More than eggs...

The big news is: Chic is laying eggs again after the sad loss of her four lil chics.

Ken is ...well Ken. And we have 4 more chickens in our backyard crew. Jaydin has named them Bella, Chelsey, Heather & Lenny. I think the girls are Lacey Wyendots? (spelling?) They are beautiful little birds. Lenny is orange.

After only a week and some issues from moving next door ... they went "home" at nite and sat on the porch rail ... Today they seem to be settling in as a flock. Nae and I clipped some wings yesterday so they can't fly over the fences anymore.

I'm so pretty

Ken was in a feisty mood this morning when he saw the bright pink plumage of my slippers. So much so, I couldnt walk across the yard without challenge.

Three Egg Thursday - Hooray!

Checked the nest one last time with defeat in my heart only to find three beauties waiting to be plucked from the nest. The only difference is that I turned off the heat lamp 3 days ago. Coincidence? Hmmm. . .

Big Bad Bird

It snowed like crazy today. Brrrr. I went out to check on the kids a few minutes ago, and as I went down the steps off the deck to the yard I heard buc. . . buc. . . buc . . . I flashed my light under the stairs, but I didn't see anything. buc. . . buc. . .buc. . . buc. . .buc I crossed the snowy yard with my light shined at the ground, and undid the bungees holding the tarps over the coop. I ducked under the flap and heard buc. . .buc. . . I shined my light back across the yard and who should be crossing toward me? KEN! He walked right up to me and waited patiently for me to pick him up and put him in the coop! Then as he stood on the egg box, he did the "I'm gonna get you dance" I chuckled at the big bad bird and closed up the coop for the night.

A Little Light

from the back deck

looking in

We are suppose to get down to 29 degrees tonight. I added cardboard boxes (broken down) to the inside of the coop for added insulation. Then I strung an extension cord from the shed to the coop and dangled a light to add a little heat. I hope it doesn't mess with Ken's circadian clock.

Brrrr. . .

Looking thru to the front which is chicken wire

back door - egg access

Only 1/2 the floor is 3/4" plywood the other is chicken wire

doggie stairs perch

It's getting cold out at night. I think I need to insulate the coop a little. Chickens don't need a lot of heat as they put off their own body heat. According to my research anyway.

I think I will get a bale of straw for insulation and a piece of plywood to finish the other half of the floor. I will also need to cover the front and back walls with something that is less drafty. . . uhhh . . . they only have the chicken wire front and backs.

Hmmm . . .  how am I going to manage that? Any suggestions?

I've read that sectioning off a smaller area works. But the kids are'nt into change at all. They won't go near that little coop I put on their porch. I could make a back door in the smaller coop, move it to the entry way of the big coop (so they have to pass through it), but I'm afraid they will just move back to the porch with no protection at all. What to do? What to do?

middle board: perch

I put a board in so they would have a nice perch. They have never used it. When I was trying to dissuade Chic from laying eggs in the front corner, I put this set of doggie stairs in to take up space. They chose it as their perch. Go figure.

I don't know nothing bout raising no chickens!

Duh!

I keep asking myself, "why does Chic keep pushing all the bedding out of her nest and laying her eggs on the hard bottom wood?"

Nest with new faceplate

DUH!

I didn't put a face plate on the box. Whenever she plumped her nest all the bedding just slid out! I told her I was sorry. She just clucked.

I have noticed lately that the kids aren't sleeping in the coop but on their little porch. Even on the windiest of days. So today, I built another little structure out  of my cabbage crate materials and VIOLA! New digs. I hope they like it. They did go immediately into the run and climb the ladder to check it out, but they didn't go in. YET! It's getting dark so I will go check them before I sign off. They were primping and getting ready for bed when I came inside to post.

porch before

porch before

porch with new digs

I guess they are going to take another spin around the yard before bed. Ken tried to fly on top of it but didn't make it. He's circling it and can't decide. They did go into the coop together. I will go check again. It's almost dark. They have opted for the coop. They are perched on the top step of one of those doggie step things. I don't know if I should be rude and snap a picture or not. NO!  The flash would scare them! So tomorrow I will take a pic when they are in the yard. We'll see. They may just go back to the porch home.