Chick with a Whistle Farms

Upgrades in the Hen House

Since we have moved out to Corcoran, we enjoy hanging around the house more and tinker about. This is a pretty significant change in our approach to weekends vs. when we lived in the condo- our tradition in the condo was to pack our weekend full of activities so we were at home as little as possible. This weekend I spent my saturday cleaning out the barn. Martha, my welsummer started squawking at me. I soon realized she didn’t like the commotion I was making. She had plans for laying an egg in a quiet private box. I gave her some privacy and was excited to see the egg laying in action.

We have been consistently getting an egg a day. But I was surprised to see that her eggs are pretty small. So I am still trying to figure out who gave me the giant egg.

The other observation I made this weekend is how big Eliza was getting, my ameraucana. I became a little concerned that she may not really fit in the laying boxes. So, we decided to remedy this issue. Dustin and I headed to the store to figure out a solution. First we looked at lumber, then giant mailboxes, then plastic tubs, kitty litter boxes to wood crates. My budget was getting a little out of control and decided to use what we had. We settled on modifying an old dresser.

It turned out pretty good. If I was a chicken that is where I would stake my claim. Two drawers were taken out for head room and two drawers still work to grab eggs.

To fit the dresser we had to do some rearranging in the chicken coop. This is what we settled on.

Chicken Tipping

We have been finding an egg a day. We have found 1 giant egg and 2 little ones in 2 different boxes.

After doing a Google search, I research different ways in finding out if hens are laying eggs. I discovered that if you tip them upside down and check there vent you can find out if they are currently laying eggs.

So the family was out in the barn tipping over all the chickens to figure out which ones are laying the eggs in the boxes. It was actually quite a funny conversation with the kids to give them permission to tip chickens upside down and check their butts. 🐔

I was also chuckling at Ringo because he was playing in the wood chips having all of his girl hens take care of him. He made quite a show tonight.

Sherlock Holmes Case

So we were super excited to see two eggs yesterday. We knew one of the hens we picked up last weekend had been laying. Today we all rushed out to the barn to see if we had any more and I was happy to see another egg. The laying welsummer hen has been named Martha.

When we brought the egg in to put it with the two others I started wondering if chickens lay different size eggs. So, I did a Google search and read that all hens lay small eggs and gradually get bigger. Hmmm.

So, based on that information I am guessing we have 2 layers not one. Now the question is who is the other layer? Or is there even 3 hens laying.

Supper Club- United Noodle (Minneapolis)

I recently took a trip to St Louis for a conference and I was surprised at how eager I was to look at reviews online for local restaurants and try different foods. I decided when I came back home that I should take the same approach in my local area. I talked with a coworker and we decided to create a dinner club. A time to be able to enjoy local restaurants and a girls night out. I decided that I was going to start keeping reviews of the restaurants we go to each month on my blog. So here are some of my thoughts.

2/4/16
United Noodle:
2015 EAST 24TH STREET
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55404
http://www.unitednoodles.com/

This was our first time here and was surprised to see that it was a grocery store with a restaurant in the middle. The menu consisted of several appetizers, ramen noodle dishes and rice dishes.

I ordered the Kimchi Ramen and rice balls.

The cashier had warned me the rice balls were very dense and I would agree. You really can only eat a couple in one sitting. I thought the ramen noodles was a good mix of flavors with some heat but not overwhelming. I would go back and try the rice dishes.

Winter storm gift

We rushed home due to a snow storm but we’re extactic to find 2 surprises in the nesting box.

Our first eggs.

New additions

During the work week, I leave for work before it is light outside. I was excited to be home this morning to see the chickens enjoying the outdoors on their own.

With the amount of roosters in the flock, I decided to head to Wisconsin to pick up a few more confirmed hens- with Dustin’s permission😆

Here we are heading to Wisconsin with my chaperone. Last time I went to the chicken farm alone I ended up with 14 chicks instead of 5, which is what I had told Dustin before I left the house.

The last time I visited this breeder I did not see the full operation but today we got the full tour. I will just say it was something from a horrible nightmare of a place where the world was taken over by hundreds of chickens. Let’s just say we were definitely outnumbered, by a lot. At the end of our tour we left with 4 hens, a box of field corn, and a dozen eggs.

Once we got home, one of the hens looked pretty rough. This was Dustin’s pick. He told me later he felt sorry for it. So the new hen got a bath tonight before meeting the rest of the flock.

I had created a separate pen for the new 4 hens but while I was setting up the feed and water one slipped out and I was surprised to see the regular group acting like the new hen had been there all along. I decided let’s see if all 4 would be so lucky. To my surprise they all did pretty good. Here is a mix of some of the new and old.

The night ended with Sadie enjoying the day with the profits from the chickens- farm fresh eggs.

Chickens are getting twitterpated

It has been quite a soap opera in the barn over the past couple of days. Lately, Rushmore has appeared to be getting a little more aggressive towards the other Silky chickens. Rushmore has bee biting the backs. I decided to separate Rushmore from the group while I figured this out. Boy, was Rushmore quite unhappy with me. He continued to complain and some early crowing attempts to let me know he was not happy. What I didn’t expect was Kenai became very agitated with this arrangement. Kenai began to peck at all the other chicks around her space. Then Bob decided to get into the mix and began crowing opposite of Rushmore. It was a chorus of complaining.

Throughout all this we also discovered Ringo was crowing in the mix. I did a quick Google search on Rushmore’s behavior and am predicting he is finally becoming full grown rooster and is wanting some action.

In other words, Rushmore has a girlfriend. When I finally let Rushmore out of his pen, he immediately reunited with Kenai for the remainder of the night and all was calm.

So, now I have a situation. I have confirmed at least 3 roosters and not enough hens. So, I can either get rid of a rooster or get more hens…..

My solution….
Get more hens 😊

One other discovery I made tonight was my son’s attempt at making life more comfortable for the chicks. Their own roosting spot.

Are they hens or roosters

So far we are sure El Presidante Ringo is a rooster but are wondering about a few more.

RINGO

But am wondering about this ameraucana. It is the largest bird of the flock.

Warm spell

We have had some weeks of frigid temperatures and have finally had some temperatures that I can open up the barn and clean it out.

The silky chickens are 18 weeks old and we are starting to notice Rushmore with a combination which is making us wonder if we have a roo.

Especially comparing this to Bob.

The other question mark is my lavender orpington who actually was a ameraucana who might also be a roo.

Cold Temps 😨

We have been in a cold spell for the past couple days and have discovered that the water is freezing, even under a heat lamp. With the new place we weren’t sure how much winterizing we would need to do to the barn. The previous owners said they didn’t have a problem but I wonder with having more animals in the barn it added some extra heat.

We ended up making a late night run to grab a heated waterer. The poor chickens, when I brought out water for them they were drinking so much they were almost dunking their heads in the pan.

Our frozen pan.