It all started a week or so before Christmas 2013 when our neighbor came across a baby chick at work. Long story short, he brought it home knowing that The G's across the street were in the talks about possibly getting a chicken someday. The hub excitedly accepted. And from that moment on, we were the owners of a baby chick. Their son happily named her Chica aka Chicka aka Chigga aka Pewps( that's what the hub and boys call her. That was the sound she made when she lived in our kitchen). and we accepted this sweet fuzzy girl!
She was only 2-3 weeks old when we got her. She was/is perfectly happy with being around people. She followed us around and did not like being away from us.
We made a small brooder out of a rubbermaid tub and kept it in our kitchen so she would keep warm. We went to our local feed store and purchased pine shavings for her bedding, a small water er and feeder. We would take her out everyday and let her run around in the grass.
We did some research online and narrowed her breed down to an Easter Egger. After we had her for a few days, we knew we wanted more:)
Chica and Evan
She was about 6 weeks old.
You will need to check your city ordinance to see how many or if any chickens are allowed in your area. You can check at www.backyardchickens.com under the "Learning Center" tab. They have lots of information about all things chickens!
We are allowed to have up to 5 chickens in our area. Roosters however are not permitted.
Chickens are very quiet animals surprisingly. I'm not saying to disobey your city rules, but honestly the random squawking early bird that lives in our surrounding trees who likes to wake us every morning at dawn is louder than these chickens. I'm sure if you have good neighbors, there shouldn't be a problem. Sharing those beautiful eggs will probably help too:)
After having Chica for several weeks, we knew we were ready to add to our chicken family. We started this journey and now we were ready to go full force. No turning back. Chica was already coming up on 10 weeks and we had to get her into a coop soon. Since Chica was already older at 8wks, we knew we didn't want to go the baby chick route. Someday I would love to raise baby day old chicks, but we wanted our chickens to be all pretty much the same age. We decided on getting pullets (teenage) which are chicks at about 8-10wks. You're also pretty much guaranteed to get a hen, not a rooster at this age. Sometimes when you get day old chicks, there is some chance they will grow up to be a rooster.
So we knew we wanted more, but where were we going to house them? We had talked about building our own coop, but upon researching we found www.mypetchicken.com. Their coops are not only beautiful, they are fully functional and make keeping backyard chickens easy.
.jpg)
We decided on the "The Saltbox" coop with run. And lucky enough, it was on sale!
We built it and let it air out for a few days. The manufacturer recommended it so that the stain on the wood could air out before we housed chickens inside.
Around the end of January this year we took our family trip down to see Russell at Chickens Galore in Norco. We researched and liked the fact that he was local and had amazing Yelp reviews. He is known for his patience, knowledge and great selection of breeds. This place was awesome! Super clean and chicks at all age ranges there. They are so well taken care of there too!
Now was the time to choose. To be honest, I wanted one of each...but we could only pick 3. We decided on 3 on our way down. I knew for sure that I wanted a "black and white" one. I have always been a fan of that type of chicken. Don't ask me why. I have a cute decoration of a black and white chicken above my kitchen cabinets. I bought it when we moved into our house and she's been there ever since:)
We ultimately decided on these gals. From left to right...
Chica- the Easter Egger. She will lay blue/green eggs
Colette- the French black copper marin. She will lay dark chocolate colored eggs. And she has fancy feathers on her feet:)
Lady-the Barred Rock. She will lay a light tan egg with brown spots.
and lastly
Scarlett-the Rhode Island Red. She will lay light reddish brown eggs with light spots.
We transported them in a dog crate and kept them all in the dog crate lined with pine shavings and got them a bigger water er and feeder. We wanted them to get acquainted and let the coop air out for a few more days. We kept the crate in the garage at night and let them out during the day.
Move in day! They seemed to love it!
They each have their own personality. We could sit and watch them all day! Scarlett (Rhode Island Red) She's very friendly and curious.
Colette(French black marin) She is the most "chicken." She steers clear, but her nosiness gets the best of her. She's very sweet.
Lady (Barred Rock) She is boss when it comes to food. We go out everyday and dig up grubs and watch her go to town! She steals out of every one's mouths!
You know the saying "birds of a feather, flock together?" Well it's true. Chica was used to us holding her everyday and just being around us. As soon as she joined her sister's she was one of them! She suddenly became skittish like they were at first and ran away from us when we would try to hold her. She's getting better though. She immediately tried to establish the pecking order. She was so mean to the others. But now they are one big happy family.
Every morning we let them out to free range all day. They love it! They eat the grass and bugs. They find them everywhere! It's amazing!
We got really lucky. Our chocolate lab Marley doesn't seem to be interested in them at all! They are free to range all day without being bothered.
Amazing!
We should be getting eggs in a few months when these ladies are of laying age. Today these girls are only about 13 weeks or 3 months. I know they will be great. These ladies are so spoiled!
I will follow up on how these gals are doing these next few weeks. So far, so good! It's been so easy and entertaining. We are having so much fun!
Coop tour and Chicken feeding soon to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment