A dog, a cat and a couple of chickens

Hello!!!! Wow I haven't posted in forever!!! There is sooo much to tell. First of all the chicks are moved into their house. Every morning we let them out into their run, give them some treats (they like parsley and lettuce the best), and we can leave them until we come back from wherever we are. We also scatter this stuff on the ground called scratch, which is made of corn bits and seeds. They go crazy for it!! It is meant to get them to scratch at the ground hence the name scratch. The chicks are no longer chicks but pretty much full grown chickens!!

We got a puppy!!!! We got her from a Dalmatian Rescue (she's a Dalmatian mix). When we got her, her name was Sadie but we changed her name to Fig. She is only four months old and sooo cute! If you don't know we have a cat named Ollie. When we got Fig (Saturday June 19th) I was sure Ollie and Fig weren't going to get a long. When Fig first saw Ollie she got all excited, which made Ollie scared so he hissed at her and ran away. Each of their meetings since has become friendlier. Fig still tries desperately to get Ollie to play with her.

A farm isn't a farm without a dog, a cat, and a couple of chickens!

The Chicken Run

The Chicken House

Inside the Coop

The Chicken Hatch 

The Girls

Luna

Bella on Cleo

Fig

Fig Sniffing the Kangaroo Paw

Ollie

    

Giant Chickens!!!

It's been two weeks since I last posted. You wouldn't believe how fast they grow!!! Their bodies are all covered in pretty little feathers except for their heads which are still fuzzy. Now they can jump out of their bucket and walk around the shower. They love to roost on the rim and would sit up there all day if they didn't need to eat or drink.

OMG they poop soooo much!!! Yesterday I had to put on cleaning gloves, get on my hand and knees and scrub down the whole bathroom. Meanwhile the chicks were having a ball throwing food all over the guest room which I then also had to clean up but I still love them.

The coop is under way!!! Last weekend we assembled most of the pieces for the coop and run. Yesterday we painted the house pieces a nice dark grayish blue color. Today we are working on putting up the house.

Here are some pictures from this weekend, last weekend, and two weekends ago.


Two weekends ago:

Tonks

Belatrix

Mrs. Norris

Luna

Mrs. Noris

Cleo and Luna

Last weekend:

Tonks on Ezra

Belatrix and Cleo's friend Leslie

Lazy Luna

This weekend:

The Girls in a temporary cage while their bathroom is being cleaned

Luna

The coop (pieces) and its constructors

A more completed coop (font)

A more completed coop (eggdoors, back)

Love,
Cleo and Ezra
(from Cleo's point of view)
 

Chicks in da House!

The chicks came!!! They arrived on April 20, 2010 in a cardboard box. They flew on a plane all the way from Connecticut. We got the box (after chasing down the mailman), opened it with scissors, and there they were! Four little healthy balls of fluff. We lifted them up with care and gently put them in the enclosure (also called a brooder) we made for them. It is a metal bucket (the kind you put drinks in at a party) with wood shavings on the bottom and something for them to eat and drink out of. The set-up is in the downstairs bathroom, inside the shower.  


The first thing we did was teach them how to drink. We dunked their little beaks in the water (like the book said to do) and they got the hang of it pretty fast. They taught themselves how to eat, smart chicks. For the first week we weren't sure of names. We changed them about twice a day at least though still within the Harry Potter category. A few days ago we finally decided: the Barred Rock is Belatrix, the Americauna is Tonks, the Speckled Sussex is Mrs. Norris, and the Australorp is Luna. They have grown to be about three times the size of when we first got them. They now have feathers on their wings and tails. 


Here are some pictures from last week.

Lap full of chicks

Belatrix

Tonks

Mrs. Norris

Luna

Chicken brooder.  It's red because of the heat lamp, which keeps them warm, about 90F.

Cleo and her baby

Love, Cleo & Ezra

Introducing Bluegrass Farms

    Bluegrass farms is a place where we share our backyard, hillside farm experiences. We have a tomato patch and just ordered 4 baby chicks. We are getting an Americauna, a Barred Plymouth Rock, an Australorp, and a Speckled Sussex. They are being shipped on April 19 (Ezra's birthday)! We have started designing the chicken coop and run.

This is where we ordered the chickens from:
mypetchicken.com


Here is a drawing of what our chicken coop will look like:

Our chickens:

This is an Americauna! She lays green and blue eggs and is extremely friendly!

Her name is FLEUR DELACOUR

This is a Speckled Sussex! She is beautiful and lays brown eggs!

Her name is LAVENDER BROWN

This is a Barred Plymouth Rock! She is a friendly bird and lays a lot of brown eggs!

Her name is MOLLY

 

This is an Australorp! She is black with an iridescent tinge and lays many brown eggs!

Her name is MRS. NORRIS

That's it for now - time to eat some fresh baked brownies we made earlier.

Love, Cleo & Ezra