And then there was light...

outside and the homesteader had to drag herself out of a warm bed into the cold morning air to go let the wyandotte chicks out of their coop! They are 2 months old now and I finally got brave enough a couple days ago to let them free range all day. They are really loving their freedom and their enthusiasm is contagious! Who would have thought that chickens could be so entertaining!

The first chickens to join our homestead were 7 banty roosters bought at auction for $1.10 each. We figured if they didn't get eaten by the coyotes, dogs or cats then we'd get more chickens! Well.. the coyotes and cats don't bother them but we did lose two that chose to roost in the tree over the dog pen at night! We heard the guineas sniggering about it so while they may have just fallen out of the tree in their sleep..or swooped too low in the morning before they had their coffee.. I can also kind of see the gunineas edging along the branch towards the sleeping chicken chanting..die pretty boy die! The guineas have kind of an inferiority complex when it comes to the roosters!

The next to join us were two huge black New Jersey Giants roosters. Being new to chickens we didn't know that you can't just bring strange roosters home and turn them loose. After all the banty roos all get along just fine with each other! Well the instant that big black roosters popped out of the cage my sweet little banty roosters dog piled him! Of course it wasn't long before the big black roosters were chasing the banty roosters all over the place! They were too big and fat to catch them but it wasn't for lack of trying! The big black roosters didn't last long though.. one killed the other, probably in frustration because he couldn't catch a banty to kill! And then the other also got shoved off the tree branch into the dog pen at night!



Then there was McDonald.. who came to us from auction where the auctioneer said.. your probably just bidding on the cage I think this guy is dying :( McDonald lived in the house with us for a few days while recovering from being half frozen and losing half a wing. He got his name because he would crow early in the morning and wake us up.. so he almost ended up being breakfast!

Unfortunately McDonalds stay with us was only about 2 months. His insistence on roosting in the feed room at night coupled with his having one wing led to his early death at the hands of an unknown predator :( I was very attached to my sweet McDonald. May he rest in peace!

By now we were really getting addicted to the chickens so we decided it was time to get serious. The banty roosters after all are good for nothing but eye candy! They sure werent going to lay us any eggs! So we decided to order some chicks. We settled on Wyandotte chicks because they are supposed to be gentle birds who are good foragers and lay lots of brown eggs. We couldnt decide between the silver laced and the gold laced so our order of 25 chicks turned to 50 chicks and became 52 chicks when they arrived in the mail! The cutest little balls of fuzz that fit so easily in the palm of my hand! I was in love!

Then came the job of dipping all those cute little chick beaks in the water so they would start drinking. When I dipped the first little beak in the water and sat the chick down he tipped his head back and looked funny and I thought.. oh no I drowned him! Then I realized that he was just swallowing like birds do lol.

I started out loving on each one a little as my friends on the rural farmers email list had suggested..but the others were starting to get chilled and there were a LOT of chicks left to go.. so i had to speed things up a little!

As my chicks started to grow..they became quite ugly babies lol. Even posed in front of flowers they just look pretty funny with their oversized feet and long skinny legs and necks!

Now my chicks are getting quite big! All 52 have survived and thrived! My favorite hen is named pigeon poop because she is almost all white. Our favorite roo is named Cocky Locky because he is so full of himself!

Our goal for the wyandottes is mostly to have our own eggs both to eat and to sell. The roos that arent kept to mate will be eaten and if that goes well I plan to buy some cornish x chicks to raise for meat this fall to put in the freezer for winter. Since neither of us have ever butchered a chicken it ought to be quite an adventure!

I'd also like to get an incubator this fall since my hens should start laying in August and learn to incubate some of the eggs so that I'll have chicks and thus more chickens both to sell and to eat.

Eventually I'd like to see the chickens grow into a pastured poultry buisness but thats a long ways in the future yet!

This is Henrietta Hen. She's named after a neighbor we had as a kid who was very very nosey. Henrietta liked to spy on us kids and report back to mom what she saw us doing. So beng typical kids..we put on a show for old Henrietta every afternoon that would put any good soap opera to shame!

Right now Henrietta the chicken is trying to find the other 51 wyandotte chicks in the woods. They're in the photo below..but Henrietta just can't find them!

I'm off to work in the garden. Hope your weather is as bright and beautiful wherever you as ours is here!