Chicken update

Well, a lot has happened since Chickenstock.  The little polish, Phoenix, that was attacked is almost full grown.  His topknot has grown back, but only on one side due to scarring and it hags over his right eye.  I tried trimming the feathers back, but it still hangs because the skin on his head is so loose.  Poor little guy, it drives him crazy and he is always tossing his head around to see out of that eye.  I am afraid he may end up going blind in that eye id he cannot use it, but don't know what else to do.
The second little polish got Coccidiossis an died.  I was heartbroken.
Clem is a full fledge rooster now is so beautiful.  His comb and wattles are in and his blue ears are now tinged with red.  He is the most vocal chicken, crows a lot and when he is not crowing, he is cackling constantly.  I thing the only time he is quiet is when he is asleep.
Ebony is still very shy and doesn't do much but sit on the roost.  We are in the process of building a separate coop for the Bantams as I am afraid to put them in with the bigger chickens.  So hopefully he/she will be more active once outside.  Still not sure if Ebony is a boy or girl.  Actually, the only one I know for sure is Clem.
Singer and BG, the two silkies have gotten so big.  Also shy.  But Silkies sing the prettiest tilling songs.  I could sit and listen to it for hours.
]Three days ago, we got our first egg.  I came home and Zoomer said there was a surprise on the table for me.  There was a tiny, perfect, brown egg.  We now have five.  I think there are two hens laying now.  Three of the eggs are brown and roundish and two of them are a very pale tan and longish.  They are so tiny and cute.  We haven't eaten any yet.  The hens are laying them in the early afternoon.
My new Buff Orpington Rooster is so beautiful and just glows gold in the sunshine.  He watches over his flock and keeps them together.  If a hen strays, he chases it back to the flock and does a little dance around it.  One time some crows got really raucous, and he chased the girls under the shelter.  A minute later, a hawk flew over with the crows chasing it.
I love being outside and watching the chickens.  If I sit on the porch, Sweetie Pie will come and sit in my lap, sometimes.  They love it when I bring treats out to them.
Here are some recent pictures.
Clem

 Singer

 Phoenix, Singer, BG

 Ebony

 My first egg

 Clem

Chickenstock

Well, we spent the day at Chickenstock yesterday and I had a lot of fun.
Boy, were there a lot of chickens and ducks and turkeys and guineas for sale
My Friend Becca came and joined us and brought a big, beautiful Buff
Orpington Rooster. He is getting along great with the girls and has already
done a little dance in front of one, but the girls aren't old enough to be
interested yet.
I took my Gold Lace Wyandotte rooster and put him up for free, but no one
seemed interested. There were a lot of cockerels and roosters there for
free and for sale. As I started purchasing my chicks, I had to put the GLW
rooster back into the carrier so I could use the larger cage for my chicks.
Well, I was suppose to get 3 white silkie chicks and a white silkie rooster
from one lady, but someone broke into her coop two nights ago and stole a
bunch of chickens and two of my silkie chicks were stolen, and she forgot to
bring the silkie rooster. So all I got was the one silkie chick and she
sold me a silkie/cochin mix that is really pretty, named Clem (short for
Clementine until they realized she was a he.) I also got my black
silki/polish mix and she is so beautiful. Then from another lady I got a
white silkie chick with blue-gray spots and a tiny polish chick that I fell
in love with even though it is probably male.
I bought $10 in raffle tickets and I won a $42 heating base for the chicken
waterer so I don't have to worry about their water freezing in the winter.
I also won a book called Chicken Coops for Dummies worth $20, and a six
month Gold membership to the Backyard Chickens Forum worth $12.
During the raffle drawing, a little girl came running up with my polish
chick. It had escaped from the cage. When I took it back, I saw that along
the bottom of the cage were spaces big enough for it to get out. I was
limited on cages, so I temporarily put it in with the Wyandotte rooster
until we could plug the openings in the cage. Well, a short time later, the
little girl again came running up with my polish chick, but this time my Wyandotte had
just tried to kill. Its head was missing all the feathers, and bleeding,
and just hung like it was already dead. I was in tears. People rushed to help
me. I was doing Reiki on it the whole time I held it while people gave me
all kinds of advice and told me it looked like it wouldn't make it. I felt
awful. I was responsible for this tiny thing and it was all my fault and
everyone was being so kind. The lady I bought the polish off of gave me a
box to put I'm in. Then, she gave me another polish in case this one didn't
make it. I could not believe it. Well, in the excitement, I missed the
drawing for the 50/50 jackpot. So I went up and asked Kathleen what the
number was that was drawn. I had bought $11 worth of tickets (33 tickets),
and I won. I got $22
We packed up and came home. I gave all the chicks sugar water, then set
them up in the spare bathroom. The injured chick I put in the cat carrier
with a towel. This morning, the other polish was afraid of all the other
chicks, even the little silkies were picking on it, so I put him in with the
injured one. The injured one perked right up and is doing great. We went
to the store and got some Wonder Dust, which is what everyone told me o use
and put that on him a little bit ago. He is eating, drinking, preening and
walking around. If I can keep it from getting infected, he is going to be
fine. 

Goldrush, my new BO Rooster

White  Silkie chick

Clem, Silkie/Cochin mix

Ebony, Silkie/Polish mix

Blue spotted Silkie chick

Gold Lace Polish chicks

Ouch! injured chick

New Coop

Well, Zoomer finally got the new coop done last weekend and we put the chickens in.  They had to stay in it for a week so they would think of it as home and go back to it at night.  WE spent under $200 to build a 4 foot by 12 foot coop.  NO plans, Zoomer planned it in his head and built it.  We got scrap plywood from someone on Freecycle.  The landlords gave us two windows.  We already had four oak posts that we used for the corners.  The only things we bought were some lumber for the frame, Roofing material, hardware cloth, chicken wire, nails and screws.  It isn't the best looking coop.  I have to caulk in between the boards before winter and we still need to install the nesting boxes.  I am going to paint the coop like and old hippie bus with flowers and peace signs and such, and put a sign above the door that says Hippie Chicks.  Here are some picks of the coop and some of the chickens that are now 13 weeks old.

I am having so much fun watching them.  Sweetie Pie still runs up to me and I pick her up.  She climbs up onto my shoulder and talks in my ear.  In two weeks we are going to Indiana Chickenstock, a gathering for Indiana chicken lovers from my Chicken forum I am on.  I will be taking my Wyandotte cockerel to find a home for him.  I will also be purchasing 3 white Silkie bantam chicks.  She says they are very tame, love to be held and cuddled.  I am so excited.  I have always wanted Silkies, and I would like to find a couple Frizzles also.

Ewwwww.......

Well, I was in with the chicks yesterday and had three of the Buff Orpingtons on me, and Sweetie Pie decided to get on my head.  I took him down.  Then he flew onto my head again and I took him down.  This happened a couple more times.  I mean, those claws are really sharp and it hurt.  Well, he got me back, he jumped on my head and pooed in my hair.  Of course it had to be the runny, dark brown, really stinky Cekum (sp?) poo.   Zoomer tried to wipe it out and said I just needed to get in the shower.  I am tinking about changing Sweetie Pie's name.  How about Stinker?

Starting the new blog

Well, I decided to start using my Sacred Cat Studio blog for my arts and crafts only, so I am starting a new blog for other things going on in my life.  This is where I will post about living in the country, our search for a place to move to and build our straw bale house, and other life happenings.
For those of you who do not know, I am no longer working at the farm.  We moved into a trailer about ten minutes away.  We are looking for land we can afford, or an Intentional Community to move to.  My hubby, Zoomer, is getting anxious to get building on our home we have been dreaming of for years.
We have the greatest Landlords, and if we cannot find a place to move to and build, they have offered to let us build a home here and just rent the land.  If we do build here, we would own the trailer and be able to use what is in the trailer in our home.  We are considering this as a last resort.  There are two things that we are just not happy about here.  One is that we are on a highway and out n the open.  We want to be more secluded.  The other thing is our dog, Shasta, loves to run and cannot run here as the property is too close to the highway and to small.  But if we cannot find any other option, we will take them up on it.  The other thing is we would have to build under the shelter so the house would be really small and we would not be able to build the round house we had dreamed of.
For Mother's Day, Zoomer got me 8 baby chicks.  I picked out 4 Buff Orpingtons and 4 Gold Laced Wyandottes.  They will be 5 weeks old this weekend.  They are growing like weeds.  The BO chicks are very friendly and fly up onto my leg and shoulder to sit.  The GLW are still freaky and do not like to be held.  I am hoping one of the BO is a rooster as I want to keep that breed true.  It looks like two of the GLW may be roosters.  If so I will have to find a home for them, as I only want one rooster so they will not fight and stress out the hens.  Here are some recent pics of them.  This is Sweetie Pie, the friendliest of the bunch.  She/he flies onto my leg, then onto my shoulder where she/he likes to sit.  And poo on my back.  LOL!

 

This next one is a close up of Sweetie Pie in the front, and Goldie behind, then some of the Wyandottes in the back.

  

Next is a close up of Lemon Mahogany, which I believe may be a rooster, and the last, one is a group shot