Venturing into New Territory (March 9, 2011)
Here are photos of the girls making their way to our patio. Most of these pictures captured all six chickens in the frame--safety in numbers, I suppose.
I do think, with utmost objectivity, that these are some of the most beautiful chickens I have ever seen.
One each: Lace Wyandotte, Buff Orpington, Black Star, Black Australorp, Black Sex Link, and Rhode Island Red.
Urban Chicken Resource Guide (March, 2011)
My Pets Make Me Breakfast
Resources
Resources
Books
Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow
Feeding Poultry: The Classic Guide to Poultry Nutrition by G. F. Heuser
The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit by Jennifer Megyesi
The Complete Encyclopedia of Chickens by Ester Verhoef and Aad Rijs
Raising Chickens for Dummies by Kimberly Willis and Rob Ludlow
Hatcheries
Murray McMurray Hatchery – www.mcmurrayhatchery.com
Ideal Poultry – www.ideal-poultry.com
My Pet Chicken –http://www.mypetchicken.com/ (allows orders of <25 chicks)
Check with area feed stores to find out where chicks can be purchased locally.
Internet Information Sources
New Iberia Municipal Ordinance re: Fowl
See Chapter 14 – Article IV at the following URL: http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=10967&stateId=18&stateName=Louisiana"Back when Herbert Hoover promised Americans
a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage,
he could not have guessed that what people really
wanted was a chicken in every garage."*
*Courtesy of "Whitefish: Council OKs 5 free hens per household" by Michael Jamison of The Missoulian
Early Morning Ritual (12/21/10)
Kate likes to be outside when Grandpa lets the chickens out. She is never far from her camera, and yesterday was no exception. She is sitting on one of Harvey's red buckets, holding her camera in her hand, and following his instruction to "hold the camera still." I think you will agree she did a marvelous job.
What a girl!
Hmmm...are these meat birds? (12/10/10)
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| Chicks enjoying their Ritz-y accommodations. |
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| One chick in the dust bath. This won't last long... |
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| ...told you! |
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| The girls are winding him around each of their little toes. |
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| These girls are right at home... |
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| ...and I'm beginning to think they are going to live with us until they die of old age! |
A Few Pics of the Chicks (11/30/10)
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| Chicks in new "posh" coop. |
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| We moved them during our coldest weather...of course. Notice plastic cover to keep wind out. |
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| Buffy Buffington getting a drink. (Kate's name for the Buff Orpington) |
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| A Lace Wyandotte giving me the eye and saying, "Forget about the poop on the stair!" |
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| Something for everyone. |
The Chicks Have New Digs! (11/29/10)
Our back porch is now only a porch. The brooder has been taken out, the floor has been scrubbed, and the porch has been returned to a much less interesting place. I thought you might like to see another example of Harv's handiwork--the chicken tractor--now home to the chicks until 20 of them are moved to the country for fattening up.
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| UPS delivered the box. Harv lined up the parts and promised me he could do this. |
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| And here it is! The Chicken Ark! |
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| The nest box can be opened from the outside. The door opens flat so that the box can be easily cleaned. |
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| The ramp is lowered. At night, the ramp can be raised from outside the coop by the red rope you see coming up through the floor near the nest box. The roost bar runs from the entrance to the nest box to the back wall (at the right side of the picture). |
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| Harv covering the nest and roost area with the removable section of the roof. |
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| The bottom of the coop opens for letting the chicks out and for maintaining food and water. |
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| Ventilation holes in the back wall. |
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| The completed coop. |
The Chicks are One Week Old (11/10/10)
These chicks are so different from the Cornish Cross breed that we raised before. The Cornish Cross are bred for commercial production and are not very interesting to watch. They are basically engineered to eat constantly, grow quickly, and reach butchering age in six weeks or less.
The heritage breeds that we have now are active and slow-growing. They are great fun to watch--we'll talk about the "b" word later.
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| A Silver-Laced Wyandotte wondering what Harvey is holding in his hand. |
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| Scratching in the litter for grains |
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| A Rhode Island Red taking a nap--notice wing feathers coming in |
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| Excuse me! I'm trying to fly here! |
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| Buff Orpingtons having a tete-a-tete |
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| A foil covered box and a branch make perfect playground equipment |
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| A treasure trove of chick food. |
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| Hmmm...should I make a break for it? |
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| ...and then she said... |
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| Australorps drinking from the marble filled waterer (don't ask!) |
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| Everywhere my sister goes... |
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| This life is mighty tiring |
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| Silver-Laced Wyandotte spreading out her new wing feathers |
Cute!
Harvey's Handiwork (11/7/10)
To say that Harvey has not had much experience in woodworking would be an understatement, but retirement has a way of bringing out latent talents. Here is a picture of the chicken brooder Harvey built based on a picture he found on the Mother Earth News website. It actually consists of two rooms: the area covered by the wooden door is the warming room (small enclosed area with a light bulb for warmth), and the screened area is the food, water, and play area. The chicks skitter and peck around the open area until they need more warmth. Then they zip into the warming room for a while. Are you asking how the chicks know which room is appropriate for which activity? I put up signs, of course!
The Chicks have Arrived! (11/4/10)
At 6:45 this morning, the post office called and said that our chicks were ready for pick up. Here are the pictures from our first meeting.
(This is a combined video and slide show. The person in the video is no relation to Albert Einstein, though you would believe her to be a twin based on hair style.)
Here is a key that shows what each breed of chick will grow look like full-grown. (Harvey worked really hard getting all of this ready. Thanks, Harv.)
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| Black Star (3) |
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| Black Star |
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| Rhode Island Red (4) |
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| Rhode Island Red |
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| Black Australorp (6) |
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| Black Australorp |
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| Buff Orpington (6) |
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| Buff Orpington |
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| Silver-laced Wyandotte (6) |
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| Silver-laced Wyandotte |
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| Free Exotic, Rare Bird |
