All Day Chicken Buffet?

I've failed to mention that we own a big black dog named Hoagie. Hoagie is a lab, from a long line of hunting dogs. To say that he is high energy and hyper is a massive understatement. To say that he is smart is a down right lie. We love Hoagie, but ...

Anyway, Hoagie has had limited exposure to the chicks. (Safety is job 1 at the Peterson house.) We've tried to keep him separated from the birds. On the rare occasion he has seen a chick up close -- I've been holding the chick -- he's quickly sat down licking his lips as if I'm about to give him a nice big doggie treat.

So now that the chicks are out in their coop, Hoagie thinks that we've put out an all day chicken buffet. He's acting crazed as if he's hyped up on steroids and he continuously jumps on the coop trying to knock down the chicken wire. He's desperate to find a way into the coop to get to the buffet. I'm hoping that with time, he will get bored and give up. I'll keep you posted.

Out Out Damn Spot...I Mean Bird!

The teenagers were stinking up my basement and it was time for them to get out ... outside that is!

We moved all 18 of the remaining chicks outside today. It was time. Like any teenager, they needed their own space. I needed them to have their own space. They stink/stank/stunk.

The chicks were put in their house with the door to the ramp open. Food and water were left right at the bottom of the ramp to encourage them to move. Unfortunately, the birds were too scared to do anything other than cower. Finally, after five hours, I went out and lifted them all down to the grass so they could eat something before they got put on lockdown for the night.

It took a while, but they finally got it!

You Lookin' at Me?

Charlotte wanted to get some pictures of the chicks to take into her kindergarten (we wanted to bring them in, but her school said no way!), so we took three of the chicks outside today. I thought a nice outdoor photo would make a nice change from that kiddie pool blue backdrop.

The birds didn't quite know what to do with themselves. What was that bright thing up in the sky. What was this brown mushy stuff under our feet? Oh my god, sensory overload, must sit down and stay still!



Google, being the manly explorer he is (come on, we're not kidding ourselves anymore, he is a rooster!) eventually did get up and look around. He even snatched some tiny gnats out of the air.



Well I hope they get used to this because starting Saturday, they are heading outside to the big house - permanently!

Victor/Victoria

Once again, I am speculating on the gender of our Dominique (or is it Dominic?)!

The picture below is of Google from a couple of days ago. Google is the chick that we think may be a male.

Now look at one of the other Dominiques:


Notice that Google's comb (the bumpy ridge above his beak) is already visible and rather developed, especially compared with the other Dominique, who has no signs of a comb at all.

I guess the good news is that if Google is indeed a cockerel (and on his way to roosterhood), he will probably be a pretty mellow one. Why you ask? Well, because Charlotte manhandles him all day long. She is constantly holding/tormenting him and as a result, he is used to being around people. He doesn't even run away from the kids like all the other chicks do when they try to pick him up. Roosters can be nasty, so if we do have one in the mix, it would be nice to have a gentle one. Also, is it too much to ask for a quiet rooster as well? Probably!

As always, I'll keep you posted!

Egg Myths

Are eggs healthy or unhealthy this week? It's often hard to remember whether the medical community feels they're good for us or not.

Check out this article from yahoo.com called Four Myths About Eggs to get the facts!

Our chickens will be raised on pasture, so if you're looking for some nice healthy eggs high in omega-3 fat, and vitamins E and A give us a call -- in about three months.

What the Flock?

I went to feed and water the chickens tonight and they were all asleep. I had to grab my camera to catch them huddled together. By the time I got back, they were starting to stir, but you get the gist of what it's like to sleep with the flock.



They did not like the camera flash; it woke them right up. Can't imagine why they wouldn't love the bright flash of light when they were trying to sleep!



Guess I should have probably let them be, but they would have been woken by me changing their water anyway...

Smart Chicks

Today, eight of the chicks visited Flynn's second grade class. Flynn's class recently started learning about life cycles, so having baby chicks visit was a great way to kick off the unit. Flynn's teacher was really enthusiastic -- she has twice raised ducks with her own kids.

Flynn was very proud to introduce his chicks to his class, and he did a great job identifying the different breeds of chicks. The second graders were very excited to hold the chicks, and they asked a lot of interesting questions. What they were most interested in, however, was chicken poop.

Now if any of you have children in the lower grades, this will not be a surprise. For some reason, kids are just fascinated with poop, and the fact that chickens poop almost nonstop and pretty much anywhere was just way too cool. The second graders were both grossed out and delighted by this shameless display of bodily function. Mrs. McCann, being a very wise teacher, told the kids matter of factly that that's what chickens do. She then instructed them to do one last eeewwwww/gross/oooooooohhhhh to get it out of their system so that we could move on with talking about chickens. (Glad I brought the bleach wipes with me!)

The kids were great with the chickens, and at least three kids asked if they could adopt one as a pet. Fine with me, but not sure how their parents are going to feel about it all...




Next week, I'm off to Liam's preschool. Now that should be interesting!

Choosing Breeds

Today my youngest had a play date with two other three-year-old boys. The three had a blast manhandling the little chicks (no one was hurt!). I was explaining why our chicks all look different and how I choose the four breeds: White Leghorn, Buff Orpington, Speckled Sussex, and Dominique (which are pictured at the top of this post).

When I selected the breeds, I looked for a combination of good egg layers, docile temperaments, and cold hardy birds. I wasn't too bothered about egg color (nutritionally they are all the same) or having rare or unusual birds. One tool I found helpful was the Which Chicken breed selector tool on mypetchicken.com.

Two of the breeds -- Buff Orpington and Speckled Sussex, matched all three of my criteria. I choose the Buffs because I just fell in love with their color and how poofy they looked.

Bill picked out the Speckled Sussex because he thought they looked cool.



We chose the White Leghorns based on their reputation as being great prolific layers. The White Leghorns are said to be nervous, but so far they seem the most mellow of all our chicks. By the way, it's pronounced "leggern." No Foghorn Leghorn here.

My oldest, Flynn, chose the Dominiques. He was originally drawn to Barred Plymouth Rocks because he liked how they looked with their alternating bars of black and white feathers. When we started investigating the Barred Rocks further, we found Dominiques who look similar but are a heritage breed that is critically endangered. As soon as Flynn heard that they were endangered, he was hooked. He takes great pride in doing his part to protect nature and helping an endangered breed really appealed to his sense of stewardship.

Three of our breeds produce brown eggs. Only the White Leghorns produce white eggs. If you grew up in New England you'll probably remember the commercial "brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh." Apparently the ad campaign was so successful that in New England brown eggs outsell white eggs while every where else in the US the reverse is true. I have to admit that I always buy white eggs from the super market. I have no idea why...maybe I wanted foreign exotic eggs from far away instead of those boring ole local podunk ones??? Apparently the advertising didn't work on me.

THE Cake - Part 2

We just returned from a very successful birthday party. Fun was had by all, and my eight year old was extremely pleased with his birthday cake.

Mmmmm, cake...

And Then There Were 18

When we ordered our chickens, the minimum order was 25 chicks -- way too many for our chicken coop, which maxes out at about 10 chickens. Luckily, several friends and neighbors kindly offered to give our chicks good homes. Two of the families who are taking chicks want them full grown so that it will be easier to introduce them to their flock. (Otherwise, the big guys will peck the little ones to death.) Catherine the chicken guru wanted chicks, so yesterday Charlotte and I took eight of our little guys to her barn.

Catherine has a great set-up for chicks of all ages. My babies were put in a pen next to some of her teenagers. The first picture show the chicks' new home; the second shows some of the teenagers.





Catherine also has two roosters. They are living in the barn so as to not tick off the neighbors. The white guy seems nice enough, but the red one is one nasty son of a gun. If you stick your foot (or any body part really) near his pen he'll give you a good peckin' -- and it hurts! You have to admit that though they might not be the nicest guys on the block, they sure are good looking.