As much as I'd love to show you pictures of my girls, I'm on a school computer so my pictures aren't available here. I'm sorry! They are getting bigger every day. They are three weeks old now and have graduated from the plastic storage container to a real cage with linoleum, a beam for hanging their treat block and water, and several roosting poles. It's quite posh for a temporary setup!
Yesterday was fun. The weather was beautiful, so for the first time, I took all of them outside to play in my garden. I have a raised garden built of cement blocks. Earlier in the year, I put a cardboard box base, and covered it with planting soil and compost. Apparently it's working great because I got a good crop. In fact, I'm still getting peppers and tomatoes, and we had a freeze a couple of weeks ago! Anyway, back to the chickens...I had them in the garden. At first they weren't sure what to do, but before long, instinct struck, and they began scratching and nibbling. Then...one girl caught a WORM! She was very proud of it...until her sisters decided they wanted her worm. Finally she flew out of the safe confines of the cement blocks. I was worried, but curious what would happen. Cruiser was on the lookout (he actually chased a squirrel into the tree when it got close to the chicks). Once the chick finished dining on the delicacy, she returned to the safety of the garden all by herself, with no coaxing. I call it a successful endeavor!
Before long, each of the girls had caught a worm. Each had journeyed outside of the garden, and each returned to the garden by herself. I was pretty excited because there was a lot of scratching, clearing of leaves, and, well...pooping. My garden loves me (and so do my birds).
I live in a neighborhood full of chicken keepers, so the kiddoes are pretty used to new flocks. A bunch of them came over to play with them, which was fun. The girls enjoyed playing, and Cruiser enjoyed showing off his flock. We spent a little over an hour outside. It's supposed to be nice today, so I expect to take them out again. It will be cold this weekend, so our outdoor play time may be coming to an end shortly.
Oh yes...the names. I will have captioned pictures soon, but...Michael named the white headed beauty MiMi. Vanessa named the girl with the T on her head Cindy Lou Who. We have one girl who always seems to find herself in strange situations (she flew out of the first box and landed on the floor where Minnie nearly sat on her; she got lost under the buffet and got scared; she poked her head out of the cage and couldn't figure out how to get back inside; she flew into one of the holes of the concrete blocks in the garden...you get the idea). We started calling her Miss Adventure, and the name has stuck. We call her Missy for short. The fourth bird is called Royal. We are huge Royals fans, and the run to the World Series has coincided with us becoming chicken keepers, so it just fits. We are still looking to name the fifth one!
So good-bye for now. Please let me know what you've named your girls!
Yesterday was fun. The weather was beautiful, so for the first time, I took all of them outside to play in my garden. I have a raised garden built of cement blocks. Earlier in the year, I put a cardboard box base, and covered it with planting soil and compost. Apparently it's working great because I got a good crop. In fact, I'm still getting peppers and tomatoes, and we had a freeze a couple of weeks ago! Anyway, back to the chickens...I had them in the garden. At first they weren't sure what to do, but before long, instinct struck, and they began scratching and nibbling. Then...one girl caught a WORM! She was very proud of it...until her sisters decided they wanted her worm. Finally she flew out of the safe confines of the cement blocks. I was worried, but curious what would happen. Cruiser was on the lookout (he actually chased a squirrel into the tree when it got close to the chicks). Once the chick finished dining on the delicacy, she returned to the safety of the garden all by herself, with no coaxing. I call it a successful endeavor!
Before long, each of the girls had caught a worm. Each had journeyed outside of the garden, and each returned to the garden by herself. I was pretty excited because there was a lot of scratching, clearing of leaves, and, well...pooping. My garden loves me (and so do my birds).
I live in a neighborhood full of chicken keepers, so the kiddoes are pretty used to new flocks. A bunch of them came over to play with them, which was fun. The girls enjoyed playing, and Cruiser enjoyed showing off his flock. We spent a little over an hour outside. It's supposed to be nice today, so I expect to take them out again. It will be cold this weekend, so our outdoor play time may be coming to an end shortly.
Oh yes...the names. I will have captioned pictures soon, but...Michael named the white headed beauty MiMi. Vanessa named the girl with the T on her head Cindy Lou Who. We have one girl who always seems to find herself in strange situations (she flew out of the first box and landed on the floor where Minnie nearly sat on her; she got lost under the buffet and got scared; she poked her head out of the cage and couldn't figure out how to get back inside; she flew into one of the holes of the concrete blocks in the garden...you get the idea). We started calling her Miss Adventure, and the name has stuck. We call her Missy for short. The fourth bird is called Royal. We are huge Royals fans, and the run to the World Series has coincided with us becoming chicken keepers, so it just fits. We are still looking to name the fifth one!
So good-bye for now. Please let me know what you've named your girls!
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