No Sooner Said. . .

We got our first egg from the Rhode Island Reds. Pretty good size, in truth. That means that they will get larger over time and practice.

The Welsummers are NOT happy that I accidentally left a thistle in their run.  They knocked down everything around it, but, yah, I don't blame them.  I will get out there tonight and get that sticker out so that it doesn't continue to be a hazard for them.  They will, on occasion, lay an egg in the fresh grass as though it is a pile of hay in the nesting box. Sillies.

New Egg was laid next to the fake egg.  I have the circle on the fake egg so that the kids won't carry it in thinking it is a real chicken egg. The comparison photo is a bit blurry. Sorry 'bout that. 

Photos of the RIRs also include the new feeder.  That little black knob that sticks out at the bottom of the opening becomes a weight that pulls the opening closed if a rodent gets on it to get into the feed. The RIR are very curious birds.  Much more so than the Welsummers which are a bit stand-offish. 

1 year Welsummers
Please Remove This!	The Grass is Cooler than the Nesting Box
First Rhode Island Red Egg & Marked Fake Egg	Rhode Island between 2 Welsummer Eggs
Hen, Water & New Feeder	Safety Knob
Rhode Island Red in New Pen
Whatchcadoin?	Another RIR Close Up

Brooder Change after Two Weeks

With nine rapidly growing chicks that have already bonded as a flock, we decided to move them all together into the larger pen. We knew that we needed at least 1 square foot per bird within the next two weeks.  We have a "half" cage assembled that provides a little over 13 square feet, so that's the simple solution.  We have it covered with old bed sheets to minimize drafts in our garage.  We should not need to use a heater any more, but if it does start freezing we have it set up in a way that will allow for us to set that back up. We put both brooder warmers into the cage at different heights. A sheet for the floor to hold in the wood shavings and we have the food/water elevated to minimize shavings in those containers. So, yep, the next stage.  

Since the wings are now feathers, they try to fly around from time to time. And there is enough space to allow them to practice without getting hurt. The beefyest of the Cornish Cross is quite the chunk already.  I took a shot of him, next to one of the Rhode Island Reds, and well, yah.... look at the girth of his legs compared to the other. HA! I assume he is going to be a big boy. 

We will try to keep them in this cage for about four weeks before putting them out in the coop.  I can see no reason to separate the Reds from the Crosses, given that they seem comfortable and content to be together now. When we added the Crosses to the little Red flock, it immediately calmed the Reds down and they are less stressed with the added numbers. So it seems most logical to just keep them together, for now, until we need to take the Crosses for slaughter in a couple months. 

One of the rodents out in the outdoor chicken pens got killed when it ran under the tractor tire.  Talk about large.  The tail was eight inches long and it weighed a little over five pounds. That's almost as much as our chickens weigh. It is twice the size as most of the little wild rabbits in our field. No wonder the poor chickens have been stressed out by these rodents! It's definitely time for outdoor pest control!  We have tackled the rodents in the garage/porch areas, and now to get out the big traps. I might need to watch a few episodes of Mountain Men to figure out how to trap the big game!

For those that are wondering, the brooder pen is 3.5' by 3.75' by 4'h. We have two small brooder warmers in the pen set for two different heights, a long 18-inch feeder for up to 12 chicks, a half-gallon waterer, a light on a timer for 12 hours of light, plenty of wood shavings and DE sprinkled in to help minimize feather mites. We are on to the next stage of chick development. We use non-medicated Chick Start feed.  The first two weeks, we grind up the chick feed into a fine mill so that they are able to get plenty without struggling to swallow the larger pieces.  As their beaks get stronger, they can break it up, as needed. They should be strong enough now to handle the small crumbles.   

New Brooder Cage	Chicks are about the same size now
The Reds are working on feathers	Buddies
Size Comparison

Christmas Eve White Christmas

Last year, we had a sudden snow storm on the 15th of December that caught us off guard and ended up with snow inside of the chicken pens.  This year, we had the shields in place before the snow started flying.  We did not get as much snow this year and some of it was freezing rain so it was quite the mix between the two.  Yesterday was so blustery that the wind chill dropped to 16F even though the temps were closer to 30F. We even had a few gusts of 40mph. So, yah, it was bitter cold on Christmas Eve.  

Thankfully, Christmas day has been calm, although it never really got much above freezing. The new chickens are stressed by the snow, but the older chickens seem to be taking it in stride. 

We have a gopher this year that has been taunting the chickens, tunneling under their coops and into their pens. The coops have floors, so it's not like the gopher is adding tunnels into their coops, but my guess is that, either the gopher or mice using the tunnels are getting an added food resource this year.  We do not seem be going through feed quicker, so I don't think they are able to get into the hanging feeders, but I know that the chickens do drop food on the ground, giving the field critters access to the spillage. 

Some of the hens are still laying, so we got a few eggs this weekend. Not as many, but some eggs is better than none eggs. 

Facing East	Facing West - Coops, Cars & Hills
Light dusting of Freezing Rain and Snow	New Hens at the Feeder
New Hens Confused by the Snow	New Hens Perplexed in a Row
Egg in the Nesting Box on Dec 24	Dec 25 More Freezing Rain
Freezing Rain on Coop 1 (older hens)	Freezing Rain (and Snow) on Coop 2
Nesting Box lid Warmed by Hens	Egg in Nesting Box on Dec 25
Gopher Hole from the Field	Gopher Hole and Trail to Hole under Coop 2
Close up of Gopher Hole under Coop 2	Gopher Hole on Other side of Coop 2

It is supposed to warm up tomorrow - we will see if that happens.

Doing the Mouse Stomp

I can't say that I'm a chicken behaviorist. I don't profess to understand what goes through the mind of a chicken. But I think the Welsummers are territorial! 

We live on several acres of untended pasture land. The stray cats, snakes, hawks, owls and coyotes feast on the mice that live in the pasture. Our backyard is not a coiffed parcel, but more pasture where the chickens can graze in peace, until a mouse tries to invade their space.  In the past month, the Welsummers have stomped, killed and played chase with little mice that get into their pen. Sure, I can totally understand why mice want to get into the pens, because the chickens routinely drop food on the ground.  But, obviously, if it mouse dallies at all, these gals are gonna turn that poor little mouse into an object of fun or revenge.

No, I did not take photos of the little squished mouse carcass that I found today. I pulled it out of the pen and threw it into field. 

By the way, all three Welsummers are laying eggs now.  We have received five cute little chocolate colored eggs.  Despite the Orloffs going into molt, we are still getting a few eggs from them, from time to time.