Checking out the new chickens

My little man loves watching the chickens.  Here are a couple photos of him one morning...

New Chickens

Our new chickens, Minnie, Bennet and Princess Leia

So, after much discussion, we decided to bypass raising chicks again.  We didn't want to start all the way over with chicks that would need to stay in the house for the next 4 weeks.  We had the City of Golden Permit, the coop, pen and run built, and the yard just felt empty with out chickens. We also have eaten our last egg from Belle, Briar Rose and Mermaid and don't want to wait until October to get eggs. After a lot of though, we are going to get some chickens that can be outside, but are still a few weeks away from laying eggs.

I felt bad not going to the Golden Mill for our chicks, but was able to support small local business through a farm in Erie, CO called Wildfire Farms.  I spoke to the lady and she said she had lots of types of chickens to choose from.  I ran up to her farm and quickly picked out three new pullets for our family.

   Bennet the Barred Rock  - born February 22, 2013 - received at 16weeks. $19
   Princess Leia the White Leghorn - born March 29th, 2013 - received at 11 weeks. $11
   Minnie the Rhode Island Red - born March 29th, 2013 - received at 11 weeks. $11

The one thing about not raising the new girls from chicks, is I am a little afraid how they will behave in their new surroundings and with our family.  I really like the looks of the black and white Barred Rock and they are suppose to be a real nice, kind, gentle breed but a bit bossy to the other chickens.  I am hoping that having the two younger chickens will keep Bennett from being too bossy.  The white leghorn, Princess Leia, is kinda spastic and skitish...  I have read that this is their breed, so I don't expect much change of her behavior.

Happy to have chickens again and its nice to have a couple new breeds to raise too!

We will miss you Belle, Briar Rose and Mermaid, you taught me and my family a lot in your short time with us!

My kids and our chicks  - April 2012

Got it!

So, after losing two chickens, I was sad.  After losing the third, I was pissed!  I went to HomeDepot to buy a raccoon trap but surprisingly they were all sold out?!  Huh?! Really?! Raccoon traps are that in need?!??!

Not wanted to wait for new ones to come in, I jumped on good old Craigslist and found a guy in nearby Lakewood who had a brand new trap for sale for $50, the same price as HD.  I met up with him and he gave me some tips on catching a raccoon.  I set the trap up Sunday night with some wet cat food and came out the next morning to find the food gone!  That means he is still around!  I set it up again last night and made sure to put the food farther to the back and came out this morning to find this mean guy in the trap!!  

Caught inside the chicken run, I am blaming this raccoon for the death of our three chickens
 and sentencing him to banishment from Golden for life!

Not feeling good about killing an animal who was pretty much invited to eat my chickens, I thought the best way to keep him from coming back would be exile him from Golden and release him down near Bear Creek Lake State Park. Its probably only about 7 miles away, but there is C-470 highway and I-70 highway that I hope keeps him away.  Goodbye and good ridden Rocky Raccoon!

I'll keep the trap set for the next week or more to see if he had any friends that liked chickens too while we discuss as a family what we want to do next about chickens.

Another one bites the dust....

While we lost two of our chickens earlier this week, sadly last night we lost Mermaid too.  I had her in the pen and was gone at a friends house.  I came home a little late around 11:30pm and went to close up the run, but found another pile of feathers in the pen.  Normally closing the coop up late hasn't been a problem this past year, but what ever got the chickens earlier this week, must still be hungry and came back for one last treat.

To be honest, I was feeling very bad for Mermaid being the last and lonely chicken.  I was also worried about introducing new chickens into her home.  While I am feel horrible she is gone and feel solely responsible for her death, I do feel like she is happier.  I hope she got to meet up with Belle and Briar Rose in a chicken coop in the sky!

I spoke to all our neighbors about what happend to the first two chickens.  One neighbor said he say them across the street and tried to catch them but they were too quick.  Another neighbor found an egg in his yard.  So, the chickens were out BEFORE they were attacked.  Another neighbor said they saw a big fat raccoon along their fence.  While its still not clear how the first chickens got out of the pen, evidence is leading to RockyRaccoon for the disappearance of Belle, Briar Rose and Mermaid.

Next step... catch the bastard raccoon that has been getting my chickens!!!

Sad news

The last photo of our chickens. My wife misplaced her wallet in the backyard and I told her the chickens had stolen it!

I am saddened to say, but over memorial day weekend, we were on a trip to Gunnison, CO and came home to find two piles of feathers in the back yard.  Mermaid was hiding and is still alive!  While not clear how the chickens got out, there is evidence that they had been in in the front yard before something got them.

Classic

A quick photo from gathering eggs this afternoon.  There is just something classic about eggs sitting in a nest of straw.

Shade

Other then the addition of a the upgrade to another door, I've been pretty happy about my chicken coop design and run set up.  Even though its been snowing every week, I was thinking about the hot summer days and that the chickens may need some shade.  The area under the coop, was fenced in on one side which prevents the chickens from getting out.  This also made the space under the coop useless.  I decided to take down that wood and then put some wire fencing in on the other sides to allow the chickens a place to hang out under the coop but still be in the larger fenced in area.  I made the quick modifcation one Friday afternoon and the next sunny morning, the chickens were all under the coop digging at the dirt and getting comfortable.  :)  I hope this provides them a cool enough place for the summer!

Chickens in Golden

So, the other day I took the kids down to the Golden Mill to see their latest shipment of chicks. My little boy loved watching the chicks.  It reminded me how CUTE they are and how QUICK the chicks grow!

After that, we were on our way along the Clear Creek bike path to the park and stopped by the Historic Park to check out the chickens down there.  It looked like the chicken house was getting a new roof and the chickens were on "vacation" over in the goats house.  This confused my daughter quite a bit...

I really enjoy living in a "smaller" city where chickens are a normal everyday occurrence.  I have noticed, as many of you may have noticed too, but people are circling back to bringing our lifestyles and food sources back to home. 

Trade

One thing about living in Golden is you can't throw a rock with out hitting a CSM student.  The house next door is a rental and we get a yearly influx of new CSM students as neighbors.  Usually they keep their peace and don't talk to use much.  Recently, I was talking to a guy who lives next door who is a Masters student who grew up in Alaska.  He was telling me about his summers fishing salmon with his father and sister.  He said he had a bunch of salmon from last years season and we ended up trading a FAT salmon steak for a dozen eggs!  Thanks to Nick H for the fish grilling secrets!  

 I never thought eggs would bring in some great tasting fish!  Thank you chickens!  

Good morning chickens!

Just a cute photo of my son watching over the chickens one morning!  :)

Who let the chickens out?!!?!??????

Lincoln!!!!!!!

So, my son is just starting to walk and I took him out to see the chickens.  The first thing he did was walk over to the gate and tried to open the latch... so cute!

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Snow Day!

Jeffco School were closed today for a snow storm!  Happily, this was the first storm this year that didn't show up on Saturday or Sunday.  We had a nice cozy morning and started the lazy day off with some strawberry and chocolate chip pancakes, made with fresh eggs.  Here is a quick pict of the coop and pretty clear run towards the end of the storm.  

4th big storm of the year

Happy Birthday!

The chickens are officially no longer pullets and now at 1 year old, the girls can be called hens!

Happy Birthday!  Mermaid (left), Cinderella (center) and big Belle (right)    

A little reflection on the past year with chickens...

• Here is the blog post from the first day way back in April 2012 when we brought the little chicks home.
• I now cherish each and every egg. In the 7 months the chickens have been laying eggs, I sadly dropped one egg and my son crushed two eggs that were left unattended.
• The chickens follow you around the yard, enjoy to be petted and wait for you to let them out of the run like a dog waiting at the front door eager to run outside. They truly have become family pets. 
• My daughter and I still are excited with anticipation every day collecting eggs.  "How many eggs did they give us?  Thank you for the eggs chickens!" she screams!
• I also really pay attention to the food scraps I give the chickens because I know that will come back right back to my family in the fresh eggs in a few days. 
• The Rhode Island Reds are really tough birds and just a couple mornings ago it only 1˚ out and the chickens were fine.  I remember worrying the first night they were outside it was over 40˚.
• The only eggs we have purchase since September were for dying for Easter.
• I love sharing the eggs with family, neighbors, and friends. 
• I love taking my son out in the morning to let the chickens out, or to feed the chickens in the evening and watching him smile and wave to the chickens.  He is only 1 year now and I hope he continues to enjoy having the chickens in our family.
• After the coop was built, the day to day cost of care for the chickens has really been minimal.  I purchase a $17 bag of Layena feed every 6-8 weeks and thats about it.  

Thank you to anyone who still reads the blog.  I don't update as much now a days as the chickens the daily routine is pretty normal, but will continue the blog and interesting posts as long as they are apart of our family.  Happy birthday chicks!

Snow Storms 2 & 3

The girls waiting the storm out inside their coop

While we had a pretty mild winter this January and February, the weekly snow storms of 8" and more in March and April have made up for it.  After shoveling out the chicken yard and coop, I had a little thought to myself...  why am I doing this?  I love the chickens and they are part of the family, but I'd rather be inside the warm house playing with the kids.  I also know the chickens don't like the deep snow and end up spending the days in the coop waiting for the snow to melt.  

Coming out for a walk after the snow

The coop during the storm

With a little notice for the next storms, I started covering the roof of the chicken run with some old carpet.  It worked nicely and actually kept the snow completely off the floor of the run.  The chickens came out during the snow and ate a bit of food and nibbled on the snow.

A nice dry chicken run

Bumblefoot - NSFW

The patient in recovering room

Another chicken buddy, SeaBass, sent me these gross pictures (don't say I didn't warn you) of this chicken who had a bad case of bumblefoot.   It pretty much is an infection on the chickens foot and can be caused by a number of things.  I am sure that the dirt and feces the chickens walk in can take a small thing like a thorn or splinter and make it much worse.  His chicken was lethargic and not acting normal.  Dr. SeaBass bought a scalpel online and did some home surgery.  

I would check your chickens for bumble foot. I found that 3 of my 6 had it. We performed surgery on them and they are better now.

I ordered a scalpel just to have it handy if I ever have to perform other surgery as well. I had one chicken die a while ago because she had an impacted crop. If you have any chickens that are lethargic this is a symptom of impacted crop. Amazing what you learn!

He ended up finding a thorn in the wound.  He cleaned it and wrapped it up and the chicken was better a few days later. 

So, just keep this in mind and check your chickens feet every now and then, or if they act a bit more weird then normal chickens do.  :)

Successful surgery

The thorn that caused the bumblefoot

Monster Egg

I came across this "news" story of an lady in China who found her chicken had laid an egg with two yokes + another egg!  I'd love to come across this one day, but like the lady said, she thought the chicken was dying!  Ha!  Poor chicken...  Anyways, here is the video...

A chicken in China's Guizhou province laid a huge egg. Inside this large egg there was another egg. The 87-year-old owner of the chicken says she thought the hen was dying it was trying to lay the big egg. Take a look: 

Rocky the Raccoon

I have named this scoundrel Rocky

One night, a couple hours after sunset, I went out to close up the chicken run, and saw something dark running across the yard.  The next evening, I was heading out for a night bike ride and parked my car in the back by the coop to load up my bike and caught the "something" in the act.  While he wasn't going for the chickens, he was going for the chicken feed.  I've heard stories of raccoons only going for the eggs, but I have also heard of the raccoons slaughtering a whole coop.  :(  I've started shutting the coop down before sunset and hope that Rocky doesn't get too hungry... I am guessing Rocky is related to these little ones from last summer... I wonder where his sibling is?

Snow Day

An early morning photo of the coop and run shoveled.

We got about 6" of snow last night.  This morning I was out shoveling the sidewalk and clearing off the cars and decided I should get some of that snow out of the way for the chickens.  I like where the chicken coop is located in the yard, but with the lower angle of the sun in the winter, the coop and run are shaded much of the day because of the garage on the south side of the chickens area.  My hope is the snow will melt a bit faster and the girls won't spend the next few days in the coop waiting for the ground to clear while the snow melts.  I never thought I would be shoveling snow out a chicken coop!  :)

Egg Dish

Fixing my car, speeding down the trails, remodeling the house, learning new programs or even controlling classrooms full of middle schoolers don't scare me, however baking does!  I don't know why but I'm pretty timid when it comes to the kitchen but up until now, I have only cooked scramble eggs, hard boiled eggs, egg sandwichs, or even exotic egg burritos. ;)  Today I would like to announce a first!  Being Sunday, I wanted to make a special breakfast for the family.  I put a layer of cooked bacon at the bottom, then a package of hash browns, and a pound of cheese with a dozen fresh eggs on top and baked for 45min. I am not a big cook, so this dish was a big step for me!  It took me a while to save up the 12 eggs and when done, we had A LOT of food for the 3 1/2 of us (we had a couple days worth of leftovers).  I don't know when I'll make this again, but I am happy to have successfully made a new egg dish!  A+ for me!  

Chicken Fan

Link smiling at the chickens and the chickens checking out the little guy!

My little son is 11 months now and loves seeing the chickens.  I take him out with me to gather eggs and when I feed them our scraps.  Here is a cute picture of him waving to the girls!  :)

Egg Info

Came across this article giving a little information about eggs.  Enjoy!

http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/12/18/jane-says?cmpid=tp-ptnr-100days