Thursday, July 12, 2012

Three day old chicks

My little chicks are doing great!!! Although regulating the temperature in the brooder is a challenge we are fairing quite nicely.  I live in South Florida so it is already hot, but still hard to keep the temp in the "zone"
I took them outside for a bit last evening
They didn't really know what to do, just sat there and chirped.  The basket I put them under had handle holes big enough for them to scoot out of, so I panicked and took them back inside to their brooder.
WHAT??


I am gonna just sit here and be calm!


Hi my name is Jennifer


I am a happy chick!

They are Blue Silkies. Right now they are going by Jennifer and Abby. Jennifer because my sister wanted one named after her and Abby in honor of Abby Sciuto on NCIS! In the event they are Roos, 1) I will be sad and 2) I will relocate them to a place that is allowed to have roosters.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Houston ~ We have chicks!!!


Day 21 came and went with little more then the tiniest pip. Day 22 came with tons of events and activities.
Chick #1
Chicken #1 came yesterday about 5:38 PM. It was the most exciting thing I ever saw, minus my Grandson being born.
Oh I am exhausted!


Chick #2
They started to come a lot faster once they heard the chirping.  I also added in my own clucks and chirps to cheer them on.  It actually worked!!  When I clucked they were rocking like crazy.
Silkie #1

Silkie #1

Hi Mom! 
The last Silkie was hatched between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM today.

The Silkies are mine and the others are  http://www.citychickenkids.blogspot.com/ - hers are Cochin's - we hatched a white, and four mixed.

I wish I would have journaled it, but honestly that was the last thing I thought of.  All that time on my hands waiting and I didn't think to keep track of times and other info.

Tonight the Silkies are going into the brooder. City Chick picked her babies up this morning.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Good Bye June

As June 2012 fades away we welcome July ~ With all it's sparkle and boom.  When my children were small we always took them to a local 4th of July celebration in Jacobus, PA.  Bar-B-Que chicken, ice cream, cake walks, games, and of course fireworks.  Living in South Florida there are fireworks of course, but the traffic isn't worth the 5 minutes of boom boom pow.  However, where I live I am always greeted with an urban show of explosion presented by my neighbors.  Yes, my dogs have panic attacks, yes, I have to clean bottle rockets off my patio and out of my pool.  But being able to sit outside and just look up to see the display is not all that bad.

This past weekend I purtied up the coop for the girls.
June 30, 2012

June 30, 2012

Panoramic

June 30, 2012
We are extending the coop out to the left so I am not going to plant anything there.  To the right I planted a package of "butterfly flower" seeds and in the buckets are my herbs that will be hung on the fence.  Under the nesting boxes I planted some flowers that are chicken friendly and behind the coop I sprinkled sunflower seeds and marigold seeds.

I also treated the girls to some meal worms and some frozen yogurt cubes.  The meal worms went fast and furious, the yogurt cubes took a bit to be tasted.  The weather here is of course hot, although not as hot as in other parts of the country. I am going to make some "redneck" cooling devices for the girls to keep them a bit cooler when they are roosting.  Plastic water bottles with frozen water and hung to "put off" coolness. So far they are not showing any signs of heat fatigue. 

I am thinking about painting the fence behind the coop, although it is not technically my fence, what could it hurt?  

On Wednesday July 4, 2012 is my "lock down" date.  The eggs in the "bator" will be locked and hopefully loaded.  I will take the incubator off the auto turning device, increase the humidity to 70% and say a little prayer.  Saturday is 21 days ~ I will glued to that incubator like a crazy person!!!! 
Two of my five remaining eggs look as though they are viable, however, candling is so new to me I am not 100% confident.  All but two of  http://www.citychickenkids.blogspot.com/ eggs look viable. She sat six eggs in my incubator. 

I will be setting up my brooder this week so we are all ready to go for the hatch!!!!!

Sooooo excited ~ LET'S GO CHICKIES!!!!!