Keladry of Bundelan
In the Brooder
I currently have 20 chickens (10 girls, 10 boys), and will shortly have 12-13. This is what has happened since I got them.
Quick rundown: of the 20 birds, so far we have General Leia (Cinnamon Queen girl, friendly and curious), Mother Clucker (Cinnamon Queen girl, fierce eyebrows and big), Lunar/Lamer (Black sex link girl, one of the tiniest), Dax (Cinnamon Queen girl, hasn't actually been tagged so she's just the placeholder name for three different Cinnamon Queen girls), Hen Solo (Cinnamon Queen boy, very friendly--he followed my sister down to the mailbox and then back and then up the stairs), one as of yet unnamed boy (Black sex link boy, likes to stay out all night alone and then cry for attention in the morning when he sees me coming, but ONLY me...), 8 boys who only get referred to as joke names because they get butchered this month, and seven girls who haven't earned their names yet.
Backstory: I live with my parents and three siblings on the top floor of my grandmothers house, in a sort of "in-law apartment" type place. The house has a 1/4 mile driveway and is surrounded on all three sides (other then road, of course) by trees because we live on a 40 acre tree farm. The backyard alone is big enough to sustain a flock of probably 30-40 free ranging chickens, so we have more then enough room for 20 young chickens. The coop is another story, but they like it so far.
Because of this pandemic, in April-May I freaked out and basically said "I need chickens, what if the store runs out of eggs? We're a family of six!" And somehow through miscommunication, trickery, and luck, ended up with 20 baby chickens at the end of May. We kept them inside, at first it was supposed to be only at night and we were going to move the brooder outside on the porch during the day, but that was too much work maneuvering the brooder, so inside it stayed in my moms home office area. And, well, since 20 adorable baby chickens were inside, we talked to them. And fed them. And cuddled them. And coddled them. And one week in these little buggers are already flying out of the brooder because they think their handful of feathers is enough to support them (and it is.). So we moved them to a dog crate, but still inside. And then two dog crates, but still inside. I think they went outside full time in the middle-end of June.
They have a coop now, and they free range from 7-9 in the morning (I'm supposed to open up the coop between 6:30 and 7:30, but I've overslept a couple of times) to 8-9 at night. And any time a human comes outside, they charge the human to beg for treats. It's kind of hilarious. They follow us around like ducklings, up to and including coming up two flights of stairs to beg us and look sad on our porch. And because we're suckers, yes, we give them treats when they come up. In the latest adventures, one of the girls came upstairs following my sister (12yo) and "looked sad," so my sister brought her inside and fed her peach. And then, the bird decided to fly up and sit on one of my mothers racks of clothing (my mother does direct sales for a clothing company), and then proceeded to poop on a skirt.
Thankfully, it fit my sister, so my sister just claimed it and washed it, but jeez, bird!
OH, and if the crazy chickens aren't enough, I have a tiny Lion head rabbit who is about a year old, and before the chickens arrived she was the only animal here. And oh boy, she freaking HATES them. I haven't been able to bring her outside since they started living out there because she freaks out about the noise, and she's actually afraid of them/attacks them. I mean, this rabbit has been around giant dogs, cats, humans of all sizes and shapes, and in loud cars and not batted an eye (in fact, she scared the cats), but when we brought home 20 squalling baby chickens she freaked out.
Anyway, here's some pictures (old ones, sorry) for evidence.
Quick rundown: of the 20 birds, so far we have General Leia (Cinnamon Queen girl, friendly and curious), Mother Clucker (Cinnamon Queen girl, fierce eyebrows and big), Lunar/Lamer (Black sex link girl, one of the tiniest), Dax (Cinnamon Queen girl, hasn't actually been tagged so she's just the placeholder name for three different Cinnamon Queen girls), Hen Solo (Cinnamon Queen boy, very friendly--he followed my sister down to the mailbox and then back and then up the stairs), one as of yet unnamed boy (Black sex link boy, likes to stay out all night alone and then cry for attention in the morning when he sees me coming, but ONLY me...), 8 boys who only get referred to as joke names because they get butchered this month, and seven girls who haven't earned their names yet.
Backstory: I live with my parents and three siblings on the top floor of my grandmothers house, in a sort of "in-law apartment" type place. The house has a 1/4 mile driveway and is surrounded on all three sides (other then road, of course) by trees because we live on a 40 acre tree farm. The backyard alone is big enough to sustain a flock of probably 30-40 free ranging chickens, so we have more then enough room for 20 young chickens. The coop is another story, but they like it so far.
Because of this pandemic, in April-May I freaked out and basically said "I need chickens, what if the store runs out of eggs? We're a family of six!" And somehow through miscommunication, trickery, and luck, ended up with 20 baby chickens at the end of May. We kept them inside, at first it was supposed to be only at night and we were going to move the brooder outside on the porch during the day, but that was too much work maneuvering the brooder, so inside it stayed in my moms home office area. And, well, since 20 adorable baby chickens were inside, we talked to them. And fed them. And cuddled them. And coddled them. And one week in these little buggers are already flying out of the brooder because they think their handful of feathers is enough to support them (and it is.). So we moved them to a dog crate, but still inside. And then two dog crates, but still inside. I think they went outside full time in the middle-end of June.
They have a coop now, and they free range from 7-9 in the morning (I'm supposed to open up the coop between 6:30 and 7:30, but I've overslept a couple of times) to 8-9 at night. And any time a human comes outside, they charge the human to beg for treats. It's kind of hilarious. They follow us around like ducklings, up to and including coming up two flights of stairs to beg us and look sad on our porch. And because we're suckers, yes, we give them treats when they come up. In the latest adventures, one of the girls came upstairs following my sister (12yo) and "looked sad," so my sister brought her inside and fed her peach. And then, the bird decided to fly up and sit on one of my mothers racks of clothing (my mother does direct sales for a clothing company), and then proceeded to poop on a skirt.
Thankfully, it fit my sister, so my sister just claimed it and washed it, but jeez, bird!OH, and if the crazy chickens aren't enough, I have a tiny Lion head rabbit who is about a year old, and before the chickens arrived she was the only animal here. And oh boy, she freaking HATES them. I haven't been able to bring her outside since they started living out there because she freaks out about the noise, and she's actually afraid of them/attacks them. I mean, this rabbit has been around giant dogs, cats, humans of all sizes and shapes, and in loud cars and not batted an eye (in fact, she scared the cats), but when we brought home 20 squalling baby chickens she freaked out.
Anyway, here's some pictures (old ones, sorry) for evidence.
