Thursday afternoon was sunny and beautiful! The girls seemed so happy, I just had to get out there and take some shots while they hustled around, catching gnats and picking at the grass.
The ground is still completely soaked, in case you were wondering… *stares at muddy jeans*
It snowed here on Monday night, and when I opened the chicken coop door on Tuesday morning, the chickens went, “oh, HELL no.”
They’d never seen snow before, since we didn’t get any last year.
They seriously wouldn’t come out until I tempted them with some leftover cooked pumpkin. The snow melted from the grass by late afternoon.
But it’s lingering on the steps:
Any closer and I will totally peck at your face.
Oh, hai! The girls have begun determining their pecking order in earnest, I believe. They have these ginormous beaks now, so, hey. They are very funny and cute, still, even though they’re getting all scraggly around the neck. When I come sit by their bin, they all stop and peer up at me and they’ll hop into my hand without hesitation.
Muwhahahahaha, peep peep peep, mwhahaha.
They’re scratching at their food and taking “dust baths” and they are still trying to fly, even though the netting is over the top of the bin. They FREAK OUT if we’re doing something over the bin, to which I call out… “the sky is falling, the sky is falling!”
Silly little bird-brains.
Hahahaha.
Okay, lousy photo right now, but never fear, I am sure we will get many many many more in the days to come. We got six Barred Rock pullets & they are currently in a bin, under a heat lamp, in our bathroom. We’ll probably move them to the living room tonight, but we wanted to put them in a small space with a door until we can get a screen over the top of the bin. I forgot to ask how old these were.
stock photo — these aren’t my chickens!
We have:
- 1 large cardboard box (recycled, yay!)
- 1 roll of screen to go over the top, so they don’t flutter out and hide under the couch
- 1 heat lamp
- 1 bag of wood shavings
- 1 bag of feed
- 1 waterer
- 1 feeder
Now we just need the little critters, which should start arriving at our local farm stores next week. Based on our city ordinances, I calculate we can have up to six chickens in the yard. I don’t know, though, if we should buy an extra chick or two, just in case? Sad to think that way, but what if they don’t all make it? But then what if they DO? Decisions, decisions.
Is there a reader out there with experience (OMEGAMOM!) who can tell me if I’m forgetting anything direly important?
Craftgawker
Etsy Mini
