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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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!

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!  :)

8 months

Princess Aurora, Belle and Ariel at 8months old

Just a photo update of the chickens.  They are almost 8 months old now and pretty big girls!  I guess technically they are still pullets and will officially become hens at 1 year old.

Fall Season

I was raking the leaves this afternoon and Ariel Mermaid thought she would helped me out.  :)

3 Eggs

Egg shaped eggs

So, its been a while since I have updated the blog.  School has started back up and with the little bit of time I've had, I have been trying to ride my bike, get some cross racing done and spend time with the kids.

While I haven't written about the chicks, they are doing really well.  They consistently give us 2 eggs a day which is about perfect for our family.  When we get eggs out of the nest box, Lucy says "Thank you for the eggs chicks!" By Sunday, our egg basket in the kitchen is empty and we start another week collecting eggs. The other day I surprisingly found 3 eggs which will be great when my little boy starts eating real food.

When I get home from work each day, I let em run about the yard until dark.  By then, they have returned back in the coop and nested for the night.  One day, I came out back like normal after school to run the sprinklers, and I freaked out as I saw the chickens door was wide open! Someone forgot to close the evening before.  The chickens had put them selves to bed, woke up and spent the day in the yard all on their own! Thank goodness there were no animals to grab the chickens.

The girls carefully check out the lettuce tetherball before demolishing it! 

3 Nesting Hens

I woke up this morning and being a nice fall day, I wanted the chicks to come out and free range in the yard for a while.  As I went to their run, they weren't in there.  I went and looked in the coop, nothing!  Then I opened the door and saw all 3 of them nesting!  Later on, I went and collected eggs and gathered 2 eggs... it seems like Princess Aurora is still working on her first egg.  I have heard of people building 5 nest boxes only for all the chickens to use one.  I was happy to see each nest being used this morning and that each chicken has enough room to do their business!

3 chickens nesting, Left to Right,  Princess Aurora, Mermaid and Belle.

20 Weeks and nesting

20 weeks old

So, the chickens have been acting a little funny lately. I keep coming across these big holes in the mulch around the yard. One afternoon, I finally caught the chickens in the act of making their holes. At first I thought it was cause the chickens were hot, but it hasn't been that hot around Golden lately.  I am not a chicken pro, yet, but I am thinking they are starting to nest and hopefully lay some eggs soon.

Just to be ready, I got a bale of straw from the Golden Mill and have it in their nesting boxes. I even put a couple golf balls in the nest to inspire the chickens.  

Little Tikes

The chickens getting some water out of our lil girls water table.  :)

17 Weeks

Princess Aurora, Mermaid and Belle - 17 Weeks old

Summer is quickly coming to an end which means eggs should be here pretty soon.  I have enjoyed the growth of the chicks over the last few months.  At the beginning of summer, I had just built the coop and even brought out a heat lamp to keep the little girls warm.  Now I let them out for 3-4 hours a day to roam the backyard them.  I even ran an errand to the store once while the chickens were free ranging.  Through the fall, the days will get cooler and their time outside the coop will shorten, which will make me a little sad.  I'll do my best to let them have some free time after work.

My son is captivated by the chickens

My son who is a little over 6 months nowLOVES to watch the chickens.  We go out in the back yard while the chicks are free ranging and he just sits and follows them.  They are a little curious but mostly just wonder around the grass and shrubs.

My son following the chicks.

Friends?

Our little cat, Ani, hanging out with the chickens

We have two cats along with the chickens.  Both cats are pretty good hunters and over the years, we have had a wide variety of 'hunts' brought into the house from snakes, bunnies, birds and voles.  While the chickens were smaller, both cats would come outside and immediately you could tell they were about to pounce on the chicks.  I don't know if its the chickens recent bigger size, or that the chickens have learned to flap and protect themselves, but the cats and chickens now live in harmony... well, maybe not harmony, but at least they call all be outside in the backyard together.

16 Weeks

Not too much to say, so I thought I would post some picts of the chickens and kids.

Here is a photo of my daughter going out one afternoon to check on the chickens.

Here are my two nieces with Mermaid.

14 Weeks

Princess Aurora and Mermaid saying hi to each other - 14 Weeks

So, the chickens are now 14 weeks old.  About 8 weeks or less and we should have eggs!  Its been a fun summer with the chickens.  I let them free range as often in the grass as possible and have even gotten to the point where I can open the coop door to let them out, then after a couple hours, they meander and walk themselves back into the coop. It is nice to see them learning and keeps me from looking like a fool running around trying to catch 3 chickens.

Belle - 14 weeks old

I'm watching you

So, my previous theory of not having to worry about predators for the chickens was debunked this past weekend.  While watching movies in the back yard, two little raccoons came out and said hi.  Here is a photo of them on top of the garage, only a few feet from the chicken cage. I hope that the chickens are safe in their coop and cage!

Happy 4th!

Hope you had some watermelon too!

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...

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

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?

7 weeks old

Mermaid, Belle and Princess Aurora Sleeping Beauty - 7 weeks old

The chickens are now 7 weeks old.  I spend a lot of time looking online to find out at what age is ok to put the chicks outside.  The chicks feathers have come in and I have been letting them spent a lot of time outside this past week plus the weather is suppose to be pretty nice this week, so I decided it should be ok to put them in the coop.  My wife is happy to get them out of the house and I think the chicks will like having a bit more space then the box they have been living in.  I added 1/2 fresh new wood shavings and then I added their current wood shavings hoping the smell and familiarity will make the coop feel comfortable.  I also am using their small water bottle and feeder until I get the run completed. Once the run is completed, the coop will be free of food and water.  While I am a little worried about the chicks being outside at night, I am excited to have the coop done ahead of schedule.

I also put a screwed the chicken door shut until the run is finished.

The chicks checking out their new home

Mermaid, Princess Aurora and camera shy Belle checking out their new coop

Child labor

I had some help painting the coop this afternoon! My little girl got to help me "color" the coop and the 2"x4"s for the run.  For being 2 1/2 years old, she did a great job and it supports my feeling about why I am doing this for my family...  :)