AfroChickens
Chirping
I didn't know there was a place to talk about chicken stories. I'll post my post below. I'm having a funny and awesome time being a chicken mom. It hasn't been a week yet! Here's my chicken story post from another post:
So my chicken coop/run got delayed due to design changes (because I totally forgot about weasels). Also due to all that bad weather but my 4, 15 to 22 weeks, buff orpingtons came on this past Weds. I had assumed they wouldn't arrive so soon (Idk why I did). I got them from McMurray Hatchery. They were package so well. I was scared. I heard Orpingtons can be quiet but I didn't know they were this quiet! I love it because I wanted the noise level to be down. I was worried that they were dead when they got there but they were just chilling.They came right before that second little storm came in. The post office actually delivered them to my house. I thought that was nice of them, I think they were trying to beat the bad weather.
I had to take a dog cage and improvise. We had more delays due to running out of materials (hardware cloth, washers). Also, a tree randomly feel on our fence. It happened the day after the storm AND from the other neighbors yard so they are currently replacing our fence. We also found out we are on septic and the old owner did not keep their septic up. We wasted lots of construction time on dealing with a costly septic tank repair and drain.
On a brighter note, Last night was the hens first night in the coop. Before I left for work this morning they were alive and well. I put there food out and bid them well. I get off at 1 pm today. I'm excited to go home and check on them.
I'm enjoying being a first time mom. I am noticing personality differences already. There's one that I call "late to the party" because she's always last to find out what the other hens are doing. There's one that is the head of everything. She's sweet but let me know she wasn't happy about me trying to grab all the hens up to move them to the coop. I was kinda worried about her being a rooster but she was just fussing and not crowing. I can't have roosters (and I don't want them) so I'm really hoping she isn't one! There's the escape artist. Seriously, that hen was the only reason why it took me FOREVER to catch the hens. I had all three in a big box. It was going great. I tried to grab the last one but she was not having it. She was fussing and running. Dodging. I wanted to laugh but I was frustrated because I felt like she was laughing at me! Then occasionally the other hens were glancing over the box like mm what's going on? I finally caught escape artists. I put escape artists in the box and at the moment, she yelled really loud as she got placed in. That, OF COURSE, scared the hens to where they all flew out. I felt defeated and happy at the same time. Chickens are much more entertaining then the house birds I've had before. I don't know if it's because of the noises they make or the size but they are hilarious. Oh, and there's my quiet coo. She coo's constantly and it's adorable.
After we put them in the coop we were adding tweaks. We basically were looking for any "loose ends". Checking roof spots and moving screws around. Adding in extra wood in spots to keep snakes out. During this time we laughed at the chickens who clearly needing my guidance on finding things. Them trying to figure out how to get on the roost was probably the funniest part. The coop/run set up is all connected. When they got put in the there, it was light out. As soon as it got dark they immediately started looking for a roost. WELL that was a hilarious failure. One just started flying. I think that was the leader. Well, she flew into a wall. She felt defeated and somehow blamed me. I had spent all this time making sure I built low roost because I heard buffs like to roost low only for them to not be able to find them! Then they tried roosting on the litter box that I put in for a nice dust bathing area. Then they tried roosting on some wood that lined the run/coop. Well, after laughing at them in the dark with my light, I decided to try to help them. I picked up each one and place them by the roost. I had to use the little box to move them because apparently they all wanted to "hop on" the litter box for rides from me. Just imagine. Me in the dark. My boyfriend screwing things in. I'm carrying chickens with a litter box because they didn't want to walk over there by themselves or be herded over there.
I thought the laughs were over but the confusion then turned to...how do we get on this low roost. I assumed, at there age, that they would know how to get on the roost. They had clearly demonstrated that they know how to attempt to fly onto things. WELL, I was wrong. They wanted to make me laugh even more. Of course, the leader/One who figures everything out the easy way, flew up and was already settled. Her accomplished caused pure crazy between the other girls. They were not happy about not knowing how to get to the roost. Instead of them flying up, they decided to climb under the roost..to try to get on the roost? the opening on the other side of the roost is of course tiny compared to the big open space they had available to fly on from the other side. So all three ladies decided to climb under, at the same time, and try to fight to get on the roost. They were fussing at each other..pushing each other out the way. The one on the roost started staring at me. I'm staring at her. We are both confused at why the other 3 girls can't figure it out. They started pecking. The leader hen pecked to stop the fight. It was the funniest thing ever! When each of the 3 made it close to the roost from under it, they got frustrated because they of course didn't have enough room to fly up from that angle. At this point, they were vocalizing there frustrations at the roost, myself, and I think a little toward themselves as well. I decided to intervene again. I pick each hen up and place them on the roost. Escape artist didn't want me to pick her up but she accepted me lifting a piece of wood with her on it as an alternative way to move her. Right after that...all 4 fell off the roost, though I think Miss leader did it to make the others feel better. Hers seemed more like a jump off. It's a think piece of wood so they can roost comfortable. It really hard...with the amount of space for there feet, for them to fall off...and yet they still did. I'm laughing once again at this. Three of course made it back on the perch just fine this time. Of course, my late to the party hen only made it under the roost. She decided to lay under it and eat dirt. I picked her up and placed her on the roost. That was the end of our "moving to the run" journey.
Whew! These chickens! I wish I could have more than 4 but the Stockbridge land ordinance on chickens on my size land says only 4. I wonder what's the ordinance on ducks? Quail? I feel an addiction coming on...
So my chicken coop/run got delayed due to design changes (because I totally forgot about weasels). Also due to all that bad weather but my 4, 15 to 22 weeks, buff orpingtons came on this past Weds. I had assumed they wouldn't arrive so soon (Idk why I did). I got them from McMurray Hatchery. They were package so well. I was scared. I heard Orpingtons can be quiet but I didn't know they were this quiet! I love it because I wanted the noise level to be down. I was worried that they were dead when they got there but they were just chilling.They came right before that second little storm came in. The post office actually delivered them to my house. I thought that was nice of them, I think they were trying to beat the bad weather.
I had to take a dog cage and improvise. We had more delays due to running out of materials (hardware cloth, washers). Also, a tree randomly feel on our fence. It happened the day after the storm AND from the other neighbors yard so they are currently replacing our fence. We also found out we are on septic and the old owner did not keep their septic up. We wasted lots of construction time on dealing with a costly septic tank repair and drain.
On a brighter note, Last night was the hens first night in the coop. Before I left for work this morning they were alive and well. I put there food out and bid them well. I get off at 1 pm today. I'm excited to go home and check on them.
I'm enjoying being a first time mom. I am noticing personality differences already. There's one that I call "late to the party" because she's always last to find out what the other hens are doing. There's one that is the head of everything. She's sweet but let me know she wasn't happy about me trying to grab all the hens up to move them to the coop. I was kinda worried about her being a rooster but she was just fussing and not crowing. I can't have roosters (and I don't want them) so I'm really hoping she isn't one! There's the escape artist. Seriously, that hen was the only reason why it took me FOREVER to catch the hens. I had all three in a big box. It was going great. I tried to grab the last one but she was not having it. She was fussing and running. Dodging. I wanted to laugh but I was frustrated because I felt like she was laughing at me! Then occasionally the other hens were glancing over the box like mm what's going on? I finally caught escape artists. I put escape artists in the box and at the moment, she yelled really loud as she got placed in. That, OF COURSE, scared the hens to where they all flew out. I felt defeated and happy at the same time. Chickens are much more entertaining then the house birds I've had before. I don't know if it's because of the noises they make or the size but they are hilarious. Oh, and there's my quiet coo. She coo's constantly and it's adorable.
After we put them in the coop we were adding tweaks. We basically were looking for any "loose ends". Checking roof spots and moving screws around. Adding in extra wood in spots to keep snakes out. During this time we laughed at the chickens who clearly needing my guidance on finding things. Them trying to figure out how to get on the roost was probably the funniest part. The coop/run set up is all connected. When they got put in the there, it was light out. As soon as it got dark they immediately started looking for a roost. WELL that was a hilarious failure. One just started flying. I think that was the leader. Well, she flew into a wall. She felt defeated and somehow blamed me. I had spent all this time making sure I built low roost because I heard buffs like to roost low only for them to not be able to find them! Then they tried roosting on the litter box that I put in for a nice dust bathing area. Then they tried roosting on some wood that lined the run/coop. Well, after laughing at them in the dark with my light, I decided to try to help them. I picked up each one and place them by the roost. I had to use the little box to move them because apparently they all wanted to "hop on" the litter box for rides from me. Just imagine. Me in the dark. My boyfriend screwing things in. I'm carrying chickens with a litter box because they didn't want to walk over there by themselves or be herded over there.
I thought the laughs were over but the confusion then turned to...how do we get on this low roost. I assumed, at there age, that they would know how to get on the roost. They had clearly demonstrated that they know how to attempt to fly onto things. WELL, I was wrong. They wanted to make me laugh even more. Of course, the leader/One who figures everything out the easy way, flew up and was already settled. Her accomplished caused pure crazy between the other girls. They were not happy about not knowing how to get to the roost. Instead of them flying up, they decided to climb under the roost..to try to get on the roost? the opening on the other side of the roost is of course tiny compared to the big open space they had available to fly on from the other side. So all three ladies decided to climb under, at the same time, and try to fight to get on the roost. They were fussing at each other..pushing each other out the way. The one on the roost started staring at me. I'm staring at her. We are both confused at why the other 3 girls can't figure it out. They started pecking. The leader hen pecked to stop the fight. It was the funniest thing ever! When each of the 3 made it close to the roost from under it, they got frustrated because they of course didn't have enough room to fly up from that angle. At this point, they were vocalizing there frustrations at the roost, myself, and I think a little toward themselves as well. I decided to intervene again. I pick each hen up and place them on the roost. Escape artist didn't want me to pick her up but she accepted me lifting a piece of wood with her on it as an alternative way to move her. Right after that...all 4 fell off the roost, though I think Miss leader did it to make the others feel better. Hers seemed more like a jump off. It's a think piece of wood so they can roost comfortable. It really hard...with the amount of space for there feet, for them to fall off...and yet they still did. I'm laughing once again at this. Three of course made it back on the perch just fine this time. Of course, my late to the party hen only made it under the roost. She decided to lay under it and eat dirt. I picked her up and placed her on the roost. That was the end of our "moving to the run" journey.
Whew! These chickens! I wish I could have more than 4 but the Stockbridge land ordinance on chickens on my size land says only 4. I wonder what's the ordinance on ducks? Quail? I feel an addiction coming on...
