Egg Candling:  We're learning how to candle eggs (it just means shining a very bright flashlight into the egg in a dark room so you can see what's inside).  Here's a really neat video of candling where you can actually SEE THE HEART BEATING ON DAY 5!  Scroll ahead to 8:15 on the timer if you want to get right to the best part!  This is in a duck egg, so it's much easier to see then the chicken eggs.

 

Why are we candling??  Little Miss Sunshine is sitting on eggs, she's been on them now for a week.  Yes, it's the wrong time of year, but she decided to be broody and successfully sat and layed an egg a day for three days and is still sitting on them.  She gets up off them for about 15 min. each day.  We've been having a little trouble keeping the other hens from getting in with her and laying their eggs (she chose the box that everyone seems to like to lay their eggs in, even though there are 5 other boxes to choose from).  :-)  If all goes well, the eggs will hatch in about 21 days.  We are hopeful, but not too much since it's almost December and getting cold.  She's nice and warm and so are her eggs, but anything can happen this time of year.  We will keep you updated!

 

 

Here's one more video of an egg being candled, clearly showing the little chick moving around inside!  So cool!

Sunshine is a HEN! 

She layed her 1st egg on Monday (10/22) and it's TINY!!!  Look at it compared to the other eggs!

 

 

She hasn't layed an egg since Monday, but she was sitting in the nest box today, so maybe she's thinking about one.  Fuzz is broody, but won't sit on eggs without a days break in between (so we took the eggs out from under her, but she's still trying to hatch something).  I was just outside holding the rooster, he's not very tame on the ground, but is very tame in the air.  :-)

Rose is a hen!! 

 

 

She layed her first egg yesterday!  A big surprise and a HUGE egg!  Rose is a Redstar (cross between a Rhode Island Red and a New Hampshire Red), she's a big girl.

 

 

Martha the cheek-puff saying "Hi!" (she's a bearded Americana, but it sure sounds better to say cheek-puff).  That's Amelia in the background.  Everyone is growing, combs and all!  The younger group is 4 1/2 months, the older group is just over 6 months.

Rainy Day This Afternoon

 

 

Rainy Day Fuzz . . . this is what Silkies look like in the rain.  Poor Fuzz! 

Here they are eating an apple.  They really love apples, but the seeds are not good for them so we cut them out first.  You can't see the rain on anyone in this picture but Fuzz, her undercoat of silver is showing through.  She needs a blow dryer!


Fall in Wisconsin --

this is a picture of one of our red pine trees that I took this week for a report on trees.

 



Here's the Hen House with Trouble the Rooster and Fuzz the Hen outside.

Sunshine is the next one in line to start laying eggs -- come on Sunshine, you can do it!

Thursday, 9/27/12:  Dear little Blackie passed away today, she was just much more fragile then we realized.  We decided to keep her in the house, but she only got to spend one night inside and passed away the next day.  We loved her dearly, she was the most interesting and different chicken that we have ever seen!  If anyone wants a pet house chicken (and doesn't care much about eggs), we would definitely recommend a Seabright or two.  They make wonderful friends!

So, that's the bad news. 

The good news (on the very same day, thank you Lord for good and bad today) is . . .

 

Fuzz layed her first egg!! 

Here I am holding her first and second eggs.  We were so surprised to find the first one, she has now layed 5 eggs and each one is perfectly shaped, and becoming lighter and a little pinker each time.  I ate Day #2 egg and it was delicious!  I just went outside and picked up her fifth egg!  She did a lot of cackling today (and that made the rooster join in too). 

We Moved!

The chickens moved into their new coop and HUGE yard over a week ago,
they LOVE it! 

 It's not quite finished on the outside and we'll post more pictures as soon as it is.  See how big it is next to the old one?  The new is insulated, hs 6 nest boxes and 3 roosts (Fuzz is laying her eggs in a nest on the floor).

Month 5 3/4:  Well, A LOT has happened here since I last posted. 

 

First, from Blackie . . .

 "Hi, it's cold here, please send blanket to me!  I love to be in the house, it's warm! 

Here's me visiting . . ."

"I LOVE yogurt . . ."

"And I love to visit school!"

 

The chickens all LOVE Chicken Oats!

 

Everyone out here is anxiously waiting for us to get the new (another NEW, larger) coop done so they can move in before it gets too cold.  We now have 12 hens and 1 rooster (6 Americana hens, 2 Blackstar hens, 1 Redstar hen, 1 Silkie bantam hen, 1 Silkie bantam rooster, 1 Seabright hen, and 1 Buff Orpington bantam hen), and no eggs yet.

 

This is me and Fuzz, she likes yogurt too, but all the chickens have to clean their beaks off in the dirt after they eat it.  I guess they don't like dirty beaks!

 

Day 84:  A lot has happened in this last month! 

First, everyone has grown! 

Freckles was becoming mean with the other roosters, so he went to live with someone else.

All of my chickens moved to the outside coop when mom's chicks came.  Cupcake (the speckled Rooster above) became a free-range rooster a couple weeks ago after he started fighting with Trouble (the white Silkie above).  He stayed in a very large dog kennel at night, but unfortunately, a raccoon got him last night.  He was doing very well at the free-ranging, but I guess we didn't realize we had raccoons in the area and didn't anticipate their craftiness. 

So here is our rooster, Trouble (or Cowboy as mom & dad sometimes call him because of his "chaps"), a very nice rooster and he will have a lot of hens to take care of.  I'll tell you about our new chicks tomorrow (they're 4 weeks old already)!

Day 48:  Freckles visited the new coop,

tried out the perch and took a chick-nap (much shorter than cat-naps).

We're building their chicken coop as fast as we can

so they can get in it before they outgrow their brooder box! 

The chicks LOVE it outside!

They're spending a lot of the afternoon outside now in a large dog crate

and they are loving the warm weather.

Fuzz is very tame and dad thinks she's spoiled.

Why would he think that?!

Day 33:  The chicks are outside talking to Cousin Riley on Skype!  They look like they're having a conversation about what Riley is showing them (a new roll of tape).  :-) 

Miss Sunshine says "Hi, I am happy outside because I have such fluffy feathers!"

Cowboy is sporting some impressive chaps!

Someone has been crowing lately -- we caught the "someone" today, it was Freckles.  So, we're no longer sure of anything.  I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Day 26:  This is COWBOY!  He used to be Trouble, we renamed him since it looks like he's wearing chaps and cowboy boots with his feathery feet.  We're thinking he's a rooster, though we're not 100% sure of anything yet.

I discovered that Freckles and Cupcake like to play with pinecones.  We took them all outside together today and put them in a pen for about a half hour.  They loved it (of course)!  It was in the 80s today, a perfect day to be out!

Sunshine's feathers are coming in very nicely, she's almost out of the ugly stage!

Hi!  Aren't I pretty??  Can I come out tomorrow?

Day 19:  The rest of the bunch visited the great outdoors today!

Fuzz enjoyed it!  She enjoyed it so much that she wanted to have more space and tried to run down the driveway . . . it didn't work.  She's such a lap chicken, we were really surprised at how much she loved being outside!

Cupcake did the opposite of what we expected, she just stood there and didn't move.  Indoors she's one of the most active, but outside, that's another story.  Notice her beautiful wing feathers!

Blackie looked so small outside, she really looks too small for her wings at this stage (Golden Sebright's maintain the ability to fly).  She liked perching on my hand outside, but didn't mind the grass either.

Sunshine was . . . well, I'm not sure, I was paying more attention to Blackie, Mom was watching Sunshine most of the time.  She seemed to like it outside as much as the rest of them.  We could really see her beautiful feathers in the sunlight, she's so pretty.  I can't imagine them getting all grown up, they seem to have been little for so long, it seems they'll stay little forever!!

Day 15:  Outside today for the FIRST TIME! 

Trouble was a little overwhelmed and didn't move much.

Freckles LOVED it outside, she ate 2 insects and walked around pecking at grass

 and clover (they love clover). 

Another FIRST for today, daddy installed a roost and Freckles is the first to use it

(well, the only one so far)! 

Day 13:  Cupcake loves the top of the feeder!

I'm sick today and the chicks have been very nice to come visit me!  Especially Fuzz, she fell asleep in my hands.  So cute!

Fuzz is a Blue Silkie Bantam and Trouble is a White Silkie Bantam with 5 toes and feathers on their feet.  Silkie's make wonderful pets and are know as the "lap dog" of chickens because of their friendly personality and silky soft feathers.  They lay white eggs, make good broody hens, and should weigh around 2 lbs as adults. 

Sunshine is a Buff Orpington Bantam, which are known for being very friendly and good brown egg layers.  They are very docile, adapt well to many environments and have beautiful buff-colored, fluffy feathers. 

Day 10:  Freckles, the escape artist!

Freckles, we found out, loves to be independent.  Yesterday, while the brooder box lid was open, she flew out and landed on the side of the box.  Hmmm.  Later, we found out she is a Buttercup Bantam (Buttercup's apparently don't like being confined).  She will eventually have moose-like cup-shaped comb unique only to Buttercups.  She is the most observant of all, and is more than ready to exit whenever she sees the lid open.

Cupcake sits in your hand very nicely, she is most likely a White Laced Red Bantam, though she could be some other sort of Red Bantam. 

Blackie is most likely a Golden Sebright Bantam, well known for their ability to fly (another), with larger wings than most.  Blackie is feathered out the most of all of the chicks at this point and also sits very nicely in your hands.  Golden Sebright's will lay only 1 tiny white egg per week, are active, and are bred for their sweet nature and beautiful plumage. 

So, knowing all of this, I think we'll be waiting for mom's chicks to get our egg production, but mine will definitely be the prettiest!

Day 8:  Yippee, the chicks got a new house today!! 

They've been scratching and running around having fun!

The chicks were outgrowing their 10 gal aquarium (they didn't really g-r-o-w out of it, but needed room for more activity), so we built them a new home this morning.  It's almost 4 feet long, 20 inches wide and 14 inches high, made of wood, lined with tyvek, with a removable lid.  With a little rearranging, it fit where the aquarium was, with the heat lamp overhead.  Sprinkles, the hampster, is right next door to the chicks.  Thank you Daddy for making this nice house!! 

Blackie says this huge new house has tired me right out!

Cupcake is such a sweetie!  Look at those wing feathers!

Okay, so we weren't paying very good attention when we picked up our little chicks . . . we don't remember what kinds we have, so we've had to do a bit of guessing and looking at a chick book.  We know Fuzz is a Blue Silkie, Trouble is a White Silkie, Sunshine may be a Black Tailed Buff, Blackie is most likely a Quail Antwerp Belgian, Cupcake might be a White Laced Red (though we hope not), and Freckles could be anything!  They're all bantams (smaller than normal size), we're sure of that.  :-)

Dad brought home a new waterer for them today, but when we got home they had made a wet mess of half of their enclosure.  So we're doing some rearranging. 

Everyone's feathers are really growing, and

Blackies tail feathers are about 1/2 inch long already!



Blackie is beautiful, especially when he stretches out his wings. 

He's staying, rooster or not!