Chicky Whicky's Adventures

[ChickyWhicky]

I am starting a thread to share my adventures and probably TONS of pictures (and emojis).

I will start it off with a little background....

First of all, my name is Hannah and I live in the state of Iowa, USA with my husband (Jerry) and our teenage son (Donovan). We live on a small acreage and have lots of furry family members. Of course we have the chickens, we currently have 19 (will detail in next post). We have 2 dogs, a german shorthair pointer (Kano) & a bloodhound (Jethro). We have a couple cats (Romeo & Juliette + 4 kittens). Annnnnd, we are planning to get a horse this fall. The husband keeps talking about getting a goat or two but I'm not so sure I want that.
My hobbies include horseback riding, kayaking, fishing, hunting, cooking & yoga. I work for a medical device company as a production planner (I work from home 1/2 the week & absolutely love it!) & my husband is a supervisor at a commercial construction company. We are a very outdoorsy family and spend most days out and about. We travel to Texas at least once a year to visit my husband's family & that has become one of my most favorite things to do! I love to travel & I love the ocean.
Anyway, that's a snapshot of the household. My next post will be all about the birds!
Prepare for picture overload....

Kano & Jethro

Jethro

Kano

Kano & Juliette

Jethro & Kano (and Juliette in the back)

Juliette & her kittens (Romeo is not the dad....she found her way over to the neighbors place about 2 miles down the road and made friends with their tomcat...We don't judge her )

Juliette & Romeo (the cats are primarily outside but I do believe this was a cold, winter day and the husband is notorious for letting them come inside to "warm up" as he would say )

 

[ChickyWhicky]

Time to talk about the chickens!

We got our chickens in March of this year, so they are just going on 12 weeks. I ordered 15 from a local hatchery. 10 hens & 5 roos (minimum order quantity was 5, otherwise I would have gotten maybe 1 or 2 ) we are not keeping all 5, that's for sure! We also picked up 5 from our local farm store. Let me clarify, my husband picked up 5 from the local farm store without asking me first. It was a "surprise" for me... Anyway, we have a big variety of layers. The ones I am sure about are bard rock, wyandotte, buff orpington, rhode island red, production red, americauna, sapphire gem & austrolorp. Whew, that's a lot to remember! I am unsure about a few of the breeds we have. Maybe I will post pictures & ask for opinions. We don't have all of them named yet but I'm sure I will at some point. Here we go:
Hens
Margarita, Patricia, Gris, Dolly, Pumpkin, Goldie, Hawkeye, Bertha, Fuzzy Foot, Crooked Beak, Charlotte
Roos
Canelo, Mayweather

They have a raised, homemade coop (which I LOVE) made by my husband (will detail our coop in a separate post). They have a fairly large run but they free range in the afternoons. The dogs do an excellent job at making sure there are no critters around, so we don't worry too much about predators. Kano killed a racoon last week that was creeping around & Jethro chased the neighbor's dog off our property last night. Everybody gets along, with the occasional slap from Juliette (we've all been subject to her attitude). All in all, we have about 170 pounds of dogs running around but the 6 pound cat is who really runs the place.
The chicken journey from 1 day old to 12 weeks old (current) has been relatively smooth. Started everybody in a brooder in the garage & when they hit 6ish weeks they went out to the coop. Most of them are very friendly and have no problem sitting on your lap. We have lost just 1 baby in the 12 weeks- little Charlotte. She ended up with broken toes on one foot. I did what I could to help her heal but in the end she just didnt pull through. RIP little Charlotte
Well let's get back on a happier note & see some pictures!

Day 1 (just picked them up from the post office...miss the cute little floofy stage...but will not raise chicks in a brooder ever again if I can help it....mama hens will be in charge next time)

Older pic of the flock.

Again, older pic.

Some of the "surprise" chicks my husband gifted me. Pumpkin in the middle & Crooked Beak to the right.

Goldie being Goldie. One of the most friendly (and cute ).

Gris in the front with Patricia & Bertha to her right. Looking for snacks, as usual.

Goldie, Mayweather & Patricia on safari

Gris is not usually this friendly, so this was a surpise.

Nap time! Canelo in front and some others in the pile are Goldie, Patricia, Mayweather, Hawkeye, Gris, Bertha, Hawkeye & possibly Margarita (my only red with blue feet).

Jethro also looking for snacks... Or eating chicken poop. Who knows...

The chickens have always loved our son.

 

[ChickyWhicky]

Just a few pictures from yesterday afternoon.
Side note, Canelo tried to attack me for the first time last night. I picked his little tooshie up and proceeded to parade him around on my hip while going about my business. He was NOT happy about it but I do believe this was quite entertaining for the rest of the flock, as they all were very interested. I read somewhere that can help deter aggressive roosters- picking them up to show dominance or forcing them down into the ground (but I'm not really into that, so picking him up was my choice). Does this actually work? Does anybody have experience with trying this method? I can't stand a people-mean roo.... He will find a new place to live if he is willing to attack people. I like to be out and about with my flock, so having to worry about getting nailed by a rooster is not on my agenda.

Canelo....I guess the name fits him. He def looks like he wants to knock my socks off.

Canelo & my favorite hen, Bertha. I am not 100% sure on her breed. She is black with the brown on her chest/head. She also has a black comb. I was thinking maybe she is a black star?

Goldie, our roo with a girly name (whoops). He is super sweet and my favorite roo.

Little red roo on the left (no name yet), Mayweather in front & Patricia on the right. Out for a cruise!

 

[ChickyWhicky]

Good afternoon! Just some fluffy butts enjoying the sun.

 

[Chickengirl2671]

Following! Your animals are adorable!

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

So cute! I love Juliette.

 

[Buckingham Palace]

Oh my goodness they are all so cute. I can't wait to see your horse and chickens.

 

[ChickyWhicky]

Coop post:

This is our first coop build, mostly from scratch and 100% homemade. My hubby did all of the work and I am so thankful for it.

Our coop is about 20 ft long (add a few feet for nesting boxes) & about 4 ft wide. Its raised about 3 ft off the ground and has 2 doors on the front. Each side has 3 nesting boxes, 6 in total. The nesting boxes have doors that open from the back to allow easy egg access. Several roosts inside. Ventilation runs along the tops of each side. The big door has a built in screen, which is open almost all of the time. The small door is used to let the birds in/out of coop and has the ramp. We do shut the small door at night to secure them inside. The run is about 20 ft by 15 ft, however they free range during most of the day. I do have a light inside on a timer, its only on during the night. I hung a feeder inside the coop and they have a waterer. I also have a waterer in the run and outside of the run. They seem to enjoy the dog water bowl just as much..... Dust bath in the run but again, they think the gravel driveway is just as good.
I have started lining the run fencing with cinder blocks just for a little more security agaisnt anything wanting to dig holes. The coop is built agaisnt a detached garage, which is right next to our house so super convenient. I can walk out my back door and be to the coop in a snap. The dog house is right next to the coop, actually built into the garage. The dogs do a good job at detering predators so that is a sense of relief. I would like to get an automatic door for the coop! Also considering an automatic waterer! Will keep updates coming as they progress.

Front shot


Another front shot

Nesting boxes, door open. Same on each side.

Another shot

Inside shot

There is a huge, branchy tree that overhangs a large portion of the yard and run. This is one of their favorite spots to hang out.

Inside shot

 

[Buckingham Palace]

That is one nice chicken coop.

 

[ChickyWhicky]

Happy saturday!

I am considering adding some meat birds to the flock, as the price of meat (and everything else!) keeps rising. I will wait until my hens are broody and the plan is to try to sneak eggs or chicks in. I do NOT want to raise chicks myself again... Please let one of my hens do the work!

Gris & Mayweather

Mayweather & Canelo

Gris with 2 roos and the dogs, shes probably the safest hen on the farm right now.....