Comfy Condo Living

The girls roost in the condo together on a chilly April afternoon.

Synchronized Sunbathing

It was nice today, nearly 70°F and the girls decided to spend a little time soaking up the rays. Here Digby and Cleo engage in a little synchronized sunbathing:

And here is Patsy and Pinky's valiant effort:

I'd have to give Team Digby & Cleo a 9.8 for form and style.
Patsy and Pinky have a lot they could learn from them.

Moving Day

Today was moving day!

Gary worked on the condo most nights after work this week so the girls would be able to move in this weekend. Simone was there to help supervise their transition from bathtub and storage container living to fancy condo life.


We made sure the girls were comfortably settled before we closed them in for the night.

As of today, Digby and Cleo's feathers have begun to grow back in and they are looking better. They are also a little bit bigger, so we hope they are in a little better position to defend themselves if bullied again. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they will be able to successfully cohabitate now that they have a little more space and that we won't have any more problems.

Major Progress on the Condo

We made serious progress on the chicken coop, or chicken condo as we are calling it, this weekend.

Gary got the walls up, nest box built, and roosts installed.

We decided to cedar shingle the outside to give it that upscale condo look.

All we have left to do is finish encasing the whole thing in chicken wire, get the feeder/water hung, construct the door, and build a ramp. Then we can move the girls in!

Mother Hen

Simone keeps watch over the chickens during one of their outdoor field trips.

The Iso Tank

I was disturbed to discover over the weekend that both Cleo and Digby appear to have been the victims of chicken bullying. Both were bleeding and missing a good number of feathers on their backs when I checked on them Saturday afternoon. I suppose it's possible they they could have done it to themselves, or that they could have done it to each other, but I think Patsy is to blame. I've caught her a few times picking at the other birds, and for some reason she's decided that the two Ameraucanas are on her hit list.

I had no choice but to separate them. I put Cleo and Digby into the storage container, and then headed off to Bi-Mart to pick up another one in the event that Cleo and Digby were doing this to each other. When I got back, I set up the second cage and then separated them. Before I could get the cover on top, Digby hopped out of her container and into Cleo's. I grabbed Digby and put her back in her own container, only to have Cleo hop over into Digby's cage. They both made it pretty clear that they didn't want to be alone, so I opted to just give in and leave them both in one.

My next task was to then get a better look at their owies.


This photo only shows a small section of the hurt area. Poor chicks. I took each of them out separately and then managed to coat the picked area with an antibiotic ointment. I imagine the whole scene was fairly comical as I was alone, had Simone at my heels when carrying each bird into the other bathroom, and then couldn't stop Simone from whining excitedly in each of their faces as I tried to hold the bird and have her remain calm while I smeared a cold oily substance on an area of her body that I'm sure was quite tender. Both Digby and Cleo let me do it though, and then I returned them to their iso tank.

I checked on them again Sunday morning, and their backs appeared to be much better. The ointment seemed to be helping, so I gave each of them another coat. I had also read in my Encyclopedia of Country Living that coating a chicken's feathers with petroleum jelly can help in cases of picking as whoever is doing the picking will get a beak full of goo. So I thought since they were both salved-up that I would try putting them back into the tub with Patsy and Pinky. I quickly learned that was a mistake.

I heard squawking and pulled back the curtain to see Patsy picking on Cleo. I shooed them apart, and then went back to what I was doing. A little while later I went in and Digby and Cleo were both on the other side of the plastic lining the tub. Fortunately they didn't suffocate. I put them back into the tub while I answered the phone and contemplated moving them back into the iso tank. I think Cleo and Digby pretty much made up my mind when they both hopped up onto the edge of the tub and made themselves comfortable, presumably to get away from the other two chicks.

So the iso tank is where they will stay until we are able to build the coop, which we have decided can no longer be postponed. Hopefully it will be up and completed by the end of this coming weekend.

And hopefully once they have more space, the bullying will stop.

Outdoor Adventure

It was so nice out this afternoon that we decided we wanted to take the chickens outside for a bit. Only problem was we didn't have anything to keep them contained. So we ran off to Del's Farm Store just down the street from us to pick up some chicken wire. We're going to need some for the coop anyway, so we figured we'd just pick some up now. When we got back, we rigged up a make-shift pen and then brought the chickens downstairs for their first outside experience.

They seemed to have a fine time picking around in the jungle that is our lawn. They ate some grass and presumably some bugs before the sneezing attack began. First one chick started sneezing, then another, and within a few minutes they were all doing it with increasing frequency. So, back into the tub they went. Hopefully they don't have allergies....but if they do, do they make Benadryl for chickens?

Chicken Curiosity

Both Cleo and Digby continue to be mesmerized by Simone.

Any time she pokes her head into the tub to check in on them they quickly hop onto one of the feeders to get a better look at her.

Simone's been doing a great job of limiting her interest to sniffing and looking with her eyes. We're keeping our fingers crossed that she will continue to stave off investigation by way of mouth....

Tail Feathers

The gang continues to grow!

Aren't they a cute bunch? We estimate them to be about five weeks old now.
The latest thing we've noticed is that their tail plumes are becoming more and more pronounced.

The Chicks' Newest Trick

As we've mentioned, Simone enjoys checking in on the chickens. We do it at least twice a day, and she would probably sit there all day watching them if she could. We've begun to notice that the feeling is becoming mutual. The chicks are becoming more and more curious about Simone, and wondering who or what this big creature is that keeps sticking her nose into their home. They have become so curious in fact that they have started hopping up onto the edge of the bathtub to get a closer look. In the past 24 hours, their desire to get a closer look has escalated to a closer feel. Digby's done it, Cleo's done it, and so has Pinky.

Simone's head has become the chicks' latest perch:


You will have to excuse our "long lost photo of Bigfoot" approach to photography, but the moment was fleeting, the bathroom was dark, and there simply was not time to adjust the settings or ask Digby or Simone if we could do it from another angle.

We really feel like we're tempting fate here any time one of the birds jumps on top of Simone's noggin!

Feet!

The girls continue to grow, getting larger by the hour.

Lately we've really been noticing the increase in their foot size. The size of their feet seems to be outpacing the rest of their bodies!

Good thing we're not going to have to buy them shoes...