Feature Breed: Buff Orpington

The two cute yellow chicks (think Peeps) that we have are Buff Orpingtons (photo on the left is from MyPetChickens.com). They will grow to be large hens with lots of golden plummage for winter hardiness and are supposed to be calm and gentle, laying about 3 large, brown eggs per week. While they are not the biggest egg producers out there, we were hoping that their good nature would make them great companions for the kids. New feathers are coming in on their wings. They are a little more brown than the yellow fluff on the rest of their bodies.

Holding and New Home

How can there be something new to say everyday about chicks? In today's post, I have included a picture that Remi drew (he'll be 3 years old on Friday) of our Red Sex Link chick and a Buff Orpington chick.

Also, the chicks got a new cage-- on loan from a friendly freecycler in my neighborhood. You can see the kids wanted to be the first to investigate the new home.


Also, I have learned how to identify the various black chicks, thanks to a very helpful person at the feed store where I bought them. The last chick whose breed I did not know is a Silver-laced Wyandotte. True to its breed, this Wyandotte seems to dominate a bit. I guess I got it because it would be pretty, not realizing it could be a bit aggressive. Hopefully it will work out.

We all spent extra time holding the birdies now that they are officially a week old (some books say to wait a week to hold them). Of the two buff opringtons, one is really quiet when she is held and the other chirps LOUDLY. The black australorp is supposed to be a shy bird and she is also quiet when being held. In future posts, I will focus on the individual breeds.

Chicks Do More Than Eat, Peep, and Poop

Last night, the chickens dumped over their water so their cardboard box, with wood shavings and chick manure, got wet too. I took them out of their yucky box and put them temporarily into a laundry basket. Tomorrow I will pick up a cage for them from someone on freecycle. Their home is a little smaller than it had been, but I think they can handle it for a day.

Tonight, as I was changing the food/water and had the compost sifting grate off the laundry basket, one chick kept practicing her jumping/flying skills until she managed to land on the rim of the basket. As I approached to get her, she flew across the basket to the other edge! Yikes. Made sure the lid was good and secure tonight. As an aside, chicks make a much bigger mess in their laundry basket (with holes) than their solid-wall cardboard box.

So not only do chicks eat, peep, poop, dump over their water, and try to fly the coop, my little chickies also play chase. One chick picked up a larger-than-normal wood shaving and carried it around in her beak while the other chicks chased her. This was in a small laundry basket that is mostly full of water and food containers. One of the little yellow girls managed to take it from the Red Sex Links bird. There was a big commotion as the chicks all chased "it" with peeping and such. Who knew chicks played chase?

For my LOYAL following, I am including another picture-- the little chicks asleep in their laundry basket. I take so many pictures of them. I don't think I have this many photos of my second-born child! I'm wondering how many people are reading my blog anyway... 2 (my mother and my husband)? Feel free to comment so I know you're out there!

I am such a proud mom! At preschool today, my son built a chicken coop for me at the "contruction table". He even included the slanted roof! I should've taken a picture, but that thought came after clean-up time.

Day 3

What progress on the coop today! My father and Damon did a great job with the rest of the framing and the gate. I didn't get the picture taken until dark, but you can see the slanted roof on the left side. This will be the covered side where the food, water, roosting bar, and nesting boxes will go. On the right side (level side), it will just have chicken wire instead of a roof.

Chicks are still happy. They scratch their wood shavings all around and so I change their water about 5 times a day-- each time it is full of wood shavings again. Tonight, I finally tried elevating their water just a bit with a little saucer turned upside down.

When I try to pull out a chick, they all go wildly running about, chirping. They do sleep quite a bit, but when I go to change their water, refill their food, or scoop their poop, they get up, run around a bit and then start eating and drinking. Next week we will be holding them more, so I will post more pictures of the chicks out of their cardboard box. Perhaps they can even move into a cage?!

Today, many of the neighbors got to meet the chicks and see the coop. Many are expressing an interest in eggs. You hear that little chicks? Make your mama proud!

Holly Oak Hens- Day One

Welcome to Holly Oak Hens where I will be documenting my experience raising chickens.

Today, the boys and I drove to Half Moon Bay to pick out baby chicks at the Half Moon Bay Feed and Fuel store. We came home with six 3-day old chicks: 2 buff orpingtons (gentle breed), 1 black australorp (prolific egg layer and gentle breed), 1 barred rock (hardy, pretty, and good egg layer), 1 red sex link (guaranteed female, hardy, and good egg layer) and one other black chick whose breed I cannot remember. The chicks seem happy in their cozy cardboard box with heat lamp. Total cost for our chicks, food, waterer and feeder, lamp and bulb, and chicken book was $97.

Here are the little ladies eating. They normally have water in there too, but I took it out to change it.

Here is the framing for the coop.

While we were picking out the little cuties, Damon and my father started building the coop. The framing is partially up. It will be a two-leveled 80 square foot pen with roof and door. Half the coop will be ground level and the other half will be 18 inches higher, encompassing a raised garden bed. The roof will be 6-7 feet off the ground (sloped) covered on only half the coop, it is also protected under trees. I think it will be a nice home for our Holly Oak Hens. Cost of the coop, so far, is $146.