In the Hollow

Chicks...... again???

2012-02-14T11:15:00.001-05:00

I have found a hatchery that has tons of chicken breeds and is between Kingston and Coburg!!!
The name of the hatchery is Performance Poultry. There was one negative aspect about this hatchery and it was that you have to buy at least four of EACH breed and I only wanted one of each breed.
BUT, my mom phoned them up and was told that I could just get one of each breed and they might have 2 layers I could buy too!!! So the chick plan is back on I have picked out 3 breeds and we will go pick them up some point in April.
The 3 types of breeds I want are listed below:

Ameraucana
Find out more about Ameraucans
Egg rate: 3+/wk
Egg Colour: Blue
Hardy in winter, Bears confinement well, Docile and a 'fun' Personality

Australorp
Find out more about Australorps

Egg rate: 5+/wk

Egg Colour: Brown

Hardy in winter, Bears confinement well, docile and a 'sweet and shy' Personality

Silver Lace Wyandotte
Find out more about Wyandottes

Egg rate: 4+/wk

Egg Colour: Brown

Hardy in winter, Bears confinement well, docile and a 'generally easygoing (with a tendency toward domination)' Personality

♥ Happy Valentines Day ♥

--Zoë

Pictures and Links thanks to My pet chicken.

Frostbite? and Snow

2012-02-14T10:52:00.004-05:00

I apologize that I haven't written recently. This all happened in December.

SNOW:

Q: Do Demeter and Papagena like snow?

A: No :(
Well, they will go outside if there is grass showing and I sprinkle treats on the ground. (lol)
Going out in the snow depends on the chicken cause some will go out no matter how deep the snow is and others will just not.

FROSTBITE?:
Preface
Whenever the temperature dropped below
-15C I would go outside and put vaseline on Deme and Poppy's combs and waddles. So I was really freaked out when their combs started turning black. Later I found out that it was cause dirt/dust was sticking to the vaseline. Even though they don't have frostbite I think their combs are slightly damaged.

We found out in the evening that the temperature was going to be -28C!!! So me and my mom decided to try to separate the coop in half (with a tarp) so the chickens body temperature and the heat from their light would heat the coop better. We decided to nail the tarp up so we got a hammer and nails and headed out to the coop. When we put the tarp up it blocked all the light so we had to go inside and get a flash light so we could see where to hammer the nails. Squished in the coop we finally got the tarp up. Happy but worried we went inside wondering if the chickens would be fine with the tarp and that the half they were on didn't have their perch.
Inside washing the dishes I saw the chickens were fine.
BUT after 10-15min, I was still washing dishes :) ,
the chickens were freaking out. They knew it was time to get ready for bed so where was their bed?
I ran outside and put them both into a card board box full of straw that I had set up, it would be their bed for the night. After sticking them in the box I turned off the light in the coop before they could get out. When my mom got back from wherever she was, (Sorry I have no Idea where she went!)
she told me it was going to get colder and I should just bring the chickens in for the night. So, we went out to the garage, emptied a storage crate, filled it with wood shavings and put netting all the way around the storage crate, it was time to bring the chickens inside. Me, my mom, and my sister went outside to the coop. I picked up Papagena, passed her to my mom and then picked up Demeter. (my sister was holding a flash light) We carried them both inside and put them in the storage crate, turned off the light in the garage and went inside. After 8min I stuck my head inside the garage to make sure the chickens were fine. There was not a peep :)
The next morning they were A okay. And since then I've only had to get up once in the night to bring them inside (it was 3am and -30C!!!)

--Zoë

They come when I call!!!

2011-12-05T12:02:00.001-05:00

It's probably just for the treats in my hand!

The Chicken coop from stage 1 to.. Finished!

2011-11-30T11:25:00.001-05:00

After a few months, a lot of money and some 'fun' work :) The chicken coop is FINISHED!!!!!

The Frame. Dimensions are 6ft by 14ft

We added insulation between the outside wall and inside wall

The front and windows are up

Here's are door to make cleaning more easy and so I can collect eggs.

Putting the doors up.

The painters of the sunflower nesting box

The coop fully painted and we put linoleum in for the flooring!

Adding the wood shavings.

Almost finished. I just need to hang up the feed dish put in the water dish and attach the light.

All Done!!!!

The girls exploring there new home.

--Zoë

My Presentation

2011-11-30T11:13:00.001-05:00

My chicken story starts in an unlikey place, when my sister and I wanted a pet, a cute little dog or cat that we could cuddle with. We tried hard to convince our parents but our parents said, “No,” and that was final. Final that is, until one day when we were at the farm of our friend Ute. Hearing about our ‘Pet Predicament’ she asked if I wanted to look after two of her chickens during the summer. I said “YES!” and my parents said yes to. As well, my dad even helped me build a chicken tractor.

(A chicken tractor is a movable coop that is usually used during the summer or in places which have a warm climate year round.) A few days later we brought two Plymouth Rocks home. One was a Cockerel that we named Pirate and the other a Pullet that we named Fraidy. A cockerel and a pullet are the technical terms referring to a rooster and hen under one year of age. That summer even though I didn’t get any eggs from Fraidy (she was too young, Pullets don’t lay until they are 5-6months old) I got to hear Pirate learn how to crow! At the end of the summer when I gave Fraidy and Pirate back to Ute I gave them back knowing that they had taught me many things. 1. Chickens are fun and quirky animals 2. Ideally you don’t want to have one cockerel and one pullet alone cause the rooster will bug the gal 3.You can’t lead a chicken around the yard with a rope tied to his/her leg :0 4. Next summer I want to have Layers and I did. For the next three summers I had layers and read about chickens from the book Raising chickens for dummies.

Early this spring, however, I decided that it would be fun to build a year round chicken coop and have a few layers and get eggs! I also decided that instead of starting with full grown hens I would get chicks: 1 Rhode Island red, 1 black Plymouth Rock and 1 barred Plymouth Rock. And so the reading began. I read and read and read until I felt as prepared as I could be and after the reading there was the doing, so to speak, where I had to get everything ready. So my mom and I went shopping for brooder material. When we got home this is how I set up the brooder.

1. first I put out the plastic storage crate I got from Zellers 2. I attached a wooden pole to the crate and clamped a light onto it. The rest of the material I got from the Buckingham co-op 3. I put in wood shaving 2-3in deep and after (this is the crazy part) I covered the wood shaving with paper towel cause you don’t want the chicks to think that the wood shavings are food 4.I washed out and filled up my chick waterer 5. I filled up my chick feed dish with chick feed. 6.The last thing I did was stick a thermometer into the brooder to see if it was the perfect temperature which is 90F.

A few days later I drove over to Ute’s house (we had combined our chick order) and Ute showed me the 3 chicks she had picked out for me. They were soo cute! Super excited I picked up the box the chicks were in, drove them home, carried them up the stairs, picked them up one after the other and put them in the brooder. Whate I did first was I dipped the chicks’ beaks into their water dish to show them how to drink. After that, I watched them as they got acquainted with their home. The girls ate, drank, pooped, peeped and fell asleep.

For the first week I let nobody pick up the chicks but after that I picked them up and showed my sisters how to hold them. Even my older brother who doesn’t like chickens said that the chicks were pretty darn cute (Yes!). The chicks grew so fast. After 6 wk they were fully feathered!!! At that point I brought them outside for an hour everyday (kind of like hardening off tomato plants) and then once they were acquainted with and acclimatized to the wide world it was moving day.

I got my chicken tractor out, the main chicken coop wasn’t ready yet, and we put the girls outside. I breathed a sigh of relief they weren’t fully grown (and they wouldn’t be until they were 5 months old) but they were not babies anymore and their susceptibility to illness had certainly decreased.

Well the saying, “don’t count your chicks before they hatch” is probably a good one. I shouldn’t have been so sure that everything would work out perfectly, cause when the gals were 2 months old my mom said one day around lunch that Medly wasn’t moving and looked uncomfortable. I went outside and my mom was right. Medly was not moving! I picked her up and she showed no sign of recognition. Worried I phoned up Ute and she said that I should give her water with a dropper cause Medly didn’t want to drink by herself. So I picked Medly up and did just that. I repeated giving her water many times that day. In the evening I felt like she had improved but when I woke up the next morning and went to check on her I found her dead. Crying, I buried her feeling like I had let her down. But I realized that with life there is death and Medly had always been the smallest of the 3 girls and the 2 other chicks were still alive. The 2 others did survive and at 5 months they laid their first egg.

It was as exciting as I had thought. But I wasn’t too surprised cause the girls were acting strange all day jumping in and out of the nesting box and running around clucking. The next morning I went outside hoping to find more eggs ( I had gotten the egg fever!) but that day and the next there was nothing. Wondering what was wrong I phoned Ute and she said to get a light into the coop because hens lay eggs when they think the hypothetical babies will survive. (You see we were already starting to have shorter days. It was the end of September and chickens need 14 hours of light if you want them to lay.) I set up a light and it worked. The next day when I went outside there were 2 eggs in the nesting box. In fact at this point my chickens are laying at least 6 times a week. I started giving my chickens sunflower seeds cause sunflower seeds give chickens calcium so the shells of the eggs they lay are stronger. Also chickens like sunflower seeds. They are like treats. Chickens treats also include, pasta, oatmeal, rice, and fruit. I give my chickens treats every second day. I also try to spend special time with them apart from the time when I look after them. So now my chickens are super friendly and they even come when I call them! Everybody isn’t perfect and there is one time when they don’t come. That is when they’re dust bathing.

It’s more like dirt/sand than dust but the reason they dust bathe is the same reason we have baths, to keep them clean. Dust bathing keeps chickens free from external parasites so if you ever find a hole in your lawn that a chicken is sitting in don’t get angry cause the chicken is keeping clean. Also this week I moved my chickens into a new coop that my dad made me. One of the many things I LOVE about it is the dropping board under the perch, and how easy it is to clean the whole coop!

I am happy to be able to tell you about all of my adventures. If I, at fourteen, can look after chickens, feed them, move their tractor, collect their eggs, raise chicks in a plastic tub in my bathroom, keep an eye on my girls while they run around my yard I am sure you too can do the same and enjoy fresh golden yolked eggs like me! It really is lots of fun.

Hope you enjoyed reading my presentation!

--Zoë

Expert!?

2011-11-21T10:33:00.002-05:00

I have been asked to go and talk about backyard chickens.
It will be held on November 29 Tuesday and will be from 6pm-8pm at the Fox and Feather on Elgin St. in Ottawa.
Hope to see you there :)
Zoë
p.s if you can't come I will try and post my presentation here!

And then there's a Dozen

2011-10-26T11:56:00.000-04:00

I organized the eggs so Demeter's are on one side and Papagena's are on the other. Can you guess who's are who???

I'll give you a guess: What comes first in the alphabet P or D?

And the answer is Demeters eggs are the ones on the far side and closest to words like this. And Papagena's eggs are on this side and closest to words like this.

Exploring

2011-10-26T11:49:00.000-04:00

One day while Papagena was in the nesting box laying an egg.

Demeter decided that is was time to let her explorer side come lose.

Her mission for today was to figure out what that big thing at the end of the yard was. So of she went.

When Deme got there she looked up and up and up!!! But she couldn't see the top.

To fix that problem she flew up into the unknown.

And landed perfectly. How proud Deme was!!!!

Were getting close to the end!!!

2011-10-26T11:32:00.001-04:00

Light in the coop

2011-10-26T11:20:00.002-04:00

After Demeter laid her first egg we got no more eggs for 3-4 days. Wondering why, we phoned Ute and she said "You need to put a light in your coop." The reason is that chickens lay eggs when they think that there "baby's" have the best chance of survival and when it starts getting darker the survival level drops and they stop laying eggs. So therefore if you want eggs throughout the winter you need to put a light in your coop. So that's what we did and now the 'girls' are each laying an egg practically everyday!

Papagena's Egg!!!!

2011-10-26T11:10:00.001-04:00

And aprox. a week after Demeter laid her egg Papagena Laid hers!!!!

Demeter's First Egg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-09-20T11:47:00.002-04:00

... There it is, as beautiful as you imagined it would be! The first egg has finally arrived!"

Quote from Jenna Woginrich's book: Chick Days

The girls have been acting strange all day running around clucking, pulling hay out of the nesting box and jumping in and out, in and out.
And then later that day...
Seamus comes running into the house screaming "THE CHICKENS LAYED AN EGG, THE CHICKENS LAYED AN EGG. We run outside and there in the chicken coop is one beautiful egg.

Poll

2011-09-13T11:13:00.001-04:00

And the Winner from the poll (If you got a chicken what type of chicken would you get?) is... Rhode Island Reds!!!

Pic's of the Gals'

2011-09-13T11:04:00.001-04:00

This picture totally Cracks me up :D

Papagena Posing for the Camera
(you can tell in this picture that Papagena's wattle and crown haven't totally finished growing)

Exploring:

Building the Coop

2011-09-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

My Dad, Grandpa and Brother were able to get most of the frame up for the chicken coop.
The whole coop is 5.5x14ft. The coop part is 5.5x7.3 ft.

From the Front...

...And from the back.

Already exploring the chicken coop

Chickens

2011-09-08T14:41:00.000-04:00

I have decided that If we are going to have more chickens we should get tons of different breeds. The few I have picked out are listed below....

The chickens Below are(in order from top to bottom)

Ameraucana

Dominique
Leghorn (White) Welsummer Wyandotte

And a little bit about the breeds below (curtsy of My Pet Chicken Website)

Ameraucana
The Ameraucana breed was derived from blue egg laying chickens, but they do not have the breeding problems inherent to Araucanas. In addition, rather than ear tufts, they have muffs and a beard, and are very hardy and sweet. They lay eggs in shades of blue, and even have blue (or "slate") legs. Less rare than Araucanas, they are still quite rare and only available through breeders at this time. They should not be confused with Easter Eggers, which can lay blue and green eggs, and do not conform to any breed standard. However, many hatcheries continue to call their Easter Eggers "Americanas" (and other various misspellings).

Dominique

Dominiques are considered a "heritage" breed of chicken in that they've been around for hundreds of years and are now critically endangered. Some people can't tell the difference between a Dominique and a Barred Rock, but the trained eye will notice that Dominques have a rose comb versus the Barred Rock's single comb. Dominques are a wonderfully cold-hardy dual-purpose bird, and hens make very caring, nurturing mothers.

Leghorn (White)
Remember Foghorn Leghorn the cartoon? Yep, this bird one and the same. (Seasoned pros know that Leghorn is pronounced "Leggern".) The White is separate from the rest because they lay large, white eggs practically every day! Other varieties aren't nearly so prolific. Whites are said to be nervous, but ours have been the sweetest, most tame of all our chickens! So give one a try and find out for yourself. (In winter, use petroleum jelly on the comb to prevent frostbite.)

Welsummer
The Welsummer is a beautiful breed from Holland famous for its deep reddish brown egg color. Many of the eggs are also speckled! Hens are a nicely proportioned partridge pattern, with hints of gold around the neck, medium brown on the body and tail feathers tipped with a rich brown, while males are the stereotypical vision people have of roosters. They're the rooster portrayed on the cornflakes box, and their colors are stunning. Welsummers are good foragers meaning you'll save on feed if you allow them to range freely!

Wyandotte
Wyandottes are a favorite amongst backyard flock owners for their dependable egg laying, easygoing nature, hardiness, and the great variety of beautiful feather patterns available. Silver Penciled, Golden Laced, Blue, Columbian and White Wyandottes are all rather rare.

Introductions...

2011-08-22T19:12:00.000-04:00

We are trying to introduce Figaro to Demeter and Papagena. And to make sure that everything goes 'swimmingly' we have a water gun and the hose.

AFTER.

I have to say Figaro has done nothing to make me trust him with the Demeter and Papagena.

after hanging out on the deck he sprinted down and when he was 5-8ft away from the chickens the kids sprayed the water gun and hose, and Figaro bounded off into the forest. The problem with that is I don't know what Figaro would've done if he had gotten closer. I guess that means the 'Introduction' is not over yet.

Zoë

If you got a chicken what breed would you get?

2011-08-20T13:51:00.001-04:00

The breeds or arranged in alphabetical order, there is no 'right' answer!
Also, there are many more breeds of chickens (obviously!) I just picked a few that I know are friendly :)
Below you can find out the characteristics of each breed.

Ameraucana

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Ameraucana-B5.aspx

Orpington

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Orpington-B80.aspx

Plymouth Rock

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Plymouth-Rock-B85.aspx

Rhode Island Red

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Rhode-Island-B97.aspx

Silkie Bantam

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Silkie-Bantam-B100.aspx

Have Fun!
Zoë

Medly's Grave

2011-08-19T18:47:00.000-04:00

I should have posted this a while ago...

Zoë

The Girls. From Chicks to Now

2011-08-19T18:43:00.000-04:00

MEDIO POLLITO
April 20 - June 26

PAPAGENA

April 20...

DEMETER

April 20...

Zoë

Big Changes

2011-08-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

My plan with having chickens had been to have at most 4 hens to have as pets and also to get some eggs from.

Well, this plan has totally went down the drain, for good or for bad, I will find out in a few months.

Your probably thinking What is she talking about? or What changed her mind?

It changed with a few words from Grant: "If your going to have chickens you might as well have enough so we won't have to go to the grocery store to buy eggs".

So now I am going to get 6-8 hens ;) and maybe in the summer get 2 meat chickens.

The one main problem with that at the time was, Where am I going to find a chicken coop plan for up to 8 chickens? (the chicken coop I had bought plans for would only fit up to 4 chickens)

The answer came with the website BackYardChickens http://www.backyardchickens.com/

On BYC, users had sent in chicken coop designs and I found a design I liked:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=10708

Time to go and find materials and level out the ground!!!

Zoë

Demeter and Papagena

2011-06-27T08:30:00.001-04:00

All of yesterday, Demeter and Papagena would look around for medly, wondering where she went.
Last night they looked a bit worried when I went to tuck them in, probably wondering why there wasn't a third body on the perch.
I hope soooo much that they don't get sick as well.
Zoë

In Remembrance of Medly

2011-06-26T17:35:00.003-04:00

Medly,

She had the perfect attitude, Kind, dreadfully curious, but not scared of being sassy.

She was never really was as tight nit as Demeter and Papagena were, but she never complained.

One of the first days I let the chicks free range, Medly found a worm. She stared at it in fascination her chirps bringing Demeter and Papagena over to see what she found. Grabbing it in her beak she ran of with Demeter and Papagena in hot pursuit. She ran up to the chicken coop and into the 'run', turning around and running back out leading her very own parade. After a few minutes of the chase, Demeter and Papagena gave up leaving Medly with her prize.

What a cute little ball of fluff

If I sang to Medly she would fall asleep in my hand.

Don't you love her Quizzical looks?

"I'm the Queen of the castle"

a Tea Party

Medly always came to see what I was doing.

She loved to forage in the grass, always pecking away.

She mad me laugh and boy has she make me cry.

I just hope that she had a good life at our house, didn't hate me, and that her death was not painful.

Medly

2011-06-26T11:27:00.002-04:00

She's Dead.

Nightmares and Reality

2011-06-25T20:29:00.002-04:00

A few Nights ago I had a nightmare, it was really sad/ frightening.
But now I see how silly it is to be scared of a nightmare, nightmares are not real. In Nightmares things die but when you wake up it's all right and it's the start of a new day.
But what happens if I wake up tomorrow morning and I walk outside and right outside there is a 'daymare'.
What happens if I walk outside and there, there in the chicken coop is Medly dead.
There would be no bed to wake up from, it would be reality.
I would have to continue through the day knowing that I let Medly down.
But if you saw me months later and asked me what happened to Medly, I would tell you, because it would be reality.

Zoë,
praying that Medly will fight through this sickness.

Medly is sick

2011-06-25T18:13:00.000-04:00

That pretty much sums it up,
she is not really eating or drinking but I have tried to 'force' give her water with a syringe.
Medly is also lying around and acting lethargic.
Please pray that she gets healthy.
Zoë

The Rain in Cantley falls mainly on the plain....

2011-06-13T14:33:00.003-04:00

...Then why is it raining at our house!!!!
Okay I know that it's actually the rain in SPAIN but that doesn't matter does it?

Today while I was doing math the rain started coming down in torrents. Wanting to see what the 'girls' would do in this situation (they were in the 'run' which is just like the coop but has no roof. It is connected to the coop and to get into the coop you have to fly/jump over a board) I wanted to see if they would jump over the board into the coop to get out of the rain or if they would 'forget how', looking out of the window I saw that it was the later, the girls were so freaked out by the rain they forgot how to get into the coop. (well, if giant balls of water were falling on your head wouldn't YOU panic) Not wanting to leave the chicks standing in the rain: I put on boots grabbed an umbrella and went out side, to face the downpour myself, with Mallory and Bronwyn following close behind. When I got down to the chicken coop I stood in front of it psyching myself out (let's just say I don't fit in the chicken coop as well as i used to) I looked up and saw Rachel looking out the sliding door and making a suggestion, Just to state a fact: it is hard to hear when rain is falling on an umbrella. I finally was able to figure out that Rachel was telling me to just put our tarp on top of the run, so it could act like a roof. With Bronwyn's help we draped the tarp over the whole run. Turning to go back inside I saw that Rachel was not happy with how i'd set up the tarp, but I could not understand i thing she saying do to the fact that the rain was making tuns of noise hitting my umbrella. Looking around I saw that Bronwyn had fled back indoors, but that Mallory was still outside. I asked Mallory if she could go and figure out what Rachel was telling me. After much shivering in the rain Mallory came back and told me that Rachel thought that the sides her to far down, so there was not enough light in the run. After fixing the tarp and peaking at the chicks to make sure they were fine, I made my escape back indoors.

To go outside, or stay inside, that is the question PPS

2011-05-30T17:40:00.000-04:00

THE PLOT
It is getting close to week 7 and hypothetically I can kick the chicks outside permanently when there 6 weeks old, IF the temperature at night is no lower than 10 degrees.

THE PROBLEM
Yesterday night I was going to kick them outside but it was the first time they had spent the whole day outside and I felt like it was too much at once for the chicks (they were freaking out.)
To sum it all up I am dithering about kicking the chicks outside permanently.

THE SOLUTION
.......I might let them out tonight????

Sincerely,
The Ditherer

Queen of the Castle

2011-05-25T08:19:00.002-04:00

'Freedom'

2011-05-18T20:48:00.000-04:00

Today the chicks will have been with me for FIVE WEEKS also this week (starting today) I will start getting them used to being outside!!!

I had to get the brooder cleaned so it worked out perfectly having the chicks go outside in a 'chicken run'
(A.K.A a wooden frame with chicken wire on it.) So after some preparation I loaded the chicks into a cardboard box, brought them outside and put them in the run. They were quite tentative at first but Medly caught on fast pecking at the grass will Demeter and Papagena looked around.
After a while Demeter and Papagena noticed that Medly was finding amazing 'treats' (in the form of grass, leaves and so forth) and was reveling in her 'freedom'. Not wanting to be left out, Demeter and Papagena joined in the fun. After probably 30-45min of the chicks running around and playing outside, (and after I had finished cleaning out the brooder) I decided that the chicks should come back inside ( It was getting kinda cold.) I picked them up and carried them back upstairs in there cardboard box.
After placing them in the brooder the chicks kinda stood there for a bit wondering what to do, and where was the grass??? But as they looked around they saw there food dish filled with food and pounced on it like hungry chicks! which they were (:

Zoë

Getting so big

2011-05-18T20:19:00.000-04:00

The chicks are getting sooo big! So a few days ago Rachel got a new plastic box for the chicks, so they will be comfortable for there last 2 weeks inside. That's right, only 2 weeks till I kick them outside.
And in a week they will get used to being outside by spending few hours everyday in the great outdoors (they will be in my chicken tractor) Below are pictures of there new plastic house (:

Zoë

Chick Days

2011-05-14T15:44:00.002-04:00

I ordered a book on raising chicks and It came today!!!! Even if you don't want to get chicks its a super fun read. You should see if you have it at your library (:

Zoë

Day 21

2011-05-10T19:59:00.001-04:00

Boy have the chicks grown!!! Here are some close up pictures of them.
(for perspective the chicks are standing on my knee, but it looks like there standing on my thumb (;

Zoë

Day 17 Perching

2011-05-07T18:24:00.000-04:00

Today I made a bigger perch for the chicks, cause there normal perch does not fit them all.
It will be a 'playtime perch' cause its to big to have in the brooder all the time (:

It took me a while to build the perch but finally it was finished. I brought it upstairs to show the girls. There was the first "what is that new thing in our house" excitement where they would jump up on the perch and sometimes fall off the perch with tons of flapping about but after probably 2 or 3min of this they stopped all except Papagena who jumped onto it for a few more minutes, I was excited cause I had finally found something that Papagena liked! But after a while she jumped of it to. So, after probably 5-10min after the original excitement I decided to take matters into my own hands and I picked up Medly and put her on the perch she didn't jump off and then Papagena and Demeter joined her then they actually slept on the perch I was soooo happy.

Look at Medly's Head, she has it hanging over the side of the perch! and Demeter has her head tucked under her wing!

From Left to Right, Medly, Papagena and Demeter

The late night 'cookie' fight (Day 15)

2011-05-05T10:11:00.006-04:00

At 10pm last night I hadn't fallen asleep yet, and suddenly I heard the Chicks making more of a ruckus than they usually do (lol). I was worried that they might have gotten out of the brooder, so I got out of bed and walked/stumbled into the chick room/bathroom. As soon as I walked in I could tell something was wrong but I couldn't tell what, cause they were running around ~~like a chicken with it's head cut off~~ like little kids fighting over a cookie. (And I guess in their case they kinda were fighting over a 'cookie.') Papagena had a wood chip in her mouth and Demeter and Medly wanted it too. Wanting to get back to bed I figured out a compromise for the chicks; nobody would get the wood chip. So I picked up Papagena, wrestled the wood chip out of her mouth (not unkindly) and placed her back in the brooder. I washed my hands, noticing in front of the mirror that I looked like the walking dead, and went back to bed content that I had a few minutes of peace and quiet.

Zoë

Cleaning the brooder. The Beginning of Week 3

2011-05-04T15:33:00.000-04:00

I have cleaned the brooder in the past (you should clean the brooder every 4-5 days), but today I will show it in steps in case one day you will be about to clean your brooder full of chicks(:

You will need
1. A Brooder: cause that's what I'm cleaning!!!
2. A cardboard Box: to put the chicks in when your cleaning
3. Newspaper: To line the bottom of the Brooder
4. Garbage bag: What do you use garbage bags for???
5. A scoop thing: to scoop out the dirty wood shavings
(I use a clean Kitty litter scoop)
6. Paper towel (or old cloth): to wipe things off
7. Wood shavings or alternative bedding: For the brooder
8. A source of water: For cleaning things
9. And most importantly a Helper(s)!!!!!!

Step 1
Take your feeder, waterer and any other items out of the brooder, and then Clean them with Water and Paper towel then, refill them.

Step 2
Line your cardboard box with newspaper (so you can reuse it again.) Then take the chicks out of the Brooder and put them in your cardboard box.

Step 3
With your Scooper scoop as many old wood shavings out of your brooder as possible ask your Helper to hold open your garbage bag so you can dump the old wood shavings in it.

Step 4
When you've scooped as many wood shavings out as possible, pull the old newspapers out from the bottom of the brooder and dump in plastic bag. Then tip your brooder and dump out the rest of the old wood shavings into your garbage bag. At this point in time your helper will be quite board, they may leave.

Step 5
Fill your brooder 1/6 of the way with water and dump it outside, then with your paper towel (or old cloth) wipe the brooder off until it looks like new!

Step 6
Bring your brooder back into the chick room and line the bottom of it with your clean Newspaper,

then put clean wood chips (or alternative bedding) on top of the newspaper

and spread around evenly.

Step 7
Put your feeder, waterer and other items back into the Brooder

Step 8
Put the chicks back into the brooder and smile (: it's a job well done
~~and in 4 more days you can do it all over again, lol~~

Before

After

Special thanks to: Bronwyn and Mallory, My Helpers!!!
~~and to Seamus, who hid in the corner of the chick room and scared me soooooo much!!!!!~~

Zoë

Day 14

2011-05-03T18:49:00.003-04:00

The Girls are getting bigger, a few more days and they won't fit in my hands!!!
Papagena is as scared as ever but I think Demeter and Medly are as calm as they've been in the past or getting calmer.
I will be persistent, till the are as calm or hopefully calmer around me than they are around each other.
These pictures were takin' right after I went for a run, I'm still in my running gear (:

Medio Pollito

(Above, Below)

Demeter

(Above)

Papagena

(Above)

Zoë

Over 30hrs Day 9-13

2011-05-03T08:41:00.001-04:00

April 28-29 2011
So your probably wondering why I have not posted anything lately. Well I didn't have a choice, cause our power was out for OVER 30HRS!!! .......It was a really windy and stormy day and I had almost finished lunch when the power went off. I thought at that time that the power had just flickered off and would come back on in a few seconds, I waited, waited and for it to come back on and did it? NO. At that time Rachel had rushed down stairs cause of our sump pump. (it runs in the spring. A few years ago, due to the power being off, it had flooded our basement) Rachel was calling for buckets, so we could start bailing water out of the sump pump and I rushed around grabbing buckets well Bronwyn phoned Grant to tell him to come home and start the generator cause none of us new how (Zeke and Jesse were at work) Bronwyn did phone work but told him the generator was broken!!!! So, on top of bailing water we were worried that Grant would by new generator on his way home when we had a perfectly fine on here. Seamus, due to the fact that we were all panicking, Had started crying. And having found enough buckets, me, Bronwyn and Mallory were running up the stairs and dumping water over the side of the deck well Rachel was bailing water from the sump pump into our buckets. After probably 45min of bailing Bronwyn ran down to tell Rachel that a tree cracked on the side of the house but hasn't fallen on the house, So we all started praying that Grant would get home and the tree wouldn't fall on the house. Your probably wondering "What about the chicks?" At that point in time they are old enough (and the bathroom was warm enough) that they would survive the day with the power off (Not the Night) but they were REALLY scared cause it was soooo dark in the bathroom.
So, after a hectic Hour of bailing Seamus yelled to us, Grants home!!! We doubled our efforts running up and down the stairs our faces painted with relief, But still worried cause the generator might not start. After probably 3-5 more min the generator came back on! but only for a few seconds and then puttered out. I looked up the window at Grant and so him pause.. looking into the forest... and I heard a gigantic crash. I ran up the stairs with my bucket of water and looked of the deck, 4 trees had fallen down missing our electric wire and our house, So instead of feeling horrible I felt kinda excited, the trees were rotten and we would have had to take them down at some point, but the wind took the trees down for us.
I ran down to report, and Grant tried a few more times with the generator, and was able to start it, Yipeee!!!
Hydro quebec said our power would come back on at 7pm.
O.K I thought that isn't that bad, at 6:30pm the boys brought food home from the grocery store. At 7pm the power was not back on, Rachel phoned Ute to see what we should do about the chicks, Ute said that we could bring them over to her house cause she has a
fireplace, So at 7pm we drove over to Ute's house (We had to take the long way, cause a electrical line was down on the usual road we take) At Ute's house we dropped the chicks of and after the feeling that I had failed and abandoned them we drove out of Ute's driveway (which took use probably 5 min cause the geese chased us up the driveway moving in front of our car, backing off and then moving back in front of the car again. To sum it all up we spent the next hours being told by Hydro Quebec that our power was going to come back on and having it not come back on. But finally, it did!!!!
The chicks came back home healthy and Not hurt and with tuns of feathers and a lot peeper!!!

The Light

(we plugged it into the Generator)

Writing By Candle Light

The Art of Drawing by Flash Light

I love Kerosene lights

The Generator

The Fallin' down trees

Ripped From the Ground

The Last Survivor

Bronwyn By the Trees

The pictures of the trees and our house were takin' at 8pm ish and the power came back on at 9:30ish that night.

The Pictures of the chicks were takin' a lot later than that.

Zoë

Names for the chicks!

2011-04-30T10:21:00.000-04:00

The chicks have names!!!!!!

Rhode Island Red: Demeter

Plymouth Rock (Black and White): Papagena

Plymouth Rock (Black): Medio Pollito (Nickname, Medly)

Zoë

Polls

2011-04-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

You have 11 hours to vote about names for the chicks.
Check in later to find out the names for each chick!!!!
Zoë

Day 8

2011-04-27T13:24:00.000-04:00

A week has gone by since I got the chicks and boy have they grown! Goodbye baby chick fuzz. They are now decked out in wing feathers (and starting to get tail feathers and body feathers ) they are flapping about testing the roost and jumping all over the place, excited that there wings now fit there body (lol) There minds have also grown sharper and they've grown more used to me. In fact today the black chick and the orange chick slept in my hand!!! The black and white chick is more cautious, but is more relaxed around me then she used to be. Also I think I have figured out the pecking order here are my guesses:

The Rhode Island red is the highest in the pecking order I could tell it from day one. She is also not frightened to remind the other chicks that she is on top! I think she is the most calm around me out of the three chicks
The black Plymouth rock is second in the pecking order, even though she is the smallest she is one fierce chick! She has gotten a lot calmer around me then she was in the beginning BUT I think she gets frightened the easiest. Maybe that's the reason she has gotten a lot calmer around me
Last but NOT least is the black and white plymouth rock. She is like a little mother for the other chicks, always worried when I take one of the other two out of the brooder, and the lightest sleeper out of the three chicks (always jumping awake if there is a loud noise) She is also was the last one of the chicks to get wing feathers

Zoë

Day 7

2011-04-26T20:44:00.001-04:00

I have decided that it would be really sad if I had no pictures of me holding the chicks on my blog. So here is my attempt to remedy that situation. I took the pictures with the camera in one hand and the chick in the other (:

Feeding Time!!!

I've gotten to the point with the chicks that after I am done picking them up and put the chick back in the brooder the chick will hang out on my hand for a bit before she hops off.

Zoë

Day 6 Sleepy Babys

2011-04-25T13:39:00.000-04:00

The Black and white chick is the lightest sleeper. Cause she woke up when I tried to take a picture (;

Zoë

Polls

2011-04-22T08:22:00.000-04:00

The polls are not working ):

Poll

2011-04-21T20:37:00.000-04:00

If you can't see the poll options then here is the order
Demeter
Papagena
Medio Pollito (Nickname, Medly)

MORE Pictures!!!

2011-04-21T20:18:00.000-04:00

Amazing picture took by Bronwyn (above)

The chick is standing on Grit (: When the chicks eat grit it helps the them mix the food in there stomach.

Zoë

Cool blog

2011-04-21T17:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to a Blog made by Jenna Woginrich (hope I spelt her name right) she is the author of 'Made from scratch' and 'Chick days' If you haven't read them you SHOULD!!!!

http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/

Thinking Of Names

2011-04-21T17:45:00.000-04:00

Please tell me what you think about these names for the chicks! I've tried to come up creative names.

Demeter: Why I Picked this, The greek goddess of Horticulture and agriculture
Papagena: Why I Picked this, One of the characters in the Magic Flute (Opera)
Medio Pollito (Nickname, Medly) : Why I Picked this, Have you read the story about Medio Pollito the half chick??? Go and Type in Medio Pollito into your computer and you will find the story. Did you find it? Good. I like the version when Medio Pollito helps the water, fire and air, instead of not helping them. If you didn't find the story I will post my favorite version today or tomorrow (:

Zoë
p.s I have not decided who to name what yet.

Sleepy Chicks

2011-04-21T10:58:00.000-04:00

Who wouldn't want to take pictures of baby chicks!!!!

The breeds of the chicks are these(from left to right)
Plymouth Rock (Adult plumage: Hopefully Black) Plymouth Barred Rock (Adult plumage: Hopefully Barred a.k.a speckled black and white) Rhode Island Red (Adult Plumage: Reddy brown with white)

Zoë

Day 2 Chicks

2011-04-21T09:18:00.000-04:00

So I have Finally found a lop hole in the camera system and here is a picture of Each Chick!!!!

Last Night before I went to bed I checked on the chicks and before I left the room I whispered "Goodnight"

And one of the chicks (right after I said goodnight) went peep just once!

I left that room with a smile (:

Camera

2011-04-20T21:08:00.000-04:00

So today of all days the camera won't download pictures ):
Zoë

Chicks

2011-04-20T07:49:00.001-04:00

Today I get the Chicks!!!!!
Look for pictures this afternoon (:
Zoë

The Co-Op

2011-04-15T17:19:00.000-04:00

There are only 5 more days till I get the chicks. Sooo Me, Rachel, Bronwyn and Mallory decided to take a trip to the Buckingham Co-Op (BCO), a store that specializes in food and Equipment for Animals.
After 30min of driving and lots of music (I had brought my MP3 player) We arrived, walking into the store I was quite surprised to see clothes, shoes and belts.
But, whatever I thought if they have chick feeders, chicken food and wood shavings I will be happy.
We searched all over and finally found a waterer to my liking and also the top of a chick feeder. We walked over to the check out counter to ask if they had a bottom for the chick feeder (thankfully the woman behind the counter spoke english) and she said... No.....but there a different feeder that had slightly sharper edges but would still work.

To turn a long story into a slightly shorter story (Bronwyn and Mallory are yelling at me to come outside and play)
We drove away from that store with everything needed for the chicks: A chick Feeder, A chick Waterer, Chicken Feed and Pine shavings.
I have the brooder (a.k.a chick house) set up in the Yellow bathroom with a light on (I am trying to get the temperature to 32 celcius) and won't have to run around getting equipment at the last minute, Phew

Below are pictures of what I got at the Co-Op:

Chicken Feed

Pine Shavings

Chick Waterer

Chick Feeder

Yipee,
Zoë

The first flowers of Spring!!!!!

2011-04-15T16:50:00.000-04:00

A few days ago (when we still had a fair amount of snow) a glanced down at the front garden of our house. I had to look again. Peeking up from the ground were .... FLOWERS!!!

Maple Syrup

2011-04-09T09:13:00.000-04:00

We taped 6 trees this year for maple syrup and after tons of boiling sap we've got our first to jars!!!
Below are pictures from tree to syrup (I will include the boiling part when we start boiling sap again)
Enjoy,
Zoë

Don't you love our lids??? lol

Syrup YIPEEE!!!!!!!!!

Chicken Coop Design

2011-03-26T17:10:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to a website were I found an awesome chicken coop plan:
http://www.isthmushandyman.com/Chicken%20Coop%20Designs/index.html