New Chickens!

It has been a bit since I last posted. Took a long trip to Texas. Glad to be back, that's all I have to say about that. Before we left, however, we got two new chickens. They are a breed called Silver Laced Wyandotte. As all our chickens, they have names. These two are called Lacy and Joe. (Yes, just like Killer, Joe is a girl...) Joe has more white than Lacy, and is a little bit bigger. Both very beautiful. Here are some pictures. They are both 7 months old. They have already started laying eggs as well! We get 3-4 eggs daily now! I think we can save a dollar or two now, whenever we go shopping... hahaha! :) Hey - fresh eggs are the bomb! Now, honestly, from looking at these pictures below... I couldn't tell you which was which. But they sure are pretty!

Guide to Egg Sizes

I just ate a big double-yolker egg for breakfast this morning! MMMmMmmMMmMMmmMMm!!! Killer, our Barred Rock, is also our best egg layer. Every once in awhile she lays monster eggs. Dixie, our bantam buff, lays smaller eggs, of course. I went ahead and thought it would be neat if you saw a side by side comparison. The double-yolk egg is larger than most, so Killer's eggs are smaller from what you see here, but not by too much! No matter the size, they sure do taste good!

Signs of Spring...

Snow is slowly melting and the ground is visible in many areas. My wife pointed out to me that some bulbs in the front yard have sprouted and are coming up. Does this mean we are finally in the last days of winter? I hope so! The chickens are enjoying having their entire fenced in area to play around in instead of holed up under the coop where the snow hadn't piled up. We are thinking about getting 4 new chicks to build up our flock, now that the coldest days of winter are over. I looked into McMurray Hatchery to see what kinds of hens I might be able to get since they have a great selection. However, you need to get a minimum of 25 chicks to have them shipped to you. Maybe someday, but my coop wouldn't be able to handle that many!

Oh - Dixie has officially started laying eggs. They are much smaller compared to Killer's. Awhile ago I thought Dixie might have started to lay eggs, but I know for sure that was Ginger, as these eggs are way smaller. So it's official, Dixie and Cluckers are a bantam hen and rooster. They are full size and still small.

Looking forward to Spring and being outdoors more and working on a new garden and more! What a LONG winter this has been!

Our first casualty...

When keeping chickens, you need to prepare for predators. What carnivore wouldn't want to eat a fresh, tasty chicken? Despite my fencing and the layout of my coop, we lost our first chicken yesterday.

I noticed, around 4pm, that none of the chickens appeared to be outside of the coop. I thought this meant I had some more eggs to gather, since we have been getting at least 2 eggs a day.

I went out our back door and walked to the coop, and stepped into the penned area. As soon as I entered, a hawk flew from underneath the coop as fast as it could right past me and up into the trees behind the house and barn. My first thought was that it was one of the hens, but I've never seen one of my hens fly that fast. As soon as I saw Ginger, lying on her back, legs up in the air in the corner under the coop, I knew immediately that it was a hawk that had flown by me. Yet I went to her body with the hope she was still alive. If I had only been 10 minutes earlier in checking the chickens...

Earlier that morning, Ginger had jumped up on the corner of the fence and was just sitting there, ready to fly out. I ran outside and gently prompted her to go back in. I assume she did the same later that afternoon, and while sitting there, the young hawk swooped in and took her by surprise.

RIP poor Ginger...

Cluckers and Dixie were inside the coop, cowering, silently. Killer, was nowhere to be found. My first thoughts at that point were this - the hawk got Killer as well. There was no sign of a struggle, and none of Killer's feathers; only the large scattered pile of Ginger's feathers.

I headed out towards the barn, and out into the woods, as I saw the hawk flying up in the tree-tops, just waiting for the coast to clear so it could go back and finish its meal. As I rounded the corner of the barn, I saw the back-end of Killer underneath our Christmas tree that I had taken out back and propped up in the snow. I called her name, yet there was no movement, not even a gentle cluck. "Oh no," I thought, "Killer was attacked too!" Killer never made a sound as I went to pick her up. Good news! Killer is alive! She had flown under the tree and was being as quiet and as still as she could. My breath let out in a relieved sigh. I didn't even know I was holding it. I brought her back to the coop and shut her inside. I also found two warm eggs... the last pair of eggs from Killer and Ginger laid before the brutal attack.

Today, I went out and bought some bird netting. It is light, black mesh, with square openings about 1/2 inch length and width each. It is made to cover plants in the summer, etc., to prevent fruit or vegetables from being eaten by the birds. It took me an hour and a half, but the coop, and its penned in area is now covered by this bird netting. From only a few feet away, the netting is almost invisible. The coop is now protected from above and the sides from any swooping hawk.

I had tried to plan as best as I could for any predator that might fancy a tasty chicken for a snack. I was told that this hawk was probably a juvenile and too dumb to realize the danger to itself by flying directly into the coop. Stupid as it was, our poor chicken still didn't make it.

Sweet Ginger. We will miss you.

Two Chicks a Laying

Just an update on the egg situation. I went out and checked for eggs and found 2 in the nest today. One was much smaller and speckled. Since Dixie is our smallest hen, I knew who the mother was right away.

Hurray for Chickens! They are starting to earn their keep 'round here.

17-0 and Chicken scratch

I stayed up to finish the game. Patriots won (no doubt here) 31-20. Today, the Chargers beat the Colts (YES!!!!!!)! That means the Chargers play the Patriots next week, on Sunday. 18-0, here we come.

Today was a beautiful sunny day... until 3:30pm or so. The clouds started to roll in. It has barely snowed this January, but tonight and tomorrow the snow is supposed to come full force. Up to 4 inches tonight, and 10-14 inches tomorrow. Whoa....

I cleared off a foot of frozen snow and ice on our trampoline that has melted and re-froze over the weeks to make it very heavy and looked as if the trampoline was about to snap.

And, the eggs keep on coming! I can't wait until Spring. If our measly flock of 3 hens can lay as much as Killer is laying this winter, we are going to have at least 18 eggs a week! We have not gone one day yet since last Sunday without an egg. In fact, we had scrambled eggs, with cheddar cheese and jalopenos for breakfast this morning. MMMMmmmmMmmMmm. I'm still not positive about a taste difference in regards to freshness.

The bad news with the warmer winter weather so far has been the foot plus of snow melting on the roof of the chicken coop. It has made it clear that the roof is leaking, and pretty bad. I cleaned out all the straw to put in fresh, but it was soaked in one spot by the next day. So, some definite re-modeling will be done next year. Besides the roof, I need to make another door in the front that I can open to gather eggs. Why? Because Killer decided to make a nest in the opposite corner from where I built the nesting boxes, and I couldn't reach it from the back door without crawling half-way in the coop.

Pigskins and Chicks

We know for a fact Killer is our egg layer. In the winter, without extra light added to increase the daylight, we have had an egg a day. Goes against everything I've read. Can't wait until Spring and to have all our hens laying. We have had eight eggs so far just from one hen. The eggs have grown a bit since the first one, too.

I haven't been keeping up with my New England sports posts, but in regards to football, the Patriots swept the regular season, 16-0. Take that Miami! Pats are playing Jacksonville right now as I type. The score just now turned to 28-20, Pats on top. Go PATS!

Celtics are 30-4. They just lost to Washington. Pesky Wizards! Celtics still have the best record in the NBA! Now if only the Bruins could become as consistent....

More Eggs!

I went to give the chickens fresh water and food this morning, and brought the flashlight to look for eggs, just in case. I never thought we'd get any this winter since I decided to let nature take its course, and not add extra light to the coop. I let the door down, and then opened the back to switch out water. I shined the flashlight in, and saw that Killer, our Barred Rock was already down off her perch and pecking at the food. I didn't see any eggs though.

Well, as I was almost to work, my cell rang. My son was calling to let me know he found an egg on the door. I asked if he knew where the egg carton was to put it in. And he said "It doesn't matter, Dad - I'm eating it for breakfast!" Then, when I said, "Hey, don't Mommy and Daddy get a chance at eating one of the eggs," he replied, "I found it! I get to eat it!"

My wife and I better get busy finding our own eggs!

Our first Egg!!

The chickens have survived this winter so far. The temp got 11 degrees below zero the other day, and the next morning, I was worried that I might not open the door to 4 living chickens. But, lo and behold they were all happy and healthy, AND we got our first eggs yesterday! I found one in the morning, but it was cracked and frozen, so I think it may have been laid earlier that night or early morning. Then my son went out later and opened the door to check, and found another in the same spot as the first! This one was perfect. My son then asked later, "Since I found the first egg, can I eat it?" First egg, meaning, first edible one. This morning for breakfast, I fried it up, put it on an English muffin with some ham... and my son said, "This is the best egg ever!"

Here's a few pictures, and a video, in case you were interested And as always, clicking on it will give you a bigger picture.

Snow Snow Snow!

It's snowing today. It snowed a little yesterday. It snowed a lot last week and the week before that. It must be Winter. What? it's not officially winter until December 22nd?? Looks like it's gonna be a loooong one.

The snow is piled up everywhere. I have a path shoveled out in my back yard so I can get to my chickens. The poor girls haven't been outside in a couple of days. If it stops snowing today, I'm going to let them out. It's warmer than 20 degrees today, at least. I go out every morning and give them fresh water, and fresh food. I have a duplicate waterer so I don't have to wait until one thaws out before giving them new water. They are pretty happy every morning that someone at least says hello to them - and hey - they are still alive, and that's what counts! This is with no extra heat, so I know that they are hardy enough to live in winter. And temperatures have been dropping to 10 or less some nights.

No doubt about it! We are going to have a White Christmas!

Cock-a-Doodle-DOOO!

It's official - Cluckers, our runt of the chicken litter, is a rooster. We heard him start to crow yesterday. And, since it has been awhile since I put any pictures of the chickens up here, I thought this would be a good time. Cluckers and Dixie are still the smallest, but that doesn't mean they are any less cute.

I also did a lot of research into heat, and lighting. Even though I am excited for that first egg, I decided I am not going to put extra light in the coop. Also, any type of heat could be dangerous in such a flammable environment, so I am just going to let nature take its course and see what happens.

Cluckers



Dixie


Ginger


Killer

Extinct? I think not!

If you look closely at these pictures of Killer and Ginger, how can you say dinosaurs are extinct? Sure the great, lumbering beasts that roamed the earth millions of years are gone, but it is plain as day to me that evolution just took its course and created the bird as we know it today. Look at the beak, and the way it is formed. Did you know that a bird's beak is just an outgrowth of bone? There is a special type of gene that gives each bird its different looking beak. I believe it's a 'bone morphogenetic protein' gene. Morpho, is another word for 'changing shape' and protein is necessary for growth of cells, muscles, tissues, etc. How do you think dinosaurs like the Triceratops, or Stegosaurus got their horns and spikes? My bet is a similar gene modified their bones to grow differently in dinosaurs, just like beaks in chickens.

Look closely around the eyes of these two chickens. See the circle of skin? Feathers are modified scales. Dinosaurs and reptiles had scales. You can see how the skin around a chicken's eye looks like small scales. And have you ever seen a chicken's legs and feet? Looks to me just like a T-Rex's hands, just moved down to be feet.

So, next time someone tells you that dinosaurs are extinct, you can smile to yourself, and think, 'yes, but there are still modern day dinosaurs living today..."

Relief!

Oh, for all of you worried about Dixie and how she was going to be after almost getting mauled by our dog, you'll be happy to know that she is back up and running around like always. She only limped and rested for a day. She can chase and catch those crickets with the best of them.

Dixie and Ginger

Poor Dixie! The other night, right before time to close them up in the coop, Dixie decided she was brave enough to try and fly out. My son and wife, who had just got back from swimming at the lake, saw her sitting on a fence post. Then she jumped and was FREE! My son, panicked, and wanted to scare her into flying back into the coop, and since my dog was right by him at the door, he yells, "Bella, go get her!" This was the moment my dog has been waiting for ever since we came home with chickens in a box. She bolted out and chased poor Dixie and got a hold of her in her mouth right before she managed to get back in the pen, either by herself, or by my son putting her back. She was okay, but limping. The next day she just sat all day huddling in a corner, and only getting up to limp away if I came close to her. I decided it was time to clip the wings of all of them before another one got out.

So, yesterday, my wife helped me hold them while I clipped their wings. I had taken a sponge out with me earlier because I had cleaned their water container. When my wife came out she freaked a little. I didn't quite understand until she explained she saw the sponge and thought it was for cleaning up the blood after clipping the wings. After we trimmed the wing tips, and she saw how it was painless to the chickens, she relaxed, not realizing what a simple procedure that was going to be. So, all the chickens, (except for Cluckers - I felt he was too small still to trim his wings - hope that's not going to be a mistake,) have their wings trimmed.

Now, Ginger, I just wanted to add, is getting black feathers on her tail and her wings. I tried to get a picture, but this was the best I could do.

Dixie

I love these chickens! I thought it would be fun to have these chickens, but I never realized how much simple pleasure you could get by watching a few birds scratch at the earth, eat grasshoppers and in general just peck and walk around. Yesterday, I went out around 8 o'clock to get ready to close the chicks in for the night. I just stood by the fence and watched them. Dixie, the Brahma or Cochin (I am leaning more towards Cochin as someone stated she might be in one of the comments on another post), flew up and grabbed onto the metal fence, and then flew right onto my arm and just walked onto my hand from there, cooing, and clucking happily. She let me just scratch her head and scratch behind her wings while she stretched her scrawny little chicken neck, as if to strut and tell her friends below, "Look at me! I get the deluxe treatment!" Then when I tried to put her back down she just tried to climb back up my arm. Finally I got her to fly down and join the rest of her buddies. Yes, it's true - chickens do have personalities and are great fun to have around.

Ginger

Miss Ginger, (or maybe Mr., I don't know yet) is changing color. Her head is starting to become the reddish color the rest of her body is, and she is starting to get black tail feathers. As far as I know, the Buff Orpington has no black feathers. So, we'll just have to see what Ginger looks like in another couple of weeks!

Gosh - who thought chickens could be so exciting??

Chickens! (Straight to video at a blog near you...)

Chickens - Smarter than you think!

I worked late last night - didn't get done until close to 9pm. Luckily I was at home, but I knew no one had gone to put the feathery friends up in the coop. I asked my son to go out and please do just that. He came back in (after getting his mom and dog to go with him as he was a little hesitant of the dark) with a big grin on his face. "Guess what Dad? The chickens already were up in the coop!" That made me smile as well. Our chickens, only living with us for a week, had already figured out the routine of going to bed, and they were smart enough to know that their bed, and safe place, was inside the coop. Yay!

Chicken Breeds

My friend's sister checked out my blog since she has chickens, and she wanted to see what was up with mine. She looked at pictures of Dixie and Killer and she wrote to me with her suggestions as to what breeds they are. She thinks that Killer is a Barred Rock chicken, and the Dixie is probably a Brahma chicken of some sort.

Do you agree or disagree?

The Chickens are Here!

While I was at work on Friday, my wife and sons went to a local Blue Seal feed store and saw they had chickens that were a month and 1/2 to two months old. They didn't buy any at that time because they knew I wanted to look as well. So, yesterday, after making sure I had some sort of feeder and waterer for the chicks, we went back to the Blue Seal store and picked out our chickens. We also picked up some Blue Seal Medicated Chicken Feed. A 25LB bag was only about 7 dollars. That's not too bad. Not sure how fast 4 chicks will eat this up, but hopefully this will last a month.

Each of us picked out our own. (Except my youngest son, he's only 8 1/2 months old.) I don't know for sure what breeds they are, as the young man helping us didn't know either. I figured (and hoped) if I was buying them in NH, then they were probably ready for the cold winters.

My wife picked out one that she calls Ginger. I believe her to be an Orpington.

She then picked a chicken that will be for our youngest. We named this one Dixie. She has beautiful feathery legs. I don't know what type she would be yet.
My other son, who is almost 10 (one more month) decided he liked the runt of the litter and called this one, Cluckers.

Last, but definitely not least, I picked one that I liked. The one I decided on wasn't the one that I ended up getting because the guy couldn't grab him for me. So the one he did get, which had a diamond on his head, I liked just as well. Just to be different, I named this one, Killer.

So, I really have no idea what breeds these chickens really are. I think Cluckers may actually be the Rhode Island, or NH Red. I guess I'll have to wait until they get a little bit bigger to tell for sure. Unless any of you out there reading this know what breeds they might be. Feel free to leave comments!

In terms of eating these chickens, I don't know if I can now, since every one has a name.... My Aunt kept pigs once that were piglets when I went to go see her. I thought they were so cute I took pictures of them. Then, months later, eating breakfast at home, my mom says, "Did you know that bacon you're eating comes from your Aunt's pigs?" I was mid-chew, and didn't quite know what to think. But, I love bacon so it didn't stop me for long, and I kept on eating.

Here are some more pictures of the chickens: