Composting Chicks n' boys

We really had not announced any new hens- but we have added 3 Buffs to our home, Big Bertha, Elly and Milly and the new Araucana is Joo Joo and of course we have Ms. Claus. Now that the formal introduction of names has taken place.

We have relocated our compost to an area in our backyard near the coop. The composter is a very easy and basic one. In this case we have 3 bales of alfalfa butted up next to one that makes up a part of a breaker wall to the hens coop back yard covered by an old gate that the dumpster gods have so kindly supplied us. Vanessa turned the rich matter yesterday, which smells like lovely rich, healthy soil and the hens pulled a seat up to the buffet. Have you ever seen a hen fight another for a big ole' juicy bug? Not pretty. If they had jewlery on they would be taking it off getting ready for a fight!
Emmett kept a glove on his right hand in case he saw one to feed Ms. Claus, who is still being slightly hen pecked by Big Bertha.

Here you can see them getting down to the goodness. I think that they are taking a liking to their new environment and coop. We love it that they are like dogs with feathers. All of our hens but Ms. Claus will let you hold them and pet them a little but of course they will all come running and eat out of your hand.

When the Buff's came Big Bertha found it comforting to lay her egg near a rock in the alfalfa that was close to the size of one of her eggs. Elly, I think, was laying a pile of eggs under the Oleander hedge. Now all three Buffs lay next to a baseball in a fluffy nesting box on the ground. Unique. We are getting at a minimum 4 eggs per day from 5 hens right now. I would really like to add two or three more at this point. I have 2 customers right now who I can give at least a half of a dozen to each week and have a 3rd lady who wants eggs, too. A micro business. Now all I need is a name.

Some New Family Members

Welcome to our family Joo Joo (pictured to the left). She is a pretty little Araucana who has quickly made friends with our other little Araucana and sole survivor of the bobcat incident, Ms. Claus. They have actually hit it off quite nicely. Joo Joo doesn't mind being handled and coos when you pet her close to you. I LOVE HER!

We have also added 4 Buff Orpingtons or as Emmett calls them, Puffins. Very cute so of course we are calling them Puffins as well. Unfortunately we lost one the other night to probably the stupid bobcat. We have since spent the weekend reinforcing our coop and researching how to eradicate the bobcat from ever coming on our property again short of using a large shotgun. If something gets into this coop now we have certainly failed in a large way. The roof is super reinforced with an old shed that I took apart and built a nice sturdy roof. We basically sewed all of the chicken wire with a heavy guage wire fastener- closed up any potential holes and so on.

Yesterday Joo Joo spent the ENTIRE day working on 3 nesting boxes...scratching and organizing the alfalfa in them not to mention cackling the entire time. In the end she gave us a pretty little green egg. Today the 'puffins' gave us their first beautiful brown eggs and I am certain that one of them has a double yolk.

I really love keeping chickens and it is quite addicting to say the least. Not only do I have human children, children with fur (my shih tzu's) but now I have kids with feathers. Oh, the pressure! I feel very guilty that the others, Nana, Donna, GoGo and a beautiful unnamed Buff met their demise to that damn bobcat through a coop that had a couple weak spots but I promise to do better by them.

Learning alot here. Learning alot about chickens and myself and I am loving watching the boys learn and be so caring with them. I am loving watching Vanessa find herself in the garden, building a compost bin and hugging chickens. Those things just make me fall in love with her even more and appreciate my boys beyond belief. I am lucky in that regard.

R.I.P. Donna, Nana and Go Go Suzy Q

I am so sad today. I woke up wondering why the chickens were not up yet afterall, it was light. Then I noticed Ms. Claus squaking as usual but different. THEN...I noticed a large Felis Rufus or bobcat in our henhouse, in the henhouse!! It had already killed Donna- who was just warming up to me and eating out of my hand, Nana...she was the leader, strong and in charge but certainly no match for a bobcat and GoGo, my absolute favorite little hen who sat on my lap, ate from the kids' hands and looked at us through the sliding glass door for snacks. My heart hurts so badly this morning. This is not the picture of the exact bobcat but this is what that shit looked like.

Eat the Pansy's

Looks like GoGo SuzyQ is getting a little more comfortable here at her new home. She has found that she loves to eat the pansys and the others have learned that they like them as well. She is doing very well even though her coop-mates make her feel like she needs to hide on the roost when they are in the coop area. I have been giving her a mix of organic plain yogurt and some chick food for some good high protein- she loves it and eats it in little balls from my hand. Mrs. Claus has learned to eat from my hand as well while Donna is thinking about it and Nana just gets pissy. Good chicken.

Welcome to our home GoGoSuzyQ

We have added a new hen to our little family. Emmett and Harrison have decided that GoGoSuzyQ shall be her new name and so it is. She had a good day after an hour drive to our home on the other side of Tucson. Once introduced the rest of the girls were not pleased but over the course of the day they seem to be easing into the idea...very slowly. She is very sweet little girl, an Araucana, eats from my hand, sat on my lap and seems to want to be by my feet and I am just fine with that. She had watermelon and salad with the girls and I think her fair share of seed, little seedlings under the birdfeeders and more bugs that she could get. She was living in close quarters with several other hens on a lovely homesite in the NW Tucson area. Now she will have the freedom of a large yard- and lots of little buffets everywhere. So happy.

Such a nice breakfast

Breakfast compliments of Nana and Ms. Claus. Their eggs are so pretty and now we know the meaning of "urban farm fresh". Awesome. I must say however the kids were a little disappointed when the green egg wasn't green when we cracked it open.

Venturing from the coop

Ms. Claus and Donna have learned to adventure far away from their coop and here they are seen enjoying some of the 'grass' in our yard. Obviously there is no moisture in Tucson and the grass that we have is a hole we patched for a giant party this past April so nobody would break their ankle. Time to put some irrigation in. It is Bermuda grass and they seem to enjoy chomping on it. Nana is busy inside the coop laying an egg as these two munch. The girls have definitely become very trusting with me out in the yard, Vanessa too. In fact- they cluck until we let them out, like little kids. We are still working on Maxie not chasing them and giving them a heart attack but it seems like we might get there. If she could only be like Ruby.

I am looking to add 3 more hens to our family this week.