On Cloud Nine

   Okay, so this week I am going to be talking about what I am thankful for (chicken related). It might get a little sappy but just stick with me.

   I am so thankful all of my little chicks survived to at least this age. I love them so much and I have no idea what I would have done if I had lost one.

   I know that most likely sounds weird if you haven't had chickens, but you get attached to them. You love them just like a dog or a cat... Or at least I do.

   I think in order to be happy, you have to appreciate the small things in life. For me it might be Lizzy sitting on my lap or Olive and Sleepy eating out of my hand. What small things make YOU happy?

   The last thing I am thankful for is the chicken's ability to make me smile. No matter how bad of a day I have, a few minutes out with the chickens can always turn that around. They are such curious, funny little birds. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the chickens ever. Makes me laugh every time!

Wow, sorry. As I said, this got kind of sentimental.  I promise not to be like this all the time...

Happy Thanksgiving and I'll see you next Monday!

Add Insult to Injury

   I saw this the last time I was out with the chickens. This is just another example of Piper's...   stupidity? That sounds so mean... Let's just say confused curiosity.

This is when Piper notices the bucket. 

Note that Raven is in this picture but not the next. She realized in that time that buckets are not interesting.

Piper has a very different opinion. 

She looks closely at the bottom of the bucket.

Then she looks at the top of the bucket.

The inside of the bucket is next.

Then the bottom of the bucket... again...

And the top again... In case it changed? I guess you never know...

What a sweet, silly chicken!

Review: My Pet Chicken

  

 "My Pet Chicken" is the website/company that I bought my chicks from. This is a review of my experience.

   The website itself was wonderful! It had lots of breeds; both rare and common. Ordering the chicks was easy and fast. They also offered Marek's shots for the chicks. This was very important to me.

   Also, the customer service was fantastic! I emailed with a question about shipping and multiple question's about the chicks (I tend to overreact). They emailed back very quickly with very good information.

 
   Next, the shipping. This was perfect! They arrived the day after they hatched by 11:00. (This is especially impressive since the chicks were shipped from Ohio.) The box had air holes and a little heat pack which was still warm when it got to me.

   I was very impressed with the chicks themselves, as well. They all came alive and healthy. I got ONLY the number of chicks I ordered (some companies send extra for warmth), which was very nice. Also, I got my chicks sexed and so far as I can tell they are all girls.

   In fact, there was only one problem I had with this company. The cost.

   I did get some expensive rare breeds, but the cost of shipping itself was high. I didn't mind the cost because I was very specific about breeds and gender. However, if you are not willing to pay much for chicks, this is probably not your place.

  Overall, I very highly recommended this company! See you next Monday!

Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beholder

   Many people have seen chicks. Lots of people have seen chickens. But, unless you have raised chickens, you probably haven't seen their "teenage stage".

   They go in cute...

They come out beautiful...

But in the middle, well, all you can do in wait...

Pin feathers (a growing feather surrounded by a feather shaft) start to poke though the chick fluff.

You can see this in Nutmeg's tail (above).

Sleepy might have been the worst. It was... not pretty.

Sweet little Daisy. Her molt was not as bad as the other's for some reason.

Oh, Piper and those big puffy cheeks...

Wow sorry... A lot of pictures in this one. But, are there ever too many pictures of chicks?

Have a good week!

Nose in a Book

   So if you been on my blog before you may or may not know that I am a high school student. When I get home from school I do one of two things.

Go out with the chickens...

Or do homework.

Last week, I decided to multitask. 

   I had some reading to do for my humanities class. The last chapter or two of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephan Crane. (By the way, not my favorite book.)

So, I grabbed my book and headed out to the chicken pen. 

As I talked about last week, the chickens are very... interested in, well, everything.

   When they stole my bookmark. I was alright with it. Kind of.

   Please don't get me wrong, I am usually very careful with books. But, unfortunately to chickens, I guess, books look delicious. 

Note to self: No more multitasking.

Hit the Nail on the Head

Chickens don't get nail polish.

That is a fact.

I love nail polish.

That is also a fact. 

This is a bad combination.

When I look at these pictures I just imagine the music from the movie Jaws.

Duh-duh. Duh-duh.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA.

Dddduuuuuuhhhhhh!

Sorry this post was so short... Crazy week at school! See you next week!

Review: Free Range

Our first chickens were free range.

For our new chickens we decided against this.

There were some good things about free ranging, but many bad. These are some of the reasons.


The Good:
   One thing I loved about having a free range flock was being able to always see the chickens. They could also always see us. They loved looking through the back door and watching us.

They also just looked so happy roaming around in the yard.

The Bad:

Poop. Just poop.

Also, when free ranging the chickens completely destroyed our lawn.

Our lawn when we first got the chicks.

Our lawn after they grew up. 

   And the obvious. Predators. Hawks were the initial problem.
   After the first attack we hung pie plates from fishing wire across the yard. This was completely ineffective and horribly ugly. Because of that reason I do not have any pictures of this stage of the free range.
   Even when we partly covered a smaller area, Sunny died.

This was still pretty ugly.

We had to completely cover a small enclosure. Then the fox got in. You just can't win sometimes...


I will see you next week!