Geting Ready to Assemble the Coop

It took me seemingly forever to paint the sections of the new coop.  Well, the small trims and hardware definitely slowed me down.  But the pieces are painted and ready to be assembled. :D  Got a notice from the chicken company that our chicks have shipped yesterday afternoon.  So we really need to get this coop done and a brooding area set up for the new babies.  (Still more shopping to do at the farming supply store...)

The older ladies (my hens) are curious duo as all chickens are.  They also seem to think that the white paint I am applying to the chicken coop is yogurt and they insist on getting to my paint tray!  It was a little rough to be painting in the sun when it was 85 degrees, breezy, dust and elm seeds flying everywhere, and having to fend off the chickens.  ^^;  Thank goodness I'm done painting! 

I love the classic barn colors for our chicken coop. ^_^  We even have a neighbor whose garage is painted in this color scheme.  It was also handy that the local Walmart sells "Barn and Fence" paint in white and barn red. :D   This little coop (meant to house 4 bantams or 2 regular size chickens --  We're only going to keep our new chicks in there until they're 16 weeks and can be moved to the large coop.) came pre-assembled into panels and sections in a big box.  I was expecting the typical furniture where you have to read hard-to-understand instruction (in English but clearly written by a non-native English speaker in ... most likely China), so I was happy to see the panels. :D

The pieces are dry now.  Our cat Twinky (the smallest in our family) inspects the paint job on one of the panels as Dorito challenges.  Dori-chan is actually larger and heavier than Twinky.  Our chickens free-range in the backyard now and the cats don't bother them.

Fiona (Easter Egger) has her feathers back! :D  Isn't she beautiful?  Gold, brown, and black.  Quite a beauty!  Her eggs are a pretty shade of green.

Looks like Dorito has found a flaw in my paint job... LOL  It really is a lot of FUN to work in the backyard with the girls checking on you from time to time.  I love chickens.  I never knew that they were such inquisitive and social birds.  I'm so looking forward to the new chicks!!  I'll be able to spend a lot of time with them and hand-tame them. ^_^

Chickens Are Now 4 Weeks Old

   Our chickens are now 4 weeks old.  Hard to believe it has been that long since they came to our house.  Here's a picture of four of our five chicks (The black one to the left is Frigglish.  The black one next to her is Tapioca.  The light one in the upper right corner is Coco.  And the brown and tan color one in the lower left is Dorito.  Missing from the shot is Puccini.).

   Here's a good look at Puccini.  Her body is pretty much covered with nice feathers except for her neck and head.  She still has fine downs in these areas and looks a little funky. *giggles*  Her face is starting to show some pink colors (will eventually be red) as the comb is starting to grow.  The white-ish blur in the foreground is Coco barging in onto my arm at the last second to photo-bomb.  She is so 'in your face' with everything she does...

   Right after the previous shot, she 'confronts' the camera. XD  My kitty, Marshmallow, looks on right outside the run.

   Frigglish sitting on my knee, perfectly well-behaved.  This girl is so sweet.  She was the first one to warm up to us and never complained being handled by us.  Such a good girl!  We love Frigglish.

   Tapioca, looking pretty.  She is another one that really warmed up to me in the past week.  She likes to sit on my shoulder as I clean their coop.  Very calm, content, friendly, and trusting.  Sweet bird!  She will be all black at maturity.  Should be gorgeous.

   They are growing fast and very healthy, judging from their behavior.  They like coming out of the coop when it's bright and warm outside.  They are scared by the cats lunging onto the chicken wire every so often, but they run quite fast.  It's fun to see them run around when one of them has something in the mouth that everyone wants ... like a piece of leafy green. XD  Chicken football.

Photos of Chicks at 3 Weeks Old

 
   That's Tapioca leading down the ramp with Dorito and Coco watching.  Our kitty, Chaba, is watching the chicks. ^^;

   Here's a picture of Frigglish roosting casually on my daughter's wrist as Puccini looks on from the ramp (with Chaba in the background, photo-bombing yet again XD ).  Frigglish is very friendly and loves to fly up on our arms, shoulders, and heads.    These photos were taken on Sept. 27, 2012, when the chicks were 3 weeks plus a day old.  The feathers are now covering most of their bodies and they are losing the baby chick down every day.  They look like mini-chickens. ^^

Fun with Chicks

   It has been warm and sunny lately and some of the chicks have been flapping their wings and jumping to the top edge of the brooder walls, we decided to let them out into the run section of their coop to get some outside experience and exercise.  Chicks seem to love the dirt.  Dorito immediately started sand bathing like a seasoned pro.  We couldn't believe how good at it she was, digging and kicking with her leg and tossing the dirt with her wings onto herself.  They are only a little over a week old and so capable. :D

   They also figured out the exit ramp (a piece of board we put to the coop door) quite well.  The little feet walking up and down the ramp are so cute.  Some of them also just 'fly' off from mid point of the ramp, flapping their wings.  One jumped right off from the coop door and landed clear across on the far wall.  They can kind of 'fly' already.   So cute.

   Our kitties are definitely curious about the little birds in the big cage.  Although I was surprised to see that none of them have been having the 'chatter teeth' reaction to seeing the birds, like they usually do when they see sparrows and doves in the backyard.  They seem to know that these chicks belong to the humans and they are somehow special.  Every time I let the chicks out, the cats gather around the chicken coop and watch.  They have no idea how big these chicks are going to be. *giggles*  Some of our kitties will weight less than the grown hens at maturity.  Puccini is a Buff Orpington, so she will weigh about 7 pounds as a hen, and even more as a rooster (in case she was misidentified as a female as a day-old chick...  It happens.).

   The chicks love the chopped Swiss chard from the Square Foot Garden box in the backyard.  They go crazy pecking on the chopped pieces and stepping all over the bowl -- the little girls have no manners when it comes to food. XD  I'm composting their coop bedding in the compost pile for future use in the gardens.

   My family and I are having so much fun with the chicks.  They have grown used to being handled by us and some even falls asleep in our hands and Friglish (The black chick, which will be black and white marked "Barred Plymouth Rock".) is particularly friendly and casual, routinely jumping onto our arms and backs (when I'm crouching down).  They all seem pretty happy. :)