more Red Stars here.
3.  Australorps are a very interesting breed, they make a noise that isn't usual for chickens, kind of like a "honk".  They are very friendly birds as long as you don't want to pick them up (they don't seem to need to be picked up and would prefer to follow you around).  One of our friendliest hens right now is an Australorp named Peep who meets us at the doors to our house and is happy to follow us just about anywhere. 
4.  Rhode Island Reds seem to be an okay bird.  We have two of them, neither is real friendly, one picks, the other doesn't.  The jury is still out on them.
5.  Buff Orpingtons are supposed to be very nice, calm, happy chickens.  We have one.  She is the low-chicken on the totem pole and maybe that would explain her behavior.  She is loud, fast, and mean (to us, in picking at us when we get too close, although if you pick her up, she is fine).  The jury is still out on that breed too.
6.  Silkies are wonderful.  They are little walking puffballs, but they are rather noisy.  If you tame them as chicks (it's hard not to), they are little sweeties.  We have 4 full-blood Silkie hens, 2 full-blood Silkie roosters, 1 half-Silkie hen and 1 half-Silkie rooster.  No picking of feathers goes on with this bunch.  Our Silkies have a hen house of their own with our Nankins.  They lay nice medium eggs, but are often broody.
7.  Nankins are delightful little tiny pet-like chickens.  They are so interesting to watch and lay small eggs and are also often broody.  We have 1 full-blood Nankin and 1 Silkie-Nankin, both are really cool to look at!  They are tiny, so they have to be with other small banties, and they don't want to be picked up but will happily roost on your hand.  A very neat breed, that I think is one of the rare types.  Worth having, we will probably be getting more of these.  If you get some (and have a rooster), let the hen sit on eggs at least once (the tiniest of chicks comes out of them!).

So, that's all we have time for right now . . . just a few thoughts on our bunch!

Hurray For Sunny!

   Sunny has moved to a new home and now has his very own flock of hens!  He is very happy!
   I'm not really sure what chickens we're going to get this year, but I'm pretty sure we're going to get some Nankins.
    We had a very windy day a little while ago and we said if the Fuzzettes were on ice they would get blown away! They are so lightweight!  And Toot would just be standing there wondering where they went!  They're so goofy. :)

Betsy

Yesterday Betsy died.  She had a prolapse.  It's sad because she was one of my favorites. Trouble kept crowing for her.  Now we only have 4 Americanas.  We'll have to get more this spring.  We found out Sunshine is a Nankin, so we might get some this spring.  I also would like to get some Belgian Bearded d'Uccles.

The Chickens Thanksgiving
One morning, Trouble called the chickens together.  "Today is Thanksgiving," he said.  "We must have a turkey!  Betsy, you and Buffy, News, Clara, Martha, and Harriet will make pumpkin pie.  We will all share it.  Sunny, Fanny and Toot will help me get a turkey!  All the other hens will be helpful and watch the time.  Sunny, Fanny, and Toot, come, let's put our hats and boots on and go find a turkey!"

Later, after the roosters left, the hens were working on the pie.  Sunshine, Fuzz and Lulu showed up and helped with the pie.  Then Pinky, Peep and Amelia brought eggs and they broke them into the batter.

Sunshine screamed, "You're not supposed to put the shell in there!"

The Fuzzettes came and looked.  "It looks fine to us!" they yelled.

At that very moment, the roosters were sneaking up on a big turkey.

"It's a good thing that man didn't see it," Toot whispered.

Trouble shot at the turkey and he flew back about 10 feet!  "Did I get it?" he asked.

"Yes!"  yelled Fanny.

They drug it back and Peep, Sunshine, and Extra Fluff cooked it.  When they finished, they all sat around their meal. 

Trouble said, "Now we will give thanks for this wonderful meal."  And they did and they had a wonderful Thanksgiving.                     ~Olivia

Sunny dusting in the late summer heat. 

He almost buries himself in all the work of dusting!

 

 

We haven't posted all summer, so thought we'd better get you all up-to-date.  Fuzz and her chicks moved outside, they're in the small coop with Sunshine and Lulu (who have both been broody at least once this summer--we didn't let them sit on eggs though).  They're all getting along fairly well.  We're pretty sure all 4 of the Silkie chicks are pullets.  Unfortunately, "Fanny" (Americana/Silkie cross) is a rooster, so we've renamed him Abe.

 

Everyone in the big coop is laying eggs (there's 21 hens and 1 rooster), we're getting between 12-18 eggs a day!  They love to be let out to graze and scratch around the yard.  They have a large outdoor enclosure and we let them out into the unfenced yard almost everyday.  Scooter (Sunny) is out in the yard on his own every day and stays in a giant dog kennel on the deck at night.  His feathers are so pretty, no one wants to rehome him, but he can get kind of nasty.  We've found out he's afraid of pinwheels.  LOL

 

 

Girls in the big coop waiting to be let out into the yard.



 

They're all here!

Fuzz and 2 of her 3 chicks (so far) . . . the one on the left is Fanny (Americauna/Silkie cross), the one on the right is Puff (Silkie), the one underneath is Toot (Silkie).  So far the 2 Silkies look to be blue or maybe splash, we'll see.  The other 2 eggs should hatch today!

Okay, 2 have hatched so far, one egg from Harriet (she's an Americauna) and one of Fuzz's eggs . . .

Fanny and Puff.  Yay Fuzz!  Fuzz is acting super happy.

Fuzz's eggs are PEEPING! 

We moved her and her eggs inside and there is a beak sticking out of one! 

At least some of them should hatch tonight! 

Stay tuned . . .

We don't have any chickens IN the house any more!  Here's a picture about a week before they moved out, there's 6 Red Star, 5 Black Australorp, 2 Rhode Island Red, and 1 Buff Orpington (Buffy). 

Here they are in their own outside coop with Sunshine and LuLu.  Their combs and waddles are growing every day.

Lulu's comb and waddles have grown too!  She's 5 1/2 months old and should start laying eggs soon, but not if she's like Sunshine, she started late.  Sunshine and Lulu are the bosses in their coop and adopted all the chicks fairly well, but Lulu still doesn't really like them.

Sunny has his own coop on the deck and roams free most of the day.  He's grown bigger than our other rooster (Trouble) and has beautiful feathers.  He does a little "turkey dance" when he sees the hens.  :-)

Little Miss Fuzz Fuzz is broody and sitting on 5 eggs (4 of her own, 1 of Harriets)!  Last night we candled and can see them moving inside!  They're due to hatch on 5/30.

That should update you on what's been going on the last 2 months!