I Call Fowl!!

 It's time for an update on our poultry. I'm happy to report the chickens are now out of the coop. Today was their first day out. Today, coincidentally, is the day that we got our turkey chicks and guinea fowl. We got 3 of each. I gave a guy some tomato plants and he gave me back birds in return. I can hang with that.

I haven't been able to get out to see the girls much since we brought them home. Today, this is what I was looking at. They all looked to have all their feathers, so I told Bob to toss them outside and clean the coop out. It was pretty bad in there.

So, all that gross junk is gone. The chickens can now come and go as they choose.

Today, these guys showed up. The white ones are turkeys and the others are guinea fowl.

All 15 Henriettas love being out. They were so cramped in that coop, even though it's pretty big inside.

They are loving getting explore their new world.

This is one of our turkey kids.

You can definitely tell that they have "cliques". There are some of the chickens that really hang together in definite groups. 

The turkeys and the guineas hang out together. It's like having little gangs in the chicken 'hood.

Rose keeps them all rounded up. She's a pretty good guard dog.

Rose patrols the perimeter, looking for birds trying to escape.

They've discovered their wings. 

They've learned about the roosts.

Now, they are eating and  drinking from their new feeders and waters. We put a wading pool in there and added in some dirt so that they can take dust baths.

Tonight will their first night without a heat lamp.
Wish us luck!

It's Chick Time At Kelpie Kapers Farm

 We did it!
We took the plunge.
We bit the bullet and bought our chicks this morning. After wandering through Wilco Farm Store several times and getting an idea of what breeds of chicks they get in weekly, I had it narrowed down as to what types I wanted to get.
I was even willing to get a Leghorn or Rhode Island Red, if necessary, even though they were not on my top 5 list. Bob got our coop all set up as a temporary brooder. We have a radiant heat brooder. We have a heat lamp. It's warm during the day for the next few days. It was time.

We have this set up to where the chicks can get under the lamp if they are cold and they can get off from underneath the lamp if they get too hot. We have a digital thermometer in the coop and I can monitor inside our fifth wheel. It also works to monitor both of the greenhouses.

My greenhouses are running pretty warm right now, as well.

This is just a temp brooder. This will be their coop after we're done. We'll remove the box. I have 18 nesting boxes in here, so I can house a huge flock, if it's something we decide to do in the future.

They made us a heck of a deal at Wilco. I was only going to get 10 chicks. The salesperson had Novogens on sale for $3 each. They had some left from last week and then got a new shipment in today, so she told us she would sell us 5 for $9. I was, initially, only going to get 2 of them. Now, we have 7. I'm okay with that. They were on my list of must-have breeds.

I was super excited to see that they had Silver Lace Wyandottes and Gold Lace Wyandottes. I wasn't expecting those, at all. I got one of each. That's 9 chicks. I got my 2 Americaunas. Those topped my list because they are the ones that lay blue eggs. They also had Olive Eggers in. I wasn't expecting that, either. I have 2 of them. I rounded out my flock with 2 Copper Dominant Marans. Getting a Copper Marans was at the very top of my list. I am beyond happy that I was able to check off every breed that was on my top 5 list. Later, down the road, we may brood some Rhode Island Reds and, perhaps, a Leghorn. But, right now, I'm beyond satisfied with what we have.

So, we're getting everyone settled in. They can get out from under the heat lamp if they are too cold. They have food. They have water with chick electrolytes in it. They've already christened the pads that we put down for them by pooping on it. They've discovered where the food is. They know where the water is.

They sure are cute little buggers!

This one is playing hide and seek with me.

I think the above is one of the Copper Dominant Marans.

The buff colored ones are the Novogens.

Discovering the food.

They are pretty active and vocal.

Cute little nugget!

We've even named them! We are going to call them all Henrietta. That way, there's no mistaking any of them!