Chick Field Trip

Today when I went to feed and water the little chicks, 4 of the 8 flew out of the brooder before I could even blink and eye! For the last 2 weeks I have known that it was getting time to transition them to outside but I am still unsure how to integrate them in with the big chicks without causing too much stress or injury. The little chicks are already a couple weeks older than the big chicks were when they moved out to the coop nursery, and I know they are getting impatient for
some freedom from their tiny brooder!

I decided to load them up this afternoon and take them outside for a field trip. 

For the first 30 mins or so, they would not venture out of the carrier

I am sure the big world was a little intimidating, especially since all the 

other chickens wanted to come see what was in the box.

I tried to lure the babies out with treats, but they weren't interested.

(the other chickens were VERY interested and promptly ate the treats up)

After awhile, one by one they started venturing out and exploring

First to come out:

Lucy Goosey

(Anabelle's White Leghorn Pullet)

After a bit, one by one they started coming out of the carrier.

And then all of them were out...

They were timid, but seemed to enjoy foraging around. They stayed close to each other and didn't seem to mind too much when the big chicks came near. 

Now I just have to figure out how to move them out to the barn permanently!

Chicken Therapy & 5 Eggs

Today is sunny, warm and GORGEOUS in North Dakota!

I spent several hours outside by the coop in my lawn chair
enjoying the day and the flock. 

Whenever I can sneak away I love to go hang out with the chickens- 

they can entertain me for hours on end and I never get tired of it. 

Sometimes the kids will come hang out too, but they get bored easily and leave.
That is ok with me.
(The chickens are more nervous when the kids are around anyway.)
Here is Julianna with her hen, Ditzy:

The chicks love when I come out, because that means they get released from their nursery. They run to the door cheeping excited to see me and hoping for treats. I just know they love me, even though Matt teases me that it is only because they associate me with food. (That's ok though as long as it works!)

We currently have 25 "teenage" chicks out in the coop nursery.
And even though I love them all, I can't help but have favorites.
Out of the 3 breeds (Silkies, Bantam Cochins & Easter Eggers)
The EE's are BY FAR my favorite!
Butterscotch, Buttercup, Peeps & Pigeon are all EE's
I am about 75% sure they are all girls and I am hoping I am right...
 I just love them and hope to keep all 4 of them!

Here is Buttercup-
She spent some time on my lap studying my face today,
so I decided to take some pictures of hers:

This is Pigeon-
She is very curious and very friendly.
Originally Matt's chick, we bonded after her doggy trauma,
and now I am smitten with her (and she is with me too! Matt is jealous)

My sweet baby Butterscotch-

The friendliest & sweetest of the chicks by far!

She was the first to hop on my lap all by herself and get comfortable. 

I have heard of chickens that do that, but she was the first one of mine to ever do it.

And lastly, Peeps-
Peeps was my favorite of the chicks when they were newborns.
She had the puffiest chipmunk cheeks of all the chicks and I just adored her!
I still love her, but I wish she was as friendly as the other EE's

Love this shot of 3 of the gals:

L to R: Butterscotch, Pigeon & Buttercup

and lastly- a cute shot of Buttercup & Lulu:

****
In other chicken news-
I got 5 eggs today!!!!
That means Yahtzee laid an egg for the first time
(that I know of) in the 5 months we have had her!!

Good Job Yahtzee!

Picky Eaters

The "boys" (Jack and Sundance) are driving me crazy! They have been spoiled all winter long with alfalfa and now they refuse to eat anything else. We have over 7 acres of grass and brush and they won't eat anything.... (except plastic, trash, my seedlings and my birthday balloons) It seems every time I turn around, they have something in their mouths but it is never something they should be eating. Meanwhile, they bleat nonstop for food.  I don't want to starve them, but how do I get them off alfalfa for the summer? Any ideas here????

Confession:

I love being barefoot...

wearing flip flops...

and having brightly painted toes...

then I moved to a farm.

***

Now this is my reality:

Spring = Tree Fort

The weather forecast for today was overcast and rainy... 

I was certainly not complaining when it was wrong. 

Matt has the weekend off, so since the sun was shining we decided to 

break out the power tools and get some work done on the tree fort. 

At the end of the day, the floor is complete!
Now onto the walls.... but we will save that for another day.

Sunbathing

Today as I was laying in the grass basking in the sun,

Jack came over to visit me.

Hello Jack.

Coming soon...

Look at these sweet babies!!!!

Purebred Fainting Goats

These twin girls were born on May 7th and we are hoping to add them

to our family within the next week or so.

We are just waiting on them to be disbudded and ready to come home!

Matt has been wanting Fainting Goats since he first heard of them,

and I have been wanting bottle babies ever since I knew it was a possibility...

I guess we are both getting our wish ;0)


*****

Chick update:
Both of the chicks from the dog accident are fine and back outside in their coop!!

That answers that question...

Big Chick is now officially Big Chuck

Dogs + Chicks = Disaster

Scurvy Dog

Scurvy Dog has never showed much interest in our chicks 

until he decided to "play" with them today... 

2 of the chicks seem the worst, the others were 

all just scattered and scared but appeared fine. 

One of the 2 (Pigeon) seems ok, she was drenched and had a little 

blood on her face and feathers, but otherwise she is alert and seems ok. 

The 2nd one (Matt's Silkie) was actually in the dogs mouth when we found them. 

It was obviously in shock & very wet, so I took him in and gave him 

a warm bath & blow dry (which he seemed to like!) 

Lots of broken feathers, but I couldn't find any actual injuries. 

I put them in a large dog kennel inside with straw and a heat lamp 

and they are both just sitting there. I made them some scrambled eggs too.

I hate not knowing what to do!

I know Scurv wasn't trying to hurt them- 

he is huge and could have killed the chicks easily. 

I think he just wanted to play... 

but I don't trust him around the chicks anymore :(

Anyway Pigeon has been content to hang out inside on my lap since the accident....

She looks pretty comfortable.

Think she is taking advantage of my TLC?!

I'll update soon!

Chicken Success Story

When we first got the old chickens, 

they were very timid and wouldn't come anywhere near us. 

For months I talked to them quietly, moved slowly and tried to bribe them by leaving treats in the coop. Nothing worked. 

They went into a full panic any time I came near. 

A couple months ago, I started bringing a plate of tempting treats out to the barn. I would sit nearby and wait for them to come eat. They were reluctant at first, sure I was going to grab them if they came to the food. But I just sat there and watched. After a few days, they seemed more comfortable around me, so I moved the plate progressively closer to where I sat. 

As they ate, I would talk to them so they would get used to my voice. 

After a while I would start holding my hand out with treats. They would look hungrily, but they would not come eat. Finally after several days of trying, Sally came up and grabbed the treat out of my hand!!! 

I was so excited!!!! 

The next day, it took a little while, but Sally came again. 

One thing I learned: all it takes is one...

Once 1 chicken does something, the others are more likely to follow suit.

Within the week 4 of the 5 hens would eat out of my hands- 

only Yahtzee wouldn't come close.

I was THRILLED!!!

I was actually making progress with the old hens! They wouldn't freak out when I came out to the barn anymore, and they actually started expecting daily treats.

After a couple weeks of daily hand feeding the 4 hens, 

they became very comfortable with me and would even run up to greet me when they would see me coming their way. 

I was even able to pick some of them up and hold them occasionally. 

Everyday I would continue to hand feed the treats and I would always watch Yahtzee in the back eying me distrustfully. 

Then today I was feeding and talking to the chickens and Yahtzee crept forward 

and ate out of my hand for the very first time!!!

YES!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!

My patience and persistence has paid off!! 

The old chickens that came to me completely un-tame, are starting to trust me.
Never underestimate the power of food.