14. Chicks to Hens.

Are they bigger?

Yes, they are!

The peeps and chirps now have a cluck or two thrown in. The girls are feathered and active, bored with their indoor nighttime and rainy day setting.

As you know, the grass is always greener!
The kiddie pool/cardboard house barely serves as a holding pen.
On nice days they are lucky and get to go outside into the makeshift day coop.

13. ...and then there were nine.

Some sad news to report...

Due to my lax watch over the chicks as I was busy making their summer quarters, they were left unattended. The bird dog picked up one and it didn't survive the experience.

We said a few solemn words, gave her a respectful burial in a beautiful turquoise box, and planted some ferns at the newly created burial site.

R.I.P. Toaster!
You will be missed!

12. First Day Outside!

It was quite warm this week, so I improvised an old baby crib into a day pen for the chicks.

Although they are more like chickens than chicks now, the littlest ones escaped through the wider slats, so I have to fashion something else soon. Lily, our happy guard-pug, is never far away.

Just about fully feathered (except for little Penguin), they loved being in the sun and chomping at the clover in the lawn (no pesticides!).


The black one is Peeps, with Sister One, Speckle and Buttercup behind him.

Peeps is aptly named, he is REAL loud when handled.

11. All the chicks are named!

Just about all our chicks are named!
Remember our latest switch-up? Our two new black ones are:

Guinness
and Peeps.

The pretty Wyandotte is Garnet (although I feel compelled to call her Ginny for some reason).


The two below are "the sisters".
We go back and forth and back again with names for them:
Thelma & Louise, Betty & Wilma, Lucy & Ethel, Hester & Priscilla, Copper & Penny...

What do YOU suggest?????????????


The closer one is curious and investigative and the first one to look up at me for the camera (her picture is the header on this blog).

The one farther away is more timid, preferring to stay back rather than coming out to eat from our hands.

Look for the Poll on the top right to cast your vote!

9. Coop-Cam: Spinach Leaves

The birds have been getting bigger and they now have more feathers than fluff!

Click below to watch a clip from the coop-cam as the chicks play with spinach leaves!

8. Just a little switching going on....

Turns out little Olive and her two look-alike sisters were not Black Star chicks after all... In fact, Olive herself was most likely a Rooster!

So, we swapped these three with ones that the original purchaser suspected to not be the Cuckoo Marans that he wanted. It was difficult to tell what the fluff balls were at a day old when we tried to sort them out, and while we think we have it straightened out now, only time will tell for sure...

So, now we have three new chicks!




















The two Black Stars are above (least that's what we think they are!)

and a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte is below.




So far, none of these new additions to our flock have names, but I am sure they will not stay unknown for long. While I had intended to have 4 Black Stars as they are brown egg layers, our younger son was enamored with this lovely lady and chose her out of the box of black feathered chicks. She will lay brown eggs as well.