I haven't posted in a while, so it's time to get back to it!  A lot has happened since my last post.  We still have all 24 chickens, I think we still only have one rooser, Mr. Arnold, the Silver Spangled Hamburg.  He is quite the timid bird but on occassion has charged my teenage boys when they try to pick up one of his girls.   :) I have one white orpington who I am still unsure if it is a hen.......she/he is very noisy and is suddenly growing a strange little point on her/his head, but I have not heard it crow.....so I am still guessing it is a hen.

We are now averaging about 20 eggs per day, the picture above is what I got this morning, 16 beauties!! I love the assortment of colors & sizes I get each day.  We are supplementing the light in the coop right now due to the shorter winter days, light comes on at 5 am and switches off at 6 pm, and they are laying beautifully.   It's about the time of day to go back out and check for more eggs and visit with the ladies.  They still keep me laughing!

Merry Christmas!!

Wow they have grown!!

I am truly amazed at how fast my feathered little pigs have grown! They are so big now, and we are getting closer to getting them into their coop.

I had originally won 2 little chicken coops in an online giveaway, but when they arrived I knew they weren't really made for the cold winters we experience up here in Northern Minnesota, so my wonderful hubby has been building a coop for the girls.  He will finish it up this week, so excited!!

So here is what they looked like at 3 weeks, quite a few feathers, but still a little fuzzy:

And what a difference a week makes, mostly feathered and about an inch taller!:

They are also starting to develop their combs, I think I may have 1 little rooster on my hands, I will try and get a picture and post it soon.  :)

Apple the Chick

So, I went out this morning to check my babies and the 2 friendliest chicks came running over to me, and I was able to get this shot of Apple - it almost looks like she is looking at me like, 'what do you want now".  haha, she is actually a really sweet bird, and I just love this pic I got of her today.  

We also discovered that they are now able to jump onto the edge of the brooder (kiddie pool - it stands about 15 inches tall), so my husband added a new level of height all around their little home.  That should keep them contained for a little bit longer anyway. 

I also think that my little chicken that I thought was a Silver Sebright, may actually be a Silver Speckled Hamburg Chicken, now that the feathers on the wings are starting to come in nicely.  Who knows, I guess only time will tell for sure. Goodnight All! 

1 Week old Chicks

Well, after writing my last post, I woke up the next morning and the little chick had passed away. :(  I am guessing it must of had something wrong with it from birth.  I did call Murray McMurray Hatchery on the phone, and the nice customer service lady, issued me a refund for the little one that passed on, plus the missing bird in the original order, and also for the vaccinations for the 2 birds.  What a great company to work with!  And, on a happier note, the rest of them are still doing well, and sprouting feathers so quickly!  First the wings, now we have some tail feathers, and a couple of them are starting to gets some feathers on their backs. The friendliest of them all are the 3 White Giants (I am guessing that is what they are for now), the 3 of them have been named, Kiwi, Apple, & Blossom.   Here is a pic of Kiwi, staring at my cell phone trying to figure out what on earth it is!

A couple of the girls at the watering hole:

And another little cutie:

Starting to see their feathers in this pic:

So as of today they are 1 week and 2 days old, it's so fun to watch them grow!

The Chicks have arrived!

Well the babies are here!! Everyone survived the trip beautifully upon arrival. I never imagined how hard it would be to figure out what breeds they are,but it is! I ordered the assortment of 25 egg layers and 1 Free Exotic Chicken, I ended up only receiving a total of 25, including the exotic chicken. That's ok though, 25 birds is plenty to keep us busy and will produce lots of eggs in our near future.  The one chicken I am certain I know what it is, is the exotic chicken.  It is a Silver Sebright, so dainty compared to the rest of them, and very skittish.  I think it's so skittish because it is so much smaller than the rest and is just trying to stay out of everyone's way! :)  I also THINK I have 4 Silver Laced Wyandottes, and possibly 3 Light Brahma's (they have adorable feathers on the outside of their feet.....so cute), and maybe 2 Dark Cornish, and 3 White Giants, as for the rest.....I am completely clueless!! A really nice variety.  

I do have one little chicken that is kinda acting strange, every once in a while, it sits completely still and almost looks like it is panting, or like it's chewing something......weird.  First I thought maybe they were too warm, so we moved the light up and that seemed to remedy the problem. But, today again, it started doing that all over again, so I will keep an eye on it and see what happens.  

I am just loving these little girls, it's so fun to watch their little feathers sprouting, they seriously change right before your eyes.  Off to check on the girls!

Here is one of the feather footed ones!

They've Shipped!

Got my shipping notice today from Murray McMurray Hatchery, called the post office, and they will be calling bright and early as soon as the chicks arrive so I can go pick them up.  We've decided to use sand in the brooder, and for the first couple of days, maybe a week, I will cover the sand with paper towels to keeps their little legs from getting deformed, or splayed.  

So now the excitement begins ~ I will post pics as soon as they arrive! Finally, my babies will be here!  

Our first chicken brooder!

So our chicken brooder is all set and awaiting our chicks! We have 20 chicks on the way, they should arrive within the week. We have a 6 foot kiddie pool with 15" sides, our heat lamp, feeder, waterer, 50 pounds of Nutrena chick starter, and I think we will start out the first week with just paper towels on the floor of the brooder. I read that paper towels are a good way to keep the chickens from having deformed legs, or splayed legs, so we will line the bottom with those, then we will switch over to sand on the bottom of the brooder after a week.  My hubby also made some little roosts to use in the brooder, out of sticks from the yard. Can't wait for the babies to arrive! ~(:^~)

Our 1st Brooder: