Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Peafowl and Coop Improvements... Spring is coming!

Wow, didn't realize it'd been so long since an update!

The baby chickens are all doing well and are growing really fast now, and we'll be moving the ones that will be staying with us long-term into the coop with the big girls in a couple more weeks. I did take some time this past week to raise up the small pen's ChickNBarn on stilts. When the barn was on the ground, it was very hard to clean, but now it is much easier with the wire floor and it being elevated. It's taken a week of literally putting the chickens to bed to get them used to going up the ramp, but I think they are FINALLY starting to get the hang of it on their own.

In other poultry news...we have added a trio of peafowl to our menagerie. Unfortunatly their run is out of ChickNCam range, but if the tax man is nice to me, maybe I can get another camera for their area soon! The peafowl are 'Purple Black-shouldered Silver White-eyed Pied' and are really beautiful. They took a few days to get adjusted to live at our house, but are settling in nicely now and enjoying the pretty and warm days we've had over this past week. The picture does not do them justice - this was the first night they came home to us and they were a bit nervous in the dark and in their new surroundings

Monday, February 4, 2008

Growing up.....chicken

It's a dreary day here but the chickens don't seem to mind! They are all out and about scratching around in the mud and rain. I'm looking forward to spring, warmer temperatures and growing things.

I sent four of the Barred Rock babies home with a fellow 'BackYardChickens' forum member on Sunday. She took two of the baby roos and two girls home with her on her way through to near Raleigh. That leaves me 15 of the baby Barred Rock/Buff Orp hatch left here, crammed in with the nine Silkies. I'll be very glad when they get a little bit bigger and can hold their own with the big girls so they can go out into the larger space.

We are getting an average of 6 eggs a day now from the big girls. We have at least one laying double yolked eggs, too. The eggs are so yummy and rich tasting, and such a nice dark yolk color. "Breakfast for Dinner" is becoming one of our favorite meals around here lately! Plus it's nice to have some extra eggs to share with friends and family.