The Chickens!
Kathy has a fever and the
prescription...is chickin!
June 6, 2010: The birds enjoying some play time with the horses.
March 4, 2010 Our neighbor, Mary-Ann, enjoys feeding the chickens
leftover cooked spaghetti, and the birds enjoy eating it! It's like
worms only not as gross!
December 6, 2009 - First snow of the season and the only chicken brave enough to
check it out is....
Izzy! He is one bad-ass mutha!
November 12, 2009 - Izzy has graduated to the "big boy perch!" He now lords over the flock (well, when "Bob" is not around anyway!) and practices his manly crowing whenever he can!
October 16, 2009 - Meet "Izzy!" He is a 4-month-old white-crested black polish bantam. He's a lot smaller than the other "laying" hens but after having fallen in love with with our crazy "Bob," another polish rooster, I couldn't resist bringing Izzy home with us. Izzy is simply adorable and you can tell he was lovingly raised by his humans. He is very friendly and not at all shy! He has spent all day in his new home investigating his surroundings, not afraid to explore and sit next to whoever will let him. It's not easy being the new kid at the lunch table, but Izzy is certainly holding his own and has already stolen my heart! He seems especially enchanted with Shaniqua, the duck, and sits pool side watching her swim! (The first picture is his baby picture his parents gave me!)
October 12, 2009 - Busy chickens! Just about everyone has begun laying eggs. Kinda bummed about the Amerucana's...while their eggs are beautiful blue green, they are awful small. Was really hoping for large eggs. Days are really short already and the fluorescent lights are on in the coop 24/7 now. Even the guinea hens are laying, so that's pretty cool. Their eggs are small but ROCK HARD. I'm leaving them in a vain attempt to get them to set on them, but it's been a few weeks now and although there are about 12 eggs in "their" nest, no one is sitting on them. I love those ugly noisy birds!
What's a guinea hen you ask? THIS is a guinea hen! Isn't she
beautiful!
Bob loves to chase tail! Here he is running after, and catching up
with a silver-laced wyandotte hen. They would have COOL looking
babies!
The hens LOVE big Toby!
September 2009 - Just about all of the spring 2009 hens have started laying, although still tiny eggs (practice practice!), and even the guinea hens are laying eggs! I'd love them to hatch some of those puppies out, so I'm leaving those behind in the hopes they will set on them, otherwise all eggs are harvested every day for eating! I snagged some pictures of the gang at night when they come in to roost. Everyone pretty much chooses the same spots every single night. Toby and Theresa turkeys must be having a tiff, because usually they are parked right next to each other--sweetest thing. I'll have to get a photo of that some time. Due to the added number of hens, Luc once again put on his carpenter hat and built "Red Gate Condos, Phase II" which are already in full use and have been properly christened (read: Pooped on). Bob has learned to crow like a big boy! His blue feet absolutely slay me!
August 2009 - It's been a very busy month as far as the little birdies are concerned! This year's chicks have grown like weeds and should start laying Sept/Oct. All the different breeds are just beautiful! We have 4 new additions to the clan; 3 several-month-old RI Red hens and a 3-month-old Polish rooster who we've named "Bob!" The new guys have been choosing to stay inside the poultry shed, even they can go outside and play in the playground...probably a smart choice on their part because they are a few months behind the other chickens size-wise. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!
This is an Ameraucana rooster (left) and a Rhode Island red hen (right). The
Ameraucana hens will lay blue-green eggs!
This is inside the chicken shed. The brooder box is covered with a
tarp because it is empty now and the birds love to sit on it and poop on/in
it, hence the tarp to help protect it. All the birds, despite the
different breeds and sizes, get along beautifully!
These lovely ladies are affectionately known as "The 2 little pillows,"
courtesy of my friend, Michele Allen.
This is Michele with our original barred rock hen that she loved so much,
she named her "Pillow" and it just stuck. The original "Pillow" is
still with us and is Czecker's the rooster's favorite hen if ya know what I
mean (nudge nudge wink wink).
May 2009 - Addicted to chickens! I couldn't help myself this year. A friend told me about Paris Farmers Union in Newport and how they sold all different breeds of chickens. So, I picked up an order form and got a few of just about everything they had (except RI Reds because we have plenty). I even picked up a few guinea keets (baby guinea hens), and all are doing smashingly! Here's hoping for lots of eggs to give away or maybe even sell! Our friend, Erlene, helped Luc build a kickass brooder to keep the babies warm and safe in until they grew up, which happened so fast! By about 3 or 4 weeks of age, they were ready to join the flock and Toby the turkey LOVES watching out for them! He's like the creepy yet lovable uncle--every family has one!
January 12, 2009 - I just love raising birds. I think they are my favorite of all the animals. Despite the mess and the uber-nasty poops, they are just a riot to watch and actually pay their way with kick-ass eggs! Toby ADORES hanging out with the chickens. Even he and Czeckers (the rooster) get along now, well, now that Czeckers has had his butt kicked by Toby and has learned who the boss is (see last picture of Czeckers hiding behind Toby).
Spring of 2008 We missed the chickens very much, more than any normal people should. So, we did what any psychopaths would do...we went ahead and got a new batch of chicks! Instead of just Rhode Island Reds though, this year we have a mix of Barred Rocks, Silver Laced Wyandotte's, Black Sex-Links, Red Sex-Links, and of course, Rhode Island Reds. I can't tell who's who, just know that they are awful cute and hopefully all are hens.
Photos taken June 12, 2008, approximately 2 and 3 weeks of age.
July 2008 - Meet Czeckers "Gorak" Perin! He came from a nice lady named Lori
a few towns over who had too many roosters and wanted him to go to a good
home. In these pictures he is about 7 weeks old and still peeps.
So far, he's very sweet and loves to be held and petted. Everyone has
been moved to the larger coop and he is getting along famously with the
little ones, who are growing up FAST! We are hoping he will grow up
big and strong (hence the tough-sounding name) and protect his little flock
of hens.
September 2nd,
September 17th, 2008 - Czeckers and his girls are almost all grown up!
They love free-ranging and foraging for goodies such as sunflower seeds,
bugs, and even catching a few zzz's on a pitchfork! Still no eggs yet though.
November 13, 2008 - Michele a.k.a. ChickenLovah with her favorite hen
who she lovingly named, "Pillow!"
