Cloudy Days in the Coop - My Adventures with Chickens.

[Starburst]

Hi, everyone! I decided that it would be fun to share my adventures with my beloved chickens. I've had my flock for about two years, and I hope to have chickens for the rest of my life. I started keeping them thinking it would be nice to have some eggs, but I've now come to love them for being, well, chickens! I've yet to be faced with chicken math, but...I now must beware of the feed store during chick season. Last time I wandered into the chick room 'just to take a look,' I came out with six chicks in a box. But that's not chicken math...right? Anyway, I currently have eight chickens running around my yard and making me grin ear to ear every day. (I'll post each of their own 'profiles' in a bit. ) Some may say I spoil my chickens, holding umbrellas out so they can free-range without getting wet, taking them into the house on the frigid days to warm up for a bit, cooking them oatmeal, popping popcorn just for them, and decorating their coop for the seasons. Yet personally, I just find it as my way of saying 'thank you.' A thank-you for that egg in the nesting box that will make my breakfast, a thank-you for sending me rolling in laughter, a thank-you for letting me hold them when I need it...chickens are pretty awesome! And let's be honest...for me, there's no place better to be on those cloudy days to be out in the coop, with my feathered friends scratching around I'm looking forward to sharing the times I spend with my flock with you, and thanks for coming along for the ride!

 

[chickenlittle21]

Lovely flock! Adorable silkies! Can't wait to see the profiles!

 

[ILoveBabySilkies]

Can’t wait for profiles on them! Miss chunky in the front is adorable!

 

[Starburst]

Minnie:
Minnie is my Gold Laced Wyandotte and is about 7 months old. As a chick, she would constantly fly out of the brooder into my hands to take a nap, and would sit for hours listening to me sing to her. Now, while she's a little more shy and doesn't love to be held quite as much, she's still very friendly. Minnie is, if I do say so myself, a very beautiful bird, and she lays nice brown eggs. She loves to free-range throughout the day, and some of her favorite treats are grapes, scratch, and mealworms. One thing she often does is fly up onto my shoulder for a ride as I walk around taking care of the flock. Minnie does tend to be a little mean to some of the other chickens, but with humans at least, once you get to know her, she really is sweet at heart!

 

[PioneerChicks]

I'll be gone for five days, but other than that...

 

[ILoveBabySilkies]

Minnie:
Minnie is my Gold Laced Wyandotte and is about 7 months old. As a chick, she would constantly fly out of the brooder into my hands to take a nap, and would sit for hours listening to me sing to her. Now, while she's a little more shy and doesn't love to be held quite as much, she's still very friendly. Minnie is, if I do say so myself, a very beautiful bird, and she lays nice brown eggs. She loves to free-range throughout the day, and some of her favorite treats are grapes, scratch, and mealworms. One thing she often does is fly up onto my shoulder for a ride as I walk around taking care of the flock. Minnie does tend to be a little mean to some of the other chickens, but with humans at least, once you get to know her, she really is sweet at heart! View attachment 2344494
View attachment 2344493

I have two GLW’s also! They both like to fly up on my shoulders too! She’s a beautiful bird and I love her name!

 

[TwoCrows]

Beautiful flock @Starburst

 

[Starburst]

Jasmine:
Jasmine is my Australop and is one of my original flock and is 2 years old. She was always very friendly as a chick, and is still happy to be held from time to time. Last Autumn, she was attacked by a large dog. While I managed to get to the scene before the attack could become fatal, I found that she couldn’t walk. She refused to eat for days, and only drank when I coaxed her to. While one leg seemed to work, the other wouldn’t work at all. Thinking it was dislocated, after several days I took her to a vet that would take a look at chickens. After four hours, they determined that she was most likely paralyzed. They explained that when the dog was shaking her around like a rag doll, her spine may have been severely injured. They gave me medicine after I refused to put her to sleep, telling me that it may help her. Jasmine was a fighter! After two weeks of giving her medicine, a check-up pronounced her to have nerve damage. She was always weak, but one day when I took her outside to be in the sun, she flew out of her bin to get around. That gave me hope. After several months living in the house and giving her medicine, she was hopping on one leg. By winter, I had a chicken tractor made. The ‘Chicken Infirmary.’ She spent those snowy days in there, nice and snug, and I would put her in the coop to stay warm. By spring, I began to introduce her to the flock again. One the head hen, she was now at the bottom of the flock, and still is. Amazingly, she began to use her weak leg to walk as well. Though she’s still slow in moving around, and her limp evident, she has gone a long way! Her favorite treat is mealworms and popcorn. And she loves to free range, despite her having a harder time getting around. She especially loves to dust bathe in my garden.

 

[Starburst]

Beautiful flock @Starburst

Thank you, @TwoCrows!

 

[Starburst]

I have two GLW’s also! They both like to fly up on my shoulders too! She’s a beautiful bird and I love her name!

Oh, thank you so much! It’s
awesome that you also have GLW’s. They’re pretty awesome!