We Got Baby Chicks!

We got baby chicks!

Its been a while since we had baby chicks, and we really had no intention of getting baby chicks this year. Human babies are a lot of work and we thought that'd be too much. However, Penguin decided that we needed chicks and went broody. Really, really broody, so broody I couldn't break her of it, so we found fertile eggs and let her give it a try. I kinda thought she’d give up, which is why Vince was hesitant to give her eggs, since he didn't want her to sit on them for a while and then abandon them and the chicks die. 

On a whim I called a woman about eggs and she gave us six and told us to bring back any chicks we couldn't keep. I was expecting a low hatch rate, so after I dropped and broke an egg I was only expecting two of the five to hatch. Honestly, I told Vince if we got one chick I’d call this a success. It was both Penguin and mine’s first try at hatching eggs (I’ve always bought baby chicks). 

So I gave her the eggs, marked my calendar for three weeks later and left her to do her thing. 

Fast forward to hatch week and I am “preparing” for baby chicks. I got the brooder ready incase she didn't want to care for the chicks and I frantically tried to schedule our Father’s Day Visits around chicks. Based on my math they were due to hatch Thursday or Friday before Father’s day. I invited my grandparents to come visit the Amish with us that Thursday so my Grandfather could be here when they were supposed to hatch. It was like a thousand years ago but his grandfather raised chickens when he was a boy and I thought he’d enjoy it.  

Wednesday evening I go to get eggs and check on Penguin. I decided to candle the eggs and the first two have little wiggling shadows, the next two have tiny holes and cheeping chicks, the last one is half hatched! I was not prepared at all and I didn't sleep at all that night. I was more nervous than I was when I was in labor! I’m not even kidding. I had experienced midwives and doulas around me so I knew I was in the best hands possible, poor Penguin was all alone and it was our first hatching. 

I was so relieved when I saw the first two chicks staring at me the next morning. I had been worried what the other hens would do, but they didn't seem to even mind the chicks. I found Daisy and CoCo in the nesting boxes with Penguin and the chicks like nothing happened. 

All five chicks hatched, but one sadly didn't make it long, and before they were a week old we had lost another. Thankfully the other three seem to be very healthy and happy and Penguin has turned out to be a wonderful mother. She is a natural and she makes it look so easy! I seriously don't know how she does it. 

When I got the eggs the woman had Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Sex-linked, Leghorn and silver and gold Wyandottes. I really wanted a Wyandotte and I really didn't want a Leghorn (I didn't want white eggs). Well since Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Sex-linked, and silver and gold Wyandottes all lay similar eggs it was a toss up on which eggs had which chicks, and none of them were pure bred so that made it harder. Let me tell you, Mother Nature and I have an odd relationship. Well its hard to tell but it seems that we got a Barred Rock chick and two LEGHORNS… and the two that passed away were probably Wyandottes. 

My mother laughed and said thats what I get for trying to control Mother Nature. Oh well as long as they are healthy and good layers I can’t complain. 

Now we just have to hope they are girls so we can keep them :) 

Finished Chicken Coop

I finally finished the chicken coop… at least for now.

The problem is they have decided to hangout in the dirt dusting themselves, so I don’t actually know if they will go inside and get on the roosting rods.

I really hope they can because I really don’t want to deal with it anymore J

They seem to be happy though.

I also fixed all the holes the dogs put in the chicken wire.

Inside I put roosting rods on the right and the new nesting boxes on the left.

The roosting rods aren't the prettiest things, but they were scrap wood from the garage. It was a win-win, free roosting rods and the garage gets a bit cleaner. 

I then filled the floor with straw and put up walls.

Again, not the prettiest, but should work... as long as everyone fits through the doorways and no one blocks the doorway.

I also had to add another lock to the main door because the dogs and the chickens figured out how to open the door and explore the yard.

I seem to only work well under pressure, thankfully it is supposed to get cold tonight so I was forced to finish the coop.

 We will see how they like it and if I have to fix anything else.

Oh! and the good news is, it looks like all the chickens are almost over the "Chicken Pox."

Technically it is called Fowl Pox, but it is similar to human chicken pox and since they are chickens I rather call it Chicken Pox. Fowl Pox sounds a bit scarier to me. 

While I was trying to photograph the coop, some chickens decided to pose for the camera, and they are just too cute not to share!
 

This is the smallest of the chickens but the feistiest. She is named Poulet, after the french word for chicken. 

 

 Coco, She always takes the best pictures and loves to have her picture taken or look at herself in the mirror. Did I mention she is named after Coco Chanel?

Fluffy, who got her name after weeks of me calling her fluffy feet and never actually naming her. She seems to be fond of her name so no harm done.

She always looks angry, but is actually pretty chill. I named her Bunny because she is an Easter Egger, so I have an Easter Bunny. It seems i am the only one who finds that funny. 

There are three other chickens: Rosie, Daisy, and Penguin, but they didn't care to have their photo taken. 

Chicken Coop Before

The spring before last we added four new chickens to our flock, which meant the coop I had built for the first bunch was too small. So that summer break we built a new, and much bigger coop.

Coop #1

Coop #2

Of course we finished the main structure of the coop the day before Vince had to go back to school. At this point the coop had no real roof, no warm indoor area, only a temporary roosting rod, and we set the old nesting box on the floor so they had something. Over the next couple weekends we added the roof (which took longer since I mismeasured… big time) and the nesting boxes. The nesting boxes first were 5 gallon buckets they hated, which were replaced with ugly blue plastic storage boxes with cutouts.

Thanks to school and wedding planning the next thing I knew it was Halloween and the temp was supposed to drop to below freezing that night. I rushed home after school and frantically put up something to block wind and keep them warm. It was supposed to be temporary, but it remained all through the winter.

This spring I added a vine outside to add more shade because I could tell the sun was bothering them, but I did nothing to fix the indoor.

However, my mom just got back from Round Top Texas and found a pretty nesting box for the coop, and now its finally time to fix the indoor coop.

Here is what the inside looked like after I took the outer wall down and set the new nesting box in there. Not very pretty….

Also notice all the places the dogs broke into the coop, not to hurt the chickens but to hang out. 

Stay tuned for the after.