Chicken Escape

Noah likes the chickens. 

I don't know as if they have the same feeling back to him. He is fearless of them, and when he decides he wants to pet one, he will chase it around the whole yard until one of them give up or he gets distracted with something else. 

Well, this fine morning, he decided to go "check" on the chickens. No harm in that. Until, he opens up their door...and they are eager to venture around the yard for quite some time! I was planning on being ahead of schedule and get over to my Mom's so we could make applesauce. OVER AN HOUR LATER I AM STILL TRYING TO GET THE STINKIN CHICKENS BACK IN THEIR HOUSE!! I am certain I looked ridiculous...the more I tried, the more they played me. They are not usually that difficult. At one point, I just stopped and recorded, because...well you watch and maybe it will entertain you.

I should add, I ended up calling my MOM to see if she could come help get them back in...as she is the "chicken whisperer" (she can sound just like a chicken)...I won't put that video on here. I love her, and she may not love me sharing that. Anyways, it didn't work. So I had to wait until Christian got out of school at noon, and HE truly does have the touch, along with the watermelon rinds I brought them. Ugh! How ridiculous.

Stella...and the other gals

The Greats are doing well...the five of them are still enjoying their little life in our backyard.

Lately they sure have been making quite the ruckus. I think their getting antsy about laying eggs. A week ago, Stella figured it out!! She has laid one egg, everyday since, just after noon she goes into "her" nesting box and makes her deposit. 

Stella...you are a chatty one. Thank you for the eggs...tell your relatives to get on the J O B and figure this whole laying business out.

Meanwhile, we let them out nearly everyday for several hours. They like us.

Noah was blowing bubbles to them. And they like Jonah too, he drops his Cheerios when he eats outside...and they LOVE Cheerios.

Christian REALLY likes picking them up and holding them.

Stella and Ardis are his favorite.

Ardis is practically half the size of Noah. He gets so proud when he gets to hold one.

 Christian tries to talk "chicken" to them...'bawk-bawk-bawwwwwwk'

Ardis...

she is so silly, she will follow me around the yard. I think she just wants some attention. Then Ben reached down to pet her, and she sat nestled in for a back rub. Oh Ardis..(the real Ardis might enjoy Ben giving her a back rub too, who knows!?)

Faye, Fannie, and Lois climbed up the tree house stairs. Crazies. Lois turned back around to go down the stairs, but Fannie took the slide, and Faye flew off from the slide. Christian had a pretty good laugh at them. Fannie and Faye (the brown ones) they are something else. I think one of them might be blind...it acts real goofy sometimes.

BAWWWWK! 

Well, that's the update on the 'greats'. Hopefully soon, the other four will get to laying some eggs. It's pretty fun to go check the boxes, and pick up a treat!

Goodbye Lola

The Greats are doing well. They are enjoying their home, and eagerly come out of it to graze in the yard when we let them. 

Hey there, Fannie. Looking good.

About a month ago, the suspicions we had of Lola became truth. She began to warble in her throat, as in a practice session of "crowing"...and it was then she confirmed the larger body, and larger comb were not just coincidental..she really is a rooster. So, since she is a he, Lola is now Dale (my Great Uncle's name)...or Christian just prefers to call him Lyle, just because its close to Lola.

Dale/Lyle stayed with us for a bit, and then he really started getting good at his cock-a-doodle-doo. We don't really want to be "those" neighbors. So we needed to give him away, or eat him. We ended up giving him to our doctor. His wife is also a doctor, I've known her for probably 8 years and they are just neat people. So Lola/Dale/Lyle is now at his new home with 14 other chickens. The trip to drop him off, was entertaining in itself. He had one attempt to fly away in the back seat from the box Ben was holding. I looked in the rear view mirror and all I could see were chicken feathers flapping all around Ben's head. Of course, Christian thought that was pretty funny.

As a side note, Christian has informed anybody that asks about roosters being part of our flock. "Well, no we don't want roosters, because we are want to eat the eggs, and the rooster is the one that makes the eggs into new baby chicks." Good to know.

The Great's Home

Ben finished work on the chicken house..here's a peek inside.

The coop. (April 18...their move-in date)

The roost.

They climb up the ladder, and then up the branch to get to the upper roosting stick.

All six go up there at night. (Farmer Ben tucks them in!)

There is a poop deck below the roosting stick (an old closet shelf turned upside down)...it is amazing how they know where and when to poop in there.

Four nesting boxes. There is a hinged roof of sorts on the outside of the boxes, that lifts up to collect the eggs. Maybe sometime late summer we will start getting eggs :)

It's handy that there are two swinging doors to the coop, with a latch on the outside. It makes it quite handy to clean out the shavings, or just get to the inside for feeding/watering. There is also a latched door that opens below the coop where the food is stored.

 The run. (May 14)

There is a hinged door that we now leave open from the coop to the run. The ramp that leads to the opening to the coop, was not their favorite way of getting down initially...they would take a step or two, then fly down. Ben has put up different roosting areas in the run section several times already, I think he enjoys changing their options :)

 If we're outside, we leave the door to the outdoors open...and they come in and out as they please. They have yet to roam the yard. They stay very close to their home, but seem to "play" and peck the ground when they get out. Whenever we want them back inside, they are easily "hearded" back in. Christian enjoys helping take care of them. Both Christian and Noah like to check on them, and attempt to hold them (they are getting way to quick for Noah now).

There it is.

I'm happy with it..I think like with alot of projects, it was a little longer in the making than maybe first anticipated...but Ben did a really good job. I'm just certain Fannie, Faye, Lois, Lola, Stella, and Ardis are very grateful!

Two boys, Six Chickens, and Mud

The Greats are growing, they moved out to their new permanent home now. Ben has made a real nice chicken house...maybe a little nicer than first planned. Regardless, they are enjoying themselves.

Christian and Noah are still very intrigued by them. They handle them freely and so far, they don't seem to mind.

Lola and Fannie "kissing"

And it has rained a decent amount lately...

glorious rain!

Christian was thoroughly enjoying the mud, and Noah was much more hesitant...which is pretty ironic. Recall The Muddy Encounter from last summer.

Noah enters the puddle, wearing his shoes (his green Crocs).

Big brother rescues him, as he gets his feet stuck in the mud and can't move.

Ahh, fishing out the lost shoe!

Noah so devastated that his Croc is completely covered in mud.

My favorite picture.

This was the final straw...getting splashed in the face with mud.

Poor guy. He was a serious mess.

His clothes were removed outside, with a quick wipe down...and then a nice warm bath inside.

Not long after, Christian got cold...and he took a warm bath too.

Then they both wanted to snuggle on the couch...a rare, but sweet sight.

Exploring

The baby chicks are being looked after...often.

When Noah woke up, first thing, he needed to come check on the chicks.

When it was warmer outside, we brought a couple out during the day...

to let them get a feel for the great outdoors!

Naturally, Christian chose to bring 'Ardis'.

When Ben was home, we brought out all six. I wasn't sure if they'd run away from me..so I wanted another set of hands just in case. Turns out, they were very mild and just extra cute.

I love Noah's little hands and how he handles them so gentle...

it is the sweetest thing.

Happy exploring ladies...all too soon, you will be bigger and doing this all the time.

Meet the "greats"

The six new ladies have moved in...

Meet these fine feathered ladies:

Stella and Lola (the black ones in the front), Faye and Fannie (they are the brown-red colored ones), and Lois and Ardis (the yellow ones). 

That's right...they are named after my Great Aunts and one Great Grandma (Fannie).

Christian was given the names on the way back from getting them, and he did not hesitate in deciding who was who.

Ardis is by far the favorite for Christian. Anytime he asks to hold one, he will ask for "Ardis". 

This is the only Great Aunt he actually knows as an actual person. 

She (my Great Aunt, not the chicken) is pretty special to him, as he will write letters to her...and she writes back! He LOVES to get mail, and always knows that it is from her if I say he got something from the mailbox.

(At this point, I have no idea which yellow one is Ardis or Lois...but we usually say it's Ardis regardless.)

Noah was so funny about holding them. 

Well...not so funny the first night. Faye nearly had a fatal interaction with Noah....we let her out inside the house on a rug just to watch and Noah promptly disregarded her presence and accidentally stepped on her leg. Yikes. 

Christian holding Lola. 

I'm a little concerned she is a rooster...which would not make her a she. Let's hope she is a girl indeed. She is just larger than the rest, and definitely the noisiest chirper.

Fannie helped Noah do a puzzle one morning. He carried on as if it was a normal thing to have a chick watch him do his puzzle. He was so happy when it just stood there..he'd said, "Fannie watching me! Fannie standing on my puzzle. Funny!"

With Ardis!

He wanted me to take a picture so we can send it to her. Christian said, "She will be so surprised to meet another Ardis! She might be confused, thinking, 'What? How can that be Ardis and I am Ardis!!' and then she will say, "OH...I see, its a chicken."

 He has a running commentary for most anything!

Stella got to see what the dirt garden was like when the weather was warmer. She's the smallest of them all.

Here they are trying to figure out their water bottle with a poultry nipple attached.

Some of them, kind of seem to have it figured out...but we put a bowl of water in there too..so they can for sure have some while they are learning. Hopefully, they figure it out, it sure is less messy to deal with keeping the water clean.

Their temporary home...in a water heater cardboard box, inside our laundry room.