We are on a roll. Not the yummy, yeasty kind with butter or a good one of any sort. We are now down 2 chickens. The girls LOVE the chickens. They constantly ask if they can play with them, enjoy collecting their eggs, and just have fun watching them. I don't really know how one "plays" with chickens, but regardless, they are attached (see details of last chicken funeral). Personally, I'm not up for cuddling with the feathered friends, but I love the clucking sounds they make when we come to see them and having fresh eggs all of the time is pretty darn cool!
It was much to my dismay to come home from work yesterday morning, after being awake for 24 hours no less, to find another fatality. This one was no accident or chicken suicide. Despite being in TWO enclosures, it was predator driven. I'll spare you the details, but... yuck. I'm just thankful that I am the one that made the grisly discovery and not one of the kids. I'm fully aware that they will one day happen upon something like this, but I'd like to protect them from it as long as I can. As far as they know, Midnight ran away from home! We are continuing to reinforce the enclosures, but such is life when your animals live outdoors, I guess.
Now for the upside... see below! I have been dreaming of green and blue eggs since we moved so Brad surprised me with four Easter Egger chickens. They are two weeks old and adorable! These, I may cuddle with! We don't know yet if they are male or female. Something new that I learned - basically one waits to see if they crow to figure that one out. Who knew! Keeping fingers crossed for no crowing, green eggs, and tight fencing.
Really?! Does it get much cuter?!
Oh wait, yes it does! Look at that pose!
While Brad wasn't looking we HAD to take a picture of a "biker chick"! Happily it didn't poop on his cherished Triumph.
Sounds like you all are having fun with the farm! Love the biker chick. Too cute! We will pray for no CROWING too! Our neighbors gave a rooster once and went sent him back 2 days later. He did not know the difference between morning,nighttime, or MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT and cock a doodled all of the time. LOL!
ReplyDeleteHow old are the chickens? Once they come off the heat lamp, they really need a full 4 sided enclosure when outdoors until they are completely full grown. Do you have a chicken coop? If you can, a solid floor has worked for us. No weasels, foxes, snakes have gotten in out coop with a solid floor. Predators are going to try to eat your chickens no matter what, but they are better suited to protect themselves when they're full grown. We learned that lesson when we turned our 8 week old chicks out to pasture. We have young birds in an old rabbit hutch now until my huth-band can build a chicken tractor, and that's working well. You can 'like' Chicken Whisperer on Facebook, he always has good tips. Good luck with the birds!
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