Meet Eleanor

Name Meaning: Named after Eleanor of Aquitaine  and Eleanor Roosevelt (you decide;) 

Nickname: Eli 

Breed: Silver Laced Wyandotte 

Other: Named by my friend Alyssa!

Personality: The smallest chick. But her personality states otherwise! She is gutsy and not afraid to challenge the other chicks even though they're bigger than her.  And she is the first chick to out how get onto the perches in the chicken tractor (moveable coop). 

In the box there's.......

.......CHICKS!!!!

Meet Freyja

Name Meaning: The Norse goddess Freyja (Frey-a)

Nickname: n/a 

Breed: Ameraucana

Personality: Freyja likes to jump and run and act kinda crazy which has made me scared that she might be a rooster. But, I'm hoping she is just    crazy :P  Even though she likes to run around she is not the best flyer but she is steadily improving and might out-fly the others! And I think she might be highest in the pecking order.

Meet Nefertiti

Name Meaning: Named after an Egyptian Queen

Nickname: Nefi

Breed: Ameraucana

Personality: Nefi is a quiet chick but not when she is seperated from her friends! She is a good flyer and  out of all the chicks she is the perfect example of a chick: Sleeping properly, eating properly.... pretty much she seems super healthy and is not crazy like someone you will here of soon.

Picture taking Mayhem

Aren't my picture taking skills amazing? 

The other day I was out taking pictures of the chicks and the little black chick, who remains nameless :( , kept looking up at the camera. Wow, I thought she is super curious of what I'm doing! But then, suddenly, up she jumps and grabs hold of the camera's wrist strap. She had thought the wrist strap was a worm!!! After the first jump it grew exceedingly difficult to take pictures without her grabbing the wrist strap.

Photo shoot!!!

Last year I was super disappointed that I never had a photo shoot for the chicks and I.  But this year is different. Look at the outcome below :)

Just for fun I tried letting on of the chicks perch on my shoulder. It worked until she started pecking my hair!!!

Adventure

The other day I let the chicks outside in the run. The run does not have a back to it so I propped up a board and hung a towel over the opening I didn't think that they would be able to fly up onto the board.   So the chicks were outside and I sat inside reading to my Mallory and Seamus. Every once in a while I would look up through the window to see if the chicks were okay. While, we were all pretty engrossed in our latest story (Tintin) and had not looked outside in a while.  I decided that I should probably peek out the window again but when I did horrible sight met my eyes.  2 of the chicks were perched on the wooden board and one of them was in the house. But the yellow one was nowhere in site!!!! The kids and I ran outside and I popped the 2 chicks back in with the third. And then looked around for the yellow chick. Thinking that she couldn't get far but she was nowhere in site. I looked all around the run wondering what had happened. Figaro was inside Poppy and Deme where in the coop and it was the middle of the day! I was freaking out frantically running around the run when I finally gave up I stopped freaking out and we were all quite. Then I heard something: peep, peep.  I told the kids to be quite and listened again. Peeeep, Peeep. There it was again a chicks distress call. I ran in the direction I heard it and looked into our forest. There was the yellow chick standing on a little log and looking worried , slightly wet (the forest was damp) but otherwise okay.   I quickly stepped into the forest,  scooped the chick up I carried here back to the run. She ran back to her friends and then they all started pecking around like nothing had happened. But for me a Miracle had.

--Zoë

Pics of the chicks!!!

Black Australorp 

Black Australorp 

Silver Laced Wyandotte 

Silver Laced Wyandotte

Ameraucana 1

Ameraucana 1 

Ameraucana 2

Ameraucana 2 

--Zoë

p.s if you have any name ideas please comment :)

The trip

Performance Poultry (PP)

On Thursday I get a phone call: "..."Just wanted to let you know that you can come pick up you chicks whenever you want." Okay I say, after telling my Mom. When is the latest I could pick them up? "Saturday at twelve"
 "We will come friday at around 10am " I say.
My mom and I flurry into activity, me setting up the brooder my Mom phoning Nana and Gerrit to see if we (Rachel, Bronwyn, Mallory, Seamus and I) could stop by there house after we pick up the chicks. Jobs complete, we got to bed. We wake up on Friday at 5:45am pile into our van and drive off.
We make good time and turn off the highway just after 9am and follow our google directions to Performance Poultry. Turning onto Victoria road and I tell my mom, "You have to give Performance Poultry credit for finding the most middle of nowhere place." I say, trying to lighten the mood I am in a mix of Excitment and stress. A few minutes later my sister calls out "Number 1848, there it is" We drive right past the drive but my mom turns our car around, and we drive up the drive way it is only around 9:20am.  I see a white house, a small barn and chicken pens. PP has a chicken coop and pen per chicken breed. I appreciated the fact that they didn't keep there birds in a building or barn they could get fresh air and act like chickens, scratching and pecking around. I knock on the door and walk into the house calling to see if anyone is there getting no answer I walk back outside and Rachel says that she just saw someone entering the barn. A minute later the person comes out. It is Jason Cain the owner of PP.  I tell him I have come to pick up the chicks and he goes and collects them. I pay for the chicks and a kilogram of chick feed, thank him and we are on our way. The chicks are soooo cute!!!!!! I have four: 2 Ameraucanas, 1 Silver laced Wyandotte and 1 black Australorp.
We make our way back on to the highway and drive to Nana and Gerrit's.  When we get there Gerrit finds an amazing light to provide warmth for the chicks we set the box of chicks under the light and put food and water in the box for them.  The chicks run around eat, drink, poop and sleep behaving properly. After an super good lunch we drive home with the chicks in the box and a hot water bottle underneath the box to keep them warm. Once we get into Ottawa we pick up Grant and Jesse from work. And I get dropped off at the weight room, I have training to do! When I get home I check the chicks for pasting. When chicks get really excited they can get dried feces stuck on there bums, which can lead to death. The chicks seem healthy and happy. I go to bed relieved that they are all right.

--Zoë

Personalities

I had never relized until I got chickens that they had such great personalities . I had thought that they had no individuality, that they all acted the same.  But, when you have chickens you can see there personalities shine through. Take Demeter and Papagena for example, they have totally opposite personality's. Deme is first in the pecking order But I can never understand why she is. She has a carefree personality always curious and discovering new things.  And when Papagena chases Figaro Deme, not understanding what's happening, runs after Poppy thinking it's a fun game. Demeter loves treats and is always the first to come when I call.
Poppy on the other hand, is more cautious. Taking nothing for granted, chasing Figaro when he gets too close, and coming when I call ONLY when she has finished pecking and scratching.... and then  running trying to catch up to Demeter. After reading about Poppy you might think she is haughty and cold but, I can tell that inside she is like a little mother. When Demeter lays an egg Papagena stays in the coop even if she could go scavenging in the compost pile. And when she doesn't know where Demeter is she looks distressed and lost.  But,when she is back with Demeter it looks like nothing had ever happened.  As I tell my Grandma, Deme is the little princess and Poppy is the nursemaid.

--Zoë