soft egg

This week is Yellowman's second week of laying eggs.

  That's Yellowman

Right now she is the only hen of five that is laying. I went outside today to collect her egg and was surprised to find that it was soft and rubbery. I am new to the chicken business, but have heard of this before. I understand that this common with newly laying hens and I also know that it can be caused be a calcium deficiency (among many other things). I have decided to crunch up a bunch of egg shells that I just tossed in the compost pile and feed them to the girls. I am hoping that will help harden her eggs. Compared to oyster shells, a commonly used supplement, they are free and easy to come by. We'll see if it helps!

Cluttered Brain

During the past couple of days I have had so many posts run through my mind. There is so much going on inside of my brain that I don't even know where to start. I think I'm going to go the list route. Yeah, a list sounds good, complete with pictures of course.

This is kind of old news, but our coop is finally complete! I am so proud of my husband for creating the plans and constructing this masterpiece single hand-idly. Built out of 90% (free!) up-cycled materials - f yea!

 


The St. Louis Zoo opened their new seal exhibit, it was pretty sweet.

 

 


S is walking with his little walker toy that Old Grandma Lila got him from a garage sale at the farm. I am so happy she found it! S just pulls himself right up and away he goes.

 


The child LOVES to swing. I mean, I think he would stay in that thing all day. It's funny because he hated his swing when he was a baby......as if he isn't a baby anymore ;)




He has five best friends. He chases after them until he gets a few good pets in. He thinks they are hilarious.

 


We got our first eggs!! What an amazing feeling it was to open the latch and see 2 little eggies waiting to be collected.

  


And last but not least, our FREE chair. Found it in front of someone's house while taking a walk with S and the baby I nanny. It was covered with a sheet and had a sign that said "take". Don't mind if I do!

 

coop under construction

The time has come! The chickens have flown the "coop". Their indoor coop that is. We are all so ready for them to move into their permanent outdoor home. The only problem is that it doesn't exist.





Jordan and I have these great master plans to build the entire thing out of materials we already own or can get for free. 100% of the wood is coming from shipping pallets found near my sister in law's church. We scored some huge posts from a few really long heavy duty pallets. We are using an old door that came off our back porch. The nesting boxes came from my grandpa who raises and races pigeons. One of the coolest parts of the coop are the screens we will be using. When we moved into our 74 year old house we discovered tons of old window frames and screens in the basement. I have made so many plans top put these to good use, but this is the most practical use so far. We will be using the wood framed screens for the top half of the coop. I can't wait to share pictures!






S and I sat outside in the alley and offered our support. We cheered him on as he was making progress. So far he has the overall frame and the door frame built.





Hopefully we will get this thing done this weekend!

new chicks on the block

I have been thinking about owning chicks for awhile now and finally decided to take the plunge. I've been researching and researching trying to learn as much as I possibly can in order to be the best chicken mom I can. Things like, use pine shavings for chick bedding instead of cedar because cedar can cause respiratory problems later in life, never use newspaper for the bedding because it becomes wet and slippery and can cause a permanent deformity called "splayed leg" and check the chick's bottoms for "pasting up".


A couple of weeks ago we got 5 baby chicks - a Red Star, Golden Sex Link, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Barred Plymouth Rock and a Rhode Island Red. Their names are Millie, Yellowman (named by the little neighbor boy), Ophelia, Raven and Peckerson.


The chickies are posted up in our living room for the time being. We chose to keep then in there instead of the basement so we can keep an eye on them and really get to know their personalities. Millie and Ophelia are really quiet and sweet. Peckerson is the feisty one. Yellowman is calm and friendly, always happy to perch on an arm. And then there is Raven. She reminds me of a middle child, a lot like myself. I am going to have to get to know her more before I can accurately describe her.

Ophelia and Millie

Our little neighbors have discovered that these chicks are now residing at our home and stop by daily to hold them. I really love when I hear the knock at the door; it brings me back to when I was a little girl. I just know I would be doing the same thing. The kiddos sit on our front porch holding them and call out their names as they pass the girls back and forth. They always ask if they can have one or at least "chick sit". I tell them they can pretend they own them and to come over anytime to visit. At dusk, they run home and beg their moms and dads to get them chicks of their very own.


We are now in the process of designing and gathering supplies to build the coop, a 2 story gem with a garden on top. Our plan is to build the entire thing out of shipping palettes. Well, most of it anyway. Jordan has been scanning the backs of business buildings that throw them out, daily, trying to collect the perfect pieces. I will share more about that when the time comes.