Differant Kinds of Chicks

I have realized that since we got chicks I have not showed you the different types that we have. So here they are.

This is a Speckled Sussex. Which as the name implies is speckled. These are the friendliest of the chicks.

This is a Partridge Rock.

This is a Rhode Island Red which are my favorite.Here is a Buff Orpington who are also very friendly.

This is a Cornish Roaster ;). They are huge compared to the other layers.

And last but not least the one and only White Crested Black Polish A.K.A Jo Jo. Like Joseph who had a coat of many colors and was held above the others because he was special :).
--Philip

Duckies

The duckies are here!!!!!!

All 11 of them arrived yesterday morning, we only ordered 10 but the hatchery once again showed its generosity and gave us yet another mouth to feed, but you don't hear me complaining;)



They’re addicted to water, which wouldn’t be a problem except their sloppy drinkers, and all the bedding within 1 foot of the water is always soaking wet. to try to help keep the mess down I put an old tray covered with newspapers and old wash rags under the water to help contain and absorb the cups of liquid they fling out. Also when I first put them on the wood shavings the silly little babies started choking down pieces of wood!! Luckily I had done my research on the common problem, and knew the best way to stop them from possibly dying from constipation is to cover all the shavings with paper towels for a few days till they get old enough to recognize their food from a chopped up tree. The 11 duckies are more work than the 27 chickies, but boy are they cute.
I’m trying to get them used to my hand, because they are quite skittish. They squirm their little hearts out if you try picking them up unless their very tired like this little guy was.
Taking the soaked bedding out of from around the water sends them all into the opposite corner where they huddle on top of each other till my hand is withdrawn before mobbing the water as if they were dying of thirst.



After several sessions of hand feeding a paste ( their food dissolved in water) they have become much less fearfull of the hand and a few will even step up and try to eat my watch In a few more days we will try letting them swim for the first time. I can’t wait!
--Anna

The Pen, The Snake, And The Ducks

Hello everybody. Friday we started making a pen for the chicks, even though they are going to free range we still wanted something to keep them in when we are gone so they can still go outside when they want to. So we dug some holes and used some of our own logs for the posts. Then Saturday we put the wire and some spare shade cloth on it so there is a covering on top of it.

And voila there it is. We are letting the chicks out now and they like to forage and look for bugs. When they first came out they were a little skittish…. okay they were very skittish but the Buff Orpingtons or Buffingtons as dad calls them were the bravest. And one of the male “Buffingtons” that we call Freebie (because the hatchery gave him to us for free) was the bravest of the Buffs and was always out there. But today (Tuesday) when I went out there this morning and opened the door almost all of them came running out. Monday mom found a snake in the future garden area and we decided to feed it to the chickens.

I did not see it today so they must have eaten it. We ordered ten ducks for Anna’s birthday. They are supposed to come tomorrow (Wednesday) or Thursday so Anna and I are going to put together the box tonight and hopefully they will come tomorrow morning :D.
--Philip

Zipline

For Anna’s birthday (March 24th’) she got a zip line. A zip line has always been on our list of something we want to do in the country. So Sunday after church we came home and decided where to hang the cable. After a lot of difficulty trying to tighten it dad told me to get the tractor.

By tying the cable to the tractor we were able to hold it taut while dad tightened the screws. Now that the cable was unyielding to our weight it was smooth sailing. Instead of hanging from the
bars we used an old hammock to make a comfortable sling.

We now spend our free time taking turns zipping down and towing each other back up. Here is a video from my perspective.

P.S It is a BLAST if I have not yet made that clear.

--Philip

moving the chicks outside

We finally got the chicks outside where they belong. The Chicken manor took 3 consecutive weekends and one of dad’s sick days (he was sneezing doesn’t that count) to complete. Mom, Philip, and I moved them in, the next day while Thomas stayed inside doing important school stuff. Moving them took four trips. At first it was tricky because as fast as Philip and I put them in they jumped back out, it really was like some crazy video game. Once we figured out that this method would not work we used an old “doggy” towel to keep everyone inside while we caught the stragglers. They love to dust bathe and peck the dirt (it helps their digestion:), as well as hunt for and eat dozens of worms. Unfortunately the move did have casualties. Two roasters (whenever anyone is hurt it’s always one of these tubbies) are ill, one has a gimpy leg, and the other has a gash on his side. Gimpy just limps between the food and water at first I hand fed him because he was so pathetic, but he seems to be doing better. The one with the laceration has been quarantined and hopefully he too will heal up. -- Anna