Long overdue update...life keeps getting in the way...

The little girls are gorwing up a storm and are now 9 weeks old:



Our big girls are well...big! They are laying and being very spoiled of course. This is them attacking leftover grits:



And coop construction has begun and is nearly complete. They have a 12' x 12' fortress that has been named "Eggtopia".



Hopefully, they will be in the coop with a completed run for them by next Thursday, Friday at the latest. They will be happy to get out the hot tub and the garage where they currently are. They come out everyday in their tractors but they will enjoy having their own place to come and go from during the day.

The paint inside is a beautiful pastel blue with a darker brighter blue trim...



The outside will most likely be barn red with white trim or grey with white trim. I think the barn red has won but we will see. A couple cute pics:

Luna following me around:



Ginny fascinated by the camera:



More later....

We have suffered our first loss...

The new little girls came home and all seemed good but late that night one of the Salmon Faverolles began showing signs of not thriving. So, the special care began. Hand feeding her every hour or so, then ordering infant vitamins and we struggled for 3 days but she passed away. We had named her "Miracle" because we were really praying for one.

We took her over to our new house (we are moving this Friday) and buried her under a beautiful shade tree.

New Fuzzy Butts are here!

Well now our chicken total is up for sure. We have our 6 spoiled girls, 5 black australorps that are about 6 weeks old and now 22 day olds. They hatched yesterday in Ohio and arrived here in Oregon this afternoon. What a crew. All doing well and eating, drinking, sleeping and being cute.

The girls are growing...

Our 6 girls have been joined by 5 unexpected newcomers. 5 little australorps. they are about 6 weeks old now and still not liked by our girls. So, everyone is separated right now. I can only imagine how they will handle the 21 new girls coming later this month. It is going to be interesting.

Lilly has gone through her leg healing and is doing well, but I do not think the girls will ever let her have feathers on her legs. :(

More pics of the girls soon. Still no losses and all are healthy and spoiled rotten!

Wow the girls are big now...10 weeks old

The girls 6 wks - 10 wks old


We have been very fortunate with our first 6 girls. There have been no serious illnesses, no injuries (aside from a couple scraps on Lilly's leg) and no losses. The girls are thriving and getting really big.

Sandy aka Diva Chicken has become the total Diva. She simply loves and adores Cheyenne. We so love her that we ordered 3 more Ameraucana's for our July order.

Speckles is just spoiled rotten. She rides with me in the van to go get my favorite mocha latte in town, goes to school with Cheyenne and swings on the swing set at school.

Lilly is still head honcho in the brooder. She took over top spot from maggie at about 4 weeks old and they still scuffle for that top spot every now and again. Lilly has had a couple scrapes on her leg from tussling with Maggie.

Molly and Holly are adorable. They look like vultures some days.

Maggie is still aloof and trying to take the head honcho job. She is great when you pick her up she just does not make that easy. LOL

They are still living in the spare bedroom in the hot tub frame and have their tractor for outdoor playtime but we are not building their coop until we get into our new house the end of July. They will also be joined by 21 new babies coming from Meyer Hatchery around the 23rd of July.

Today they were joined by 5 more Black Australorps that are a week old. I will be raising these and taking care of them for Sir William O'Farrell. He is building my coop and will supply their feed and eat their eggs. I am a sucker for fuzzy butts so I agreed to this plan.

The Girls were none to pleased to see the new babies and I am sure they are plotting their demise. The sent glares and nasty looks at the little ones. Spoiled brats they are.

More updates later and pics of the new girlies.

The girls are getting Huge!

Holly & Cheyenne

Speckles & Cheyenne

The girls are almost 6 weeks old now and getting huge. Maggie is the largest, followed closely by the two Australorps, then Lilly, Then Sandy and finally Speckles coming in as the smallest. But what she lacks in size, she makes up for in personality. She is a hand full. She flies out of the brooder and onto my shoulder. If I leave the room for too long, she flies out and comes looking for me. She is going to be a problem when it comes to taking them outside...I do not think she is going to want any part of that.

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They are finally roosting on the limb, they still nap and such on the floor of the brooder. I think once they have a flat roost, they will spend more time on it. They are just spoiled and like stretching out on the floor.

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I bought them some earthworms from a local lady who raises them. I took them to the girls and put a few on a disposable plate and waited. Lilly was the first one to see one move and grab it...it was on then. Oh my at the yelling, running, chasing and frenzy over the ones on the plate. I think you could safely say that they liked them. LOL

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More chicken news and updated pics later.

New digs for the girls...

This morning the girls ran to the side of the brooder, bumping into each other and chirping like criminals in solitary confinement. They got to me.
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I took the frame for my portable hot tub ( 6' in diameter ) and moved it into the living room and set it up for the girls. They were running, jumping and play fighting as soon as I released them in it. Naturally, Speckles flew up onto the side. She is the alarm bird. So we repeated the fly up and perch, me pick her up and say no and put her back, her fly up, me pick her up and say no and put her back...finally she gave up and stayed inside.
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I took the saw outside and went up the ridge behind the house and found a dead fall to cut the perch for the girls. I cut it off and brought it inside and they were not too sure about that. Finally they pecked at it and jumped on it so they are now sitting and roosting on it for short periods of time. I noticed when it was time to sleep, they were sitting on the shavings snoozing. So, in a few days they should be doing okay.
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More chicken news later ....