empty chicken coop this past winter…
Well, due to health reasons, we had to give up our chickens last fall. It was a really sad day for us here. We really enjoyed fresh eggs, and watching the silly hens and their funny antics.
However, we got some new animals that are just as fun to watch. I’ll have a page up for them soon. Keep an eye out for it! :)
two cute chickens eating food together
These chickens are siblings and hopefully don't fight over their food, but eating together nicely and sharing is hard when you have to share. These two cute chickens probably fight all the time and always have to share whether they like it or not. these younger chickens have to sneackly get the food quickly before the other older chickens beat them up by pecking them.
we now have a chicken tunnel! the girls love it! this is just the trial version. we are hoping to improve the tunnel system next spring. oh, and the chicken faces have changed and will change a little more next week. we'll do intros later when we have the final cast. ;)
the girls get to scratch fresh ground, and we get the grass against the rock wall taken care of. it's a win-win!
since they aren't laying many eggs now, we had to find another way for them to earn their keep. ;)
We finally completed the chicken tractor. Well, except for the wire skirt (think tree skirt, but with wire fencing) to keep predators out. The hiccup is the wheels...how do we put the wire around the outside and still have the option of moving the coop??
complete with an egg door at the request of our mom
about a week and a half ago lady godiva finally decided to start laying eggs again! we have been enjoying eating our backyard chicken eggs again because they are much tastier than the store bought eggs.
giving you a peek into our fridge
well, we have sad news about the little chick that was sick. she got worse so we had to put her down. it was a very sad day for us. however, the other two chicks are still doing well with no signs of illness.
one month old chicks enjoying a sunny day outdoors
the chicks are very good at catching bugs that fly into their reach. i'll try to get a video of them when the weather clears up again. oh, before i go any further....we finally gave them names. let me introduce you.
meet tommy
and meet lulu
my next project with the chickens is building another coop (we tore down the old one because of the backyard construction), and introducing the new chicks to the older chicks.
the girls have not given us any eggs at all this winter. we chose not to use lights this year because we thought that it might be nice to give their bodies a break since they were laying well for us last year. however, we have discovered that buying eggs is ridiculously expensive.
our girls were laying more eggs than we could eat.
we are having some yard work done this spring so we'll be building a permanent coop later in the spring.
from left to right: Lady Godiva lays us beautiful large chocolate brown eggs; Daisy gives us ivory colored small eggs; and Keira lays medium-sized light brown eggs when she isn't busy being broody.
mr merkel and I have been talking about getting new chicks soon so they will be laying by summer. soooo...last Wednesday when i stopped by the feed store they actually had 3 breeds of chicks that I've been wanting. we don't have names for them yet, but here are the new girls.
hatched 1/14/2016
unfortunately, the one on the far left has been sick since Saturday and the feed store has a 48 hour return policy. she has been gasping for breath which is a sign of several illnesses. for now we are treating her with antibiotics and electrolytes. so far she doesn't seem to be better or worse. if she does take a turn for the worse, we will not let her suffer. young chicks are very fragile and have a high mortality rate in general. we will be hoping for the best and continue treating her as long as necessary. keep your fingers crossed for this beautiful baby!