The "Chicks" - Week Two Update

It's a dreary day here on the Island and this week hasn't been much better.  Clouds, rain, damp and cold.  None of which is helping me get my "jobs" done while I have some time off.  Even with the rain I managed to get a couple raised beds constructed. 

The one with the trellis (courtesy of my F.I.L. "BG") will contain the cucumbers and likely some peas and beans.  4 more raised beds to build and set and a plot to roto-till. 

There is 6 yards of compost/topsoil mix in the driveway that will be the fill for all.  I should probably make a chiropractic appointment for late next week!.

The garlic is growing nicely and this bed I will hopefully be planting this week.

This week we had full integration in the brooder; the separator has been removed and everyone is starting to get used to one another.  The big girls (Cinnamon in particular) peck at the young chicks but we understand that the pecking order is being re-established and this is normal chicken behavior. Some of the young chicks have become quite brave and are holding their own against the big girls.  I love to see that!!!!.  Despite the squabbles we have seen all the birds snuggling together when they fall asleep.  However, this is usually short-lived as one of the girls invariably needs to adjust themselves and disturbs the entire group.

 All the girls are really starting to feather out and they all look pretty scraggly at the moment as their new feathers replace their downy fur.  Their growth is amazing in such a short period of time!!!. 

Poppy

 We figured we would take some pictures to show the difference in sizes between the 2 groups.  I suggested that we use a can of chicken noodle soup for scale but my farmhand said this was not in good taste.

Trixie (aka "Stinky Pooper")

"Yes, I stinky pooped on the floor after this picture was taken. The world is my toilet."

Poppy. "Yes, I also pooped on the floor."

Lacey. "Ya, I pooed on the floor. What you gonna do?."

Cinnamon (aka "The Bitch/Pecker"). "I did not poop on the floor."

At night we have been treating the girls to some delectable desserts, including all manner of bugs, dandelions, spinach, lettuce and oats.  They love it and it's a feeding frenzy before bedtime.  Feeding them by hand is getting them accustomed to us and it's almost no problem to pet them and pick them up for a daily inspection.

Chickens are the ultimate garburators.  With the exception of a few items chickens can and will pretty much eat anything we can.  From what I've read the more you supplement their diet with scraps and leftovers the better tasting are the eggs.  We will hopefully get to test this theory out in a few more months. 

The "Chicks" - Week One Update

Hectic week here with work, workouts and life in general, however, it has been a week since the chicks arrived and I suspect you are all wanting an update.

Poppy, Daisy, Pearl and Lacey

 Thankfully, all the chicks have survived and, as far as we can tell, they are all healthy.  The young girls are growing by leaps and bounds, and they are starting to feather out.  They are still pretty skittish, but getting used to our voices and they perk up whenever we are out to check on them.

Poppy (Silkie)

Pearl (Silver Laced Wyandotte)

 The big girls are a lot more bold and curious.  I can see a recognition in their eyes when I come into the room and start talking to them.  They crane their necks from side to side and up and down to see who is in the room.  We have no issue feeding them by hand and they will readily jump up on our hands to get the best feeding spot.

Trixie (Barred Rock)

 With all the eating and drinking that goes on between both groups, I can tell you one thing - chickens shit a lot!.  However, the nice thing is that we can collect the droppings and add them to our composters for use in the gardens.

These girls are fun to have and watch; they are very comical and their antics are very interesting.  A simple "wellness check" often turns into a half hour of hand feeding.  As I suspected, my lovely farmhand is quite taken by these ladies and she routinely checks food, water, bums (for pasty butt, which is a deadly condition for chicks) and overall coop cleanliness.  She even asked if "we" were going to the local poultry show this week and "can you buy chickens there?".  Hmmmm.....seems like chickens are the new wool.

In the brooder we have the girls separated given the difference in their age and size.  I wanted to give the chicks a week to grow a little and hopefully be able to fend for themselves when mixed in with the big girls.  Well, we tried to integrate the girls this week and that lasted all of a half hour.  The Spice Girls (Ginger and Cinnamon) and The Tramps (Trixie and Lola) were ruthless in their pecking of The Hippie Chicks (Poppy and Daisy) and The Hick Chicks (Pearl and Lacey).  A couple of the young girls did their darn best to stand up and puff out their chests, but their bravado was no match for the big girls who literally tower over them.  All this to say that the girls are still separated but we have constructed a see-through fence so that they can see each other but no contact.  This will allow them to get used to one another and we will continue to slowly integrate them over the next couple weeks as the young girls continue to grow and catch up in size.

Itchy and Scratchy made a visit this week to see the chicks and talk all manner of gardening, jewellery making, knitting and the like with my lovely farmhand.  While here, Scratchy pondered aloud, "I wonder how many roosters you have?".  Of course we all then wondered for ourselves how many roosters are in this clutch (FYI - my guess is 2).  Scratchy put forward that we should blog about this and everyone can weigh in on how many roosters we may possibly have.  So, in the spirit of good fun, please leave a comment with your guess of how many roosters you think we have.

They're heee-re.......

After a whirlwind trip to Moncton, we are back and I am happy to announce that all the ladies survived the trip. On the ride back my lovely did "wellness checks" every 15 minutes to ensure that all the chicks were fine. Once we arrived home, the chicks were separated into their respective pens. We have 4 chicks that are a couple weeks older than the 4 other chicks, so to ensure that the smaller chicks get a chance to grow we will keep them separated for a few days.

We are both exhausted but knew that you all would be interested to see some pictures. So without further adieu I give the Soul Patch Farm flock. I apologize for the pictures; it's hard to get these girls to stop moving. More pictures to come.

The Hick Chicks (Pearl and Lacey) and The Spice Girls (Ginger and Cinnamon).

The Hippie Chicks (Poppy and Daisy) and The Tramps (Lola and Trixie)

The Countdown Is On.....

We learned on Thursday that our chicks will be ready for pick-up next week.  Five days from now me and my lovely farm hand will make the journey over to Moncton to pick up our ladies.  We unfortunately also learned that one of the breeders sold out of chickens, which means that we are having to find a new breeder for the Buff Orpingtons we wanted; it's getting late in the season for chicks so I will keep you updated on if we find any.  We currently have 6 chicks waiting for us; 2 Silkies, 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes and 2 Plymouth Barred Rocks.  We are hoping for all hens as these chicks can't be sexed because they are only a few days old.  Today, after much discussion, we settled on categories and names for our girls.

Category 1. "The Hippie Chicks" (Silkies) - Daisy and Poppy

Category 2. "The Spice Girls" (if we get some Buff's) - Ginger and Cinnamon

Category 3. "The Hick Chicks" (Silver Laced Wyandottes) - Pearl and Lacey

Category 4. "The Tramps" (Barred Rocks) - Lola and Trixie

These names are not set in stone so I would like for you all to weigh in on your favorites or throw out a name for consideration.