Flock!

[godfry n. glad]

We got it.

Well, we just paid for it. It'll be delievered Sunday evening, after the closing of the poultry exhibit at the Clack County Fair. Three pullets, advertised as "good layers". One is a barred Plymouth Rock, one is a Rhode Island Red, and the third is a golden Sex-determined Cross. So, we'll be getting três chicas malas, three bad girls...at least as far as Hobbes will be concerned; his backyard will be taken over by three birds, each as large as he. I'm curious as to how the initial exchange shall go.

So...three females; a blonde, a red, and a salt and pepper. All need names.

Hmmm...

[livius drusus]

OMG OMG OMG!!! :hyper: :hyperb: :hyper: Do you have a coop ready? Are they going to be free rangin' around on insect patrol?

[godfry n. glad]

OMG OMG OMG!!! :hyper: :hyperb: :hyper: Do you have a coop ready? Are they going to be free rangin' around on insect patrol?

The bunny hutch is to be retrofitted (& moved) for the três chicas malas. The mozaic ("paved" with broken concrete walk) has been cleared of invasive ranunculus weeds, and I had forgotten how much I'd left "unpaved", so there will be a decent dusting spot. They must be hutched at night, but allowed insect run for long spells. The back can be closed off, but if they wanted, an easy escape can be made over the side gate. The SO says she doesn't think it will be of much interest to them; that they'll be happy in the back yard. She's done this before...only on five acres.

I'm more concerned about Hobbes. I think he's suffering the disgrace as the aging boss cat...indeed, I'd say he got displaced in his own neighborhood quite recently. This will be nothing but another indignity forced upon the long suffering overlord.

[livius drusus]

Poor Hobbes. Mebbe he'll strike up an unlikely friendship with them. Stranger things have happened.

[Ensign Steve]

:chicken: :aww: :chicken:

[godfry n. glad]

Poor Hobbes. Mebbe he'll strike up an unlikely friendship with them. Stranger things have happened.

Yeah...and as a street-cat, he's pretty wise in the ways of the world. Plus, the source for this invasion is his biggest patsy, my feline-besot SO.

I'm sure we'll adapt as we go along, both Hobbes and I.

Of course, we've told the neighbors (that matter) and one, in back of us, is open to adding to the flock with her own. Since we're talking about replacing the decrepit fence between our properties with a fence with a double-swing gate, this is a good thing. The other neighbor is happy we're not getting a cock. I don't think the city will let us have a cock, actually. Too much noise at the wrong time of day.

[livius drusus]

Ya, roosters definitely bump against zoning regs in urban environments, although much to my amazement, my (entirely intown) county allows them. Not that I'd get one, mind you. They're just not neighborly, and they can be seriously aggressive.

[ChuckF]

We used to have the meanest rooster. It especially hated red shoes. It would usually attack, spurs first, anyone that got out of a car. But red shoes sent it into a special frenzy.

When can we get pics for the naming, godfry? :)

[godfry n. glad]

When can we get pics for the naming, godfry? :)

I didn't even think to take my camera with me to the county fair today. Pix will have to wait until they are delivered. Sunday night...so probably sometime Monday morn, PDT.

[Angakuk]

Three pullets, advertised as "good layers".

How can they advertise pullets as good layers. A bird less than a year old doesn't have a track record yet.

[Plant Woman]

Congrats on the flock! Need photos please.

Rhode Island Reds are good layers, I had them years ago, but the locals around here say Buff Orpington chickens are the best. My favorite was an Araucana that layed blue eggs. I can't remember if she was a good layer, just that her eggs were colorful.

I want to have chickens again. We just need night shelter. We have a 6x6 foot chain link pen we can cover the top with wire (too many eagles and hawks in the neighborhood) and place it around in different parts of the garden. Fresh eggs would be cool and aged poop for the garden even better.

[Angakuk]

I believe that is Araucana, PW, not Anaconda. Anacondas eat Araucanas, if they get the chance.

[Qingdai]

Congratulations on your flock.
I've had all three of these breeds of chickens. They are breeds that are good layers. Look forward to about three eggs a day when they aren't molting. The eggs get larger as they get older too.
Arcuanas are good layers as well. They lay pink, yellow and blue/green eggs. I am looking forward to having chickens again when we get a real house instead of an apartment.
In the city, racoons and opossums are a good reason to hutch them.

[Plant Woman]

I believe that is Araucana, PW, not Anaconda. Anacondas eat Araucanas, if they get the chance.

:blush: Well it's been a few years, and silly me can't tell the difference between a slither and clucker.

[viscousmemories]

U EAT MY BABIES?
:psychoch:

[godfry n. glad]

Three pullets, advertised as "good layers".

How can they advertise pullets as good layers. A bird less than a year old doesn't have a track record yet.

Good genes.

[biochemgirl]

Mmmmm.....chickens...:homdrool:

erm...yeah the eggs are good too.

[godfry n. glad]

There is that, too. My SO knows a real good bird butcher, so we're set there. But, she also says that the older hens, that lay the larger eggs, aren't all that good a'eatin'. She intends to gift them to the local homeless kitchen for soup, or whatnot.

[biochemgirl]

Yup, they'd be great for soup.

Seriously though, there is nothing like fresh chicken eggs. My mom usually sends me home with six or seven dozen every time I go home. She had ducks for awhile which the eggs are good for pasta making but it's not quite the same as chicken eggs in other capacities.

[Pinecone]

You can name them Lucy, Ethel and Fred!

The blonde can be Fred because...well...ya know....blondes they aren't quite right anyway.

[livius drusus]

Just in case you love them so much you can't help but keep them in the house with you: the chickensuit (http://www.chickenssuit.com/english/the_story/).

I'm partial to the Wookie model, myself.

http://www.chickenssuit.com/uploads/tx_chickgallery/hairy5.jpg

[godfry n. glad]

Uh...wait...the SO said that they would be "outside" hens. No stomping around on us in bed, pushing to crawl under the covers and snuggle. We already have a totally spoiled feline that does all that. She has it figured that Hobbes will soon figure out that he has premier status because the henpeckers in the backyard don't get to snuggle in bed at night with his human staff like he does. She doesn't really even want them in the house...she doesn't clean anything but cat barf off the floor, so she's not going to want to add chickenshit. She wants that in the yard/garden, where it can do some good.

[livius drusus]

Ah, but the beauty of the chickensuit is that it keeps floors clean as a whistle. :pleased:

[godfry n. glad]

Ewww...who'd want their floors all covered with spit?

[wildernesse]

One of my favorite pictures from my parents' newlywed days is my dad sitting in their house by the Christmas tree. It always takes a second to realize that he is holding a chicken on his knee. Eventually, they did get a dog.

My brother had a flock of Rhode Island Reds for a while, and it was fun finding eggs. Then he got lazy about putting them up at night. . .and, well, we eventually didn't have any more chickens.

[godfry n. glad]

:eager:

The chickens have come home to roost!

I just got word that they've been picked up. The SO is waiting for my arrival at home to do the transferral from the cardboard boxes to the temporary wire cages (all bunny domeciles) we have waiting.

She says the blonde and the red are both pretty mellow, but the barred Plymouth Rock is the feisty one. I'm not surprised. She's the biggest of the flock, too. I fully expect her to be the top of the pecking order when all the dust settles. We'll have to see, though - these birdbrains can fool ya.

[ms_ann_thrope]

:excited:

I can't wait to see photos of the ladies!

[godfry n. glad]

Heh...I was going to rush home and take pix so I could post them up. When I mentioned it, the SO gave me the hairy eyeball and shook her head. She noted that the girls will have a harrowing day, what with rubberneckers all day, then being manhandled and cooped in a box, manhandled again to end up in a very strange place....they didn't need flashes in the dark. Nor did the neighbors deserve all that late night cackling.

:shy:

So...I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

:darn:

[Uthgar the Brazen]

What, no seagulls?

This thread fails.

:nomail:

[livius drusus]

It's tomorrow! :hyper:

[godfry n. glad]

Resizing...

And...

tres chicas malas:

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/treschicasmalas-8.07.JPG

Individual mugs to follow.

[Pinecone]

Chicken pics!! :bgirl:

They are pretty struttin their stuff in their tony ankle bracelets.

[godfry n. glad]

Well...

While we're waiting for the individual mugs to resize, the three are all products of 4-H projects where young folks raised and sold their animals. We tried getting ahold of a Buff Orphington, but the ones that were for sale were already sold by the time we got there. I suspect that the ginger colored cross is part Buff.

So... They are

a barred Plymouth Rock - the salt and pepper hen

a golden Sex-determined Cross - the ginger hen

a Rhode Island Red - the auburn hen

At this point, with just about an hour of interaction, it seems that the Red is the low chicas on the pecking order. I haven't figured out the Rock or the Cross, yet. The Cross is the most obviously dominant over the Red, but won't peck the Rock. I've not seen the Rock peck either of the others, but she seems to have feed privileges from the Cross.

Chicken politics...

[livius drusus]

Pretteh! So pretteh. :squee:

Also, chicken butt!!1 :happydance:

[godfry n. glad]

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/tresrock.JPG

The barred Plymouth Rock - Let's call her 'Rock' for the duration

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/tresred8.07.JPG

The Rhode Island Red - Let's call her 'Red'

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/trescross.JPG

The golden Sex-determined Cross - let's call her 'X'

[livius drusus]

X definitely has that fabulously broad Buff chest. I think she's my favorite. :squeezle:

[Chris Porter]

What is a sex-determined cross? It looks pretty female to me. Does it only lay one gendered eggs?

[ChuckF]

Good lookin' birds! I wouldn't fuck with X. X looks like a Bertha to me.

[godfry n. glad]

Heh... X and Rock had a little run. I'd decided to move them to the hutch, since they seemed to be getting along tolerably well and when I opened the doors of the impoundment, Red came right to me. The other two hung back. So Red got unhindered access to the food as the first one in the hutch. Then, in order to make it easier to reach them, I was taking off the cardboard roof, now sodden with puddle filler, and the unlatched door popped open....the Rock was out in a flash, shortly followed by X. I tried to catch them, but in my slippers in slippery wet muck and getting wetter with the rain, I went in and got a hat and muck boots. I managed to lure X with food, but the Rock was having none of that...so the chase was on. 'Round the back of the shed, turn and head toward the front. So...a strolled on up and made sure the front gate was closed. Then I came back and closed the back gate. The Rock played dodge'm around the 'mater patch and then broke for the rose garden. When I followed in pursuit, she went under the balcony. I was dreading this.

Muttering to myself in the rain, I started the process of closing access to under the balcony. By the time I'd finished the section, I figured she'd wandered to nearby. Sure enough, she was standing on the top step of the back steps into the kitchen, looking like she was determined to get in. Approaching this from the far side, near the grape arbor, she fled, as expected to the basement stairs....trapped in a concrete hole. Thus, the first henbreak was foiled.

[godfry n. glad]

Good lookin' birds! I wouldn't fuck with X. X looks like a Bertha to me.

Actually, Red seems to wish that X would quit fucking with her.

[ChuckF]

Red reminds me of a Saundra I used to know.

[livius drusus]

I think Buffy would be the perfect name for X. :aww:

[godfry n. glad]

What is a sex-determined cross? It looks pretty female to me. Does it only lay one gendered eggs?

Y'know...I don't rightly know. I assumed that it meant that the "look' of the chicken was determined by the cockerel of the cross...but it could mean that the female gender was determined by the cross (I don't know how that could happen), or something else entirely. Maybe liv knows.

Lone Ranger probably does.

[godfry n. glad]

So far ~

X : 'Buffy', 'Ginger'

Red: 'Emma'

Rock: 'Hester', 'Freckles'

Sorry, Chuck, but "Saundra" was culled by higher sources.

[ChuckF]

:laugh: Hester.

[livius drusus]

I asked my dad, and he said they're called sex-determined because the males are bred to look different from the females from birth, so you don't need to hire a specialist to sex them.

His company had a variety where the males had a white spot on their head. Other breeds have different colored feathers, or different numbers of primary feathers.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

I asked my dad, and he said they're called sex-determined because the males are bred to look different from the females from birth, so you don't need to hire a specialist to sex them.

His company had a variety where the males had a white spot on their head. Other breeds have different colored feathers, or different numbers of primary feathers.

Ya know, as being lazy goes, that's awfully complicated. :D

[viscousmemories]

Pretteh chickns. :chicken:

[Chris Porter]

I asked my dad, and he said they're called sex-determined because the males are bred to look different from the females from birth, so you don't need to hire a specialist to sex them.

His company had a variety where the males had a white spot on their head. Other breeds have different colored feathers, or different numbers of primary feathers.

Thank you! I really would not have guessed that was the answer, since I associate the phrase "sexual dimorphism" with that sort of thing. But of course, chickens are already sexually dimorphic, so they probably had to come up with a different term for that.

[livius drusus]

I actually thought it meant the opposite just from the wording: that the sex determined what sort of hybrid it was. I know, I know... That makes no sense. :blush:

[ms_ann_thrope]

:faint:
I am very envious of your brood, godfry. I especially fancy Rock. Hester would be a nice name for her, but have you also considered Prudence? She looks like she might be a Prudence...

[godfry n. glad]

It is now.

So far ~

X : 'Buffy', 'Ginger'

Red: 'Emma', 'Lucille', 'Morgan'

Rock: 'Hester', 'Freckles', 'Prudence'

[Ensign Steve]

I think Hester is the best name for Rock. I can't decide between Buffy and Ginger, though.

[InTheServiceOfZeke]

that's pretty cool...i'm envious of your chickens...and grass :)

[beyelzu]

Heh... X and Rock had a little run. I'd decided to move them to the hutch, since they seemed to be getting along tolerably well and when I opened the doors of the impoundment, Red came right to me. The other two hung back. So Red got unhindered access to the food as the first one in the hutch. Then, in order to make it easier to reach them, I was taking off the cardboard roof, now sodden with puddle filler, and the unlatched door popped open....the Rock was out in a flash, shortly followed by X. I tried to catch them, but in my slippers in slippery wet muck and getting wetter with the rain, I went in and got a hat and muck boots. I managed to lure X with food, but the Rock was having none of that...so the chase was on. 'Round the back of the shed, turn and head toward the front. So...a strolled on up and made sure the front gate was closed. Then I came back and closed the back gate. The Rock played dodge'm around the 'mater patch and then broke for the rose garden. When I followed in pursuit, she went under the balcony. I was dreading this.

Muttering to myself in the rain, I started the process of closing access to under the balcony. By the time I'd finished the section, I figured she'd wandered to nearby. Sure enough, she was standing on the top step of the back steps into the kitchen, looking like she was determined to get in. Approaching this from the far side, near the grape arbor, she fled, as expected to the basement stairs....trapped in a concrete hole. Thus, the first henbreak was foiled.

good job on the henbreak

make sure to keep the weapons out of reach and if prison movies have taught us anything, i wouldnt let them go into the metal working shop anymore.

[godfry n. glad]

Yeah...I've also gotta keep one from shivving the other.

Rock seems to be the leveler in the group. Red is using her as a screen from the pecks of X. Red seems to have developed a workable objective of keeping Rock between her and X.

That said, Red is the most human interested of the three. She'll come right to your arms; she likes to get right up in your face and "chat" with you. The other two sidle on over to the far side of the impoundment. I suspect that Red got the more human attention from her raiser.

[Qingdai]

I asked my dad, and he said they're called sex-determined because the males are bred to look different from the females from birth, so you don't need to hire a specialist to sex them.

His company had a variety where the males had a white spot on their head. Other breeds have different colored feathers, or different numbers of primary feathers.

That makes sense, it's a nightmare trying to figure out the sex of baby chicks. My dad keeps telling me about it.
It's also a bummer to end up with a box of roosters 6 months later. Unless you really like chicken dinner.

I think you should name them Dumpling, Fricasse and Rice.
Or Flo, Bertha and Madge.

[godfry n. glad]

So far ~

X : 'Buffy', 'Ginger', 'Abigail'

Red: 'Emma', 'Lucille', 'Morgan'

Rock: 'Hester', 'Freckles', 'Prudence'

Unassigned triplets: 'Dumpling, Fricasse and Rice',
'Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner',
'Flo, Bertha and Madge'
'Susan B., Lizzie C. & Carry Chapkatt' - the suffrage trio
(it seems to me that there was an earlier one, "Alice, Ethel & Fred'...is that right?)

[livius drusus]

That makes sense, it's a nightmare trying to figure out the sex of baby chicks. My dad keeps telling me about it.
It's also a bummer to end up with a box of roosters 6 months later. Unless you really like chicken dinner.
Indeed. Sexing a chick is hard work even for experts, and the more chickens you're selling/buying, the more it becomes an issue.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

Sexing a chick is hard work even for experts...

:roflcopt:

[livius drusus]

Put down the Color Me Badd CD, Uthgar, you degenerate.

[viscousmemories]

:laugh:

[Plant Woman]

:rofl:

[godfry n. glad]

Uthgar...I don't need you to sex my chickens...they've already done been sexed.

[godfry n. glad]

Then there's the other names that go along with Prudence. Temperance, Fortitude and Justice. Pick any two of three? Which fits which best?

Then of course there are the Roman virtues:

* Auctoritas — "Spiritual Authority" — The sense of one's social standing, built up through experience, Pietas, and Industria.
* Comitas — "Humour" — Ease of manner, courtesy, openness, and friendliness.
* Clementia — "Mercy" — Mildness and gentleness.
* Dignitas — "Dignity" — A sense of self-worth, personal pride.
* Firmitas — "Tenacity" — Strength of mind, the ability to stick to one's purpose.
* Frugalitas — "Frugalness" — Economy and simplicity of style, without being miserly.
* Gravitas — "Gravity" — A sense of the importance of the matter at hand, responsibility and earnestness.
* Honestas — "Respectability" — The image that one presents as a respectable member of society.
* Humanitas — "Humanity" — Refinement, civilization, learning, and being cultured.
* Industria — "Industriousness" — Hard work.
* Pietas — "Dutifulness" — More than religious piety; a respect for the natural order socially, politically, and religiously. Includes the ideas of patriotism and devotion to others.
* Prudentia — "Prudence" — Foresight, wisdom, and personal discretion.
* Salubritas — "Wholesomeness" — Health and cleanliness.
* Severitas — "Sternness" — Gravity, self-control.
* Veritas — "Truthfulness" — Honesty in dealing with others.

The researchers (Martin Seilgman and the "positive psychology movement") discovered a total of twenty-four virtues that are universal or nearly so, divided into six basic types.

* Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective
* Courage: bravery, persistence, integrity, vitality
* Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
* Justice: citizenship, fairness, leadership
* Temperance: forgiveness and mercy, humility and modesty, prudence, self-regulation
* Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality

From which I can glean Hope, Humor, Modesty, Mercy, Dignitus, Clementine, Gravitas, Veritas , (that'n's been taken), Comitas, etc...

[ms_ann_thrope]

Oooh, I think Clementine would be a nice name for the redhead.

Buffy, Prudence, and Clementine are my votes. :aww:

* ms_ann_thrope is totally attempting to vicariously satisfy her own poultry-keeping urges

[Qingdai]

I think Industria is a great name for a hen.

Bunch of chicken sexers!:tsktsk:

[godfry n. glad]

The names have all been put to the final arbiter. She has selected the following:

Rock: Hester

Red: Emma

X: Ginger

[Ensign Steve]

woot
:chicken:

[livius drusus]

:sadcheer: for Buffy. :cheer: for Hester.

[Ensign Steve]

What's wrong with Buffy? When the vampires come, he'll be really glad she's there.

:vampire:

[livius drusus]

He didn't pick her! Ginger won instead. Hence the :sadcheer:.

[Ensign Steve]

Oh! I get it. :duh:

[Shake]

Mmmmm.....chickens...:homdrool:

erm...yeah the eggs are good too.

:yeahthat:

[godfry n. glad]

I didn't pick anything.

I submitted the list of names to my SO, who selected those she liked.

I figured since she paid for them....

Anyway... Emma is a sweetheart. She's the first one out of the hutch in the morning and is always the first in, too. The time she spends in the run, she's perpetually looking for a way out. She seems to enjoy being held. So, though I'm convinced that she's the most human friendly, she's probably also the biggest flight risk.

Ginger is a bit diffident, but she can be tempted with food. She's the first one at the corn cob or feeder, or, if not, she pushes out whoever else is there (which is usually Emma). Ginger seems to spend the most time feeding. She sees the utility of the handling, but seems to think it would best be over quickly.

Hester is the most aloof, but also the most stable and conservative of the three. She probably would not wander far, even if left out of the run. She does not like being handled, unlike Emma. The mellowest in the run is the biggest pain to pick up. Hester has her dignity, and it does not include being "manhandled".

Ginger is still always pecking on Emma and Hester is ignored. Hester will only peck Emma when Emma runs into her trying to escape Ginger. Hester is the moderating influence over Ginger and allows Emma to use her as a shield from Ginger's pecking. Ginger does not peck Hester. Hester does not peck Ginger.

If they were sisters, I'd say Hester was the restrained elder, Ginger the pushy middle sister, and Emma the bright runt.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

I think you should have gone with Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, but oh well.

[viscousmemories]

Chicken for breakfast?

[Uthgar the Brazen]

Sure, mix it in with some hash browns and fresh salsa. Mmmmmm, Breakfast.

[godfry n. glad]

Eggs for breakfast!

Or, in this case, eggs from Breakfast.

Yeah, I thought it an inspired set of names myself. However, I did not pick the names. I submitted the list to my SO, who picked them. She wrinkled her nose at the "Fricasse..." and the "Breakfast..." sets. "Buffy" nearly won out, but she went with "Ginger".

[livius drusus]

:sniffle: Oh well, at least it was close. Now the next stage of excitement commences: the wait for the first egg. :wriggle:

[godfry n. glad]

We think it's going to be Hester. She's had "chicken butt" since she the first day home and has been doing things like tearing holes in the lawn to make a decent nestling place.

[livius drusus]

Oo, we should start a first-layer pool! I'll go with Hester since she's the odds-on favorite.

Are you going to make them some roosting boxes at some point, do you think?

[godfry n. glad]

They have roosting boxes in the bunny hutch. On the dark side.

I can't believe I don't have any hutch pix in the archives....I guess I'll have to update the archives. I think I have a picture that needs to be resized before I can upload it...I'll have to look tomorrow morning.

They are presenting outdoors in the chicken run, a dual chambered collapsible cage with one portion covered with a rigid screen, the other with nylon netting attached with laundry pins. This allows Emma to be in another area from that in which Ginger is located, each with it's own food and water.

[livius drusus]

The gallery should do its own resizing. It did back when you submitted all the ToT stuff, didn't it?

[godfry n. glad]

The gallery should do its own resizing. It did back when you submitted all the ToT stuff, didn't it?

ToT stuff? You mean the overseas pix? No...those were all resized prior to uploading by a friend. Everything I've tried to upload since has required resizing (I use the free online ResizR site) before I was allowed to upload them to FF. If I try uploading my unresized pix to FF, I get snarky little notices about them being too large.

[Ensign Steve]

Ever since the upgrade, it resizes attachments automatically. Not sure about the gallery.

[livius drusus]

Hmm... I suspect the too large message is in filesize, not dimensions. The two are linked, however, so usually when you shrink them dimension-wise, they get smaller file-wise, too.

Can you give me an idea of what filesizes you generally work with?

[godfry n. glad]

Hmmm...I've never tried it as an attachment.

But I can tell you that the upgrade didn't affect the problem I have uploading new pix to the gallery. It's still the same.

However, the pix I need are on the drive at home, rather than here at work.

[livius drusus]

When you get home, give a lookie at the details, wouldya? If the filesizes aren't too ginormous, I'll up the gallery limit.

[godfry n. glad]

When you get home, give a lookie at the details, wouldya? If the filesizes aren't too ginormous, I'll up the gallery limit.


Sure thing....I'll try direct upload from my photobook and see if actually works, first. It may not be until tomorrow morning.

[livius drusus]

Wotcha. :salute:

[vremya]

Oo, we should start a first-layer pool! I'll go with Hester since she's the odds-on favorite.

Are you going to make them some roosting boxes at some point, do you think?

Which one's Hester? I like the Rhode Island Red. My money's on her.

[godfry n. glad]

Hester is the black and white "speckled" one.

Emma is the dark red Rhode Island.

Ginger is the light red...buff.

[godfry n. glad]

Day 4: Still no eggs.

The girls are getting an established pattern and we're thinking about setting up a track so they can go in and out of the hutch. They're also tearing up the lawn with chicas-sized divots to in which to nestle.

Chicas politics continues as per yesterday.

[godfry n. glad]

We need Legs in here to set up the pool.

[godfry n. glad]

Day 5:

Still no eggs.

This morning, Emma is fairly calm, but Ginger is frantically searching the perimeter for a way out. Emma is still 'the pecked'.

Talk is about letting them have run of the yard tomorrow. We need a track from the ground up into the hutch for them to take refuge and be closed in at night. This means I need to figure a roost setup for in the hutch, too.

[ms_ann_thrope]

Maybe you need... the eglu (http://www.omlet.us/homepage/homepage.php)!

http://www.omlet.us/images/the_goodlife.gif

* ms_ann_thrope will getting one of these, if she ever gets chickens

[vremya]

Sure, mix it in with some hash browns and fresh salsa. Mmmmmm, Breakfast.

Mmmm....hash browns. I could really go for some hash browns right about now.

[godfry n. glad]

Okay... I just tried to upload using an attachment to a post. After about three minutes of "please wait", it returned the following:

"Your file of 2.92 MB exceeds the forum's limit of 253.9 KB for this filetype."

The filetype is .jpg.

[livius drusus]

Try now.

[Uthgar the Brazen]

...but Ginger is frantically searching the perimeter for a way out. Emma is still 'the pecked'.

Is she systematically checking the fences? Does she remember?

:ddino:

[Ensign Steve]

:lol:

'Jurassic Park 4' to Feature Gun-Toting Dinosaurs? - Cinematical (http://www.cinematical.com/2007/08/13/jurassic-park-4-to-feature-gun-toting-dinosaurs/)

[godfry n. glad]

So...Here's a try at an attachment.

If it comes through, it's straight from my files. It should be a pic of the run and the hutch.

Okay... That worked jimdandy. But while waiting to upload that, I uploaded the three I'd already resized.

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/hutchclosed.JPG

The hutch, closed.

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/hutchopen.JPG

The hutch, all open.

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/chicasrunfrhutch.JPG

View of the chicken run from the hutch. The balcony hovers over all. I do my Che impressions every morning.

The attachment is what the scene looks like from the balcony.

[livius drusus]

I see Paris, I see France. I see Ginger's chicken butt!!1 :bliss:

Such a perfect little garden for the some free range chickening. I think you could easily ditch the run.

[godfry n. glad]

Yeah...That's kinda the objective. We're just trying to acclimate them to us and to the locale. With both of us home tomorrow, and me perhaps less gimpy, we can let them free range on a trial basis. I still have to concern myself with the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where the gate at the north end is only three feet tall, easy pickin's for jumpy chickens. (Or, dogs with the taste for bird comin' over the other way.)

SO seems to think it'll be pretty easy to get them to go to the hutch at nightfall. We'll see.

[godfry n. glad]

I kinda like this one of Emma.

"O hai! U brung kornz?"

[Chris Porter]

Yeah...That's kinda the objective. We're just trying to acclimate them to us and to the locale. With both of us home tomorrow, and me perhaps less gimpy, we can let them free range on a trial basis. I still have to concern myself with the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where the gate at the north end is only three feet tall, easy pickin's for jumpy chickens. (Or, dogs with the taste for bird comin' over the other way.)

SO seems to think it'll be pretty easy to get them to go to the hutch at nightfall. We'll see.

I was just reading up on chickens on Wikipedia, and they said you could cut the primaries of one wing in half, and the chickens would fly lopsided and only for a few feet, making them easier to catch should one attempt escape. Since most of the primary feather is dead tissue*, it shouldn't hurt the chickens to do that.

*It's all dead tissue for most of the time, actually, but playing it safe, cutting the primaries in half is a good, painless option, I would think.

[godfry n. glad]

Yeah...We're going to try it without clipping wings first. I'm familiar with the clipping process, as my wife had cockatiels. Well, one most of the time, Simon, who when his feathers grew out, he could do laps around the house (inside).

[godfry n. glad]

...but Ginger is frantically searching the perimeter for a way out. Emma is still 'the pecked'.

Is she systematically checking the fences? Does she remember?

:ddino:

Yes, she remembers...but it's where the whole ear of corn was tossed in that she remembers.

[godfry n. glad]

Day 6: Still no eggs.

This morning we're trying the 'free range' option. So far, so good. Hobbes is being a lot more tolerant than I'd expected. He's come face to face with Ginger and, although a lot of flapping took place on her part, he did not get pecked. Yet. He's still a mite curious, so I'm expecting he'll get the message soon enough.

Ginger had returned to the hutch on her own and nestled down into the hay I put in for nesting. Looks like sign of our first possible egg....

[livius drusus]

Here's your lolchickon, godfry:

http://www.freethought-forum.com/livius/emma.jpg

[godfry n. glad]

Oh, wow...Emma is famous now!

Thanks!

[godfry n. glad]

Okay...Since I'm just lazing about watching the chickens today, I decided to get off my butt and actually do something. So, with the girls off free ranging, I broke down the old configuration of the chicken run and reassembled it on the mosaic patio. Henceforth, the mosaic will be the "run" and the girls will have near total access to the roost in the hutch. I've done a half-fast job at installing a 3/4" bar across the screened area of the hutch for a roost for the girls. They now have a ramp from the mosaic to the hutch and free run of the backyard.

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/newrun.JPG

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/roost.JPG

Hobbes seems to be taking it quite well. He's come nose to nose with both Ginger and Hester, and...hey, they don't get to come inside and get fishy treats. So there! He's slept on the picnic table whilst the girls patrolled the patio below him for likely suspects. So far, he's made no major objections. This is good, because he thus becomes a line of defense for the girls. He's pretty territorial and does not scare easily when it comes to dogs. He'll keep most dogs from even coming up the front steps. In turn, the chickens may keep away other roaming cats....we'll have to see on the latter. If it works out that way, Hobbes may take a liking to the new scene at Ravenswood.

[JoeP]

mmm, fishy treats

[godfry n. glad]

Day 7:

Still no eggs.

Ginger raised expectations this morning by going back into the hutch and nestling in the straw in brood box while the other two took in the juicy pickin's in the yard. Still...No egg and she joined them about an hour later.

[livius drusus]

How has the weather been this week? Is it hot?

[godfry n. glad]

How has the weather been this week? Is it hot?

No. It's actually quite decent for August. Temps have been in the mid to upper 70s, with a couple of days which pushed into th 80s. Last Sunday it rained most of the day. Today, a week later, it's pretty much overcast and temps in the upper 60s to lower 70s.

In other news, my rose garden now has a couple of chicken-sized divots in it. The girls tend to like to hang out in the dappled shade of the roses, or right next to them, the stacked lawn chairs. I'd guess it makes them feel safer from the prospect of overhead predation. Ginger managed to loosen enough soil to do herself a pretty decent dirtbath. Both Emma and Hester have come along later and adapted the wallow to a cool snooze spot.

[livius drusus]

So cute. :aww: Well, they don't sound broody or sick, so maybe they're still just getting their bearings.

[godfry n. glad]

I wouldn't say they were broody or sick, either. They all seem pretty content, actually. Emma, as expected is usually off exploring on her own, but still she stays pretty close, still. She can be attracted just by talking and Ginger usually follows close on to make sure that Emma doesn't get first dibs on any kornz the human happens to have....greedy little hen.

Yes, JoeP, Hobbes is a thespian master when it comes to fishy treats. To any wayward human who happens to pass within feet of the large white whirring foodholder machine, Hoobes can make himself appear as though he is an innocent, obsequious, maligned, abused, and neglected waif cat, who desperately needs an immediate infusion of fishy treats merely to survive. This could be just minutes after having duped some other clueless human to give him fishy treats. He lies. Like a big fuzzy rug.

[godfry n. glad]

Day Eight: Still no eggs.

Watching the morning glory tendrils climb up the yarn I rigged up is getting to be more fun than collecting eggs.

[Dingfod]

Hens need plenty of protein to produce eggs, 16-18% of their diet. A friend of mine told me when his grandparents first homesteaded their place in Southwest Colorado, the only income they had was from eggs and the chickens stopped laying when the weather turned cool, presumably because they were no longer getting enough bugs and worms to eat. I won't say what they did to provide sufficient protein for the hens because it might offend wild horse lovers.

[godfry n. glad]

They do have access to the entire yard (which is relatively small) and seem to have settled in to hangin' in the rosebed. The spiders are persistantly rebuilding webs in the walkways, so it would seem were very near the peak of "bug season" in these parts.

Do you have a horse you'd like to donate to the cause, perhaps?

(I liiiike the caveman avatar, Ding. One of my favorite commercials.)

[ms_ann_thrope]

Would serenading the girls help get them in the mood?
:singing:

Or maybe play some Barry White? :eyes:

[godfry n. glad]

Ah...yes...Barry White.

I have no Barry White.

I still have no eggs, too.

We did have one major advance yesterday, though. I, of course, was working late and my SO got home from her errands after dark, so she was a bit concerned about putting the girls away in the dark, a task which had yet to be particularly easy in full daylight. So, she recruited our new lodger to assist and went out to find all three of the Byrd sisters contentedly gathered in the hutch, with the door standing wide open. All she needed to was to shut the door.

We're testing that again today, as I won't be home until about 11 pm and the SO is out of town on bidness. The lodger has been asked to close the door behind the well-behaved Byrd sisters after sundown. Hopefully, that's all that will be necessary. Hey...maybe we'll have an egg tomorrow.

[livius drusus]

:crossed: :crossed:

That is so cute about them snuggling up for bedtime. :aww:

[Sauron]

You need a cockerel, godfry. Hens won't lay without one.

Did you buy guaranteed laying hens?

[Chris Porter]

Hm. Chickens don't need to be "jump-started"

[JoeP]

I have no Barry White.

I still have no eggs, too.

You need a cockerel, godfry. Hens won't lay without one.

I want you the way you came into the world . . . Everybody's gone . . . because baby, you and me, heh . . . this night, we're gonna get it on . . .
:rooster:

[godfry n. glad]

Hmmm...

Well, current and former chicken owners have repeatedly informed me that cockerels are not a requirement for egg-laying. I suspect that the biggest impediment to egg-laying may be the young age of the hens. Two of them don't even have their combs fully grown.

Anyhoo...The evening cooping of the Byrd sisters has proven to be a cake walk...well, a chicken walk, actually. At, or shortly after sundown, it seems the Byrd sisters all head to the bunny hutch. Two nights now where no herding or catching was necessary.

I also have a shadow every time I go out into the back. Emma follows me around. She has to get in the way of everything I do, even pull weeds. Both yesterday and today, she has joined me at the picnic table on the patio for my coffee and newpaper time. This morning, she decided that my bowl of Cheerios was somehow a communal bowl and decided to help herself. Bold. Brash. I've almost got her to the point where she'll allow me to actually pet her.

[livius drusus]

Ya, they definitely don't need a cockerel, just like girls don't need boys around to get their periods. Dad says most breeds reach sexual maturity at 26 weeks. The smaller breeds, like Leghorns, start earlier at around 21 weeks.

How old are your girls again?

[godfry n. glad]

Ya, they definitely don't need a cockerel, just like girls don't need boys around to get their periods. Dad says most breeds reach sexual maturity at 26 weeks. The smaller breeds, like Leghorns, start earlier at around 21 weeks.

How old are your girls again?

Damifino.

Emma and Ginger have only rudimentary combs. Hester's comb looks to be fully grown in, which I why I have her pegged as the elder. If the age of the pullets was posted, I missed it. The SO has all the original tags, but she's presently out of town and I don't know where the tags are....

[godfry n. glad]

Still no eggs.

Emma, however, has become a 'daddy's girl'. Any time I exit the back door into the back yard, she comes running from where ever she is to greet me and beg for handouts. "U brung corns?" on her lolchicken is spot on. Of course, with a bold bird like Emma, I started the desensitization to human contact. First, tossing tidbits out for the girls. Emma of course, was right up front, and got most of the goodies, despite the number of times Ginger would take whatever away from her. So, I started sitting in the lawn chair on the shed porch to read my newspaper in the morning. I've gone out each morning with some bread in hand. I coaxed her to jump up onto the cage that sits next to the chair and at the level of my lap, and then enticed her over into my lap.

I've created a monster. This morning, I went out, sat down in my lawn chair and she ran right over to me and hopped up into my lap. No midway stop, no caution; just straight to the lap. Emma gets lap treats while Ginger steams down below on the ground, getting second-hand tossed treats. Emma eats bread right out of my hand.

Of course, when I went out Friday morning to eat my Cheerios at the picnic table, I had Emma join me and presume that she could help herself to the tasty toasted oat ohs.... With this, I was not particularly happy, but it is of my own making.

[ms_ann_thrope]

A lap-chicken! :aww:

[SharonDee]

Enjoy that eating out of your hand thing, godfry. All too soon the little shits start getting more strength and start to pinch. Ow!

I don't know how much older my dad's chickens are than yours, but he got them before spring thaw and the fourteen of them are now producing ten or eleven eggs a day, the last I heard.

[JoeP]

I know ms_ann_thrope already said it, but ...
A lap-chicken! :aww:

Do you have definite ages for the girls yet?

[godfry n. glad]

Envy briefly drove Ginger into my lap, under her own power, this morning.

[godfry n. glad]

All bets on first egg are off.

We'd been keeping an eye on the hutch...but no eggs.

Well, I got a call this evening at work, and my SO reports that when they went out to the back yard and Emma didn't come running, they were perplext. Looking about, they noticed that Emma was all nestled down behind one of the bushes, next to the eastern fence, "cogitating". A closer inspection revealed that she was sitting atop a clutch of...get this...eleven brown eggs.

They, or at least Emma, are laying in their favorite spots in the yard, not in the hutch. So, we don't know when the first egg was laid, and, we don't know if there are other clutches hidden.

I guess I'll have to do a Equinox egg hunt tomorrow morning.

[Dingfod]

On HGTV this afternoon, I saw an episode of Mission Organization: Kitchen Clutter this afternoon in which they were cleaning out a refrigerator and the guy pulls a carton of eggs out of the fridge and declares "These eggs are having a birthday!" Ewww.

[livius drusus]

Huge secret egg clutches!1 Aren't the girls just brilliant? :bow:

[Ensign Steve]

Equinox egg hunt?! It's like backwards easter! :excited:

[Dingfod]

Beaster!

[godfry n. glad]

I dunno...

SO says all eleven eggs pass the float test. Research seems to show that all three of our layers are brown egg producers.

She/they selected the coolest and darkest park of the backyard to lay. No foot traffic, either. Lots of leaf duff. Overnight temps have been in the fifties. Autumn is definitely here.

[Ensign Steve]

What's the float test?

[Chris Porter]

Floating means they are rotting eggs. It means the hen/hens have been laying eggs for some time.

[JoeP]

Is 11 the total egg count, or just Emma's? Do you even know the total egg count - have you hunted everywhere?

[Pinecone]

You've got eggs!! :cheer:

[godfry n. glad]

I'm still in jammies and robe, so I haven't yet done a thorough check. A once over seems to indicate that that's all eggs by all chickens. It's still unknown as to whether it's one chicken and the others are not laying, or all chickens laying in one spot, or some derivation, but thereof, but as yet no other laying site has been identified.

We've widened surveillance and become more intrusive about searches.

Just like the Bush administration.

[Ensign Steve]

Floating means they are rotting eggs. It means the hen/hens have been laying eggs for some time.

Gross! How long will the ladies sit on rotting eggs before they give up? That's so tragic! Reminds me of Miss Havisham and her rotting cake.

[viscousmemories]

Congrats on the eggitude. :1thumbup:

[godfry n. glad]

Is 11 the total egg count, or just Emma's? Do you even know the total egg count - have you hunted everywhere?

I did a thorough search of the backyard perimeters. No more eggs were found. I suspect it happened thus: One of them laid the first egg. The others found the egg and added to the clutch as time passed.

Evidently, one can place a ceramic egg in a nest to entice a hen from laying her eggs "in the wild" to a prepared nest. So says my SO. Once the new hendo (hen condo) is built, we'll have to deploy the phony eggs.

[Ensign Steve]

Wow, I'm fascinated by this. Do they not care if their babies get mixed up? Are they like an "it takes a village" kind of race?

:popcorn:

[Chris Porter]

Floating means they are rotting eggs. It means the hen/hens have been laying eggs for some time.

Gross! How long will the ladies sit on rotting eggs before they give up? That's so tragic! Reminds me of Miss Havisham and her rotting cake.

Birds in general*, and chickens in particular, don't have a great sense of smell, so the rotting, if it produces odors, will not be detected. The shell keeps the smell inside for the most part, too. The rotting produces gases within the egg (making it float), and it can sometimes get to the point of exploding the egg. Or if it's surrounding temperature is somehow condusive, the gasses will stop production, and the egg contents will dry up.

So it seems to me a chicken will simply brood as long as there's an egg there to brood, since the stimulus is the egg itself, not, say, a nesting area that puts the hen "in the mood" to scrape together a nest and sit down.

*I've read that only some vultures have a good sense of smell. The rest, not so much.

eta: maybe you're thinking a hen sits all day and all night on the nest, and so something must break that wait for an egg to hatch. But chickens do get up from the nest and go and forage food and water, which is probably why Godfry didn't catch on that the hens were already laying.

[Ensign Steve]

So, it's like, as long as she's going to be sitting anyway, she might as well sit on an egg? Like, it doesn't really detract from her busy schedule? What about a poor penguin, having to dribble that thing all over the glacier on her feet? Do I watch too much TV?

[Chris Porter]

I would say that's pretty close to right, only stated somewhat oddly. Really, animals don't have much to do other than eat, rest, and have sex. And for the females, you can add raise offspring. However, chicks are altricial, and ready to forage for themselves within hours of hatching (or minutes, perhaps). So raising chicks isn't much of a task, either. And because chickens don't inhabit a place where getting food is much of a chore, like marching miles to get to food, and they don't live where the environment is really inclement, they can leave nests for short times to forage, and the eggs won't quickly die from cold. My guess is that if a hen prefers one place over another, it's likely because that's a convenient place to lay eggs.

Though I do wonder if perhaps just one chicken is laying, and has been for some time, since I thought hens were somewhat territorial when it came to nesting. Though it could possibly be the case that the other hens spotted the egg/eggs, and also thought it was a good place to lay.

[JoeP]

Also, yes you do watch too much TV.

[JoeP]

SO says all eleven eggs pass the float test.

Did they pass as in being fit for eating? And ... have you eaten any?

[godfry n. glad]

SO says all eleven eggs pass the float test.

Did they pass as in being fit for eating? And ... have you eaten any?

Yes and no, respectively.

[JoeP]

... :?
So what's the delay? You haven't formed an emotional attachment to these eggs have you? You haven't named them?

[godfry n. glad]

... :?
So what's the delay? You haven't formed an emotional attachment to these eggs have you? You haven't named them?

I'm thinking of having them bronzed.

[godfry n. glad]

I picked up two more at the now identified site. One was larger than the other, so I'm still assuming that I'm getting product from more than one bird.

Anyway, I had them for breakfast. The larger of the two was double yolked. Tasty.

[livius drusus]

Double yolks are fairly common among new layers. Her ovulation cycle may still be getting into its groove. Or she could have an inherited propensity to throw snake eyes, which is more common among heavy breads so more likely for Ginger than Emma.

[JoeP]

The eggs have been tasted!

[godfry n. glad]

Sad news...

Ginger bought the farm last night. She's been acting odd for the past couple of days...not her usual pushy and demanding self. She didn't leave the hutch yesterday....

:sniff:

[livius drusus]

Oh noes! Poor sweet Ginger. I'll miss her wonderful chicken butt. :tear:

[livius drusus]

Are you going to have a necropsy, godfry? It might be a good idea just in case what killed her is infectious.

[vremya]

That's so sad! :sniffle:

[Qingdai]

I am sorry to hear about Ginger's passing.

[godfry n. glad]

Are you going to have a necropsy, godfry? It might be a good idea just in case what killed her is infectious.

Her passing has been reported to the county officials. If they wish to do a necropsy, they are more than welcome.

[livius drusus]

I mean out of concern for the health of her sisters, not for general gummint bird flu paranoia.

Anyway, I'm sorry for your loss.

[Pinecone]

Damn ol critters....getting you all to liking at them and then they don't stick around. :kickscan:

[JoeP]

:sadbye:

[Sauron]

Godfry, when do we get the hendo-cam?

That is not an asian martial arts form; it's a form of voyeurism......

[godfry n. glad]

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1010164.jpg

The grrrls are doing well.

The Byrd Sisters Slug'n'Bug Extraordinary Rendition and Enhanced Interrogation Team is undergoing alpha testing.

First egg of the year produced three days ago. Next day, no production known. The following day, two eggs found at close-up. The following day, one found at opening. Either Hester is now producing, or Emma has kicked into overdrive.

So far, I'm happy, but we're expecting a week of scattered showers, so that may act to keep the chicken exhaust washed down into the soil.

I haven't seen much in the way of slug damage in the control area (the front, where the Byrd Sisters do not patrol). So I don't know as they've really been challenged. I had to replant one iris that evidently got in the way of their usual pathways to the chicken run, where water and scratch are provided on an ongoing basis.

Oh...Emma, at least, has taken a liking to my "blue-eyed grass" that I've planted in the large pot on the picnic table. I may be required to move it to the balcony.

[livius drusus]

So adorable. The whole set up looks like a fairy tale with the cottage and the pretty plants and the superpretty chickens. :aww:

[Uthgar the Brazen]

So adorable. The whole set up looks like a fairy tale with the cottage and the pretty plants and the superpretty chickens. :aww:

And the plastic lawn furniture?

[livius drusus]

A modern fairy tale. Hater.

[Legs]

Those chickens look like they have it made in the shade :shades:

[Qingdai]

Psst. Chickens don't eat slugs. Ducks do though.

[godfry n. glad]

So adorable. The whole set up looks like a fairy tale with the cottage and the pretty plants and the superpretty chickens. :aww:

And the plastic lawn furniture?

:glare:

I'll have you know those Irish furnishings antedate many of the garden features.

If you've got extra cash, you're welcome to donate to the Ravenswood Teak Steamer Lounge Chairs Fund.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41X06S0FPDL._AA280_.jpg

We'd like to have a set of them. Them suckers is 'spensive!

[godfry n. glad]

Psst. Chickens don't eat slugs. Ducks do though.

That's not what I've been told by chicken owners. Sorry, I won't have ducks. I have enough problem in deep summer with the chickenshit.

[godfry n. glad]

Those chickens look like they have it made in the shade :shades:

Well, that's because they do.

They have run of the backyard, which is hypothetically enclosed. The grrrls, however, have found the cat passage where the fence separating my property from my next door neighbor's doesn't quite hit the wall of the back neighbor's garage. My neighbor has made an explicit visit to make it clear that the grrrrls are welcome and they always seem to "just visit" and go home.

They always come home because this is where the hutch is (they have taken up domicile in the old rabbit hutch, a new chicken coop - reputed to be tres cute - is rumored). They dutifully go to their roosts in the hutch every evening at nightfall. Plus they have water, scratch and random treats...today they each got a heel of bread, and to share a bag of corn that had outlived it's "use by" date. They're happy as clams. Emma is spoiled rotten and has learned many of the same tricks that Hobbes has in begging "more treats now".

[godfry n. glad]

So adorable. The whole set up looks like a fairy tale with the cottage and the pretty plants and the superpretty chickens. :aww:

The "fairy tale cottage" is slated to get natural cedar siding to match the house. The rumored new coop will also have natural cedar siding. I intend it to be about the size of an outhouse, and use baskets for the nesting, roosting bars at different levels, and a wire grid floor. Of course, I want it built on wooden sledges, so I can drag it from place to place.

This is the prototype:

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/gallery/files/7/0/richardfelber.jpg

[Sauron]

So adorable. The whole set up looks like a fairy tale with the cottage and the pretty plants and the superpretty chickens. :aww:

The "fairy tale cottage" is slated to get natural cedar siding to match the house. The rumored new coop will also have natural cedar siding. I intend it to be about the size of an outhouse, and use baskets for the nesting, roosting bars at different levels, and a wire grid floor. Of course, I want it built on wooden sledges, so I can drag it from place to place.

All the chicken coops my dad built also included a translucent panel in the roof. The natural light helps you to find things - like eggs - but it also keeps the bacteria growth down.

[Pinecone]

I LOVE the little outhouse coop!!! Makeitmakeitmakeit!!! :excited:

[Chris Porter]

Oh, that is a cute coop indeed. I spent the better part of an hour yesterday looking an chicken coops people have made, and that's quite a nice one. The idea of getting chickens is quite appealing.

[godfry n. glad]

Well, the Byrd sisters have moved out of the bunny ghetto at the back fence, and the hutch was demolished.

They have moved "downtown" and are now living in a posh new condo coop under the balcony. Here:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1010226.jpg

To get a better idea of location, see here:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1010227.jpg

A peek at interior furnishings:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1010252.jpg

The last, of course, it through the nest access panel.

The door can be opened and closed from the covered balcony using the cord. No more shuffling through the bog to shut the girls up for the night! No more putting off going out into the rain to let them out.

[livius drusus]

That looks comfy for the girls, and convenient for the humans. Have they spent the night in their new digs yet?

[godfry n. glad]

That looks comfy for the girls, and convenient for the humans. Have they spent the night in their new digs yet?

Tonight is night three. Both had gone to the new roost. Yesterday, only Hester had to be carried. First night, they were collected from the ramp to the hutch and hand-carried to the condo.

It's actually about as roomy as the hutch and the baskets are so chic. Evidently one of the baskets has already been used for it's intended purpose. Yay!

Now for the fence. Then for new raspberry canes.

[Pinecone]

Raspberries come summer and a posh new condo!! The girls have it made!

[godfry n. glad]

Not only that, but the girls were out scratching around in the poo pile in the space that used to be under the bunny/chook hutch. Man...they spent practically all day at it. There must be lots of easy to reach protein.

Still no problems with slugs in the back. "Trample damage" is up, though. The Byrd sisters are not particularly graceful, nor considerate.

I've had to put down slug bait on the front slopes; damage has been obvious.

Next month or two is "cutworm" time. I'm hoping they've already scratched out the larvae from under the balcony. I just planted a new rose in the main area of cutworm damage over the past three years, so I'm hoping for a lot from the girls in their first year.

[Dingfod]

I've got to get me some chickens.

[godfry n. glad]

Last week, Hester's comb flushed redder and, lo, we are now getting about three eggs a day. We're seemingly at full production, despite having had the traumatic dislocation of a domocile move.

[godfry n. glad]

This morning I had ultra-fresh, free-range eggs for breakfast.

Yesterday, I gave the neighbors two eggs direct from the condo coop. We still had a dozen, plus, in the fridge from the week prior.

Plus, not only are we getting about three eggs a day (from two chickens), we occasionally get a super-sized egg that won't even fit in the extra large egg cartons. The top will not close on them. They're HUGE. So, Swimmer and I both had two eggs with three yolks, as the huge eggs were double-yolkers.

With the back fence down, I was worried about the grrrls wandering through the back neighbor's yard and out onto the next street over. But, noooooo....they started showing up out in my front yard. Evidently, they're using the cat passage at the back of the fence which separates us from the next-door neighbor and then wandering out to the front.

I don't like this development at all. :glare: Out there, they are subject to victimization by wandering maurading dogs in the neighborhood. :whup:

[Qingdai]

Three yolks! What champion layers you have.

[godfry n. glad]

To clarify:

We each had two eggs, for a total of three yolks each.

That's one regular one yolk egg, and one double yolk egg, each.

No triple yolk eggs....yet.

[livius drusus]

That giant egg had to smart coming out. Poor sore chicken butt. :no:

How long will the fresh eggs keep in the fridge? Are you going to make a big scramble or a tank of egg salad or something?

[Dingfod]

Eggs will keep an astonishingly long time in the fridge, maybe months, but at least 30 days. They'll keep about five to seven days at room temperature.

[godfry n. glad]

The most they've made it is about a week before we eats 'em.

I collect every day or two.

[Dingfod]

I gots to get me some chickens. Our place would be chicken paradise, bugs galore, more worms and grubs than you can shake a comb at.

[godfry n. glad]

All they'd need would be a coop. And some scratch.

You could probably whip up a coop tout suite. The scratch can be obtained at the local feed store. Other than that, they'll eat most food scraps (but for the capsin stuff - peppers, sweet or otherwise).

They like their roosting area to be relatively unseen and with a 1" dowl for an actual roost. I'm sure there are plenty of ideas online.

Your dog isn't a chook-killer is it? Cats won't bother a full growed hen.

You could probably accomodate more'n the mere two I have.

I recommend Rhode Island Reds, given my limited experience.

[Plant Woman]

I am getting four buff orpington (sp?) chicks at the end of the month. They will live in the greenhouse for a little while then out to the chicken tractor and I'm going to rig up a little coop for them at night.

[godfry n. glad]

Way kewl, PW. Don't expect eggs until around September or October.

If there's anyone wondering about a decent handbook, I recommend this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4156MVCEMJL._AA240_.jpg

It's by Rick & Gail Luttmann.

It's what I've been using.

There's also an online site at www.BackYardChickens.com (http://backyardchickens.com/). I can't speak to it's usefulness.

[Plant Woman]

I won't, especially if they turn out to be roosters. Actually I am trying to find sources where I can have them sexed already.

[godfry n. glad]

I won't, especially if they turn out to be roosters. Actually I am trying to find sources where I can have them sexed already.

It sounds like you're going to check them in to rehab, or sumthin'. :wink:

Once you've figured it out, you'll have to come back with a "Sexing Your Chickens" thread.

You could just let them mature and once it's obvious, rooster for dinner.

From what swimmer says, they don't start in with the crowing routine until about the time the hens start laying. I assume it's sexual maturity.

[Plant Woman]

LOL! Well that shows you how much I know about sexing chickens. I don't want to kill them as I want them to be like pets and tame and all, so I do have a dilemna!

[godfry n. glad]

LOL! Well that shows you how much I know about sexing chickens. I don't want to kill them as I want them to be like pets and tame and all, so I do have a dilemna!

I know squat about sexing chickens.

From my experience attempting to sex bunnies, I'd bet its best left to those with better eyesight than mine.

:hans:

Swimmer has already given me a load about how Emma will never end up in any stew pot; that she'll probably have her own plot in the Ravenswood pet cemetary. Emma sits in my lap for treats. She's finally at the point where I can pet her.

[livius drusus]

I don't think there are any orpington varieties that are easily sexed. Are you sure you want to get them as wee chicks? It might be worth waiting until the sex is confirmed.

[godfry n. glad]

I don't think there are any orpington varieties that are easily sexed. Are you sure you want to get them as wee chicks? It might be worth waiting until the sex is confirmed.

I personally think that's a capital idea. I got mine at the county fair from the 4-H kid who'd raised them...but then, it was September, not March. I'd check in with your county agricultural extension agent for chook-raising 4-H kids in your area...maybe they'd sex it for you.

"I'd like a six-pack of sexed chicks, please. Cockless, please."

[godfry n. glad]

So...The flock creates a problem:

The grrrls are not the most mindful, nor graceful, of additions to a garden. They have the tendency to stomp all over up and coming iris starts, for one. They break off the tender tops because they pay no attention to such things whilst in pursuit of bugs and worms.

I created this experiment in klutz protection:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1010277.jpg

The 'mater patch has now been surrounded by the old collapsable fencing that used to serve to delimit the grrrls' chicken run. They, or course, have outwandered it, by far, at this time. So, I'm trialing using it as a temporary barrier. It won't keep the grrrls out, as they could just flutter over it, but since they tend to be footbound most of the time, I'm hoping it'll keep them from trampling my new plant starts.

[Qingdai]

Chicken sexing is very, very difficult as chicks.
We've got boxes of roosters from pros.

[livius drusus]

Cool experiment, godfry. I think it actually looks neat, like an art installation.

[godfry n. glad]

Hmm....I hadn't thought of the "art" aspect.

I just keep telling visitors that I had to cage my vicious plants.

[godfry n. glad]

Hester has gone missing.

It's now been 24 + hours missing. She did not come home to roost last night.

I've done a walk-around, but no sightings and no foreboding evidence.

[Crumb]

:( Oh no. I hope she shows up.

[vremya]

Oh no! I hope she shows up too!

[Qingdai]

Oh! Poor Hester! I'll keep an eye out for chickens in the 'hood.

Could she have hold up somewhere and started brooding?

[Pinecone]

Damn chicken...get everyone to go all liking on them...then disappear. :tremble:

:look:

Hope she shows back up with every feather in place. :kickscan:

[Plant Woman]

Poor Hester, I hope she didn't become raccoon food.

[godfry n. glad]

*sigh*

Well....She didn't stray far (she was usually three paces behind Emma) and there has been no sign of a chook mugging (littered loose feathers), which I think would have been the case with a racoon, dog or eagle. I think she's been chooknapped. Either by an unknowing neighbor, or, more likely, by a passing homeless type who saw a relatively easy chicken dinner.

Swimmer is now talking about picking up two new Rhody chicks to see if Emma goes all maternal and takes them under her wing. Stay tuned.

[livius drusus]

Oh noes... :cry: I hope Emma loves the new chicks, but at the same time, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Hester is alive and well and soon to be home.

[Chris Porter]

That is too bad. Maybe keeping them fenced in would be more appropriate for your situation. I hope you have better luck with your flock in the future, I'm sure it's troubling to lose one completely. So many unhappy possibilities.

[godfry n. glad]

I went out picking up chicks today.

I came home with four (adjusting for mortality losses). We couldn't find an outlet with a selection of RRR, so we managed only to obtain one. The other three are respectively, a black Rhody cross, a golden Rhody cross and one Plymouth Rock.

Pix to come. Jump here. (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=524044#post524044)

[godfry n. glad]

We have another installment in the Hester tale.

It seems that Emma has taken to wandering. She has been twice now found two yards to the east. The second time, I managed to bring out the owner (yelling "bukka bukka bukka" in his sideyard helped). I explained that I was trying to collect my chicken. We chatted and it seems that Emma comes and goes as she pleases. He's become familiar with her and even petted her. He's okay with her.

I told him her name was Emma, and he laughed and said he'd named her Kung Pao.

Then he asked whether I had any other chickens. I told him the story and he told me that one day a few weeks back, he came out his side door to find a pile of loose feathers. I asked what color. He said they were black and white feathers. He also said that about the same time that week, he chased off two squabbling racoons.

Best guess is now that the racoons got her. This is very believeable.

Anyway...I have one weak spot in my perimeter. The gate to the Ho Chih Minh Trail. It's only three feet high and she's been seen to jump to the top and then down the other side.

We think she's drawn to voices. She's very sociable and loves to be around humans. Particularly humans with bread or corn in their hands.

[Chris Porter]

You could try feather clipping. It's not painful, and it may prevent the high-hop that your escaping birds seem to use.

[godfry n. glad]

Yeah, I know. My wife kept a cockatiel we had to clip on a semi-regular basis.

Or, I could actually do something about the gate...which I've been planning to do for quite some time.

[godfry n. glad]

Hmmm...the more attention I pay to the chix, the more attention Emma pays to me.

heh...

Anyway, Emma is doing fine:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1010456.jpg

She says: You brung cornz? No? Bredz den?

After we lost Hester, we didn't have any mondo eggs, so we were beginning to suspect that the double-yolk eggs had been Hester's, rather than Emma's, as we originally thought. Well, this week, Emma produced both of these:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1010432.jpg

[livius drusus]

Holy crap. She must be part ostrich.

[godfry n. glad]

The one on the right is her usual product. I'd call it an XL egg. About one a day.

The one on the left is one of her unusual products.

Here's the rest of the flock:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1010461.jpg

I'm putting up some individual pix in the "Hot chix" thread.

[Chris Porter]

Oh, I so want a flock of my own....<sigh>

[godfry n. glad]

Heh...I figured out that Emma has distinct political preferences.

She's out back, right now, pacing about chanting, "Barack, barack, baraaaack."

[Ensign Steve]

:lol:

[godfry n. glad]

So...

I considered putting up a second thread, but figured I'd start here first....

With the Hot Chix! dispersed to a far corners of the specific nerdfest, this is the new flock at Ravenswood.

Right now, it's a dysfunctional flock, what with the single survivor of the first flock basically "owning" the coop into which the new interlopers...who'd grown up across the lawn, in chix digs...were summarily thrust. She's gone on strike. No eggs since the fateful evening of co-mingled chook.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020020.jpg
Emma Byrd, strikes a defiant pose at the door to her condo.

The younger set, Sugar and Lucy, spend their hours together, chirping and chorping, avoiding Emma. Now this may seem ungracious, but whenever Emma is within striking distance, one of them gets pecked. But Emma follows them around like she wants to be part of their clique.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020069.jpg
Sugar & Lucy explore.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020079.jpg
Sugar, with Lucy obscured.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020031.jpg
Lucy & Sugar snooze in the bushes.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020082.jpg
Lucy with fluers.

[livius drusus]

OMG sleeping chicken! I understand it's best to let them lie. Gorgeous flock, godfry.

P.S. - I'll revamp the Cafepress store soon, being sure to include the "Say nice things about my chicken" t-shirt.

[godfry n. glad]

:excited:

:eager:

[godfry n. glad]

Pix up!

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020125.jpg

Cozying up to some...bricks...for a nap.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020110.jpg

"She said WHAT?"

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020142.jpg

"Tastes like ass."

[godfry n. glad]

I spent the morning in the garden, after having spent most of yesterday's cooler hours in the garden weeding.

The girls distinctly like the weeding, especially where I turn over the soil and turn up tasty treats. Her Emmaness will be right in my face during this, of course, so I'm thankful the new two aren't quite that familiar, yet.

Still, I caught them being a team of three, morning, along the western path between the north and south....aka the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Of course, this set is entitled, "Reds Along the Ho Chi Minh Trail":

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020270.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020271.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020272.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020273.jpg

Her Emmaness, aka 'Kung Pao Chicken', border guard:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020252.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020253.jpg

[Plant Woman]

Chicken butt!

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020110.jpg

[godfry n. glad]

The girls are growing more tolerant of each other every day.

Last week, we had take-out Chinese food and thus, the leftover 'styrofoamy' noodles left over from the sesame chicken. Her Emmaness is a big fan of these, so I made sure I divided it so she couldn't keep both the others away all the time. Lucy and Sugar caught on fast.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020286.jpg
Emma at the near noodles, Lucy and Sugar at the far noodles.

So, when Her Emmaness decides that the far noodles are hers, too, she runs them off. They, of course, have seen the other, and now abandoned near noodles:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020290.jpg

The result is a switcheroo.

This, of course, leads to Her Emmaness returning the the original near noodles and the girls going back to the far noodles. Circling feeding chickens.

Of course, there are things for which everybody bellies up to the table together:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020299.jpg

Like, leftover CHERRY PIE (no sugar added)!!!.

[Dingfod]

Hell, I'd be down there pecking at that with them.

[godfry n. glad]

:giggle:

And here I was worried that I was going to get static from Uthgar.

It might help if you knew that it had been stored at room temperature for more than three weeks and was sporting the beginnings of a mold culture on the top crust.

I think you need to be a bit more discerning, Ding. Just a thought...

[Dingfod]

What can I say, I was hungry.

[godfry n. glad]

I was trying to get pix of Her Emmaness with crumbs and cherry goo all over her beak and face...looking like the chicken what just won the pie-eating contest. But she didn't cooperate.

Maybe tonight.

(Dingfod...Please report to the company vending machine. With cash.)

[Dingfod]

I think I could forgo eating for a while, maybe four or five months. I've got a considerable store to work off of. Now if I could just do something about that hunger thing without eating.

[godfry n. glad]

Well...every now and then, I find a serendipitous benefit from having chickens.

It seems the girls have decided that my compost pile needs turning. They found the mostly open north side of the cobbled together wood compost bin. They started digging is out (I've got to move a length of spare hose before it's buried) the stuff from the bottom, scratching through it, kicking the gleaned compost behind them to the north as they work south. I just kicked away a piece of rotting plywood that had served as a makeshift gate, to give them more room to move and they've returned the favor by redoubling their efforts (while adding occasional chickenshit to the mix). The end result is that I get nice fluffy, mixed homegrown compost with chickenshit added. Easy to spread around.

Damn...having chickens is great at times.

[Ensign Steve]

Until you start threatening their tiny, defenseless necks! :stunned:

[godfry n. glad]

They just need some motivation for continuing the good work.

[godfry n. glad]

Another serendipitous benefit.

I was nipping off excessive grape tendrils which had the potential of blocking and otherwise contricting the walk space through the back patio. I got called away in the midst of this project and, having forgotten to place them on the compost pile, I just left them on the bricks of the patio.

When I finally get back to the project, after being called away for over an hour, what is left are the main stems. All of the tender tendrils and every leaf had been stripped and consumed by three chickens.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020306.jpg

Compost mine showing chicken work.


All I had left to do was pick up the branches, place them in the compost pile and hose down the chickenshit left.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020309.jpg

Da werkin grrrlz takez a break fum da compost mines.

[godfry n. glad]

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020357.jpg
Ya gotz bredz?

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020365.jpg
U chur yuz gotz no bredz?

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj53/wellingtonkd/P1020371.jpg
Innibuddy gotz enny bredz? Eni et awl?




.........................................................................yeah, flock you, too.

[godfry n. glad]

Okay...We now have a new Scourage of the Backyard.

Little princess, Sugar, herself, has become the avenging byrd of hell, as far as Hobbes is concerned. I mentioned this morning that I'd seen Sugar chase poor Hobbes north down the Ho Chi Minh Trail...he ran from the flapping bird. Swimmer confirmed it by noting that she'd seen Sugar chase Hobbes across the back yard until he took refuge by climbing up on to the balcony.

http://gi251.photobucket.com/groups/gg296/3O1R6QQOOH/P1020455.jpg

Mean viscious byrd.

[Plant Woman]

You can see it in her eyes.

But she sure is purty!