Chicken Tetherball

When you read the blog post, you probably had one of two ideas.

1 - Two chickens playing tether ball against each other

2 - Two kids playing tetherball with chicken instead of a ball

Well, if you are a reader of this blog, hopefully you had idea #1!

Another blogger sent me a link a couple months ago about what chicken eat.  Its a good read with some helpful info, good ideas for treats (like a lettuce tetherball) and a funny story. Check it out, chicken heads!

http://gardenally.blogspot.com/2012/04/chickens-love-treats.html

Feeder

This post is nothing more then a photo of the 3 chicks eating from the feeder.  When I made the feeder, I questioned putting in 3 holes in it as opposed to one long tray.  From what I saw today, it looks like the 3 holes is working well for the girls.  When they eat, Belle usually tries to take feed or worms or watermelon from the others.  With the 3 holes in the feeder, they each can eat in peace.

Coop Roost

Princess Aurora chilling on the outdoor roost

The rectangular coop is fairly boring to me, so I have been thinking of things to add to it to entertain the chicks and give them something to do during the day.  I have added a roosting stick and was happy to see Princess Aurora Sleeping Beauty hanging out on it this evening.  Anyone else out there have any other ideas or things they have added to their coops or runs?

11 Weeks

The girls - 11 Weeks old

The chicks are 11 weeks old now.  As I was uploading the photos, I saw the red coloring on Belle's comb and below her beak and noticed that both Mermaid and Princess Aurora lacked that color... I still wonder if Belle is a Beast!? 

Mermaid - 11 weeks

Belle - 11 weeks

Mermaid jumping into Princess Aurora's photo...

Chick treats

The chicks have been enjoying these mealworms as evening treats.  How much would you pay for a bag of dead worms...  I thought $4-$5 was reasonable, but the bag sells for almost $9!  Man, thats the price of a good burger!  I hope the chicks enjoy their treats.

Waterer

The chicks learning to use their new waterer

I bought this 5 gallon waterer for the chicks about 3 weeks ago from a guy on Craigslist. Since I finally got the coop & run finished and it was about 98deg today in Golden, I finally got the bucket hung for the girls. I hung it and they didn't look at it for a couple hours. I finally got in the run and took each chick and put their beaks right under the nipple.  I came back an hour or so later, and the above photo is what I saw.  So happy that I don't have to fill their little waterer twice a day, and that the chickens have as much water as they need.  I know during the winter I will need to figure out how to keep the water from freezing, but I'll leave that for a project in October.  Stay cool!

10 weeks

Mermaid, Princess Aurora and Bell - 10 weeks old

The chicks turned 10 weeks just a few days ago.  They are in the their coop at night and spending their days in the run.  I am excited because we are now about 1/2 to getting eggs and I hope to be eating some fresh eggs in early September.  The chicks are eating a ton now and drinking lots of water in these hot days.  As I was cutting up a watermelon for the family, I thought I would give them the rinds and they loved it.  I hope to start giving them more of our leftovers now.

The chicks digging into the gravel to find a cool place to lay

The chicks pecking at watermelon

Chicken Run - Completed

The chicks hiding under the ramp the first few moments in their new run

I got the chicken run completed this weekend!  I was a little worried about the chicks finding their way back into the coop, so I put some feed on the ramp.  I went out just before bedtime and the feed was gone and the chicks were in the coop.  :)   I put their feeder outside and water inside to also help promote going back and forth.

Add wiring on top

Door assembled

Chick feeder in run

  I also installed the feeder below the roof of the coop.  I want to keep the feed as dry as possible.

Wire added to east side

The chicks hiding under ramp in their first few minutes in the run

Chicken Run - Day 1

Chicken run - After Day 1

I got some time this week and got a head start on the chicken run.  I have been letting the chickens "free range" out in the back yard over the last two weeks.  I've let them out from 20min up to 4 hours and they really seem to enjoy exploring the yard.  However, I do need to get their run completed so they can go in and out of their coop on their own.  The run is basically a 4'x8' rectangle about 42" high.  I am going to enclose it with welded wire to prevent predators. (I saw a raccoon infront of the house just this week).  I am also going to add rock and gravel on the floor of the coop for moisture and chick poop drainage.  I will add a door for human access too.  I dont foresee spending a lot of time in the run, but I want to be able to get in there if need be.

This was a pretty expensive trip to Home Depot.  I had to buy 50' of 4' black welded wire $60, 7 bags of river rock $30, 7 bags of gravel $30 plus some extra 2"x4"s.  I also bought an electric staple gun which is AWESOME!  Its so easy to use and only cost $27.  I am a staple fiend now and it makes attaching the wire to the wood very EASY.

Step 1 - Build frame and staple the wire around the bottom

Step 2 - Add river rock

Step 3 - Add gravel

Step 4 - Add soil

I am pretty please with the progress today.  I need to build the door, then paint all the wood, then I will finally staple the wire fencing.  I'll post more photos as I get more work done.  Cheers!

Chick Feeder

Chick feeder with cap off

I built my own chick feeder from 3" PVC piping this week.  It took about 5 minutes to build and $14 worth of materials.  The goal is to allow enough food for the chicks to be ok for a couple days with out attendance to their feed, while keeping their feed dry and allowing external access to their feed.   I used a 2 1/4" hole saw.  Another chick owner made a similar feeder and used 3" hole saw to give the chickens enough room for their combs.  I have plenty of PVC left over, so I am going to see if these holes are big enough for the girls and cut another one if the chicks have trouble with the holes.  I'll post photos of it in the finished run when completed.

Chick feeder with cap on

8 Weeks

Mermaid, Princess Aurora, and Belle - 8 Weeks old

The chicks are 8 weeks now.  They all seem happy to be outside and are getting use to spending time pecking and hunting in the grass in their temporary pen.

They have also been in the coop for about 5 nights and I was happy to see Belle on her roost this morning when I went to check on them. Its interesting because they don't drink much all day long, then at night they empty their water bottle.  I wonder if the heat from the lamp through the night makes them thirsty?