Oh, How They've Grown!

NEW COOP!!!!

I feel like it's Christmas in July! Waiting for our new Amish Coop today and very excited to move the girls in. Most of the pullets we have are getting VERY close to laying age and we need more room - so we went to the local Amish barn shop and ordered it. Will post pictures when it arrives, the wait is tough - only a couple more hours until my dream coop gets dropped off:)!

Hatched our MY PET CHICKEN EGGS!

We got 2 adorable little polish chicks, one bearded and one not bearded. The kids had so much fun! Unfortunately, our black copper maran egg didn't hatch. We'll try another maran egg again, maybe in the Fall.

Kids took the chicks to the library today for show and tell

The chicks made their first trip out in their basket to the library today and behaved like angels. They were very good and didn't fly off and land on the books or create a general mess like I feared;)! The kids took Clarabelle and Copper and they perched on shoulders, allowed people to pet them and were perfect show girls thanks to all the handling the kids have given them. We took the little babies too with a heating pad and they did just fine.

Meet Anastasia! (Easter Egger)

This is Orla's FAVORITE bird (although she doesn't like to admit she plays favorites with her babies!) She has BLUE eyes! The softest brown fuzzy fluffy body and looks a bit like a bit like a baby owl (one of Orla's favorite animals). She's very friendly and has a sweet personality. SHe loves to be held and petted. I wonder what color eggs she'll lay!!! Easter Eggers are famous for their blue/green or even pink eggs.

Meet Marie Antoinette (Easter Egger!)

Marie Antoinette is our new Easter Egger from My Pet Chicken. She is very pretty with a lightening bolt stripe on her head and very long little wing feathers. She looks like she might have a bit of welsummer in the mix with her cleopatra eyes. Orla can't wait to see what color eggs she lays!

The first trip outside!

With the beautiful weather we took the chicks outside. They loved it!

Losing their yellow fluff, but still cute:)!

Escape Artists!

Now that they have entered their tween phase, they seem set on exploring and escaping :)!

MEET "CHARCOAL"sketches

This is Orla's new Jersey Giant. She was bought today at a local sale. Charcoal is a beautiful chick. Orla was tempted to name her "black swan" because that is exactly what she looks like when she extends her neck. Charcoal and her sister have settled in very nicely to their new home. Terra(bird) and Charcoal are getting along really well!

Meet "FLINT"stone!

This is Eoghan's new chick, a Jersey Giant. She is very sweet and quiet. Eoghan picked her out himself from a tailgate sale. She is named after the black rock, Flint.

Meet our new girls, Jersey GIANTS :)!

We went to a local farm/chicken tailgate sale today and found these two girls! They are Jersey Giants and true to their name are already quite large. When they extend those long necks they look like black swans. This was the first time we introduced new chicks to our current flock of red stars. We first got a bigger brooder box, added fresh pine, a larger roosting stick and put them all together in the new box. We added plenty of food and watched. There was a tiny bit of bossing around from Clarabelle over the new girls, but all in all it went really smoothly. I think that's also because they are close in age. The new girls are only about 2 weeks older then our red stars. Now they are all buddies and sleeping under the brooder heat together. I have to say, I love having the variety in the colors/size -- our flock looks more "complete" somehow with the 6 of them together. This photo shows the Giants with their siblings from the tailgate that we bought them at and the other photo shows them in their new home:)

Can I sit here??

SInce I took out there ecoglow roosting access (poop central!) I added a small pine tree branch/stick for them to roost on instead. They love it:)! The girls first feel of a branch below those cute little toes...

A couple changes to the brooder...

So I'm learning as I go:)...a couple changes to the brooder set up. I read that elevating the water a bit will help keep the pine shavings out of the dish. I put it up on a flat rock and definitely seemed to help! Also, the ecoglow (which I LOVE in all other ways) became the girls favorite place to play and poop! So I set up an egg carton on it's side to keep them off the top. It's worked so far. Both these changes have helped with the brooder upkeep.

looking pretty...grooming!

All about lookin' good today!

The girls have started grooming themselves constantly! Too funny to watch them getting themselves ready all day. Their wing feathers are really starting to come in now too!

Pirate Chickens instead of parrots ;)

Resting Chick!

Meet Copper!

Copper is a beautiful colored chick. She is the most reddish colored of the 4 chicks. She is also the biggest! She is very sweet natured and out going. She enjoys being held. Copper is Eoghan's pet.

Meet the twins, Annie and Clarabelle!

These two girls look the most alike of the four with two red stripes running down their golden backs. Annie has a slightly darker head which is the only way we can tell them apart. Annie is also the love bug (cuddler) of the chicks. She is very calm sitting in your hand. Clarabelle is the most flighty and jumpy. She loves to run and flutter her wings away from you and pecks at your hand. She makes us laugh!

Meet Terra-Bird!

This is TerraBird. She was named after a prehistoric man eating bird! As alpha chick this name suits her. Terra is the lightest colored of the redish gold chicks. She is Orla's adored pet.

Day 2!

Arrival Day!

Building the Coop...

So we added nest boxes to the old dog entrance with a handy pop top latch and side door opening on the bottom nest. Also opened the side with a swing door for cleaning. We are going to add some vent holes in the top of the hutch and some southern exposure sunlight. Hope the hens will be happy there! The coop sits in a fenced grazing area for them.

The Coop!

We have a dog house, that our couch potato indoor dogs never used! They much prefer the kitchen floor to the outdoor life. So I decided to "recycle" the dog house into a chicken coop!

the beginning...

After living through years of “chicken envy” (plenty of my mom friends have their own lil’ backyard flock and farm fresh eggs) here in the Hudson Valley, I finally took the BIG step and ordered 4 red star pullets from MyPetChicken. We have owned dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish, and hamsters, but these lil’ hens on their way to us are our first “true” farm animals! We are completely new to chickens so thought I’d start this blog for fellow other newbies to the feathered world of chickens. Also a fun way to share our “eggcelllent adventure” with family and friends! Clarabelle, Annie, Copper and Terra(bird) are due to arrive at the post office Tuesday. We’ll post pics soon!