It's a Beautiful Thing!

Finally some exciting news... all chickens are now laying eggs! A couple weeks ago, Spooks starting laying, then Grey, and just this week Lexi and O'Malley joined the club.  Since Spooks is a different breed of chicken, I was curious to see if there would be a difference in her eggs.  And WOW, is there a difference! Her eggs are HUGE! Well at least compared to the other eggs.  I would say in general the eggs have been smaller than the "Large" eggs you buy at the grocery store.  But Spooks' eggs are about the same size or maybe a little bit larger than the "Large" eggs at the store.

Can you tell which eggs Spooks laid?

We have been eating eggs every morning for breakfast and haven't really accumulated a bunch of eggs yet to give away.  However, I did make my first delivery to a friend last weekend.  Six delicious eggs! So if you have donated egg cartons - you can expect a delivery soon!  We will get tired of eating eggs every day after awhile.  I will say that I baked cookies last week and we had one store bought egg left.  I went ahead and cracked that egg and added it to the recipe, then added two fresh eggs from the chickens and the yolk color is totally different.  The fresh eggs are a deep, dark yellow-orange color, compared to the store bought egg with a pale yellow color.  Also, we have gotten quite a few double yolks from the chickens.  Not sure why or how that happens??

Since they have all started laying eggs, the chickens have been extra hungry and also quite needy.  They expect to be out in the yard to free range at least a few hours every day.  And they sure do squwak a lot to remind you - hey! we want out! Here is a video of them following me around in the yard last week. 

 

Anyways the other update... I noticed that the chickens were going through an abnormally large quantity of food every day.  I would fill it up at night and then in the morning it would be gone.  Like not a drop of food left.  And then I noticed a small trail forming from underneath the fence over to the side of the coop.  And then I noticed quite a bit of food being scattered around the feeder inside the coop.  And usually they just peck at the food and don't really cause the food to spill out.  Well one night last week, we had the windows open and we woke up to squawking outside.  There was either a raccoon or possum sitting on top of the coop.  Grant tried to get the bb gun, but Savannah scared the critter away.  

Yesterday morning again, NO food left.  So I was determined to block off the food from the outside. I could just picture the raccoon reaching its little paws through the wire and pulling the feeder over and helping itself to all the food it possibly wants! And why not come back every night? Once they figured out they couldn't get to the chickens, they just went for the free food.  Don't get me wrong, I would rather have them eating the chicken food instead of the chickens... but if I can keep them out, I'm going to try my hardest! 

So I created a barricade with a card board box and additional chicken wire.  Tied it up and used metal stakes to secure it.  I was pretty proud of my work, until this morning when I went out to check.  That raccoon demolished the barricade, totally ripping back the chicken wire and pulling the card board box aside.  

UGH! I was so mad! I can not let the critter out smart me.  I worked on it some more today and replaced the card board with a much sturdier plastic sheet.  So we will see if that helps. 
If not, Grant bought deer cameras to be put up out in the woods and it is basically a camo camera that records any activity/movement.  So I might put one of those up to catch the critter in action! So I know when and how they are getting to the food.  That is, if Grant lets me use the deer camera for the chicken's safety :)

~Peace and Eggs~ 

One A Day

So we came home from vacation and sure enough there was an egg in the nesting box.  At first we weren't sure who was laying the eggs, but I was quickly able to confirm that Izzie was the one (and only one) laying eggs.

Most days I usually let them out of their coop to roam free in the backyard for at least a few hours.  So the first day back after vacation, I let them out and they all go running/flying to the bushes and trees, like normal.  After about an hour, I noticed an extremely loud squawking noise and noticed Izzie was back in the coop.  She made this loud squawking noise for several minutes and then got quiet.  She went up into the nesting box and laid an egg.

We have one large brown egg a day from Izzie.

 

I am pretty sure that Spooks, Grey, and Lexi are all ready to lay eggs as well.  How do I know this? Well, right before we left for vacation, I went to round them up and put them back in the coop and as I got close to Izzie, she crouched down and stiffened her wings.  I was nervous that maybe she was sick because I had never seen any of them do that before.  Since I am constantly around them, they are used to me walking right up to them and touching them, so I knew it wasn't because she was scared of me.  But, the point of the story.... She was protecting her egg! And now Spooks, Grey and Lexi are all doing the same thing.  If I try to pick them up or herd them out of the mulch beds, they immediately stop and get down low and harden their wings.  So I know they have eggs in there!

 

But it is going to be very loud once they all start laying... listen to this video of Izzie before she laid an egg the other day.



As of now, we have been eating the eggs for breakfast and they are pretty delicious! Once all of the chickens start laying we will have plenty to go around!

Finally

It took me heading out of town to get the chickens to lay their first eggs! At almost exactly 20 weeks, they finally laid eggs today! Luckily I have a nice neighbor that went to check for me and found 2 beautiful, brown eggs waiting in the nesting box. I don't know which little chicky was the leader but I am hoping for many more from all of them. I will post a much better update when I get back home next week.

But for all of you patiently waiting to have your egg cartons returned with fresh, free range, home grown eggs - your wait is almost over!

Have a great Monday...

Any Eggs?

Still no eggs. These days, every morning is like Christmas morning. when you are a little kid wondering if you made the nice list and if there would be presents waiting for you under the Christmas tree.

I guess I will have to keep waiting.

But I did have some extra grapes in the fridge and decided to give them to the chicks (since Grant said they were sour).  Apparently they love grapes! I slice the grapes in half and toss them in the coop.  If this doesn't make you smile, not sure what will.

Enjoy!

Bigger and Better

The coop extension was finished this weekend.  With the new addition - I don't have to let the chicks out to roam the yard if I don't have time/want to.  Mostly since we got fresh mulch - which they love to kick around and dig in - it is much better that they stay contained.  Since they have been in the coop and not roaming free, we have not had any fox sightings. 

The coop addition was created by Grant and his friend Mark, and then my Uncle Glen helped to attach the addition onto the existing coop.  It was a process, but well worth it.  They even created this little person door for me to crawl in so that I can give them fresh water and food.  It works perfectly!

 

It is quite funny, that despite all of the extra space, they still all cram together and sleep on the same roost.  Side by side.  But this is much better than all of them sleeping in the nesting boxes.  And they are birds. Birds are supposed to want to sleep off of the ground.  Once it gets dark out, they all make their way to the roost and jump, fly, climb their way up to snuggle in for the night.  I don't have a picture of all of them on the roost, but you will get the idea.

 

 

 

I think it is a good sign that they are sleeping on the roost and not in the nesting boxes.  Hopefully they start laying eggs soon! We even put some golf balls in the boxes so that when they do sit in there, they will feel the golf balls and figure out that is where they are supposed to lay their eggs. 

 

 

I'm not sure if it is the hotter weather, but they have been much less active and even less excited about their treats.  In the morning I would usually walk out and give them lettuce, any scraps we had, yogurt, etc. and they would go CRAZY! I mean literally jumping over each other to get to the food.  Now they barely even peck at the lettuce and when I leave some in the coop - it will still be laying on the ground by the afternoon.  I did read that the cracked corn I had been feeding them is basically like feeding a young child candy.  No nutritional value what so ever. But they do love it.  So I have pretty much removed that from their diet.  And added in "grit" to their feed.  I also switched from starter feed to "Grower" feed.  They will be on this until they start to lay eggs. 

 

I made my first trip to Tractor Supply Company last week.  I felt slightly out of place with my Tory Burch bag, Tom Ford sun glasses, and lululemon outfit.  And the fact that I was female and under the age of 40... But I did get lots of service, so that's good :)

 

 

And Barry, the sales associate that helped me, was very knowledgable.  He also helped me spend way more money than I intended on spending.  The chicks got a new 3  gallon waterer and a 10 lb feeder.  Geez.  Spoiled rotten.  They better lay some delicious eggs! He informed me that they will need broken Oyster shells added to their food once they get to be about 18 to 20 weeks.  This will help their eggs have hard shells.  Apparently soft-shelled eggs are very common... ew. So I bought a bag of oyster shells for them as well.  They will be 16 weeks old on June 4th, so haven't started giving it to them yet. 

 

I also learned that the only thing NOT to feed chickens is avacados.  Good thing I didn't give them my leftover salad with avacados in it... could have been bad. 

 

That's all for now....

Safe and Sound

I would like to report that there have been no fox sightings for over a week.  I'm not sure if we scared it off, or if he is just waiting for the perfect conditions to attack again.  Either way, the chicks have been out of the coop for most of the day for the last few days, and no predator issues.  I also think it helps that Savannah is outside most of the day as well.  And now that she is the official chicken herder - I don't have to worry about her bothering them. 

 



However, I do have a new issue.  The chickens are now sleeping in the nesting boxes.  The nesting boxes are supposed to be solely used for laying eggs.  This way the area is relatively clean, and available for the hens to lay eggs whenever the time comes.  At first, I was glad that they found the top area, because it was safe and away from predators.  But then I realized how much they poop in the boxes and really there is not enough space for 5 chickens in 2 nesting boxes.  And then I was thinking, once they start laying eggs, I don't want them crushing the eggs. 

So Grant talked to one of his "guys" and decided that we need to build an extension on the coop.  The extra run area will be big enough that they can fly around and it will have 2 other "roosts".  Part of the problem is that the chickens want to sleep off the ground and at the highest location possible.  They are birds.  But in the current coop set up, there is only one small roost area and the nesting box area is higher than the roost. 

 

I am hoping that with the additional space and roosts - the chickens will figure out to sleep on the roosts.  We also made the roosts out of 2x4's with the widest side parallel to the ground, which will make it easier for them to balance and sleep on.  The addition to the coop is not quite finished, but hopefully will be next week.  And once it is complete, I am going to block off the nesting boxes at night so that sleeping in there is not an option.  But at least they feel comfortable in the boxes.  At first I was afraid they wouldn't know to go to the boxes to lay their eggs. 

And speaking of laying eggs, the big question... how much longer til they start laying?? I am hoping that within the next 3 to 4 weeks we have eggs!  I will be sure to post a picture of the first egg.  I am going to be so bummed though not knowing which chick laid the first egg.  I don't know what the signs are  to tell when they are ready to lay eggs.  They have seemed extra hungry lately... does that mean anything? I'm not sure. 

Anyways, have a great weekend.... Chicken love.

It's Dangerous Out There

The chickens have been enjoying the nice weather over the last few weeks.  Here in Ohio, the weather was sunny and in the 70s during the last couple of weeks.  And so last week, I started leaving the chickens out in the back yard for extended periods of time. 

I should mention that Savannah has learned that the chickens are her friends.  I don't think she had any intention of hurting or killing the chicken - she just wanted to play.  But she has become quite a help to herd them back towards the coop so that I can catch them.  So we have made progress in the right direction. 

But anyways, I was getting comfortable with the fact that they do not really get into anything and just peck around the yard and eat the grass and bugs.  They also discovered the mulch beds and would escape from the sun and hide underneath the bushes.  It was the funniest thing - I went out to check on them and they had all burrowed down into the mulch and created a bed-like area, which they were all snuggled in. 

 

Check out this funny video I took of them in the mulch beds...

 

 

We did have a visit around 6am last Friday morning from Mr. Fox.  It was right around dawn, and I heard the chickens squawking, looked outside and the fox was clawing at the coop - trying to get in.  I ran out and yelled and the fox scurried away.  But, I was feeling pretty comfortable with leaving them outside unattended, during daylight, with Savannah outside only if I was home.

 

Yesterday, I let them out of the coop around lunch time and went to run some errands, came home and was doing some work - when Grant yells "FOX".  I got to the door just in time to see the fox grab one of the chicken and feathers flying everywhere.  I was screaming so the fox ceased his pursuit and ran out of the yard. 

 

 

I could only see 4 of the chickens, one of which was injured, and then 5th was MIA. Izzie was the chicken that Mr. Fox had attacked and I ran down to get her.  Surprisingly - there was no blood.  He got her tail feathers and wings.  She was having a hard time walking though.  She just sat down and was breathing hard with her little beak stuck open.  I searched for the 5th chicken and luckily found her hiding behind a tree up by the deck.  All chickens were accounted for.  I am SO lucky that we ran out in time.  At least our yard is big enough that the chickens had enough time/space to run away from their predator.

 

Izzie is in a great deal of shock and is still not eating.  I have her following the same treatment as Grey, and she is sleeping in a warm, dry cage in our garage for the next day.  I am trying to get her to eat some yogurt and at least get her strength back up.  But she is a scared chicken right now.  So I guess it will be a long summer - because I know Mr. Fox will be back.  But I will be ready and waiting with a bb gun.  Don't mess with my chickens, Mr. Fox!

 

Stay safe out there...