The Little Eggs

Recently the Molt has hit our flock and thus kept the Big Girls from laying any eggs. Penny is for some reason going through her second molt this year, her first starting in late August and her recent one starting in late September. There was a clear time she stoped molting inbetween. However while the older ones molted, the younger hens did not. Instead Ethel and Ester became egg machines. For Ester's first two weeks of laying, her very first two, she only didn't lay on one day. They both lay almost an egg a day now without any sign of stopping. 

Ethel's First Dark Brown Egg

The older hens have gone weeks without laying. Oh well. They have become pets over anything else regardless. The only little girl left to lay is Ertha. She is still an itty-bitty chicken we don't know when she'll lay, or if she'll get any bigger.

Ethel's First Egg Compared To Penny's First Egg.

Ester's Blue/Green Eggs

Hawk Sighting

Recently a small hawk landed in our neighbor's tree. It was quite small, smaller than most our flock, but still large enough to carry away a chicken. It was devouring something, however, as little bits of feather fluff kept falling away from the branch. It's meal was even smaller than it, however, so it appears to have been a mourning dove or scrub jay. Our neighbor confirmed it was not a chicken being eaten. The hawk was also beautifully colored, much like our easter egger Ester.

Daisy Boy

It turned out that Daisy was indeed a rooster. Due to city ordinances, we couldn't keep him in city limits. We put up Craigslist adds selling him, but no one responded. We couldn't bring ourselves to eat him either, he was such a sweet boy. His giant size made him so clumsy and funny. Constantly he would be tripping over his own feet. We also feared that if we sold Daisy, Violet would constantly be loud. Screaming for her only friend in the flock.

Eventually we contacted a guy who wanted to take them in. He ran a kind of sanctuary for fowl. Out in the hills north of Sacramento he had hundreds of chickens and ducks. We felt confident he would treat the pair right, as he seemed greatly excited to have them. (We later heard from him, saying that they had chicks!) We were sad to lose them, but it was for the best. It also helped knowing that they weren't someone's dinner.

New Babies

For a 4H project I would have to show some chickens at the fair. None of our current girls are show quality, though. Penny is too obese and we can't confirm any of them are purebred. Millicent and Marigold are purebred but they do not have a set standard for their breed. We decided to get two orpingtons, a black orpington and a mottled, although the mottled would not be showable anyways. Our first ideas for names were; Ethel and Ester, but we decided we should keep these for a future pair of easter eggers. Instead they became Daisy and Violet.

Violet the Black Orpington.

We kept them in a bin stocked with shavings for a few weeks before they got big. We upgraded them to a bigger box and then to a giant dog kennel. Only recently have we begun letting them outside for most of the day and bringing them in at night. They are around three months old now and we are thinking of moving them permenantly outside. They still stay in a seperate run, the little coop, because Violet needs to stay pretty.

Both chicks together shortly after getting them.

We still can't even confirm these chicks are purebred, as Violet is beginning to look more mottled and Daisy appears different than what they should be. Daisy is also growing saddle feathers and has no tail (oops). He meets all the criteria to be a roo and I swear I heard him crow three times the other day, otherwise he (it) has been quiet.

They tend to find safety in the dog's fur.

The idea was to sell these two as a pair before he got noisy and we grew too attached, though. Violet is turning out to be very mean and they are both flighty. However due to other complications we may keep them nevertheless. They are getting braver and are even willing to eat beside the big girls, although this ends in a lot of squawking and pecking.

Violet loves her dog.

If Daisy turns out to be a roo he may be able to protect Violet from her attackers and get his revenge on his bullies in his own way. He seems very sweet and may never take control of the flock.

Finished Coop

We finished the coop awhile ago, however I haven't been posting. We pushed the coop back to where the Japenese pine used to be. We then carried the run into place. We poured the sand and laid out the stones and pebbles. We redid the coop floor after we found it rotting in some places. We also added a porch for the chickens and added a ramp so the fatter girls don't have to jump down. We got rid of our old locks (most of them were broken) and got us some new ones, too.

The finished chicken house.

Our little guest house for the new chooks.

The little coop stayed, although we gave it new sand and redid the path leading to it. We planted some greenery around the path and generally tidied it up for the new chicks, once they got old enough.