Must Have More Chickens...Another Hobby Entry

So at the time, I have ten wonderful hens, and they are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. I could spend hours outside. I was not a very outdoorsy kind of gal before chickens. Hated the cold, hated the heat. I lived in a neighborhood anyway, so it was not like I was going to get outside and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the outdoors. Oh I tried. I had bird feeders and things like that. Somehow hearing offensive foul mouth rap music thumping up and down the road all the time was not my idea of peace and quiet. Then there were the neighbors yelling and screaming at each other at all hours of the night. I don't even want to know what THAT was all about. Fall and Winter came that year...but I enjoyed them both because I had my girls outside with me. Raking leaves and picking up sticks, pinecones and branches wasnt so bad anymore.

Then came the first of March...and I got an itch...oh yes I did. A chick raising itch. Some people get that Spring Cleaning Itch...not me, I get the Chick Raising Itch. I waited until the feed store got their first babies in and soon as they arrived I was up there with googly eyes looking in at those fuzzy babies. I brought home five Black Austrolorps and five Barred Rocks. They grew so fast I guess I didnt get any pictures of them as little babies...but I did manage to take some of them before they were too grown to be in a brooder box anymore.

I lost the right to name my chickens after the first ten. My daughter and her best friend Tiffany had taken over! They had names for all of them before I could think of a one. I guess that is when I kind of slacked off naming ALL of them. These days there are a few that just stick out. They have character and are different. Like Gabby. Also named by Shelby...but I will talk about her later when I have pictures to show you of her. She is something else.

So here I am, the second summer having chickens...in the city limits. If I couldnt move to the country, I was going to bring the country to me. ;)

I have ten chickens in the back yard, and ten in the dining room in a big cardboard box.

Pictures of the new ten below. :)

 

 

As they got older...they got braver...I put up a gate around the box, but some brave little souls started jumping up and perching on the sides of that. Raising five at a time was not a big deal, but raising ten at a time...well, that was a bit more challenging, but still I was having fun!

 

 

Sooner or later I guess you have to give it up and let them outside..they grow up so fast!

A few pictures of their first time outside...they were not too sure about all of this..they stayed clustered together and up under me for a long while. Finally a few decided it was okay to venture out a few steps, and the others followed.

 

That last picture is kinda wierd isnt it? Looks like one long chicken with four legs!