Eggs!!!

Apparently we should have been more on top of checking the chicken coop for eggs! I found these two just hanging out in one of the nesting boxes tucked up in the far corner.

Hooray!!!! 

Now hurry up chickens and lay some more before I run out and need to buy some!

Chickens On The Loose

We let the chickens out the other night. All were excited for a chance at freedom except one that chose to linger in the coop.

You can see her hanging out under the walk way up the coop. 

They all migrated by the door a lot.....

and they like the little space between the coop and the fence.

Crazy birds!!

Fight for the Water Bucket

Forget putting out a roosting stick, these silly birds are fighting over who gets to spend the night on the water bucket!!

A little blurry, but there are 5 birds on that bucket! 

The one on the right spent a lot time trying to figure out how she was going to get on with the others.

They are more entertaining than watching T.V. :).

Chicken Coop

The chicken coop is done!! Hooray!! Our garage was starting to smell very, very unpleasant. I was so ready to move the chicks outside.

We spent a total of $45 bucks on this. We were able to get all the wood, latches, hinges and wiring from a co-worker, the only thing we have paid for so far is for the railroad ties that we are using for our base.

I think the Dude was very creative with what he had to work with.

We have got the nesting boxes block off right now, so the birds don't go in them and poop all over them.

The inside of the coop is the only spot that has a roosting stick for right now. 

That bucket holds the water, with two water nipples at the bottom. We still need to make a better feeder, they go through that little bottle daily.

I think it turned out great!!!

New Chicks in the Neighborhood!

I have been waiting for spring since we moved in! Not only for the nicer weather, and the chance to plant a garden. I have been waiting mainly for spring so we could buy some backyard chickens!! 

Since we moved out of Utah I have been dreaming of the day we could get some chickens to lay fresh eggs. Fresh eggs are just so much better. They taste better, and look prettier. It's fun to go out and see how many eggs the hens laid. Having chickens is just all around fun for me.

We decided to get some Buff Orpingtons for our little flock, they will lay large brown eggs and will be golden-yellowish-brownish hens, or in other terms a "buff" color. 

It has been fun to try out different breeds and see their different personalities, so I am intrigued as to how these little gals will do.

They are so cute when they are this tiny!!!

Fluffy little ladies!

My co-worker was kind enough to ask his neighbor if we could use his brooding pen for our little chicks. We will keep them in here until the coop is all set up and once it gets warmer outside.

Any one else getting some chickens for their backyard this year? I highly recommend it!!

Chicken Update

Well I must say I do miss these crazy birds! I miss the fresh eggs too! I miss going outside to take care of them. My Dad emailed me the other day and told me that one of those crazy birds hopped the fence from the garden to the back yard. Little did she know Ash the dog was going to be waiting for her. Nick awoke to a ruckus and ran outside but wasn't there in enough time. Ash had done enough damage to the chicken that she died a couple days later. :( So now I am down to 10 birds, well I guess Dad has 10 chickens now. :) 

Silly birds.

Winterizing The Coop 2

Since it is getting colder I decided I should stop being a slacker and at least put the plastic in the chicken coop to keep the wind from blowing in and the snow from getting through the cracks. Dave was so kind as to help me staple the plastic to the walls and door.

The coop is completely waterproof now! :)

 Now I just need to get more boxes to insulate it to keep the heat in for these crazy chickens!

Remember "Bird"? Well she is alive and well! She has been living in the coop for a little over a month now and not one other chicken has pecked her. I believe this has something to do with how huge she has gotten. She is the biggest bird out of them all! I think it has helped though being the larger one, then she doesn't get picked on like some of the others have. I will have to post pictures of my BALD birds, they are a sad sight to see.

Winterizing The Coop

I've finally begun winterizing the chicken coop. I ran out of supplies, so I will have to finish sometime this weekend hopefully.

I have been putting up flattened cardboard boxes over the wood slats to help prevent the wind from blowing through the cracks. As you can sort of tell the chickens are already pecking at the cardboard.

Here is a better picture of the cardboard. After putting these up my Dad suggested I put some plastic before the cardboard to help with the snow ruining the cardboard. 

I will have to apply the plastic where I haven't stapled the cardboard for now. Maybe next year I will come up with a better solution if this idea doesn't work out well this winter. Wish me luck! I will post more pictures when the coop is completely ready for winter.


 Any good ideas on how to keep my water from freezing in the winter?

Crazy chickens, with the way they eat you would think I was raising pigs!

Chickens In The Yard

The other day my Dad decided to let the chickens run around our backyard. This was a first for them since they were chicks and that time I kept them confined to the little pen we have. Though they didn't wander very far the first time, they have been out since these pictures and are getting more brave to go to the other end if the yard. We are still working on getting them to get up to the wood pile. I am sure they would find lots of bugs to eat up there.

Roosting

Chickens LOVE to roost. Roosting is just sitting on something higher for long periods of time. We have two poles placed in the coop, one a littler lower to the ground and one a lot higher from the ground. "Bird" loves to jump up on the higher one when she gets to be in the coop. Since she isn't in there very often she roosts on top of the fenced in part of the chicken coop. They roost when they sleep too.

Darn Chickens!

Those darn chickens are out causing trouble again. I think they just like causing havoc!

When I went out yesterday I found this egg in the dirt, I also found one this morning like this as well. I don't know if they are falling off the top of the nesting box or they are pecking at them to open it up to eat the egg inside. Either way this isn't a good habit for the chickens to get into. They get in the habit of eating the eggs I won't be collecting any for me to eat cause they will eat them all. 

I left "Bird" in the coop for a day, she seemed like she was doing OK, and the other chickens seemed to be leaving her alone. I went out Thursday to check on her and those chickens have made her miserable once again!

This time they pecked her on her other side causing a huge open wound and ruined her beautiful feathers. She was starting to look so pretty now she will have to regrow some feathers. I hope she will be able to, they took some good chunks out her.

Though it seems like these birds are out to ruin everything, I still love having them around. They bring me joy, I love going out to see what they are up to and listen to them squawk. :)

Things That Make Me Smile :)

Cosmo!!

Bird, she roams the garden

The chickens that still live in the coop.

Finding eggs in the nesting boxes

My basket of eggs when I am done collecting

Gardening

 Cows and horses!! This is taken from a cutting show in Oakley, UT.

Family

 FOOD!

 
Dave! 

There are so many other things that make me smile too, I have such a great life and am so blessed. :)