It isn't spring-time, the usual time to be raising chicks but since we lost so many of our chickens we decided to go ahead and get another bunch going now. We won't be getting eggs from them until about March or April, but we will feel better knowing eggs are on the way.
Our batches that we raised this summer will start laying anytime now and hopefully we can get by mostly on their eggs. We just integrated all 3 of the mini-flocks we raised in with our older layers so that all four flocks are locked into the main coop for the next week to get their pecking order all sorted out. We waited for the cold nights and the cooler days before shutting them in and began getting them acquainted by feeding them all in the barnyard together. We have taught them to come when we call, "Oh, look look look loooo-ooook!" It is such a funny sight! :)
Even more amusing to me is that one day I asked Molly to call everybody in for lunch and Samuel was with her. They stepped out the door and Samuel began calling, "Oh, look look looo-ooook! Everybody, time for lu-unch!"
Right now we are only getting the odd egg every once in a while. Some of that is probably due to the longer nights and some might be due to the chickens hiding their eggs from us. Molly accidentally found a hidden nest with 15 eggs in it. We left a couple to fool them into thinking it's still a safe nest to lay in but there might be other hidden nests hiding about. Caring for chickens and paying for their feed but not getting any eggs back is no fun at all.
Steve took Emily to the last chick day of the year and we ended up with 42 cute, fluffy chicks.
They are so soft and sweet!
Emily showing Fanny the newly arrived box of chicks.
Look, Fanny, a baby chicken!
I got two Lavender Orpington chicks for myself.
Emily got two Silver Phoenix chicks for herself.
She (or he) is so lovely!
Here they are in the new home, settling in. We chopped up bits of hardboiled egg for some protein for them and they go crazy for it.
After a week they had outgrown the first brooder so we had to expand it a bit for them. Emily added some roosts for them and they are enjoying them very much.
This little chick is evaluating himself in the reflection of the shiny tape. Too cute!
I just love watching the chicks falling asleep standing up. They are hilarious. We found one asleep on the roost one time and it's little head was drooping so low it was almost touching the floor of the brooder beneath her before she jerked awake and righted herself.
We lost two chicks for some unknown reason, but the rest have all been doing very well. They are 3 weeks old now and feathering out nicely. Since we moved the last batch of chicks out of the big, wonderful brooder that Ethan built for me, we were able to move them out of the house and into the garage. It will be nice to get a good night of sleep without them peeping all night long just off of our bedroom.
The big brooder Ethan built is his own design and a super-duper grand design and they chicks are doing very nicely out in their new home. When they are ready to move out into the big coop we will have a good sized flock of about 70 hens and 7 roosters, Lord willing. We will also be doing some butchering of all the roosters we don't want to keep some time this month.
Hopefully, if all goes according to the plan, we will be having plenty of good, farm fresh eggs again and can be selling some and giving them away. Fresh eggs are such a healthy source of nutrition that we depend on them and to be able to give them away to our friends and neighbors is a wonderful treat for us!
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