Squatting

I have learned so much in the last 24 hours.  A few weeks ago, I blogged about the girls acting like teenagers.  A week or so ago, they started acting needy.  They were loud and really interested in me.  A few days ago,  a LittleFood and Scramble started squatting every time I went to pick them up.  I thought they were scared of me so I looked it up (on the only source of information for raising chickens I've found, backyardchickens.com) and found this...

"Squatting, that's what a hen does to allow a rooster to mount her. So, when a hen squats for a person, she is showing submission to her human.  The squat itself is when the pullet crouches down, tucks her head, and holds her wings slightly away from her body. Some hens will also stamp their feet at the same time, but not all do that. Not all hens or pullets will squat for people, either.  They generally stand up after a few seconds and shake their feathers, as they would do after a rooster dismounts."

WHO KNEW!?

Dottie, squatting

So what I've learned is that only 3 of the chickens are mature and ready to lay.  I guess that means Ginger and Miss Bunny are still teenagers.  So immature.

Scramble, squatting

THE EGGS ARE HERE!!!!!!

ONE of my chickens laid an EGG!!! Just one and I have no idea who it was!  I am so excited!  I have been checking the nesting box because I knew it was getting close, but I didn't expect to find one today!  Someone is an overachiever.  It is only week 19!  They have at least another week to go. Someone has turned into a WOMAN! 

Shocked!!

No, there are not two eggs, just the brown one.  I put that golf ball in there so they would know where to lay.  IT WORKED! 

So I ran across the acre to catch Travis on the lawn mower so he could take a picture of our first egg.  We are proud parents.



Women

I let Scramble take the credit, but it suspect the egg layer is LittleFoot.  She's been acting hormonal lately.  Stay tuned... I will let you know how it tastes. 

Spoiled chicken

No, the chickens have not "spoiled"... yet.  I am always trying to come up with ways to keep my chickens cool and happy.  Travis says they are like small, little down pillows walking around outside in 103 degree heat.  I feel bad for them with all those feathers, so I've spoiled them today...

Cold cottage cheese and tomatoes

The girls are 18 weeks old and we are still on the count down for eggs.  They should start laying within the next 4 weeks, unless I have stubborn chickens. (Highly likely considering the attitude of their mother.) I've learned that chickens eat just about anything (even chicken! morbid I know), but they have special food to make sure they develop into good egg layers.   They first started out on medicated chicken feed.  It's medicated to make sure they don't get gross chicken diseases. 

Medicated Chick Starter

Big Girl Food

After abut 21 weeks of baby food and these chicks start laying, they begin to eat feed that has more calcium so their eggs don't pop out with the texture of soft, bouncy balls. 

As you can see, LittleFoot is a celebrity.  We have yet to see any of the proceeds from the use of her photo on this bag of chicken feed.  Hmmm...





The backyard chicken craze has allowed one family to rake in millions by developing these chicken treats.  While at the store one day a little girl asked her daddy if they could buy the chickens some "treats."  After explaining that they don't sell chicken treats, they created "Happy Hen Treats" which are just dried meal worms.   I wish I would have thought of it.   I bought some for the girls today. They loved pecking around for these nasty looking worms. 





If and when get fresh eggs I will keep them in a skelter.  If you don't wash the eggs after you collect them, they will last on the counter for about 6 weeks.  The egg skelter keeps them in order by freshness.  Again, an invention I missed the boat on and am out millions.  If you choose to wash the eggs (because they might be covered in poop), you have to keep them in the fridge.  The eggs come out with a coating that protects it and allows it to be left at room temperature.   I'm  not sure what the coating is called, but I like to call it the chicken butt coating.

Egg Skelter

Head Shots

The chickens are HOTT!  I feel like I need to spend time with them outside in the 106 degree weather because they have to stay out there all day long.  Poor baby chickens.  So today, they all got head shots.


No offense, but Dottie really looks like a black chick

Ginger, the poser

Scramble, the lover

LittleFoot, the fighter

MissBunny, the hater

Ba-CAAAAAAUUULK!!!

Cows and Dogs and Humans OH MY!!  The cows are back and the chickens are scared.  It is hard for me to describe the sound without a video, but they usually make softer "baulk, baulk, baulk" noises. The cows came to eat behind the coop and I heard "BAULK, BAULK, BA-CAAAAAAUULK!!"   The girls have never seen a cow, much less an animal that large.  The neighbor's dog came over the other day and scared the chicken poop out of them, but that is about as exciting as it gets around here.   

 

Ginger yelling

Cow trying to break the fence

Baby Moo

Linsey feeding the bull

The fam...

I don't have much for you this week.  There's nothing new at the Williams Chicken Farm, except maybe a little more chicken poop and it is starting to stink.  It was fine when the weather was a little cooler outside, but when it's above 85 degrees... SHEW!  It's okay, we still love our baby chickens.

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Teenagers

I swear, you give them shelter, food, love and care and what do they do?  Ignore you, won't let you love on them or answer when you call their name.  Typical, ungrateful teenagers... THAT'S what these chickens have become.  Before their teenage years, they would jump up on my arms and just hang out, but now I have to chase them around and squeeze their wings down tight so they won't fly away when I try and hold them.  I feel rejected.  All they want from me is food.  Well I want some EGGS!! 

The girls, ungrateful they may be, are still very pretty chickens and are starting to put on the lbs.  They are 14 weeks old so we are officially on the count down for eggs. 

 

According to backyardchickens.com, the world's most reliable source for chicken raising information, these babies could start laying eggs anywhere from 18 weeks to 23 weeks.  I hope they all actually lay eggs.  Based on what I've read, they should, but these ungrateful teenagers may end up showing me who is boss.  I am pretty sure our little barred rock, (black and white chicken) will start laying first.  She seems to be the most mature.  Her little wattle is really coming in, she poses a lot and seems to realize her beauty.  Surely such a vain bird would want to show off her egg laying skills.  What I don't know is how I am supposed to figure out who laid what.  Some people say you have to catch them in the act.  Well, that's embarrassing isn't it?  It's like walking in on someone pooping!  Well see how it goes, I'm sure there will be some sort of egg laying conspiracy going on around here.