Green Eggs and Chicks

I should have blogged about this a week ago but I've been waiting for more green eggs. That's right, green eggs! Well, green shells to be exact. More about that later.

The last post I wrote was about Broody Buttercup sitting on two eggs waiting for them to hatch. Well, we waited and waited but nothing happened, they were duds. The rooster was pretty useless, as I heard from the lady I got the eggs from that none of the others hatched either but she did tell me that the Hamilton A&P show had chicks there for sale. So off I went and purchased two of the youngest Barnvelder chicks for Buttercup. 

They are so cute! Little balls of fluff!

I removed the eggs from under Buttercup and popped these two cuties under her wings. She took to them straight away just like she had hatched them.

I think the chicks were pleased to have a mummy too. Much warmer than a heat lamp. They were about a day or two old when we got them so they are about a week old now and growing fast.

They don't stay still very long so a few of the photos turned out a bit blurry but here you can see that a favourite game, now that they have found out they can fly a little, is to fly on to mum's back and get a ride, if you can balance long enough.

When we have them out free ranging, we must make sure that our black cat is nowhere around. She has studied them closely in their pen and was probably thinking that they would be a tasty morsel just the right size for her mouth. Our other cat came a bit too close the other day when they were out and got frightened away by Buttercup. She was so scared that she hid under the bbq cover and didn't even come out for dinner! Needless to say that the dog is definately secured away when the birds are out.

When the chicks grow up they will look like this.

The day afer getting the chicks I went and picked up two Araucana hens that I had bought off Trade Me. This is where the green eggs come from. These hens lays eggs with green tinted shells but the contents are normal egg looking.

Apparently the Araucana hen originates from Chile. They have very little comb and no wattles (that the red thingies that hang under their beak). I have a traditional lavender Araucana and so I have named her Lavender...

...and a black one of an unknown father as they were free ranging where I got them from. It does make it easier to tell them apart when they are different colours though. Her name is Lucy. Her eggs are still green coloured but paler.

Lucy is camera shy. So far I have only had one egg from these two but they have been getting a hard time from Blossom, Daisy and Delilah, so it's not surprising really.

I separate Lucy and Lavender off from the three bullies each morning so hopefully they will get used to each other soon and we can return to laying green eggs. When all my hens and including the chicks when they are big enough, are laying I could get eight eggs a day. I'll have to start selling them! 

Will I be getting more hens in the future? Maybe, after all, chooks are like potato chips, you can never have just one.

Broody Buttercup

My lovely Buff Sussex hen is broody. She wants to be a mum and she is very determined to be one. Buttercup will sit on any egg and becomes very grumpy with us when we move her to collect the eggs. She doesn't care that we don't have a rooster and that the eggs would never hatch, all she knows is that her hormones are telling her to sit and keep them warm.

At the weekend DH and I drew up plans to build her a little coop all of her own and then we would get some fertilised eggs for her to sit on and do her thing. We were driving to the local hardware shop to buy the wood and bits and pieces when I noticed in the junk shop yard something that looked just like a coop. "STOP the car and turn around" I yelled and sure enough there it was, all made and only $80.

Bargain!!! Perfect!!! And it has wheels to make it easier to move around!

We loaded it into the back of the car and took it home. We decided a modification to the top of the run would be a good idea. A solid roof helps keep the ground under it dry and gives protection from the sun. We already had a bit of plywood so some hinges, screws and a latch was all we needed. I made contact with a lovely lady who lives not too far from us about some eggs so the next day after DH did the necessary adjustments we popped Buttercup in it while we went to get the eggs.

I only wanted a couple of eggs as Buttercup has already been sitting for a couple of weeks and I didn't want to buy lots only to have her give up and the eggs be wasted. The lovely egg lady gave me two eggs to try and didn't charge me as she isn't sure of fertility. We popped them under Buttercup and she seems very happy.

So, hopefully in two weeks time (they have already spent a week in an incubator) we will have two little chicks. Rhode Island Red is the breed just like Charlotte was. So exciting, I hope it all goes to plan.

Curiosity Killed the Hen

Last Friday, after a day of work, DH and I arrived home and were surprised that we weren't welcomed in the usual way with a bouncing dog very pleased to see us home like he usually is. I wondered if he had accidentally been locked in the house with no way to get to the dog door but no, I checked, he could get out. When I found him he was outside with a chicken on the loose. My favourite hen Charlotte had escaped because curiosity got the better of her and the dog had found her. Not a very good outcome at all. Charlotte now free ranges in chicken heaven. 

The positive side to this story is that now the hens have a much bigger and safer run. I had been wanting to build a bigger run for them for a while but unfortunately it took a very sad accident for DH to agree to build one. Friday evening I researched chicken run images on Google and found one that looked easy to build from looking at the pictures.

Perfect I thought, we can make this work. On Saturday morning I worked out the measurements and the amount of timber required and then off to the local timber yard to purchase the wood we went. After we built one side we decided to change the design a little because the angles on the other panels to make it fit with a sloping roof were making it just a little to difficult to work out. So we opted for a flat roof and all the walls the same height which is much easier to move around inside it anyway. By Saturday afternoon we had the frame finished.

Sunday came and off we went back to the hardware store to purchase roofing, wire netting and more nails. On went the roof. I decided a solid roof would be the way to go so that the hens could still be outside when it's raining. We made the roof slightly sloping so that any rain will run off it.

Then the wire mesh went on. Now you might be wondering why there is a gap on the right side at the bottom. That is so it can butt up against the existing coop.

A perch was added, which I am yet to see them use.

It was all hands on deck to help move it from the garage to the yard. Here you can see Blossom and Buttercup enjoying their new space.

Just days before this all happened I had added two new ladies to the flock. Let me introduce them. 

On the left is Daisy and on the right is Delilah. They are Orpington hens. Feathers don't actually grow on their legs but they have so many that they hang down like a long skirt. They are an English breed that does well in cold climates so here's hoping they will lay through the winter for us. They are settling in well and the hen pecking from the other two (especially Blossom) is getting less and less. 

Did you notice how big the new run is? I can pretty much stand up in it if I watch my head. The best part is that I can fit more hens in there now. YIPPEE!! What breed or breeds shall I get next and how many? Hmmm ... Watch this space!