Chicks...

Spring is the season for new life.

And here at our coop, we definetely have some new life.

In 4-H, we sometimes go to schools or the local fairgrounds for "farm days". At these farm days, we teach children about chickens. (Of course there are many other animals, like horses, rabbits, sheep, even bees.) About two weeks ago we participated in one of these. Every year someone brings a small brooder full of baby chicks, and then at the end of the day they raffle them away in pairs. So, my sister and I each grabbed a ticket and waited. What happened? You guessed it: we each won two baby chicks. I heard that they were Rhode Island Red/ White Leghorn crosses, so that's what I'll call them.

Today we went to the local Co-op for some feed, and what would we find but two huge troughs of chicks. I couldn't resist. We bought 12 chicks of these breeds: 2 Silver-laced Wyandottes, 3 Black Astralorps, 4 Americaunas, and 3 Golden Sex Links.

I've made a very short movie-slideshow to hopefully show all of the breeds.

Old and New

Old

I am sad to report that we've had two losses: the white Cochin hen, Queen Elizabeth (Lizzie), died a couple weeks ago of natural causes. Also, my sweet little white Cochin bantam hen, Queen Henrietta Maria, was (probably) killed by a dog.

New

But, I do have some good news: about a week after the first chick hatched, we found another! I think that it is Lizzie's baby; a white Cochin/Ameracauna & white Rock mix. The next day, we found yet another baby! This one came from a green Ameracauna egg.

And, one day while at the local Co-op, we saw....you guessed it, chicks and ducks. But these were Easter chicks and ducks: there were yellow, red, blue, green, orange, and purple, and also Mallard ducks. We left with two little Mallards, a blue duckling, and a green duckling. They are growing fast, but their colors are still vibrant.

The blue one's name is Saphire, and the green Emerald :]

~chickengirl~

Hope and Chickens

It's finally happened: I went out to the garage today to check on Momma Fluff, and found a little, still-wet Silkie chick underneath her! We were about to give up hope for the eggs, and I'm thinking about naming the little baby 'Hope'. Here are some pics of the adorable baby!

Here are some other pics of chicken from around the yard. I took them with our new camera, a Nikon D90, a very nice camera.

~chickengirl~

Eggs

Well, the eggs that our setting Silkie were setting on have not hatched. Most of them have broken to reveal rotten contents (though one broken egg had a dead baby chick inside).

But, there is some good news: I put some newly gathered eggs under her a couple of weeks ago, and after holding a crank-up flashlight to the egg and borrowing a friends candler, we can see a little chick moving around in at least one of the three eggs! The egg is white, and I think that it may be a Polish egg, but not certain! The other two are Ameracauna and a brown egg.

Even more, yet another Silkie has gone broody, around the same time (or a little later) when I put in the new eggs. And the three Silkie eggs that she has been setting on also show signs of moving chick life!! They could be pure Silkie chicks or even mixes with the mixed breed! One of the eggs has a little dent in it, and it's unknown how it got there, but we can still see the chick moving...

Here is a description of the eggs: There are blood veins showing. The shadows of the chick are a little bit lighter, and there are dark spots moving around (possibly eye, beak?). There are also some sqiggly lines that seems to be moving, maybe part of the chick. If anybody knows how old fertile eggs are at this age, please tell me, because I don't remember when I put them in/ when the hen started setting!

Please pray for the best of luck and possibly some chickies soon!!

~chickengirl~

Day 15

As of now, our Silkie hen is at about day 15. I've been trying to candle the eggs every now and then. The other day, I found two with blood rings (not good) and threw them out. Last night, I found another two with blood rings (Silkie eggs, sadly enough) and also threw them out. I have numbered the eggs from 1-14. The hen got off of her nest for a little while several days ago, but we gently placed her back and she re-accepted them. I have seen dark shadows in several of the eggs, and that gets me so excited! But I can't get my hopes too high; after all, I am using a flashlight for the candling =)

~chickengirl~

Setting!

I got my wish- one of our Silkies is setting! She currently has about 16 eggs from all our different hens. It will be interesting to see what turns out! As of now, we're at about day 4. I'll keep posting! Here are some pics:

~chickengirl~

Snow Day!!

We got our first snow of the year on Monday, January 20!! Where I live, snow is as rare as a... well, I can't think of anything that it's as rare as, but it's rare! Even just this much. Of course, me with my digital camera went out and took pictures of the chickens enjoying (and not enjoying) the thin layer of snow! The video in the background was done with a Nikon (not sure what kind- I just know that it was expensive). So, without further ado, here is my Snow Day with the Chickens video!

As you may be able to see, this video is a little different than my older slideshows. I got a new video-making software! It's called MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 14. It took a little figuring-out, but it's a really nice, pretty basic-but-with-some-cool-effects editting software. Please tell me what you think!

~chickengirl~

More Pictures

Here are some pictures that I took along with the ones posted yesterday.



The chicks that we are taking care of.


A new Silkie roo.



Whoopi the Polish

A Silkie pullet that we hatched over the summer.

Fabio: king of the coop.

Princess Dianna, Cochin.

The gang chillin' under a bush.

Sue the Ameraucana.

Channel the buff Cochin. Look how fluffy!!

Little Bird is a mix between a Silkie hen and an OEGB rooster. He actually turned out beautiful! Look at the rainbow he's got on his back... He got (from his mother) five toes, a walnut comb, a beard/muffs, feathered feet, and a small crest. From his dad, he got the normal, slick pretty black feathers.

~chickengirl~