"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Let's talk about chicks!

Every spring for many years my husband and I have discussed getting chickens.  For one reason or another we decided not to, but it's been a "dream" to have them one day.  Yesterday while Sweet Pea was at school I told the Littlest Gardener that I'd take her to the feed store to look at chicks, something I've done with my girls since Sweet Pea was little.  But, this time I decided I wanted to actually get some rather than only look.  So after texting, emailing and calling my husband at work - the poor guy - we decided that this would be the spring to do it.  I had been talking to my sister who lives close by and she decided they would get some too.  So we packed up our youngest (her 3 year old son and the Littlest Gardener) and off we went.  She and I both ended up with four chicks.

 Here they are in their new set up.  I thought about having them in the family room with us, but quickly realized that our nosy Gracie might tip the whole thing over trying to look in.  So I ended up putting the tub in our "office" on a wooden trunk where she can't get to them.

 They settled in quickly and were eating and drinking within a few minutes of being let out.
Everyone got to name one so you will probably guess who was named by a 5 year old and who was named by my Greek husband.
 This is Blossom, an Ameraucana.  They are sometimes called an Easter Egger and lay eggs that are either blue or green.

 This is Sunny, a Brown Leghorn.  They lay large white eggs.

 This is Stamatina a Black Star (Black Sex-link).  They are a hybid of a Rhode Island Red Rooster and a Barred Rock Hen.  They are supposed to be reliable layers and their eggs are brown.


 This is Chirpy a Delaware.  They lay large brown eggs.  So far she is the most outgoing and friendly and will quickly hop right up into our hands.

 When we are holding the chicks Gracie has to stay out, she is so friendly and just wants to sniff them.  I'm sure she'll eventually be as gentle and sweet with them as she is with our rabbit and the neighbor cats.

I've been changing their water frequently since they seem to like kicking their shavings in.

It was so fun surprising Sweet Pea when she came home from school, she was so excited.  I can tell this is going to be a fun family pet project for us.
Before my husband got home I started researching how I would like our coop to be.  I got some really great ideas from Curbstone Valley Blog.  This post in particular had some really useful information.  I remember reading this post a couple of years ago.  A couple of things that stayed with me was using the hardware cloth underneath as well as the sides and top of the run, and making the coop easy to clean with removable parts.  My husband and I began drawing up plans for our coop which includes having the door to the nesting boxes easily accessible from the outside and a run that we can stand up in to make it easier to feed and clean.  We plan to put the coop in the sideyard where we have raised beds which only have blueberries in them.  At least one bed has been unused for years and their is an outgrown playhouse, they will both go to make room for a coop and nice size run for the days when they won't have access to the rest of the yard.
I am very open to any tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc that any experienced chicken owners have.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress. Pin It

37 comments:

  1. I'll try this again as my post vanished twice now... strange things happen with blogger.

    Anyway, I'm excited for the girls AND you! We too got 4 chicks 3 weeks ago, and you cannot believe how they have grown: tripled in size and have their wings. In fact, they are now getting on top of their feeder. Luckily they are in a brooder box with wire on top so they can't escape.... as a word of caution.

    working on a post now about our "girls". :)

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    1. Thanks for the tip about the escape potential, I hadn't thought about that.
      Can't wait to read about your girls!!

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  2. Hi Catherine, oooh my gosh your new chicks are so adorable! They look quite comfy in your house, already! I am sure you and your family will have a lot of fun with them and getting your own fresh eggs right from you back yard is also not an unpleasant thought :-)! I also have contemplated to get chickens, but unfortunately our HOA is very likely to object, but it won't hurt to find out for sure. Looking forward to see your chickens growing up!
    Christina

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  3. Oh my how wonderful..they are just the cutest things...can't wait to see them laying eggs of many colors...priceless!!

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  4. OOwwwwwwwwww so so so so sweeeeeeeeetttttt...love from me....xxx..

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  5. What fun! The other day as I was driving on a main thoroughfare near my house (which is in an urban/suburban setting) I saw a hen walking across the front yard of a home. When I told my husband he didn't believe me. Even people in the city (Chicago) are getting chickens.

    Eileen

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  6. Fun fun! I can't wait to see what they look like all feathered out. How cool that you got one of each kind. I've never seen someone do that and I really like the idea. It will be a great experience for your girls.

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  7. I will be anxious to see how fast they grow. We would keep a hundred of them inside in our utility room until it was warm enough to put them out in the chicken house. They get their wings quickly. I like the photos of daughter and also Gracie. She is really interested in all that is going on in there.

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  8. The chicks are so adorable. It will be interesting to watch as they get more mature. We are unable to have chickens because of bylaws. V

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  9. Yay! Another fellow chicken owner! It's been nearly a year since we got ours and it's been such a fun and rewarding experience! You're welcome to read the blog posts I did about our chickens. We've had an assortment of adventures with them. Here's a link that will take you to all the posts that are about chickens. At this point, you'll probably get more out of the posts that will be on the second page. Enjoy your chicks! They're SO cute!!! (Makes me want to get new chicks again!)

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  10. I'm so happy for you Catherine! Our Delawares were the most gregarious of our chicks too. They're a very friendly breed. Just be sure at this young age to keep them warm (if they're crowded under the lamp, they're too cold...if they scatter to the edge of the box to sleep, they're too warm -- raise and lower the lamp as needed).

    I'm sure you'll have lots of fun building your coop, and you have a few weeks before the girls are ready to move outside. I still love our coop, it's worked well for us, and I swear by slide-out poop boards for making it easy to remove night soil ;). I'm also glad we put shutters between the coop and nest boxes, it really helps to keep the boxes clean, or all the hens will pile in the boxes to roost at night. We keep them open in the daytime, and latch them closed when we lock the hens up at night. You're welcome to email me if you have any questions. Most of all ENJOY your new additions!!! They won't be this tiny for long!

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  11. They are adorable, Catherine! Your girls will have a great time with them and you'll enjoy having the fresh eggs in time.
    Blessings, Beth

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  12. OH Catherine, you'll have so much fun with your chicks! You'll have to show us if you get the blue/green eggs from your Auraucana, we get only light brown from ours. I just ordered 3 new chicks today! Our 3 "old" girls will turn 3 years old on June 1st. I can't believe it's been so long. We're still enjoying them, we just want more eggs to share. Have fun!

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  13. Congrats on becoming a proud mommy to chicks...They are adorable! So looking forward to following your chick adventures and living vicariously through your posts! What wonderful tips and advice, all the best with your new brood...Cheers Julia

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  14. Awe that was fun surprising Sweet Pea. I see Gracie is excited to check them out. Buddy was excited too. i bet ya'll enjoy them.

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  15. Now this is Easter surprise~~! Just adorable and I bet Sweet Pea will do an excellent job helping with the chicks.

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  16. We are building our coop now in anticipation for chicks in May. I've been waiting awhile and now is the time. We purchased plans for $20 from The Garden Coop. Super easy to build (coming from someone who has other people come over to hang pictures...that's about how much building experience I have) and VERY customizable. You should check it out.

    Good luck!

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    1. This is the same coop as Erika has from NW Edible. They customized theirs also.

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  17. You might also want to look into nipple waterers to keep that water clean. I guess its a renowned problem.

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  18. What a fun project! I know you will have fun and enjoy the eggs. We get fresh farm eggs and they are all colors.

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  19. Oh how exciting for all of you Catherine! Quite a few people at my allotments keep chickens on their plots - they are allowed to keep up to six. I like listening to them clucking whilst I work and when kindly given eggs I have really enjoyed them. They beat shop bought ones any day for freshness and flavour. Look forward to reading more about your chicks.

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  20. Awesome! Cute, cute, cute! With only 4, they probably won't pick on each other much just keep an eye out for that so one doesn't get sores. They will grow quickly. Enjoy the fluffiness while you've got it!
    Can't wait to see what your husband creates for them in the garden.

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  21. They are so cute! I've also been wanting to get chickens (for pest control under my apple trees, among other things) but haven't decided to take the plunge yet. May yours eat lots of bugs and give lots of eggs!

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  22. You are a brave woman! Good luck in your new adventure!
    Elaine

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  23. All soooo cute! I think I like Chirpy the delaware the most. Yeap I bet you and your family are going to have lots of fun with this project. I just love Gracie's cute little face..It's almost rare in my opinion to see poodles with such adorable faces as much as I did when I was a little girl and that was many moons ago Lol!

    I'll be back for follow ups as time permits.

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  24. Aww, how cute! I'm so excited for you! I wish we had room and time for chickens here - it would be so great to have fresh eggs!

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  25. Oh I wish we could have chickens. We live in the city limits and our city won't let us have any "livestock" which include little chicks! My parents got some last year and I love them!

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  26. Aw Catherine, thought this was a family blog, but that sex-link thingy...

    LOVE these chicks. If we weren't on the road so much I would have half a dozen roaming the back garden, but not the front 'cause that is where all my lizards hang out.

    Your sweet girlies will love this experience AND the eggs.

    love,

    S

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  27. A new argument has ensued at my house... ending with ' But a gardener in progress got chicks--why can't I have some!?'
    Maybe next year for me. So glad I get to watch your progress first :)

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    1. If you need any support from me on getting chicks let me know :) We've talked about it for years and I finally decided it was time to just do it. I can't believe that you using this blog as a reason didn't convince Travis to get chicks!! :)

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  28. Awwwww! I love getting new baby chicks. I usually order them in the mail and it is such a fun day when they finally come. Looks like yours are doing great. Chickens are so much fun to have in your garden and they really are useful for getting the bugs too. They do tend to mess up my mulch but I figure it is a trade off since they eat those bugs for me. I also have a few spots where I let them do my weeding. They do a great job when the weeds are tender still.
    Debbie

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  29. Cute post! I've been thinking about getting a chick for my little helper (she is 4). We have no run though and we are not as mechanically inclined as you and your husband seem to be! Can't wait to see more photos.

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  30. Your little darlings are so cute. I am going to enjoy watching them grow through your blog posts.

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  31. How exciting and fun! I am totally jealous as my other half has decided we shouldn't have chickens - ugh!

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  32. Good for you! Chickens are such fun. We have outside access to our nest boxes, which works really well in mucky weather. A tall run is another good thing. I definitely agree that chickens will remove mulch from plantings. Because of that, we eventually plan to build them a very large run, which fences in part of our woods. We did fence in our garden to keep them out, but it'd be nice to mulch all the other plantings.

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  33. Just stopped in for a visit and wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed my stay :) I have just started a blog about Sunday Road Trips, so really haven't anything up there yet!

    Thanks again for the beauty!

    Susan

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