More Goodbyes

   Lizzy passed away on Thursday.

   It was a regular day. I was feeling good because I just finished up a midterm. I wanted to give the girls a special treat, so I brought them out some pasta.

   That's when I found the feathers. 

   Lizzy was my favorite of the new flock. I loved her so much.

   And even better, she loved me. Most of my other chickens became very food driven once we introduced treats. Lizzy never did. 

   If I held out my arm Lizzy would jump up and perch for a while. I never taught her to do this. She just wanted to be close to me.

   I miss her so much already, but I am thankful for the time we had. I just wish it could have been longer. 

Review: Chicken Books Part Two

   Last year I wrote a post about the chicken care books I have. (If you missed it you can find it here!) Recently, I realized that I still have some books I didn't write about. I felt I should update this topic, so here we go!


Chick Days: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Raising Chickens Hatchlings to Laying Hens
By: Jenna Woginrich

   This is such a great book!

   I checked this book out of the library before I got the chicks. This was definitely the most useful book I looked at for raising chicks. I does have some good general information about raising chickens (such as breeds and housing). However, what sets this book apart from others is it's "Growing Up" and "From Chicks to Chickens" chapters. 

   These chapters go day by day and tell what you can expect. Everything from signs of roosters to when feathers come in. Later the chapters go week by week, then month by month. This is extremely helpful!

Once Upon a Flock: Life with My Soulful Chickens

By: Lauren Scheuer

   This is not a informational book. It is a novel about this woman's flock. It is absolutely fantastic!

   The stories are wonderful and the author's creative drawings add so much!

This book is filled with cute pictures...

..and even cuter drawings!

    Some stories are a little sad and some are hilarious! In my opinion, this book is definitely worth buying!


   I highly recommend both these books! Chick Days is one of my best chicken resource books and Once Upon a Flock is great for a fun read!

       

Fresh as a Daisy

My Buff Orpington is named Daisy.

    She was such a friendly little chick. Whenever someone would come to see the chicks, we would let them hold Daisy because she was so calm.


   When they were chicks, Olive and Daisy looked very similar. They were both yellow. However, as Olive became a red color, Daisy stayed her cute yellow.

Here, Olive is the yellow chick closer to the top of the picture. 

Daisy is the one closer to the bottom. 

   If Piper is stupid, Daisy is smart. She was the first one to learn how to take dust baths. (This is when chickens scratch dirt and dust through their feathers. This cleans them.)

   She is high in the pecking order, but doesn't really seem to care. She is always apart from the others. Always kind of doing her own thing. 

   Another thing about Daisy is her size. She is definitely the biggest girl in my flock. I think a lot of that might just be fluffy feathers, but still! She is huge!

   She always has an almost thoughtful expression on her face, which I absolutely love!

   See you next Monday!

Good Night, Sleep Tight

   This is Sleepy. She is my double laced Barnevelder.

   As some of you might remember from an earlier post, Sleepy was not her original name. She was going to be Penny. Sleepy was just a nickname that stuck. 

   Something you don't know is that Sleepy might not have survived as a chick. When you first get your chicks, you are supposed to dip their beaks in water. They don't know what it is yet. If you don't do this, the chicks will not drink and can die of dehydration.

   For some reason, Sleepy did not get her introduction to water. She was not drinking. So, my sister and I had to do something. I took a teaspoon of water and had to get her beak into it.

She was not happy with us. She was afraid of the water and wouldn't touch it.

   Then finally, we got her beak to touch the water. She was shocked. She paused for a moment then drank as much as she could!

(The water in the cup is yellow because of a additive we bought that helps the chicks.)

   Now that Sleepy has grown up, she is absolutely gorgeous!

   Sleepy is shy. She is so shy. Sometimes, if she is thinking about sitting on my lap and I look at her, she will run away. I think she is on the bottom of the pecking order, so this can explain her nervousness. 

   However, when she gets over her shyness, she is actually a very sweet little bird!