What's that fuzzy thing over there????

I decided Silkie chickens were a good idea....sooooo we took in a little Red Rooster....and then I felt he was lonely...well, he WAS trying to mount the very large Barred Plymouth Rock ladies.....
That little guy is Fozzie....originally Chipmunk, then I changed him to Fonzie and was quickly overruled by a 4 year old with pretty blue eyes that said "he wooks wike fozzie da bear" ...*gotta love adorable dropping of the L's....

Then I got the Ladies...Jazmine and Flo (the black ones)....Now I'm torturing the hubs by telling him we need another new coop....LOL!

Babies babies everywhere....

Update on the new additions to the flock...

we have some names, not many, but some....

This is the back side of Diego and The cranky princess...Escape and Glitter in the background....

Fozzie......and Josie 

The Cranky Princess

The Other Princess and Escape

Buddy in the back and The Other Princess in the front

The Other Princess and Escape

Escape

The Other Princess and Princess

....soooo....sandy...yea...i didn't like you much....

Dear Hurricane Sandy......

Thanks for hitting my fence, storage shed, truck and van...with a tree (yes in that order).....  BUT really, thanks for not hitting my house!!!!

We lost the fence, the shed and most of its contents as well as the big blue truck!  OH WELL, just stuff...and the chickens are FINE!!!  WOOOOHOOO!!!

BAND Together 2012 Promo #1

You don't scare us Sandy!!!!

Waiting out Hurricane Sandy today!  All chickens are in their coops....we attached tarps to the outside walls of the runs to help keep them dry, replaced all the bedding in the "baby" side of the coop...Everybody seems pretty cozy in there even Mr. Chipmunk/Fonzie/Fozzie (name to be decided soon) the silkie rooster whose feathers aren't water proof and can't get wet in this cold weather or he will get sick :( !!!!  
**Pics to follow later

The Chicken Chick: Clever Chicks Blog Hop #1

The Chicken Chick: Clever Chicks Blog Hop #1: HENBAG GIVEAWAY! 9/25/12-9/29/12 ENTER to WIN a Henbag!   TWO Ways to Enter   1. Subscribe to/Follow my blog AND JOIN this wee...



I ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE her blogs, facebook page and her pintrest!  One of my top 3 places to go for chicken information....and oh the Henbags!!!  i'm fighting the urge to buy one...i dont think i'll hold out much longer....

You bought WHAT???

Yea.....I drove out to Colonial Beach, VA and picked up 9 more chicks.....I like to call them the mystery bunch...

The daddy was an Ameracauna, 1 mommy was a Rhode Island Red, 1 mommy was a Buff Orpington and 1 mommy was a Speckled Sussex.

...had them a little over a week now...we have some names...

The 1 brown one with the racing stripe is Buddy

The 1 yellow one with the racing stripe is princess

There is a black one who's face reminds me of a penguin face....his/her name is penguin face

*I do not know the sexes yet

BOY AM I BEHIND!!!

Again....life gets in the way of happy posting!!!  Been busy busy!  August was pretty hot, but the girls all started laying in a good rhythm.  Started getting 7 eggs a day.....small and light at first..then larger and larger...

....THEN about 3 weeks ago...the ladies went out to range (as they do daily)...and hopped the fence to the woods (as they do daily)....they even started taking Campbell with them....2 of them decided not to come home and are either living with someone else, living the high life of rouge wild chickens in trees OR they got eaten by animal or person....don't know.

what the heck???

My sweet Husband was apparently very tired last night....

I was very concerned about all the girls making it home last night since they were scattered across my cul-de-sac....he went and checked, counted and forgot to close the door to the coop...I didn't notice till this morning since it was dark when I got home.

When I went out at 8 am this morning because the 7 year old said the rooster is under the deck I saw it and panic rushed through me....OMG, they all got eaten except that damn rooster!!!  hahaha....well, they are fine...they let themselves out this morning and into the yard of the neighbor....

A weird little treat was an egg laid under the deck stairs....odd..  Even more odd was the egg the was either laid in the middle of the hen house floor OR it was laid and kicked out by the hen that laid it or the next one in the nesting box....it was a soft shell...somebody didnt bake their egg completely!!!

Why did my chickens cross the road??? TO ANNOY ME!!!

SOOOOO.....the girls decided to go out walking the neighborhood....I received several text messages from different neighbor's.

They ALL made it home safe and sound and there was even 4 eggs!!!  After yesterday's single egg I figured there would be no eggs today because of the heat!

The lightest one is a new girl!!  sweet!!  4 hens a layin' !!!!   Funny thing is that they were all in the same nesting box!  Thanks girls!!

Countin' them eggs!!!!

Egg count total since starting laying: 8
Egg count this week only:7


Super excited!  We seem to have 2 laying regularly, late morning and early afternoon....hopefully the rest of the girls fall in line soon!

July 11th...and then there were 8...

Sad events happen with raising chickens....


The hubs and the kids were still on vacation, my neighbor didn't see my text, and my friend didn't have time to stop over and make sure everyone got back into the yard from the neighbor's....there was a fox in the area who seized the opportunity for dinner....our littlest hen, Dora, was alone on the wrong side of the fence when the sun went down and the fox got her.
...and yes, for those of you who have children who also watch "Dora the explorer" I am aware of the irony...lol....

...we found 2 piles like this and that was it.

I was disappointed but it happens....we didn't tell the little kids though,but Dora grew while Sydney (4) was at grandma and grandpas....and yes she did notice the difference....

Cock-a-doodle-STEW...if you're not careful!

This is Campbell....Our rooster....

We decided to go on vacation to Michigan...I was gone a week.  While we were gone, the neighbor lady who loves our chickens took care of them for us.  When I returned home and proceeded to pet my ladies like I usually do...this little buggar of a rooster decided he was going to charge at me not once but twice!  On the second charge, I kicked him in the chest...he calmed down and went about his business.

A few days later, he did it AGAIN!  My husband and children were will on vacation and we decided that if he was still showing aggression, for the safety of our children, we would go ahead and butcher him which is eventually the plan anyway.  

Since my husband has been home he's been fine...except a little stupid when he couldn't figure out how to get back to our yard from the neighbor's yard....silly Campbell.   Nate had to pick him up and toss him back over...wearing jacket, jeans and gloves of course!

**Roosters protect their flock and are naturally aggressive if they feel the flock is threatened which is one of the main reasons I wanted a rooster.  We held him and carried him as a chick to help make him used to humans.  Having no humans in the yard on a regular basis seemed to have bothered him but now that we are back he is not charging or attacking or anything...he even lets one of the dogs lick his booty which I think is funny and gross**

Catching up.....

Sorry, I've not updated a lot and realized there were some milestones I posted about on facebook and not on here....

So, what's been up....well I did update that we are slowly getting eggs now but here is a recap of what happened before...

You know in April we moved the flock outside to the coop...well about 3 or 4 weeks later we started letting outside to free range.  Here is the first day out:

  They stayed pretty close to the coop for about 2 weeks...

Then they ventured further out into the yard ...

And then even further.....at least they know where the fresh water is!

EGGCEPTIONAL EGGS!!!!

FINALLY!!!  After waiting almost 2 weeks for more eggs here they are!!!  The little one on the right was collected about 10am this morning by my youngest son (7) who was soooo excited he got to collect one!  I didn't hear my rooster after lunch so I peeked out into the back yard and saw 2 of the lovely ladies entering the hen house!  About 2pm I went out to feed and water the flock and found the one on the left!  I put a child sized for in for size comparison.  The one from over a week ago was a little bloody which is normal and both of these had a little blood on them as well so I am confident that we have 3 ladies a layin' !!!

EGGCELLENT EGG!

FIRST EGGGGGG!!!!!!!

This is our first egg...laid on july 12th...i have small hands but this is still a really nice sized egg!  Our flock was about 18 weeks old so one of our little layers was a little early to get started....

If that's movin' up...then I'm movin' out....

Movin' day was today for the ladies (and our 1 gent)!!!  They acclimated very well to the new surroundings...quickly running, jumping, playing...FLYING!  They figured out how to get into the run and back into the hen house quickly as well....even running up the ramp when I entered the run area the first time...after that they didnt seem to mind a visit from a human and even jumped on Nate's back for a laugh!  HAHA!

Finished building the coop

Nate finished building the coop last weekend, I still need to get outside and paint it!!

Growing up....

The baby chicks are growing bigger by the day...moved them into a larger plastic tote so they have more room! They have real wings that work, so there is chicken wire covering the top. They are tall enough that we can elevate the water to avoid poop and bedding in the water dish....yuck! I'm going to try to get some nice pics of the babies out of the box, hard to take their pic and hold them when they can fly....

Cock-a-doodle... do or don't????

The #3 most popular question I've gotten over the last 2 weeks is "Why the crap did you buy a rooster??"

Well, I'll tell you... BECAUSE.

Because, I want to make sure the girls have ample "encouragement" to lay nice eggs consistently.

Because, roosters provide the coop with protection.

Because, one of the smartest men I know when it comes to farming, building, plumbing (my father-in-law Charlie Schlaud) said..."if you're going to buy new pullets next year, why don't you just hatch your own?"...DUH, why didn't I think of that?

Because, he looks cool.

Because, roosters aren't fertile until about 10-12 months old so I don't have to worry about surprises in my omelet.

**You DO NOT need a rooster for your hens to lay eggs...makes for "safer" eggs, hahaha, to not have one....they will lay eggs if there is not a rooster, its what they do... HOWEVER, Jen's rhode island reds never laid eggs and she didn't have a rooster AND I have read on several websites that people had trouble with egg production without a rooster.

Building away....

Today was chicken coop building day!!!! YAY!!! Almost finished it...just have to assemble it, wire in a couple more panels and attach hinges to make a panel a door and voila!!!

Coopin' it up!

Ya gotta pick a coop to fit your needs...Here is the one I found on a website called Chicken Raiser that I liked...we didn't buy plans for it, I just showed it to Nate and we've been "wingin' it". I like this one for several reasons... size, easy design for construction, portability, nest boxes on the outside for easy egg collection, plenty of room for night time roosting, will be pretty easy to keep warm in the winter.

Sooo....what kind of coop do you need????

1. How chickens are you going to raise? The fewer chickens, the smaller the coop needed.

2. How much space to you have? The smaller the yard, the smaller the coop, the fewer chickens

3. What is your budget? Reclaimed materials can be found in lots of places and keep cost down

4. Are you going to "free range" them? If you are not planning to let them roam your yard, you need to build a bigger run (a run is the enclosed outdoor area for them to "run" around in; exercise)

5. Are you going to buy it or build it? There are TONS of people out there who love to build and they build some really great coops, but you'll pay for it. Prefab coops are great if you aren't handy, but you usually cannot customize it and it will be more expensive than doing it yourself. If you are handy, but lack design expertise you can buy plans online... just google "chicken coop plans" and a world of plan site come flooding at you....I found them from $2.99 to $20 (a great site is Chicken Coop Plans)

**OH!!! for prefab kits that can include chickens there is a place in MD that sells them as a set OR you can rent the chickens and a coop!!!***

** My coop cost so far**

$2.35 each for 2x4x8 (untreated), bought 18 of them

$8.47 each for OSB plywood boards, bought 3 of them

$4 (i think) each for treated 2x4x8, bought 2 of them

$3.50 each, 2 pack of hinges, bought 2 of them

$3.47 each large hinges for the door, bought 3 of them

$21 box of 3" screws

$21 box of 1 1/4" screws

$20 each, plastic corrugated roofing (2x12'), bought 2

$8 roll of large "holed" chicken wire (for bottom of the coop NOT for the sides)

About $182 after military discount at home depot and lowes

**I still need to get chicken wire for the sides of the run and straw for the nest box (i have a month, the straw can wait)**

Chick Supplies!!

There are a few things that are a must for the tweety babes.

1. a safe place to live indoors:

These little cheepers won't be ready to go outside until they have their real feathers which takes about a month so make sure you pick something you can use for a month or something you can easily transition out of and into a larger container....*plastic rubber maid type boxes work great**

2. Warmth:

You gotta keep 'em warm....you need a heat lamp with a RED bulb. Yes, it has to be red....keeps them from going blind, and keeps them from thinking its always daytime....at least that is the info i got. You also have to attach the heat lamp on or above the home so that the chick level temp is 95 degrees and the home needs to be set up and warmed up to temp 2 days before brining them home. You will be decreasing your temp 5degrees a week until you reach the temp you keep your house or garage or where ever you are putting their home. (All the temp info came from My best buddy Jen St.Clair *thanks chick)

3. Food:

Pick a food that is for chicks. I chose Purina chick starter/grower. Was about $16 at Tractor Supply for a 50 lb bag. You don't need a 50 pound bag....I'm either an idiot or just hopeful that I'll do sooooo well this year that I want to hatch my own next year. *you need a feeder....I chose a small chick feeder from Tractor Supply that "auto feeds" with a mason jar type container (plastic for easy cleaning) $2.50 per piece...top and bottom about $5 together

4. Water:

Fresh water changed out a few times a day in the beginning. Chickens are stupid, no really....stupid....they poop in their water, they get bedding in their water....it gets gross quick, so change it out often! *you need a water container** I chose one from tractor supply that is plastic "auto feeder" one. $2.50 per piece...top and bottom about $5 together

5. bedding: I chose pine shavings from Tractor supply. about $5 for the HUGE brick...no idea how much is in there, I just know it was a big'un! EVERYONE who raises chickens said NO CEDAR CHIPS/SHAVINGS....I guess it makes them sick....

*TOTAL SPENT ...so far :

$23 - Chicks

$16- 50 lb bag of feed

$10- a 2 part feeder and a 2 part waterer

$5- Bedding

$9- heat lamp

$8- red heat bulb

$6- dollar general plastic tub (i have a large one to grow into in my attic, so that would have been free, GGRRR!)

$77 ** soooo far! there is still the coop to build....

there are HOW MANY breeds of chickens????

There are HUNDREDS of different breeds of chickens, but only about 60 of these are popular in the USA. Yeah, "only"....lol....So picking out what kind of chickens you want can be difficult.

You need to figure out how many chickens you want to raise and what you want out of your chickens: eggs only? meat and eggs? meat only? look pretty in the backyard?? We went for a chicken we felt met all 3 of those.....the winner for us was the Barred Plymouth Rock.....freggin adorable!

"Where do you get your chickens?" #2 question I've gotten in the last 2 weeks since we decided/started to raise chickens. Well, since my friend Jen has been raising chickens for the last year or so, I asked her. She ordered her chickens from an online hatchery last time, so we looked up different hatcheries for pricing, breed, and shipping. We also looked on craigs list and at our local Tractor Supply Company store in Fredericksburg, VA.

We went with an online hatchery that gave discounts for ordering more chicks, sold pullets and cockrels, and had a live delivery guarantee. www.esteshatchery.com fit the bill for us !! Since we were ordering 25 pullets to be split between us, we paid $1.52 plus $0.47 per chick because of the sexing. Since I wanted 8 hens and 1 rooster i ended up paying a little more than $22 for my portion of the order. Not too shabby!

**SIDE NOTE: if you don't care how many males/females you get, you can order a "straight run" and anywhere who sells chicks will always be priced lower for a straight run.**

What you really need...

All you really truly need to raise the chickens is a little bit of space and the desire to actually take care of them. You don't need a huge yard, or even a fenced yard since the chickens really wont wander too far from their coop and hen house. You need to be available to clean out the water every day (sometimes more than once a day), check food, collect eggs and clean out the coop and nesting boxes. That is basically it.

What I have is a total yard of about 1.45 acres with the back yard all fenced in. What I also have are dogs...2 of them...pit bulls (sweetest babies on the planet, but that is another blog).....and of course 4 children (not to mention that pool, so i hope they can swim LOL). Soooo, coop design is important for me in that i need to be able to leave the chickens in the pen while the dogs/children are using the back yard and still let the girls have some exercise. And I have time....I stay home during the day with the youngest of my 4 and work at night, so I can monitor free range time and the cleaning/feeding daily.

So, now you can sit on the internet and google some chicken breeds....Next post, picking our chicken breed I'll start giving a run down of money spent!!

SOOO, we decided to raise chickens....

Been getting a lot of mixed reactions when we started telling friends and family that we are going to give raising chickens a try...From "yay, that is wonderful...fresh eggs and a family project, great!" to "yuck, chickens are disgusting"......

I guess I should explain why we decided to raise the little cluckers.

Well, first and foremost, I wanted to. Plain and simple; because I can. And of course the ever popular reason, why not? Well, why not would be easy to explain: money, money, and who's gonna clean out the poop. But all the other reasons far outweigh the "not". Fresh eggs are healthy and free when you have your own chickens. No egg scares of bacteria and recalls...my eggs will be from my hens and I am the one feeding them and will know what they are eating. Fresh chicken is tasty as well....yes we are naming the chickens and yes we will be eating them at some point...I will explain in future posts why this will be done. I'll get some pics posted asap too! Building the chicken coop is going on this weekend and should be done aside from paint and siding.....hopefully you come along for our ride ! :)