Coming Soon...

Coop upgrade and expansion project!

Tweenagers

They're getting pretty big!  Unfortunately, they are still living part time in the house.  Which is becoming a problem.  They've outgrown their box (understatement).  Last week we picked up a little coop for them in Corvallis.  It's pretty flimsy and not secure at all.  Not my best purchase ever, but we were desperate for something to transition them to outside.  So while I'm waiting for Aaron to predator proof the coop, I'm getting them used to the cold, hard world without heat lamps.  They do okay down to 60, but it's getting into the 30s at night still, so they aren't quite ready.  

 

My baby!  Still hoping this is not a rooster.  I am not going to be able to handle that well.

This weather has been great for letting them run around.

Little bit of a photo bomb.

Rooster, you are fine and all, but I'm ready for you to move on.  Counting the days until this one is old enough to give to a friend.

Seriously.  Please be a girl!

My "roost" is barely big enough now.  I love spending so much time with them, but it will be nice to reclaim our living room.

Their new tiny coop!

I went to run some errands and came home to this.  How Buffer?  Why?  I'm not sure how long she was in there, less than an hour, but jeez.  I was all worried the babies were cooking in the sun or something and she was the one that needed to be rescued.

The older hens were spending lots of time around these little ones today.  Camilla was the first to act out in aggression - maybe because they are getting as tall as her?  She was trying to peck them through the fence.  The black one held her ground and pecked right back!  I'm not sure they'll be so brave when there isn't a barrier.

Next project: Expand chicken coop and add privacy fencing to block the view of our yard from the street.  Never mind the half gutted house...

Fence!

We haven't done much work on the yard, but I've been dying for a privacy fence.  We decided first priority was this back fence since it had huge gaps and the neighbor behind us has a (well behaved) dog.  The little ones could easily get themselves into trouble popping through there.  We had 7 different fence styles in our yard.  You can see how ugly it was.  

So we talked to our neighbors - who we really like, I'm sad we can't talk over the fence as easily now - and they said they would split costs with us.  So we ripped that old fence down.  It looked better immediately and it was nice to pretend all those raised beds were part of our yard :)

This was a 10 time to the store project.  I hate that.  It was really difficult to retrofit everything, especially to the pipes set in concrete on the retaining wall.  That area didn't turn out as plumb, but it was our only option.  We also filled in all the gaps at the bottom from the slope with pressure treated lumber.  We got most of our supplies at Parr Lumber and I am in love with that place.  Most of their prices were better than or competitive with the box stores, but the quality on the lumber was much, much better and their customer service is excellent.  We're going to pick up some cedar for raised beds in a few days, they only carry it this time of year and it's crazy how much less it is than everywhere else we looked!

Clearly the work of the person who lived here before us.  He's left us all sorts of surprises.  I thought Aaron was going to put out his back getting that one out.

So nice!  75 feet of beautiful cedar!

Aaron is off camping this weekend, so I decided to surprise him by staining it before he got home.  You can see the difference below.  We wanted something to protect the color, but not alter it.  I used Sherwin Williams Woodscapes, untinted in Semi Transparent.

I love it!  Now we need one facing the street (too many chickens!!) and along the lower end of our property and I'll finally stop feeling like I'm being watched all the time.

Chick Update

Well they certainly aren't babies anymore.  They are growing so fast.  At 10 days they could fly out of their brooder box.  We got 4 on March 8th and 2 more on the 15th.  They have been going crazy for spinach, barley, oatmeal and rice.

This is from a few days ago - early morning snuggle fest.

Let me introduce you to them.  No one has official names yet.  Honestly I'm waiting to see who's a boy and who's a girl before I get too attached.
This is "Aaron's" chick, or "Yours" as I say to him.  An Easter Egger.  I'm glad she's getting some prettier coloring around her neck and breast.  Aaron has been whispering to her "Don't be ugly when you grow up!"

This is "Little Fluff".  A Blue Cochin.  Still adorable with all that down.  Unfortunately, the late feathering probably means she is a he.  He/she is a sweetie.  So cute when it flaps its "wings".

This is "Big Fluff".  Also a Blue Cochin.  Her wings are coming in and they are beautiful!

Look, my feet are feathering out too!

Wings!

This is "The Welsummer".  99% positive this is a rooster.  Look at that comb!  I could literally see it growing daily the first two weeks, it's huge.  He also likes cuddling the least of any of the chicks.  This might be a breed issue though, the bin of chicks we got him from was super flighty.

This is "The Black One".  A Black Australorp.  This chick is super needy and not our favorite, but friendly.  Her feathers are coming in kind of crazy, so I hope that self corrects.

This is "My Chick".  Another Easter Egger.  Please, please please don't be a boy!  This one will cry for me if I walk by and she always wants to be held.  Super mellow and curious.  Oops, I got attached to this one already :/

Peepers

Babies!

Oh I love these little fuzzballs!  Always in a hurry.  They're already losing their down and starting to get tail feathers :(  Trying to enjoy every second with them.

Babies

We drove all over Friday to pick up our babies.  I had carefully planned out where to get the breeds I wanted, when I wanted them.  I was going to get them from the Urban Farm Store, but when Aaron called them to make sure the chicks had come in, the two breeds we planned on getting "all came in dead".  They get their chicks from a local hatchery I had planned on going through directly, but changed my mind after reading some convincing bad reviews and didn't feel comfortable going with them.  Over 30 dead chicks that had been shipped from just a few hours away...I'm glad I didn't get my chicks from them in the end.
We scrambled that morning to piece together the breeds we wanted.  First stop was in Woodburn, where we picked up a Welsummer and a Black Australorp (my number one this year).  They were out of Ameracuanas (AKA Easter eggers), along with every small town feed store in the Willamette Valley except in Newberg!  We must have called 15 feed stores.  Finally when we called Newberg and they said they had 10 left, we got in the car and went.  The plan was to get ONE.  Then after we packed up our chick, Aaron says, well don't you want two?  I mean, what was I to say to that?  He picked out the final chick and is calling her "his chick".
So 4 babies, and talk of one more this Friday from Portland...if they get in the breed they are planning on.  That adds up to 5 + 4.   Way too many birds for our little coop in the city with a 5 bird limit!  The plan is to expand the coop, put up privacy fencing, maybe sell one of the pullets (or roosters if that problem presents itself), and probably get rid of two of our older girls.
Tonight I asked Aaron to hold them while I cleaned the brooder out.   Oh it was cute.

There was some serious bonding going on.  I was cracking up as he stroked that little yellow head (towards the top, below) and she would close her eyes blissfully.

We are calling that one Troublemaker for now.  She is constantly trying to peck someone's eyes/toes/face/wings, and she's pretty fearless when it comes to jumping off of things.

Here are all 4.  Aaron's dark Americauna on the left, the light one I picked out at the bottom, the Welsummer with the well defined line down her back and the Australorp in the back.

I have to admit there have been many hours in the last two days dedicated to just sitting and watching them.  They are so small and soft!  And vivacious, so funny to watch them run around and interact with each other.  The goal is to get these guys tame, tame tame.  I have been wanting to raise chicks for years and  I'm loving every minute of it!

Lovely Weekend

Friday I hit up Zumba, then made my way to Eugene to meet up with Ashlee for a few hours.  A visit to Sweet Life is always mandatory, we shared a lime tartlet it was perfection.  

This little sweetie has taken to jumping on my lap whenever I sit next to her.  It used to take a bribe of food to make that happen.  Now she just seems to enjoy my company.  The feeling is mutual.

Saturday we cleaned and organized the basement.  I suck at before pictures!  It felt good to get that space together.  Then we headed up to Bridgeport to REI, where I found a black puffy half off.  I've been waiting for the perfect one.  I'm not sure it's perfect, but it is warm, which my old one is not.

Today we got up early and headed to Corvallis.  We went to see the lambs being born, but must have missed it by a week.  So we went out to Oak Creek and hiked about 5 miles.  I really, really miss having all those trails in my backyard.  

We did some shopping - yay new shoes!  Then had a yummy lunch at Block 15.  Aaron picked up a few bottles of this Petit Verdot.  I'm not much for beer, but this was delicious.

We grabbed some dough and ranch from American Dream and headed home to make the most of the rest of the day.  We used our clean basement space to knock out 45 frames and 3 boxes for the bees.  Using a nail gun made the job go much quicker than it has in the past without one.

For dinner I made a parmesan encrusted pork chop - new favorite way to eat pork chops.  Easy and super delicious!