The Awkward Zebra

[ygritte]

Chicks are starting to look like chickens! And big news, just signed a contract on an acre property!! Means more space for my future homestead and I can have roosters! Which may be coming in the nick of time since Rue the Welsumer is making really obnoxious noises that may be the start to a crow.

 

[ygritte]

Chickens are still growing like weeds, healthy as can be, plus we got our first egg today!! WHOOOOOOO!!! Pretty sure this is Rue's, the little Welsumer. I'm thankful it is hers, because we were worrying that she was a he with the god awful noises shes been making... the noises don't seem so bad if I'm getting eggs as part of the deal

Here's a few more updated pics of the chickens:





Nimoy and Riker are the only ones who still try to sit on my lap, which I'm thankful for...definitely will not be encouraging "lap chickens" in the future. Nimoy (the wyandotte) and I have a pretty good deal worked out where she jumps up and just sits on my leg, no hussing or fussing. Riker crawls all over and gets kicked off half the time, so... yeah. I know it's my own fault, lesson learned onwards and upwards. EGGS!!!!

 

[ygritte]

Two surprises today in my chicken adventure. An egg with two yolks in it and an egg with a blood spot in it. Poor bird probably burst a vessel pushing that huge two yolker out!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Just discovered this and I really like it!! I subscribed and am eagerly awaiting the next post. Hope you aren't serving beer to minor( chicken).

.

 

[ygritte]

Why thank you! They've been a blast so far, excited for whats to come

Hope you aren't serving beer to minor( chicken).

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She gets away with it because of that beard... makes her look older than she is. Doesn't even need a fake (chicken) ID.

 

[ygritte]

No sawdust? No problem! I'm a huge fan of the deep litter method and have had zero problems with it. I ran out of leaves a while ago though so I've been trying to find alternatives for my "brown matter". I know grass clippings are more green/wet, but with everything being so dry I thought it could use the extra moisture anyway! Plus, they were all having a ball digging in there.

 

[ygritte]

All the chickens have been laying for a few weeks now averaging 4-5 eggs daily (out of 5 chickens). The only one not consistently laying is big ole Banksy. She seems to average every other day, sometimes back to back and then skips again. Hopefully she'll pick it up, but if not I'll still keep her, she's pretty awesome, and by far my best forager... I'm hoping in the future she'll be a good mama and teach the little ones her skills!

Speaking of eggs, I used to roll my eyes at people wanting to have colorful eggs displays and what not, but now I totally get it! I love seeing the array of dark brown, light brown, speckled, and a gorgeous greenish blue (seafoam really) eggs. I also love that I can easily know whose is who... One big plus to having very few chickens and all different breeds

Once I was able to find Nimoy's secret nest and realized all my birds were laying I locked them up in the coop for a week to try to get them trained to use the nest box I provided. It was harder than I thought. I felt bad leaving them even though they had plenty of shade and space (they still had a simple run connected to the coop that I made when I went on vacation), I was also thinking that it was all for naught reading how people tried to train their birds but still have to search for eggs. Thankfully, it paid off and they all lay in the nest. It's been over a week of them being let out to free range and I haven't had any egg hunts! So... My only advice is be strong... lock those chickies up! it is soooo worth it!

My nest box is like most things with my birds, from scrap. It's an old broken planter with a litter box shoved inside, I used to to just have the planter, but they'd kick all the "nesting material" out and then have a fit trying to get material back in there. The box seems to alleviate this issue.

I don't have my birds on free choice feed, they get fermented feed (or just plain dry if I've become lazy at something that literally takes two seconds (don't judge!! )) at dinner time. Over the past month or so I've noticed their foraging skills increasing tremendously. I get very proud mama when I see one pull a worm out of the ground which always incites a fierce game of keep away. I'm excited to see this since when I get more property I plan on further reducing how much I feed especially in the summer with the hope that they'll get their own meals, which I'm sure is way healthier than the stuff I buy.

Well that's all I have for now, time for one more cup of coffee