His Chicks

No, I am not joking.

This is my husband...

...cuddling with one of his chickens.

Him and 'Henny' have bonded. She leaves her flock to walk around the yard with him. They check out the apple trees, stroll the gardens, and make me gag!





Though he loves them all - and they hate that he does these things to them!

Chickens, anyone?

8 Week Update: Chickens

The girls are 8 weeks now.

They are becoming more and more adventurous.

Every day they come out of the coop, they stray further and further.

Yesterday we couldn't find them! They were out in the orchard, buried in tall grass under one of the trees.

They are quite to particular compost'ers too!

They don't like pineapple and they pick the chard leaves off the stem. No stems for these ladies.

But berries, oh berries, they'll take those any day of course!

We are at the halfway point, I hope, until they start laying eggs. Maybe a tad longer than halfway depending on how soon they decide to do so. As I understand it, they can start laying anywhere between 16-20 weeks of age.





What's that old saying?

'Birds of a feather flock together'

Moving Day

It was moving day this past weekend for the chickens. 

Yep, time for them to fly the coop out.of.my.bathroom! YAHOO!

They seem to be adjusting quite well with all the extra open space they have to roam, run and peck!

And flap and squak and dirt bathe....

I couldn't resist, I picked them some fresh herbs and threw them into the coop for them. 

Later, when I was cleaning out old flower pots, I had clumps of dirt loaded with bugs.

I think the were in heaven!

And this is an 'heirloom' chicken feeder. It was Allen's grandpa's.

I think that is pretty neat!

I was having a tad difficult time taking pictures since I have a 14 month old glued to my hip.

And these metal walls - the ladies are fascinated with them. 

They peck at them, and peck and them, and....peck at them?

Chicks: 3 weeks old

The chicks are three weeks old today! 

And yesterday was their first adventure outside.

They were quite the curious bunch!

No matter that the farm manager was lurking somewhere.

Boy are they ugly!

Yes. I am serious. 

When they go through this adolescence stage, they are u.g.l.y!

Here they are with my nephew and niece, checking out their 'almost ready' new digs. 

With any luck, it will be finished and the weather will cooperate for them to move OUT of my bathroom and into it next weekend!

Like I said, U.G.L.Y! :)

Chicks - Day 4

The chicks are 4 days old - as of yesterday when I took these photos. 

I know everyone says they grow so fast - but geshhh. The grow so fast!

Look at their wing feathers already forming!

It is really for the better though. 

The sooner they get all their feathers, the sooner they can head to their coop and out of my spare bathroom!

I am not amused sharing 'my' bathroom with hubby now!

And then we have Ms. Blondie here...or as I am renaming her, Ms. SASSafras. 

Please turn out to be a Ms.!

***

This post linked up at Farm Photo Friday

Welcome, Ladies!

Guess what?

The chickies are here!

We picked them up this morning.

6 Golden Buff laying hens*.

*Well, they better all end up being hens!

Everyone wanted a turn checking out the new farm residents.

And it has been quite the day. Trying to handle them. And figure out which temperature they like best. Then figuring out which bulbs keep the heat consistent the best. Let me tell you - I am not wild about having a heat lamp on. And right now we're sitting at a balmy 92-ish degrees Fahrenheit.

More to come on this new adventure soon!