Saturday Chores

So far this has been my Saturday:

Clean the bathroom sink and toilet. Read a chapter in my book (Elizabeth and her German Garden--a wonderful book from 1900 that I'm enjoying so much).

Do some laundry. Chat with Kevin on the phone.

Clean the bathtub. Eat lunch.

Take the old, wet phone books from the porch (so embarrassing) to the recycle trolley. Take a nap.

Vacuum. Go check on the chicks.

So when I checked on the chicks, I discovered that Honey had a feather in her beak that she was trying to swallow. This is at least the third feather I've seen her try to eat. She was banging the pointy end on the floor of the pen to help it go down her throat, but I guess it was too long. I opened the lid of the pen so that I could pick her up and remove the feather from her mouth, but I had put a long stick in the pen to see if the chicks would perch on it (Jackie did for a little while, but I haven't seen too much interest in it) and I couldn't get to her (have I mentioned that the chicks are in my "garage" right now and that the pen is surrounded by bikes and the lawn mower and other assorted things?). Finally after banging my hip against the stick repeatedly, I did get her and I did pull the very long, very wet feather out. She didn't put up any fight and didn't seem to care about her lost treat at all. Really, I can't believe she would find feathers of interest, but I guess any new thing ...?

Six and a Half Week Update

I know that it must be boring to read "the chicks are getting so much bigger" in every post. But they are! I swear I feed them in the morning and then come home from work in the evening and they've grown in the intervening hours. I looked at some pictures of the chicks from the first week I got them--I forgot what little fuzz balls they were just a few weeks ago. Now look at them--little hens.

The dynamics in the pen have just changed a bit from those early days (4 1/2 weeks ago). Jackie is still mostly in charge, but Poppy gives her a chest bump occasionally to assert herself. Birdie, Honey and Bee started off all about the same size, but Birdie and Honey have grown much more than Bee. Bee is at the bottom of the pecking order, but she seems to be doing all right for herself. You can see her peeking out from behind Birdie in this photo:

Here's a picture of Birdie on her favorite place--the waterer:

And as surprise, more work on the chicken coop! The chicken coop elf came by to work on the coop while I was at work today. It's really starting to take shape.

Coop, Part Two

The chicken coop is coming along ... slowly. We started on the pen part of the coop. The part coming out from the coop will be screened in and roofed, so they'll have plenty of room to scratch around and be out in the fresh air. You may notice that the space behind the coop looks different from the last pictures. The people who bought the lot are planning on finishing the fence (yeah!!), and they cleared the scrub that was there last week. They did leave a tree, so I'm interested to see how they do the fence around the tree. It's good timing for the fence. Except for a part over by the hammock, the yard will all fenced in. The chickens can still fly a bit, but I do like the idea of letting them out in the yard on the rare occasion. (You'll also notice, if you look close enough, Gus the cat in the pictures.)

Bad non-coop item:

When I got home from work today, the chicks' water bottle was on its side. I have no idea how long it had been like that. The chicks like to stand and lay on top of the bottle and I'm sure that when one of them jumped off, it got knocked over. Anyway, when they finally were able to drink, I thought they would never stop. They were so thirsty. Of course, I felt like a bad mother--I'm going to try to tie it to the pen so it can't be knocked over again. I do love watching them drink though. They take a bit of water and then stretch their necks up to swallow it--so cute.

Sleep and Wattle Worries

Have I mentioned how sweet the chicks are when they sleep? They cuddle up in a clump and make the sweetest little chirping snoring sounds. They wake up when the sun comes up and go to sleep when the sun goes down. I hardly ever go out to see them when it's dark, but on the few times I have, each time I think I should write about how sweet they are. Of course, children are pretty sweet when they sleep as well. Children can be the most rambunctious little brats all day long and then when they go to bed they become the sweetest, most lovable little angels. Not that the chickens are ever brats ....

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I shouldn't ever look up anything on the internet. I searched to find out at what age the chicks are supposed to develop their combs and wattles. Poppy's and Jackie's combs and wattles are quite developed compared to the others, which makes me think that they are older than Birdie, Honey and Bee. Well, I couldn't find anything that gave any type of growth chart. What I did find was a forum where someone thought she had a pullet (female chick), but the way it was growing, she wondered if indeed she had a rooster (I don't know the term for a young rooster). Turns out that the forum decided that, yes, she did have a rooster. Now I'm all worried that one of the girls is going to turn out to be a boy. I'm apparently very susceptible to worrisome suggestions.

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I'm hoping to have a coop update tomorrow. Hopefully, Kevin will be able to come over to work on the coop tomorrow. I bought some chicken wire (sort of) at a yard sale today. I'm thinking we can use it for the windows and the door since they are only partial rolls.

Coop, Part One

We started on the chicken coop today! We got the base done and framed up the sides. We would have got more done, but it rained off and on all day. Mostly we waited out the rain, but late in the afternoon it rained for over an hour, which put us back. I'm not sure when we will be able to finish it up. The chicks are going to be in the pen for at least another 5 weeks, but I'll be glad when the coop is ready for them.

Loose Chick

Andrew graduated from 8th grade this week, and with everything going on, I haven't had much time to spend with the chicks. They're getting so big! I sat and held them today, and even though they squawk like they don't want to be held. I think they are getting so that they don't mind it. When I was holding Jackie today, she suddenly flew out of my arms. I guess I wasn't paying attention. I think we were both pretty surprised. I would swear, however, that when she was out running around, she was trying to get back in the pen with the other chicks. Isn't that funny? Especially since she is the main one who will try to fly out of the pen if she thinks she has a chance.

Another funny thing about Jackie, but one that isn't surprising: I was sitting by the pen wiggling my finger (ooh, it's a worm!) at Honey, and she started squawking. Jackie runs over to see what's the matter and takes a peck at my finger. So like her to be the one in charge.

You can see from the pictures that they all came over to where I was to have their pictures taken.

Feed Story

I went to another feed store today--Barnes Feed on Old Palafox, and it was much nicer than the one I went to on Monday. So many more feeders and waterers and feeds and closer to my house. I wish I'd gone there first. Anyway, I have to decide whether I want to feed the chicks medicated feed or not. I can't tell if the feed I'm using right now is medicated, so I'm not sure what to do. The large bags of feed at Barnes are medicated, so if that is where my mom got the current food I'm using, I guess I'll keep doing the medicated.

So long story to say that I didn't get any feed today, but I did get a metal trash can to keep the feed in. I have to tell you, reluctantly I admit, that I found two dead rats in my yard, on different days, after I got the chicks. I haven't seen any signs that rats have been in the feed, but I have been worried about them getting into it. I'm not sure what killed the rats. I didn't see any signs of trauma to indicate a cat had gotten them. But enough about rats ... I'm sure that there were only two in this neighborhood, and since they're dead now, I don't have to worry about them anymore.