After the Peaches Update

Nik and I spent three days in Seattle selling Sweet Dreams peaches! They were a big hit! Everyone loves them. While we were gone, Nancy came over and fed Chic N Ken for us and used her animal whispering on Ken. He is so docile when she is here. He lets her pet him without a fuss and does not feel that she is a threat at all. Yea Nae! I am going to make myself small and quiet and get Ken to let me pet him tonight!

We were blessed with three more eggs on our return. Good job Chic. I can't wait for next spring when the plan is to let her go broody and hatch a half dozen chic-lettes!

Here's a pic of the three new babies.

Egg In The Corner Pocket

Ok, well it's day three for egg hunting. Chic is laying IN the coop now. Which is an improvement, but not where we want her eggs to lay. She is laying in the front most corner of the coop. So, we took eggs #1 and #2 and put them in the fridge, and moved egg #3 into the middle of coop. We are hoping we can get her to lay there and then incrementally move her to the nest. Do you think it will work. Any ideas?

Also today, I got some egg comparing pictures. The eggs they are so cute. Can an egg can be considered cute. Yes, they are cute. Yes Kit, I will be eating them. Maybe for breakfast. Wish I had an English Muffin!


They are 1/3 the size of a store bought jumbo egg shown in the picture on the right, and a smidge bigger than the grape tomatoes, from my garden, in the center picture. They are almost drowning in the egg holder where we keep the store bought eggs. When Jay and Kee hold them they are regular sized in their little hands.

Noob News

In answer to MrsKittyKaBooms q's- I can most assuredly say that I still don't know why Chic has feathers on her feet and Ken doesn't. I have gone thru web sites and books, but I'm still not sure what kind of bird Chic n Ken are other than Bantam chicken.

Ken has the yellow legs and feet of the Rhode Island Red (which is a Bantam breed) and the feather coloring. But we will have to wait and see when all his feathers grow in. He has a flat back, slightly raised tail, and vertical breast.

Now Chic is altogether different than Ken. I'm leaning towards Cochin Bantam. Because of coloring and feathers. What else is there? Ahhh. Wattles, earlobes, combs, etc.

Chic has short legs, the characteristic tilt forward in the body, an abundance of hackle feathers (hackle being the neck), and her friendly demeanor. From what I gather from books is that she is a Lavender Pekin Cochin which is a true bantam. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention her feathered feet. Also a Cochin trait. What do you think?

Egg-citing News

Nik and I went out to the run to give the kids some corn on the cob and and a few grapes. While Nik was refilling the water bowl, I spied a small egg shaped object laying under Chic N Ken's porch.

Yep! It's Chic's first egg. Very small. I got a couple of pics, and we decided to leave it in the nest so that maybe Chic would born the next one there too.

In this picture, Chic's first egg is sitting in Jay's hand and Kee's finger is touching it.

Such egg-citing times here in RiverCity!! Uh, I don't know if anyone noticed, but Chic layed her first egg out in the run under the chicken porch in front of God and everyone. Is there a privacy issue?

Which came first?

We have a chicken, but without any privacy we'll never get any eggs. So, today I fixed the back door. Ummm. . . improved the back door. Tightened the shade screen, filled the gaps between door frame and door with 1x1/2 pieces of lumber.

Remember the shelf unit I bought at Goodwill? Well, I took the "unit" out and put a back flap on it ( I attached it with hinges . . the better to gather eggs my dear). I installed a winter perch in the coop. Which we still need to affix to the coop so it doesn't move. I think we will use zip ties so as not to beat up the coop roof.

I also added shade screen to the front of the coop, but that's temporary too till I figure out a better way. For now it's held in place with clothes pins. Handy little objects those clothes pins. I use them for a multitude of tasks!


Funny:

We went to a new chicken place for dinner. We asked the waitress how the chicken was prepared.

She said, "We just tell them all they're going to die."

Chic N Ken On Deck

Out on their daily jaunt through the yard, the birds decided to see what was up on the deck. Since we won't let them get under it. So I recorded their curiosity with the camcorder in my phone. Also, I found a setting in my phone that has improved the picture quality a bit.

I've been reading on the internet about what to feed these two, and it seems that they are going to need more supplements. Watermelon alone just isn't gonna cut it. Today, I soaked the seeds I've been giving them (a mix of pumpkin, thistle, corn, and whole peanuts) in hopes they would be tastier or at least easier to eat, but they still didn't care for them. I took out a small bowl of Oyster shell for the girl. And I gave them some potato peels, tomato halves (fresh from the garden), and some fried potatoes left over from breakfast. The past few days they've had cucumber, cuke peels, scratch, tomatoes, lettuce, and dry bread.

I'm thinking I will have to get some broccoli from the store and some more lettuce.

Every morning a bunch of tiny birds help them with the stuff they don't care for. Tomorrow I will try to get their pic. More later. . .

ChicKen Vid

This morning, I'm messing around with the many pictures of Chic N Ken on my computer, and I decide to try and make a video of a few short clips I've recorded while sitting on the back porch watching the birds and soaking in the last rays of the day.

When I was talking to Nana the other evening, she said we should be able to let Chic N Ken roam the yard as long as they don't try to fly the coop and jump the fence. Well they didn't. They ate grass, bugs, avoided piles o'poo, and generally enjoyed their little outing. As the sun began to fade, they headed home.

Here's the product of one morning compiling clips, finding a compatible ditty, and remembering to add all the transitions.

The video quality is poor, but those who love Chic N Ken will enjoy it anyway.

That Privacy Thing

I bought a shelf unit (left) at Goodwill in hopes of creating nest space and some privacy for Chic. It fits nicely in the coop. Nik worked on putting some shade screen on a door he fashioned for the back of the coop, and it turned out real nice.
It adds some privacy so that when we get the cloth on the front of the coop, Chic should be real happy.




The kids are going to bed by themselves now. Meaning they go into the coop at nite when they are ready and arise, leave the coop, and start scratching when they are ready in the morn. Ken crows every morning! Yes, Every morning. We are sooo proud of him. . .

A Roam In The Yard

While working on Chic's privacy issues, we decided to take nana's advice and let the kids roam in the back yard. They loved it! It was only for about a half hour, but worth it. This will probably become a regular treat for them.

Can't A Girl Get A Little Privacy?

I've noticed over the last couple of nights when putting the kids to bed that when they get settled they are nowhere near their nests. Chic is hunkering down in the corner nearest the door. Ken is sitting on top of her. I think. Or she is burrowing underneath him.

I don't know which is the case.

From reading a bit on the internet and taking an objective look around at their digs, I'm thinking her nest is not providing enough privacy, is not placed correctly, and is too big. She is after all a very slight banty hen.

We thought, "how clever of us" and we can save the planet at the same time. We recycled two drawer portions of a space saver wire basket system filled with clean wheat straw. We put them side by side on the solid floor half of the coop. Hmm. Not so clever in hindsight.

Back to the drawing board. I will post the solution to this problem later when I get it figured out and soon. She should start laying in September as her 4 1/2 month birthday was July 31. Hang in there Chic N Ken.

Cock-a-doodle-dooooo

I peek out through slitted eyes. Yep. It's daylight. Cock-a-doodle-doooo. Uh-huh. Cock-a-doodle-doooo. The clock by my bed says 6:04am. Cock-a-doodle-doooo. I close my eyes and pull the blankets over my head. Cock-a-doodle-doooo. I wonder how long the neighbors are gonna put up with Cock-a-doodle doo. OMG. 38. . .39. . . Doesn't he understand that people like to sleep in on the weekends. 48. . .49. . .50. Yep I counted. Over 50 Cock-a-doodle-doooos. I didn't think anyone had that much to crow about at oh dark thirty in the morning.

The Slug

I didn't think I would ever find a slug here in arid Benton City, but I found one this morning. It was dead, and lying by the water spigot. I got a couple of sticks and carried the body chop stix style to the chicken yard. I dropped it through fence and PECK~! it was gone.

Ken grabbed it first and ran under the coop prepared for a gourmet feast. But it wasn't 10 seconds later and Chic came running out from under the coop with that slimy slug hanging from her beak. What a hoot! She had Ken hot after her trying to get that slug body back from her! He chased her around the water dish, under the ladder, and back under the coop.

All the while, Chick is trying to lay that bite down just long enough to get a good taste. Ken was not going to let that happen. He was determined to get that plump slug back but, Chick ran around the yard again with Ken nipping at her heels. Under the ladder, around the water bowl, under the coop.

I didn't stay to see who eventually got that tasty morsel, but I know they enjoyed the game of keep away as much as the unexpected meal.

Chic N Ken come home to roost

The big day! Coop was not quite ready when they got here, but it didn't take long to finish. When they finally got moved in, they loved it! Great job Nik and Uncle Mike!


Simple construction of 1 x 1/2's and zip ties. Mobile home skirting for a roof, chicken wire for a floor, a piece of press board for half the floor, and all set raised on cabbage crates. We found some left over rabbit wire under the back deck and made a small yard too.