From our house to theirs! Yay!

The beautiful chickmansion with first residents.  The geese were added today in their kennel, but pics of them will come later.

Checking out the roosting poles.

 First meal in the new house!

Hard to believe this was them a little over six weeks ago.

Love them!

New chicks

I picked up four new chicks to add to our little family of three hens and rooster. 

Unfortunately two of them passed; the first within 6 hours of coming home and the second two days later.  I have no idea why.  I called the store where I purchased them and was told that they were late on arriving by 16 hours and they believed they were stressed and dehydrated.  I tried some vegetable oil, electrolytes, etc, but they were unable to overcome their weakened state.  They were a Polish and Salmon Favorelle, and from what I understand are not the strongest birds in terms of constitution. 

My little boy was devastated.  He made two crosses and named them Goodie and Lilla.  He and his dad will make some wooded crosses to put out at the coop.

The other two appear to be doing alright and Nate has named them Sally and Lily.  These are a Barred Rock and Black Australorp.  I do hope these two little gals make it!

Here are some pics of our growing brood!

Samson and Delilah went for their first swim yesterday.  They were petrified, but eventually Sam got with the program and starting diving and swimming.  Del just squawked alot and paddled around.  It was cute.

The other gals head out to their coop tonight (yay! I get my closet back).  The geese too.  The geese will relocate to the dog crate and the chicken will have the run of the coop.  The two new babies will stay inside the closet, and be joined by the guineas soon!

Chickmansion update

Almost there!  Now if the weather would cooperate with us..;)

Jill a Jack? and the duo of Samson and Delilah

It has come to our attention that our little Jill is likely (99% certain)  a Jack.  The dominate attitude, the fearlessness with which she/he stretches her/his neck up at you and comes toward you and looks you in the eye.  She/he has pointy hackle feathers (I guess that is the term), and a pretty good give-away as females apparently have more rounded feathers (and the other 3 do), and from what I just learned (although not the best indicator) has some little nubs on her legs that could be the beginning of spurs.  Also, his comb is staring to grown in and is bright red.  Check him/her out above. 

I really did not want a roo, but since I seem to have one, I'll just love him too.  He will be a beauty, that is for sure.  Now that this is the seeming situation, I am kinda anxious to hear him learn to crow...should be fun.  What they, the neighbor has a donkey and he goes off at 10-to-6 every morning.  I love it!

AND, yes the chickens are still in my closet.  The weather has been un-cooperative with respect to coop construction, but we are so close.  The aviary structure is built, the inside painted and floored, the chicken-hole door in, and the big door just about it.  The windows are in and nearly trimmed, and my curtains are here! 

It's a Chickmansion peeps!  Would you expect anything less for the girls (well, and one guy)? 

I have four more chicks coming today (I hope), and am excited to learn their personality and temperment traits.  Two Rhode Island Reds and two Barred Rock.  I understand both are gentle and heavy layers.  My Cynthiona (er, Synthiona as my six year old pointed out) and Georgia are such sweeties!  These are my Buff Orpingtons and they just crawl into your lap.  Maggie, the other Easter Egger is skittish, alot like Jill, but all girl.

Now, as for the whole Cythiona/Synthiona thing...my son pointed out that I was spelling her name wrong.  When I said it was with a "C" for Cindy, he said no, it is with an "S" and he should know because he made up the name out of his own brain, cause his brain told him it was with an "S" and so there.  Okay....so Synthiona with an "S" it is.

Speaking of which, Jill is not Jack, but rather Coatey (yes that would be Cody).  Again, named and spelled that way by my son.  He says that since they live in a closet surrounded by coats, it seems only right to name him Coatey.  Aaaah-huh.  Well, whatever, Coatey it is.

As for Samson and Delilah (our African Buff Geese), or Sammy and Del as we tend to call them, they are growing fast and are big!  I moved them from their plastic tub in my tub to just my tub.  Yesterday I discovered that they can just about jump out of the tub and are trying mighty hard to do just that.  So....when the coop is done and the chickens are in, the geese will relocate to the large dog crate and out to the coop too.  This will get the birds all in one place and out of my room, which by the way, stinks like a barn.  I will post some pics of the geese soon.

Just so you know, geese poo alot and they smell really bad.  Holy Moly!  I have to suck in a breath and hold it while I dive in the bathroom and tub to change their bedding (straw), every few hours!  Yeesh!  Can't wait to get them our roaming the yard and airing themselves out.  I do have a baby pool for them and once the weather warms will give them a go at swimming.  I might do it sooner in the other tub if this winter cold keeps up (rain and snow again).

The guineas are about a month out still.  Can't wait for them to arrive, and it will be about time to get the garden in the ground too!  Loving it down on our family farm (a big yard really, but we call it our farm ;o).

Jack would be the red and brown guy to the back right...tail pointed up, eye-balling me and check out those feathers on the neck.

There he/she is.  Can you see that comb coming in red?

Standing tall and proud and giving me the stink-eye.  At least he is not mean, not so far.    And, this really shows off the hackles and the comb color.