Chickens have been laying EGGS and other things.
Right after I had Jillian the chickens started to lay eggs. I’ve lost count but we’ve gotten over 20 so far. The 2 Wyandottes started first because we just got brown eggs for the first 2 weeks but slowly the Ameraucanas are following suit and we have some green eggs too (although the picture doesn’t show the colors well 4 of those are really light green). In other chicken news, they are not enjoying the cold that much I don’t think because they keep trying to come in the house and garage. Lola actually knocks on one of our doors pretty regularly and of course I usually give her some food when she does so I’m sure that she’ll keep it up. This morning Fuzzworth was at the front window and the kids thought it was great, they also liked looking out at all the chicken footprints in the snow. Luckily all the chickens have stopped roosting in the trees at night now that its getting super cold!
Chickens in the Tree
Last Thursday Heather and I both got sick with a stomach bug that left us nauseaus and achy. We barely had the energy to keep up with the kids and left the chickens to fend for themselves. That night I noticed one of our dogs kept barking whenever we let him out, but thought nothing of it. With the leaves off the trees I figured it was a deer or coyote in the woods.
The next morning we all stayed home from school and work. I sent the boys downstairs to play while I grabbed them breakfast. Ethan called up for me to hurry down quick….the chickens are in the trees! Sure enough, all 7 chickens were roosting in the trees above their coop. Turns out their coop door must’ve blown shut Thursday so with no way to get into their house they went into the trees.
Ever since then Henrietta, Chickie-Poo, and Hen have continued to roost in trees at night. The temperatures have been milder so we’re curious if they’ll keep doing this once the cold weather returns. Our only concern is that the 2 big chickens are roosting in a branch about 15 feet above our back door on a branch that hangs into the fenced part of our yard. No wonder the dog was going nuts.
Chicken tree and now climbing tree!
I don’t actually like this but Ethan has found a new tree to climb in our yard (its a big tree can you spot him?). Its the big blue spruce in our front yard that the chickens have made their second home. Ethan followed the chickens under it one day and discovered that he likes climbing it. I thought the branches were too thin and too prickery but he climbs close to the trunk and so far so good. Unfortunately he gets very high in the tree and I am worried he’ll fall. Ben is luckily not quite as brave and only made it about 10 feet up. The chickens climb it too but not nearly as high as Ethan! So the good mom that I am, I just went and got my camera.
They’re trying to get in!
We’re having a “stay home” day today. Ethan has had a mild stomach bug the last few days, its raining and I’m tired so I decided to keep Ben home from preschool today too so we could relax. The chickens must miss us, they didn’t get to greet us at the minivan today so they came to the front door! Actually they have been perching on the railing more and more lately and its funny how much more pet-like they are becoming. When we go outside they come running and its cute and makes me really glad we got them. When they start jumping into the open sliding door of the minivan I don’t have the same feeling though, the last thing I need is chicken poop in there or a stow away bird!
The kids feeding the chickens.
The chickens are getting so friendly (minus their little pecks) and they love to be around us when we’re outside now. 
The boys spent some of yesterday morning collecting acorns and pinecones from the yard and John, Jamie and I had to join them once the chickens surrounded them. 
I got some old bread and a banana (that Jamie had me peel but then she wouldn’t eat it) and the chickens were thrilled. 
Ethan decided to hide bits of bread under the leaves for the chickens to find. He is really cute, so are the other two! I love our kids (and the silly chickens too, VERY glad I talked John into getting them)!
Silly Chickens
I haven’t posted about my chickens in quite a while and they are turning into characters! I let them have free run of the yard now when we’re home and they are fun to watch. Today I finally finished painting their coop that John built (and will blog with the plans once he shingles the roof and its 100% done). It looks pretty good but we still plan to add some painted chickens on it for decoration! I discovered that Loretta is a pest, she kept sneaking up behind me and pecking at me while I was painting (luckily I managed not to fall over when she got me in the butt while I was leaning down to paint the trim). Thats her in the top picture, isn’t she cute! Here are a few more pictures, I am hoping they are full sized now but they aren’t laying eggs yet and still need to grow their combs. I can’t wait for eggs, I’m thinking another month at most. 
Our first bowl of eggs
Henrietta is our only chicken that seems to enjoy being picked up by the kids and that is full grown and laying eggs. She makes these cute little eggs about 2 out of 3 days. I just saved up 8 eggs to hardboil yesterday. We had quite a few that I let the kids collect and Jamie ended up breaking so it took awhile to get enough. I feel like the kids can be pretty picky about what they eat but so far they all like to crack, peel and eat hardboiled eggs. I can’t wait until the chicks start laying this fall!
Chicken Update
Its been awhile since I’ve posted about the chickens. They seem bigger to me every day but are far from full sized. I don’t have nearly as much to do for them now that they’ve been outside and its nice. I open their little door to let them out each morning into their fenced in area, make sure they have enought food and water and then I close up their door once they go in for the night. Thats all I NEED to do but I have been opening the big door and letting them run around the rest of the yard more and more, I usually give them any appropriate table scraps and we now check for Henrietta’s eggs (she is the only adult chicken and she lays about 2 out of 3 days since she has been with us). We found a problem this week, I went out into the back and found all 7 chickens had gotten into our fenced in backyard. This is bad because at least one of our 2 dogs would probably try to eat them (luckily the dogs were inside). I know the spot they crawled under and we can fix it but I’m a little worried that they’ll fly over the 4 ft fence in the future. Hopefully Casey and Reuben will have lost interest in the chickens by then.
Henrietta joins the flock
We now have seven chickens! Yesterday my brother Alex brought over my family’s lone chicken to come live with our chicks. Henrietta is getting old and lived in my mom’s garage so I think she’ll be happy to live with other chickens again (its been a year or so since her chicken friend Stacie died). 
I wanted to introduce her before my chicks were bigger than her and might bully her but I was also concerned that she wouldn’t be nice to the chicks. So far she has put them in their place a bit but nothing too rough. She is boss for now but all in all it was a peaceful transition for everyone. Alex certainly took it the worst! 
The chickens are really enjoying the remains of all the corn on the cob we’re eating lately!
Chickens their first day living outside
I was so busy watching them enjoying the sun yesterday that I forgot to get pictures. They were like little dogs rolling around in the grass and laying on their sides basking in the sun, it was funny. These are some pictures of them in the early evening. 
