mug shots

these two are all smiles

Puffs legs...

When I brought her home three weeks ago Puff had yellow/orange legs.  Over the past week they have been changing to a bluish color.  I worried that something was wrong, after all blue legs can't be good, right?  But found out that this is normal for the possible breed she is.

not a circulation problem

sweet Puff pic

She still sleeps in the house and I'm getting worried just thinking of when I have to put her in the big pen.  The RIRs are much older and some have been very aggressive.  Sigh.  I'm thinking of building a separate coop for her and Ace.

Under Construction Part 2

95% done!  This was not easy to build, with a few setbacks and bad weather - but I'm glad it's nearly complete.  The skid mount was an awesome idea.  After we put the walls up and the temporary roof we pulled it to the area on our land we think the chickens will be most happy.  We want happy chicks!  If I haven't mentioned, our farm animals are our friends, not our food.  (I'm vegan)

sunroof

first time in the yard

hangin' out inside until they found courage to venture outside

almost complete

 little Miss. Girlie wondering what I'm up to

Under Construction

Here are some pictures of the chicken coop we're building.  We've had a few setbacks but we're hopeful to have both the house and pen completed in a few days.


This is a skid mounted base (two 4 x 6 x 10 beams) built so it can be moved about easily.

Base of the house with 1/2" square hole galvanized hardware cloth.

Framing the walls: 91.750" x 72" with 4 1/4" thickness.  We'll be putting in shelves, nesting boxes and windows.

Finished wall.

Walls going up!

Inside look.

More pictures to follow...

Wattles at two weeks?

Although we were told this chick is a pullet by the end of the first week we could see the comb.  Now, here at two weeks... do I see wattles?

I didn't flip my chicken upside down - only the photo.  LoL

Rhode Island Red (pullet) five weeks old.

Random Sights

grazing in the green grass

frequent visitor

new kids on the block: twin 1

twin 2

The twins are very special to us.  We had to help with their birth and also feed them by hand for several weeks.  They are completely spoiled and walk right in the house if the door is open.

Puff & Buddy

Now two weeks old and growing fast, these two are inseparable.  Since they are much smaller we're keeping them separate from the RIRs for now.  The RIRs are getting SO big, I need to update their pictures soon.

Buddy was sold as a Barred Rock but we think he could possibly be a Cuckoo Marans. 

How could I not get her?

We went to the feed store just to look at the chicks and I fell for this one in no time flat! Sooo cute and very sweet.  I'm not sure what she is, some say Easter Egger or maybe Buff Orpington.

Here's Puff, three days old and standing on a cupcake liner.

RIR 15 days old

Growing very fast!

Curly Toe Paralysis

I can't tell you how badly I felt when I discovered one of the chicks suddenly had toes that curled under. It progressed to the point of her not being able to do much more than scoot around on her hocks. I did some research and began giving her Poly-Vi-Sol baby vitamin drops without iron. It's very important to buy it w/o any iron. I started out with two tiny drops on her beak twice a week and also a tiny amount in her drinking water. She was weak and struggled to be part of the group at the feeder but wasn't doing well enough to eat as much as she should. This forced me to separate her from the others, which I didn't want to do, but I did anyway in order to properly care for her.

She had her own sleeping area, feeding area, and several times a day I helped her stand and got her walking by straightening out her toes. It was sad to see her struggle and she tried so hard! After about one and a half weeks she showed improvement. Yay! Here are some pictures of her before and after.

16 Rhode Island Red chicks

The day we purchased our RIRs we thought we left with sixteen...it wasn't until a week or so later I did a head count and there are 17!  Bonus chick?  I think this seventeenth chick is a cockerel, but that's okay, he's the sweetest one! 

Here they are at approximately 10 days old.