I said in my last post I would post about our chicken run we built for the baby chicks to be outside in, yet safe from predators like hawks. And it works we have had a hawk try to get them in here without success. We have also used it to separate chickens as needed like when they are minor sick or injured. Keeps them outside with the flock, but separate so they don’t get worse and they can focus on healing.
Our babies seem to love it as they can jump, run around, stretch their legs, practice using their wings, and they can play on little logs or things we put in for them.
They also like it when I put their food in there along with the water that is always available.
Usually they forage a lot then go back for their food as they are just learning and haven’t figured out yet how to get more food from the outside.
Chase is usually close by and keeps an eye on them. You’ll usually find him laying by the run or sometimes napping by it. Other times he’ll run around a little then come back to check on them like in this picture.
Chase has been running around before I took this picture so he was a little tired and hot here.
The big girls also get to check out their soon to be new roomies and the babies can get used to the big girls too. Some of the big girls are more interested then others.
The run is about 6-7 feet long and about 4 feet wide. The top is mostly tarped to protect them and provide shade. The other part has a screen over it where we get in and out and lets sun in. This gives the babies choice of sun or shade while still protecting them. The whole thing as you can see has chicken wire all around it and the tarp hangs off one side for more shade option.
They really love being outside more and it gives us a place to let them out without having to be right there with them or worry. Happy Friday!
I know I have been gone for a long time. Had a lot going on, but not much blog worthy. A couple weeks ago I was at our family friends house and my friends dad presented me with the new little cuties….
So introducing our 8 new baby chicks. So if I sexed them correct we have 1 boy and 7 girls…
This is our little boy… funny thing about him was he was the runt and the smallest.
Then we had 3 little black ones that are different enough you can tell them apart….
And we had 4 lighter colored brown/gold/yellow with a little grey girls….
They are all cute and growing so fast. They started to get out in their safe run to start to learn to be chickens even more, but more on that later. Hope you enjoyed seeing these cuties today. Let me know if you are raising any of these babies. 🙂
I thought I would share the photos of the two new sets of birds we got this year. I have been looking back at them over the last few months.
Remember these 4?
Then they grew some…
This is them now 🙂
All incorporated into the big flock. They are still learning the ropes and finding their place, but they have been out for the last 2-3 weeks now full time with the big girls. 🙂
Remember these babies? We seemed to have just got them (we got 8 and lost the one)…
They started to grow and explore…
They started to get out some…
They are now getting out most days when it is nice weather to hang out…
It is one reason we get spring birds is to get them out sooner and get them used to being near the big flock. Lets just hope when these join the big flock they will do well. Have a blessed week!
Our youngest chicks are now a month old and we have taken them out a couple times into the yard in a protected area for some grass play time when it is warm enough.
Their play time was cut short today by a thunderstorm, but they seemed to enjoy the time they had.
They had been playing out of their pen under a heat lamp inside for a while now. But we really like them to get used to the outside if it is the right temperature and safe for them.
If they had been hatched here their mama would care for them and keep them safe. But without a mama bird we have to do things a little different.
We use a Tarter big burn ring to keep them corralled and put fencing over it so they don’t get out but can experience the sun and air.
We are in the process of getting our almost 3 month old chicks used to outside all day and the big girls used to them. Slowly getting their day time pen closer to the big girls. In the next 2-4 weeks we hope to have them outside full time and the other chickens accepting them into the flock. (Hopefully closer to 2 weeks 😉 )
Wish us luck with all these girl. This is the hard part, getting the old girls to accept the new ones. As well as getting rid of this rooster and the others in his group getting used to being without him. At least we have a trusty dog to help manage when they get a little out of hand 😉
You can’t eat just 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 or more -or- in this case can’t just have 5 or 10 or 20 or more… And with that in mind meet our newest baby chicks…
Yes we just got 4 more about 2+ months ago, but one turned out to be a rooster (more on that later), we lost one of our buffs on Easter, and I got more requests for eggs. So hubby and I saw these girls and had to try out some new brown laying breeds. So we got 8 more…
We did get one additional Americana that would lay colored eggs (green/blue), but the rest lay brown. This includes three Speckled Sussex, two coco marans, one amberlink, and one barnevelder. Unfortunately we lost our Americana about 3 days in. We think she got smothered by her sisters or something, she was very small, it was very sad 😦 She was fine in the morning but by mid day when I got home from work she couldn’t stand and wasn’t eating or drinking. We kept her alive for a few more hours before she passed.
Our hen house in a few months will include a colorful array of chickens. And we will be up to 10 different varieties of chickens.
So if you have one of our new breeds in your hen house let us know what you like and even what you don’t like about them. We are eagerly learning more about all new breads. (Lets just hope none of these babies are roosters 😉 )
Its been a fun experience so far with these girls. Each batch of chicks we have had has been slightly different in the way they interact with us, interact with each other, and depending the season how much they get out and how early.
These girls like to pair up a lot. But which two are together usually depends on situation and who is doing what. I think this also has to do with number… there are only four of them. Before now the fewest we have had together is 8 and usually get 10 at a time.
Each is starting to get their own personality and each has her own coloring which makes for a pretty batch of girls. One is very light in color… (she is always primping)
Another more medium brown… (she likes to sleep and is passive with the others)
The last Ameraucana is dark brown and black mostly in color… (she is the leader)
And the other girl is our brown egg layer so she is all back with little spots of white… (she is all over the place and likes to be second in domination)
The baby chicks went out to play again today as it was warm and nice enough. Chase came out too as he has been really good with them inside, so we watched him around them outdoors. He is used to baby chicks as this isn’t our first rodeo with chicks, but we always watch the boys with them anyways.
Today Chase showed he is the protector of them as he is of the other girls.
At first the chicks weren’t sure of this big creature walking around them. But soon made friends with Chase and used him for a little cover…
Chase was very protective of them even when they went near hubby, he was still right there watching them.
It was a cute site to behold and the baby’s had so much fun outside you could tell.
But eventually they got a little chilly so it was back inside to get warm under the heat lamp and take a nap.
It wasn’t planned really as we thought we were done for a while with chickens, but these girls are addictive. A friend of ours at church was getting some and offered to add to his order because he was getting a kind I always wanted… Ameraucana ‘s 🙂
So meet our three girls the Ameraucana triplets…
And here is our other new girl as we decided to go ahead and add a new brown egg layer. So here is our first Barred Rock baby…
They are sweet birds and less skittish then the last couple of batches we got. So we are excited to add to our flock.
If you think chickens are not addictive… I beg to differ 😉 The proof is above 🙂
I take great pride in the photos I take and enjoy sharing them on my blog. Please do not use or copy any of my photos without my given permission as each one is a dear memory to me. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material (photography and writing) without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Seasonsgirl with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Thanks and enjoy the photos :)
