Chickens. Do they suck?
This is the story of two people who decided they didn’t clean up enough poop in their lives, and decided to start a little backyard flock of chickens. We went from “considering chickens” to “placed down payment on custom chicken coop and have 6 chicks in our dining room” within about a week.
We have our lil starter flock set up in a tupperware bin in the dining room, because nothing is more appetizing than chicken poo. They are simultaneously cute and hideous, and I love them all (even Bubbles, who is terrible). They were all named by nieces and nephews (except for Doorknob, which was just a noun I said once that we decided was hilarious).
The Cluckers
HOUSE – House was named by our nephew, and she is built like one. She was the last black sex link in the store, which is why I picked her. I figured any breed that was almost sold out was probably not too shabby. She is massive, and pretty laid back until you pick her up when she flappy flaps. She looks the most like a dinosaur.
CUTIE POT PIE – Our 6 year old niece named her Cutie Pie, but she’s a chicken, so… She’s a white leghorn, and she’s a little moody. She’s very dramatic and sometimes just flaps her wings for no reason and then sleeps on her side like she’s just been slayed in battle. She is the first one in the group to get tail feathers.
BUBBLES – Bubbles was named by our 3 year old niece and she cheeps at a volume that may be record setting? She is the tiniest of the whole group but she has the biggest personality and runs and cheeps like she’s being chased by fox, which is probably good practice, since we live in New England. She is a Delaware, a breed that I didn’t know existed until we went to the store. There were lots of them left. Do they suck? Time will decide.
DOORKNOB – Doorknob is also a Delaware and she has the most developed pattern of feathers so far, despite being a peanut. She is nice and tolerates being held and probably is the #1 pooper.
CARLY – Carly was named by our 6 year old nephew. Maybe he has a friend named Carly. Maybe he likes iCarly. Not sure, but Carly is the friendliest one. She is the only one who will climb on your hand instantly, whether or not you have food, and she’s pretty chill. I like her the most (but don’t tell Bubbles that, or she’ll come for me).
CHICKALETTA – She was named by our 3 year old nephew and apparently is also a chicken on Paw Patrol, which we don’t watch because we are DINKs (hence starting a blog about chickens). If we had watched, we would have known she was a white chicken more like Cutie Pot Pie will be, but we already named her, so whatevs. She’s pretty, and she knows it. She’s got a fancy face, which will certainly change because she and Carly are Silverlaced Wyandottes which are ultimately black and white.
The Sexy Stuff
These chicks were all sexed and said to be hens, but there is only a 90% (?) success rate with that, so please pray their vents ran true because we are not zoned for roosters and while the store will assist if you accidentally wind up with one, I’d prefer not to have to return one of the lil poop dinosaurs.
As far as coopin’ goes, we have a deposit in for a generously sized coop and run with Coops for a Cause, but it likely won’t be here until July or August, and the girls should be outside before then. We were gifted a freecycled coop from some friends that I spent a recent lunch break power washing. It requires a little construction reinforcement and creative reassembly, but it will do the job. Elan will create a temp run from our copious leftover garden-assembled chicken wire, and scrap wood, and they will have a temporary coop that will keep them safe while we wait for the fancy one to arrive.
In the meantime, the gals are going to outgrow their little DIY tupperware bin brooder in no time (especially House, bc she’s gigantic), and we are desperately trying to figure out a next stage brooder upgrade to give them space. Tips welcome! Must be covered bc our home comes with built in would-be predators (aka cats).
Gilbert is teaching the girls about predators.