Crazy Chicken Lady Status

Chicks Galore!

Last fall when we were finally ready to get chicks, it was pretty late in the season. We ended up with the last of what Wilco had to offer - which turned out to be a fantastic breed! Golden Bovans lay lots of eggs (👍) and are very friendly/docile. (👍) They have been a true joy to my heart as we've watched them grow and become the quirky girls that they are. "Sesame" [Chicken] and "BBQ" [Chicken] are their names, to remind us of their ultimate purpose - and hopefully keep the kids used to the idea.  (Who am I kidding, it's to keep ME used to the idea. It will be such a sad day. 😭)

When we got BBQ and Sesame though, we missed out on the early super cute stage because they were already about 2 weeks old. So from the get-go, I knew there would be more, and hopefully we'd get to have the younin's. Knowing how super fun it was to keep the chicks inside the house last time, I decided to create a better brooder for future chicks. Thanks to Pinterest, the project was born!

I worked hard on the entertainment center-turned-brooder for a while with no particular time frame in mind. I didn't need to hurry and get chicks in the first week or anything - they would be around until Fall. But one day I was browsing Craigslist in boredom and randomly ended up in the Farm section to see what kind of interesting treasures that category might hold. Though this was January, I came across a post for chicks and clicked on it. The owner lived in Monmouth and was hatching a breed called Erminettes. This is a rare breed thought to be extinct for a while until a man happened upon some on a farm he was driving past. He discovered from the farm owner that these were in fact Erminettes, passed on from her Grandfather and Father, and then to her. Since their discovery in the 1980s, there has been an effort to revive the breed. They are gorgeous chickens! 

Because of their fascinating history and coloring, I reached out to the lady with the ad for more info. Were these chicks worth considering? She made them sound very nice, but I explained that we just weren't at a point where we felt we could risk $15/chick that might be roosters. (Our Bovans are a hybrid breed that can be "sexed" (breed determined) at birth as the boys and girls are different colors.) But this lady, Brook, and I continued to talk. She told me that she would have other chicks in a few weeks that are Olive Eggers (They lay a uniquely olive-colored egg). She would be willing to sell them to us at $5/each, which is the same price as Wilco, so the risk was much less. Plus, she added, she can sometimes tell which ones are girls and would help us select.

In the course of continued emails back and forth, Brook explained that hatching chicks is a project she does with her grandson, who spends the summers with her. Her emails were hilarious! She spoke like an old friend. It became known that her grandson is 7 - just like my youngest son - and then we found out his name is Kieran! Her Kieran, like ours, is also the chicken-whisperer and dotes on and cares for the chickens in his life as well, just like mine. We found Kieran's other self! Hahaha. That connection really solidified things. We continued to talk and check in while I finished the Brooder and Brook cared for the unhatched chicks. As the time approached, Brook told us that we could come get first pick, plus her Kieran wanted to gift our Kieran any chick of his choice. (i.e. I think some breeds they typically sell for more than others.) It was such a sweet gesture!

The day of the hatching arrived - simultaneously to our devastating ice storm. (That's a whoooole other post). When Brook lost power that nice like everyone else, she was up all night watching over the chicks that she had to move near the fireplace and use blankets to keep as warm as possible. Remember, they were still in the incubator! That was some dedication! After a day of weather calm-down and letting the rest of the chicks hatch, we went to her house on Sunday - the whole crew. Each kid picked out a favorite chick. It was so delightful. Brook tried to connect via Zoom with her Kieran, but it didn't work out. Anyway, we went home happily with 5 Olive Eggers. 2 Are classic yellow, 2 have striping, and Kieran's is a super fluffy brown one. 

We were immediately smitten. 💓 We obsess over our chicks. The next day, Monday, Brook reached out and asked if we'd be wanting/willing to take another chick who had been born with a deformity. This chick has a crooked beak which may make it a bit harder to eat and drink, but shouldn't be too problematic. We might need to trim the beak occasionally though. 😬 We already had one extra chick than our city (and coop) allows, but presumably we have a rooster or more in the mix that we won't be keeping. So I gueeeess we could take another. We looked into "beak trimming" and it doesn't sound super fun, but not worse than trimming a dog's nails I guess. It just seems... disconcerting. But we were willing to try. Brook offered to send a little "friend" along, one of the more expensive breeds, for free. I didn't respond about taking that chick as well, but in the end Brook insisted so that the smaller crooked-beaked chick would have a friend who's also small. S/he is a Silkie. It turns out the Silkie had just hatched THAT morning when Nate picked them up after work. S/he is SO tiny! They're a smaller breed as it is, and combined with being straight out of the incubator, wow! She makes our other chicks who are a few days older look like old giants!

I've seen/heard a little bit about Silkie chickens, but man, they are goofy looking!

Silkies are an "ornamental" breed, because they aren't terribly good egg layers. They are, however, suuuuper soft. Their feathers are more like down. In fact, since their feathers aren't waterproof, they aren't great breeds for wet and muddy climates, nor cold climates. We'll see how long we can keep ours, but a great advantage of these birds is that they are known for being really really friendly - perfect because we've got lots of kids around (including the neighbors) who like to hold the chickens all day every day. Silkies are also the Mothers of the flock - they'll sit on and raise any eggs, even ducks or turkeys. Because they're so small and docile, they are at risk of getting picked on in the flock, so we're keeping on our eye on our little one. S/he is seriously SO small. It's just the absolute cutest thing ever!

So, we now have SEVEN chicks in the brooder and the 2 chickens outside. If we don't have at least 3 roosters in the mix, we'll have to figure something out. At least giving away or selling excess hens should be easy. In fact, I'd rather that than have to deal with getting rid of roosters, so I'm crossing my fingers that we selected really wisely.

Hollyn's: Snuggles

Solid yellow=Brennan's: "Fry/Fried". Yellow with a black beauty spot = Asher's: "Valentine"

Kieran's: "Chubby" or "Fatso" or "Tricksie" or whatever he's leaning towards on any given day.

Kylea's: "Dutchess"

Amidst all this craziness, the ladies (probably BBQ) laid their first egg! I had gone to a lot of trouble to make their nesting boxes comfy AND easily cleaned, AND we tried to discourage the girls from sleeping (ie pooping) in it. On Monday - the day after bringing home the 5 chicks and day before getting the additional 2 - Kieran discovered an egg in a random corner of the yard. Naturally. 🙄 Boy was it a fun find though! We got around to breaking it open a couple days later and let Kieran be the first taster since he's continued to be our main chicken-keeper. Yummm. 

The next day an egg holder I'd ordered arrived so I walked into the kitchen to put it on the counter, and there was the egg, right where we'd been keeping it. What??? I KNEW the egg had been cooked and eaten, but this egg on the counter was not only in the same spot, it seemed to have the same dirt streaks on it. Very weird. 🤷 In any case, I picked it up to try it out on my new holder, making sure it wouldn't be too small. It seemed good! As I went to set it in it's place at the bottom, I accidentally dropped it on the floor. 😭😭😭 Doh! The shell cracked all over, but the contents remained held inside. So... I cracked it open into a pan, and cooked and ate it. Afterwards the mystery was solved - Kieran had found that egg in a DIFFERENT corner of the yard. Ugh! Dang chickens. As fun as these "Easter Egg Hunts" are, this is not ideal. And Nate said that it would teach the rest of the chickens bad habits too. BUT, today I found our third egg IN THE NESTING BOX! Hallelujah! Of course, they laid it in the one box that someone's been pooping in instead of the clean box, but it's a start at least.

Our neighbors Wesley and Vivian. Wesley is a "saver". He's got $250 saved so far for his goal - his own farm. Hehehe. Except for Sundays, Keiran and Wesley (and usually Vivian) are playing every chance they get. Neither kids are allowed in each other's homes yet (because of W and V's folks being more careful during the pandemic), so the kids only play outside or in the garage when my car's gone. It's absolutely BRILLIANT! We basically never see Kieran unless we go outside as well. These kids are constantly playing with the chickens or digging holes to China or tromping through the creek, or any number of imaginative and active play. Kieran is definitely living his best life, lol.

Trying to get some shots of Sookie the Silkie

Incidentally, our chickens must love the attention. When they aren't being played with, they're at our windows waiting for us to come out and play. They go to the back sliding door, or jump up on the ledge right outside the desk (where Nate does his hobby painting) where they watch at eye level, they jump on the outdoor table to peer through the Family Room Windows, or they wander down to our bedroom windows to watch Nate work. It is SO funny. Silly girls.

Yes, our deck is covered in chicken poop though. 😒

Addendum: Nate will be building a larger coop as his Spring Break project now. Lol. I'm lucky he loves me so much. 😊