Chicks and Pics

Chickens, Chicks, Hoop House, Pond, Reflections, The Farm,

The Flock

It was nearly a month ago that we decided to get 6 chicks to add to our flock. Supplies of chicks in the farms stores were already running low but when my husband called me from our local Tractor Supply Store and asked me what I thought about getting 6 straight run Australorp chicks. I said “let’s do it”.

Normally we only buy pullets (females) and choose breeds that are good layers. Australorps are one of the breeds we already have in our flock and since we lost our rooster in November buying straight run (unsexed) chicks would give us a good chance of getting at least one replacement rooster.

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Ranger was quite curious about the babies. We could only let him look from a distance because when we let him see close up he wanted to bite or eat them.

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Last week the chicks were mostly feathered out so they made the move to the farm. During the day time they were in this fenced enclosure with netting over top. We also left their crate there in case they need to get in out of the weather. At night time they would go into their crate then into the coop with the rest of the flock. They are adapting well to life on the farm even on these cooler days and cold nights.

For the past few days my husband has left the enclosure open so the chicks could roam around the chicken yard. Last night they all made it into the coop on their own.

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Then this afternoon I found them all hanging out on the roosts in the coop. They are growing up so fast. 🙂

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As they have grown it has become apparent that at least some are not Australorp chicks. The Australorp should be solid black; not black and white striped as the one in the front is.

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They also do not have feathered feet as three of these chicks do. Whatever breed(s) these birds are they seem to be hardy and intelligent, so we are pleased with them so far. It will be a while before we know for sure how many are roosters and how many are hens, but we are hoping for one or two roosters. That would be ideal for our flock. I am looking forward to hearing that cock-a-doodle-doo again.

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The rest of the flock has really been enjoying spring.

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This made me laugh to see them all lined up along this ditch. They were scratching up the dead leaves to find grubs and bugs. Yumm! Good eatin’!

Inside The Hoop House

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The plants in the flats will be transplanted in the garden(s) once the weather breaks.

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The plants in the boxes will be harvested as they grow. I expect to start harvesting small amounts of lettuce and spinach in about 7 to 10 days.

Another Spring Chore

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The weather was warm and sunny on Friday so I decided to clean up the beach area. I needed to rake the leaves out of the water.

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Even though the air temperature was warm, the water was still frigid, so I needed to wear my boots.

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Trooper, on the other hand, thought the water was just fine,

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and after getting a cool drink he decided to relax while I finished the job.

Have you got a garden started?

 

30 thoughts on “Chicks and Pics”

  2. The chicks did grow up fast Ruth – that amazed me, but then when I’m able to walk at the Park, I can see the goslings grow in leaps and bounds … one day they are cute and fuzzy and the next day they have big feet and are shaped like canoes! I hope you get a rooster out of the bunch as well. You are industrious -[ good thing you had the hoop house with the cold spell we are having. I heard a guy on the radio say that if it got to 28 degrees hewas taking out fans for his cherry and apple trees. I am not sure if that was more up north or in the tri-county area though. We were 28 I believe when I got up this morning, 31 when I went on a walk and very blustery weather as well.

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    1. I do think we have some roosters in the bunch but I also hope they are not all roosters.
      Yes – we are so thankful for the hoop house. I have read that 28 degrees is the magic number for destroying asparagus spears and at 28 degrees 10% of apple crops will be lost. We tried to cover our cherry tree but the wind blew the covers partially off. There are still blossoms on the tree so not all is lost – yet.

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      1. That’s good – it sure has been some crazy weather. We had rain three times today, maybe a little snow showers tonight. Hope you had a good Mother’s Day, notwithstanding the current pandemic situation.

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      3. It is pouring once again while I write this … I had a baby ant invasion – it is better today but yesterday, there were ants everywhere I looked and this was with Terro liquid ant traps. They were in my room to make it worse!

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      5. I put the traps out two weeks ago but they just came like an invasion on Friday … earlier today I was sitting here at the table and next thing I knew an ant was on the top of my hand.

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      11. I know – I heard that too Ruth and shook my head – what happened to when we’d have at least one month in Spring and one month in Fall where you used no heat nor A/C? Is that something from the past now?

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  3. No gardening in sight, although my rhubarb I planted last year is almost ready to pick. Today it SNOWED – bursts of flurries off and on all afternoon which melted quickly, but still I’ve never seen that this late before.

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    1. If you got the frost/freeze like we did last night and your rhubarb leaves are wilted – do not eat them. The oxalic acid from the leaves might have traveled in the stalk. It can cause kidney damage when consumed.

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      1. Thanks for telling me that Ruth….I did not know. I knew the leaves were poison but didn’t know it could travel to the stalk…..I was going to harvest them next week and make rhubarb scones. Some of the leaves were wilted…..I covered them up yesterday but I see the wind blew the cover off this morning.

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      2. I would dispose of any with wilted leaves and hopefully it will grow a fresh crop. This weather sucks! We may have lost cherries as the tree had lots of blossoms. We tried to cover it as well but the wind did it’s number on that too.

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  4. Chickens are so funny to me. I LOVE your garden, always have. You are going to have such a beautiful garden this year. Can’t wait to see how your new chickens turn out. I am curious too about the rooster. Glad you were able to get some. Have a very Happy Mother’s Day.

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    1. Chickens are very entertaining. We sometimes relax in the evening by pulling up a chair and watching the flock or what we call chicken TV. We usually have some that will come sit on our lap.
      We can only pray that we have a productive garden this year. Right now we are trying to protect our cherry and blueberry blossoms from freezing temps tonight.
      I will be sure to share more pics as those chicks grow.
      I hope you have a Happy Mother’s Day too!

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    1. Thanks Rory and thanks for stopping by today. They are fun and I think right now with the grocery store eggs being in short supply more people are beginning to realize their value.

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      1. Hey Ruth, yes very much so. Suze and l would love to have chickens here but we can’t. But eggs are seriously in short supply right now over here too.

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  6. It will be fun to see what chicks you actually have. Polish Chickens have featured feet but I would think they would be much smaller. I’m wondering if the striped one is a silver wyandotte. I always thought that they were a beautiful chicken.

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    2. I am thinking that the ones with feathered feet might be cochins – they come in many different colors and are said to be large birds and cold tolerant. I have thought the striped one might be a silver wyandotte or barred rock. We have both in our flock right now. It is really hard to tell when they are growing up what they will look like when the are grown.

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  7. I enjoyed reading about your new chicks.

    We have a small flower garden, and the weeds are already advancing. I sent an hour pulling weeds today. I’m the only one who knows where I worked, because it isn’t readily discernible. *sigh*

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