Moving Out

The chickens have been living out in their coop for a few weeks and they are thriving! These photos are about a month old (must post in a more timely way). They are 6-8 weeks old here. We've been letting them range in the yard every evening. Chickens aren't the most curious animals, but they seem to enjoy a little time to explore. The birds have been busy growing and changing into their chickeny selves.

Helping in the garden.

Kaylee sleeping on her feet.

The move to the coop was pretty seamless. Some experts advise a gradual move; keeping the chickens confined to the hen-house for a few days and then introducing them to the run. We decided to just move them out. If they seemed too stunned then we'd do the confinement. We were most concerned about Inara our youngest, though she continues to be the most adventurous. They all did great!
 

First night in the coop.

Our two-and-a-half-year-old has been great with the chickens. She enjoys "helping" with their care and wants to spend lots of time with them. I think that it has also benefited the chickens to be socialized to children. This is especially nice as we have had a steady stream of friends visiting, which we love.   

Dinner time.

Muck Boots!

Coop Improvements

I made a few minor changes to our coop before the pullets move in. It is nothing too big. Just a couple of improvements to accommodate our Pacific Northwest environment.

Predator proofing:

We've seen the occasional raccoon in our yard. In our old neighborhood I saw coyotes. We have a 6 foot fence. That's excellent for keeping chickens in, but not much out.

Our coop came with poultry mesh installed. I don't think that would stop anything larger than a determined sparrow. Also rats could just climb through. So I added a layer of hardware cloth.

I was originally going to remove the chicken wire, but it was installed really well.

Kaylee helps out.

Our coop is mobile and sits about an inch off the ground. In order to seal that area, and to discourage digging predators, I added a skirt of hardware cloth. I'll stake it down each day when I move the coop.

Skirt staked down

Rain protection:

I originally thought that I would add some rain gutters to increase the covered area of the run. I realized later that I'd need gutters about 10 inches wide to make any difference. Soon after that, while I was installing the skirt, I got caught in a sudden downpour. I found that rain doesn't always fall down in a straight path.

So I bought 25 feet of greenhouse fabric. I made two tarps. I added three grommets to each. Then I attached them to the two sides of our run. It turned out to be a bit more work than I expected. But they make for a cozy coop. When the sun is shining, I keep them rolled up and tied like the rain fly of a tent.

Inside

Rain fly down

We're now as ready as we'll ever be!

Chickens in the Sunlight

We've been transitioning the chickens from the brooder box to their coop.  Over the past few weekends we've been taking the girls outside for a little fresh air. As you'd guess, they really enjoy time spent in the yard. Here are a few pictures:
 

River

 

 

Snacking

Inara

Zoe

A walk outside

It's getting a little crowded in the brooder. I made some improvements to help a bit. I switched to a hanging waterer. It was time to raise the feeder up, so I put it on a stack of bricks. We had some spare lumber laying around so I hacked together a roosting bar.

 
It's been a cold March so far. We even had our first snow day last week. Too cold for our partially-feathered gals to move outside. However, on Saturday we had some nice Pacific Northwest sun breaks. 

Zoe and Kaylee are nearly 6 weeks old. We figured that it is time they got to scratch outside on the lawn. We gave them an hour to peck around. They seemed to enjoy it. Both pullets got quite puffed up in the 45 °F weather. After the initial feather fluffing, they relaxed enough to sample the grass and dandelion leaves.

River and Inara stayed inside. They probably also enjoyed the time to stretch out.

After Kaylee and Zoe returned to the brooder, they spent some quality time under the heat lamp.

Anyway, I think they had fun.

Growing!

I'm really stunned by how quickly chicks grow. You can see changes over the course of a day. Some of the changes that are happening right now: new feathers are coming in with more established patterns, combs are appearing, they are getting taller and plumper. We now have three five-week-old chickens and one two-week-old. We made them sit for portraits today.

Zoe at five weeks: She is more interested in people than the others. She has yet to get tired of sitting on a lap. Her comb and waddle are coming in nicely and getting a little pink.

Kaylee at five weeks: She is the most chickeny of the group. Her feathers are surprisingly soft and fluffy. She already has an impressive strut.

 

River at five weeks: She seems the most bird-like to me. True to her breed, she makes a soft coo sound that is quite sweet. The pattern emerging in her feathers is lovely.  I can't wait to see what she will look like full grown. 

Inara at two weeks: For being the youngest she is quite brave. When we give them a treat of hard-boiled egg or meal worms she is the first to the dish. You can see here that her tail feathers have just sprouted. Cute.

And 2 More Makes 4

We picked up our second batch of two chicks yesterday. We had pre-ordered all of our chickens, but because of extenuating circumstances, the Wyandotte and Speckled Sussex weren't available. Luckily they had many lovely breeds on hand for us to choose from. We had no trouble picking out two sweet chicks that I am very happy to add to our flock.

At the chicken store

River is our Easter Egger. They are known for their fluffy beards, pea combs and colorful eggs. River's eggs could be blue, green, pink, white or brown. All of her eggs will be the same color. We won't know what her hue will be until she lays her first egg (fingers crossed for blue). She is quite sweet and loves to make herself a little bed by rearranging the pine shavings in the brooder box. 

River

Inara is the youngest at about four days old. She is a Black Copper Marans. Her eggs will be a dark "chocolate brown" color. She is so tiny and cute! We were concerned that the older chicks might pick on or inadvertently trample her. She seems to be holding her own and River has become her protector. 

Inara (with a shout out to Populuxe Brewing in the background)

I'm sure that our nerdier readers have deduced that we've named the chicks after characters from the show Firefly. Our coop came with the name "Firefly" and we couldn't resist the TV show tie-in.

The girls are getting to know each other and seem to be adjusting well to the new living arrangement. They were all a little stressed yesterday, but that is to be expected. I'm looking forward to seeing where each will fall in the pecking-order. I have a guess as to who will be "top hen", but that remains to be seen. It is almost impossible to get a photo of the four of them that isn't a total blur. Here is my most successful attempt:

Under the warming light: Kaylee, Zoe, River and Inara!

  

The Brooder

Zoe and Kaylee are two weeks old today. I thought I'd celebrate with a few shots of their new feathers. But first I'll tell you a little bit about our brooder setup. The chicks are happy in their temporary home. They will live in the brooder box until they are between six and eight weeks old, depending on the weather.

We bought our brooder box from Seattle Farm Supply. It's 16” x 48” x 16" with a screened top and a lamp bracket. It was part of a package that included a whole bunch of good stuff. If I were to buy it over again, I'd probably spring for the 2 foot wide box. There is enough room now but I think it will be pretty crowded for all four girls at six weeks.

The chicks seem pretty happy in the brooder. The wood shavings take care of any odor. It's also pretty easy to clean. The feeder seems a bit over-sized for two chicks. I don't know if we'll need it quite that long with four. We'll see.

Both chicks have started sprouting feathers all over the place. It's fascinating to watch them change from fuzzy puff balls into beautiful birds. Well, Kaylee is still quite puffy and I think she'll stay that way. Zoe is becoming more sleek. She has developed terrific barred feathers all over her wings. Sometimes they both look like they are covered in dandelion seeds as their down comes off. You can also see their combs beginning to come in.

They are both very sweet. They give soft peeps whenever anyone comes into the room. They love it when we talk to them. Any time I place my hand in the brooder both chicks climb aboard. They enjoy being stroked on their necks and chest and protest loudly if you pet their backs. Although once they've relaxed they'll let me examine their wings and scratch their shoulder blades.

Zoe is bit more people-oriented. She always wants to see what I am doing. She is more cautious than Kaylee though. Kaylee enjoys our company but she it pretty easy-going overall.

I wish I had the skill to take better photos. I suppose turning off the red brooder lamp helps.