Silver lining to my Very Cloudy Day, Part 2 ~ Meet the New Chick in the Coop!

Yesterday I shared my pharmacy fiasco that turned out to have one redeeming event in the whole night...that was bringing home 'Big Red'.  Let me tell you about our Newest Chick in the Coop!

'Red' as her previous owner called her, is a 5 month old Red Sexlink hen that has been laying eggs for about a month now.  She came to live with us because her owners had too many hens and needed to downsize their flock and Red was the one chosen to be re-homed.

Lets see where did I leave off...Oh yes, I put her in the dog crate in the coop and went to bed! 
 

At 5:13 am the next morning, the ADOR automatic coop door, opened and my chicks all wondered out into the early morning.  They did their morning routine of getting a drink of water and filling their tummies with chick food.  Then they all went back in the coop to check out this stranger in the dog crate and I joined them.

Red was a beauty, and although she was nervous about me picking her up the night before, she seemed calm this morning.  She was as curious about the chicks as they were about her.  I poured some feed into the dog crate and she ate it with vigor.  The chicks stuck their heads through the bars and helped her eat it up.  She didn't seem to mind them.  When the time came for me to finally let her out into the run to explore her new home, she was more than ready.  Everyone came to greet her.  My dog Daisy didn't know what to think about this big bird...she had only seen my little chickens, never one this size.

One of my cats stopped by to check her out on his morning routine past the chicken run.

 The chicks followed her around the yard.  Then, as if on cue, the rearranging of the pecking order began.  Barry (my possible rooster), was the first to puff up at her to let her know he was the one in charge here.  She complied and moved back a little when he approached her.  My Rhode Island Red chick (who is already named Red) approached Big Red and didn't get pushy, but kind of acted like, "Hey we are alike!"  Things were going well.

Big Red & Little Red, instantly bonded.

Then Barbara, my unassuming barred rock female, ran up to her, fluffed her feathers at her and pecked at Big Reds wattle.  Barbara stood her ground and stared eye-to-eye with Big Red (even though Big Red is triple her size).  They stood there a good 10-15 seconds locked in a stare.  Then Big Red blinked...well, not actually blinked, but she was the first to make a submissive move.  And just like that, the pecking order was rearranged.  I would have thought that Big Red would be the #1 chicken because of her size alone, but that was not the case. 


For the next couple of days Barry continued to strut around her like he's the boss.  Barbara will occasionally run up to Big Red, then Big Red would back away from what ever she was doing.  But all in all, they are all getting along fine.  I am thrilled to have Big Red as a member of our flock.  I wish she hadn't come into our lives in the midst of such a mess of events with me being sick and running all over Phoenix late on a Sunday night with outside temperatures of 100+, with the hubby and I starving and resorting to eating fast food in a desperate situation.   However, if I had not been sick that night, I would not have been in the valley at the very moment and she might have been placed with someone else.  So she is the silver lining to my very dark cloud that day.

The Happy Flock foraging for food.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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My baby chicks are growing up so fast!

I cannot believe how fast my baby chickens are growing!  It must hurt to grow that fast!  Just look at them their first day at our home, at 3 weeks old.

Baby Chicks at 3 Weeks old.

 Look at them here at 6 weeks old!

Chicks at 6 weeks old.  Favorite treat is Watermelon!

I introduced them to my grandkids when they were 6 weeks old.  My grandson wasn't real thrilled (he is 4) but my granddaughter (age 6) is a future farmgirl.  She took to them immediately and they took to her as well.  They walked right up to her so she naturally just bent over and scooped them up one at a time.

Granddaughter holding Goldie

After allowing my granddaughter to pick them up, this Buff Orpington, who I call 'Goldie' now wants to get up in my chair with me every morning.  She will peck around on my shoes until I pick her up.  Then she will either sit in my lap or on the arm of my chair next to me.

Goldie, my new best friend.

They are really starting to display their own little personalities too.  This helped me figure out a name for each of them to.  We have the two Black Australorp's, "Alice" the biggest chicken of the flock, and "Tiny" the runt of them all.  Two Rhode Island Red's, "Red" the darkest RIR and "Lucy" the lighter colored of the two. Then there is "Goldie" is the bigger of the two Buff Orpingtons and "Buffy" the smaller one.  And finally "Barbara" is the girl Barred Rock, and "Barry" my other Barred Rock, that I believe is a boy.  Just take a look at the difference in Barry and Barbara's combs in the picture below.  You can't really see it in this picture but he is already getting a little red wattle too.  Barry is the one who rounds up the stragglers each evening before the ADOR Automatic Chicken Coop Door closes. (Read my review of the ADOR here)  He runs around making an urgent sounding squawk, flapping his wings, then once he has everyone's attention he goes up the ramp and into the coop.  The stragglers always follow him.

Comb Comparison. Barry in the front with is big red comb going back father than his eyes (he also had the beginnings of wattles that you cannot see in this picture).  Barbara in the back with her short, low, yellow comb (eating a piece of watermelon).

It seems that the chickens are a hit with everyone.  Our dog Daisy (miniature Schnauzer) wants to chase them. She spends her entire day stationed at the fence whinning at the chickens and jumping up everytime they wonder near her.  I would NEVER let her in the run because she would surely attack the chickens. (terrier just runs too strong in her blood.)

Daisy vigilantly watching the chickens through the fence.

Our cats love spending some time at the fence too.  They get bored pretty quickly but they still make their first stop outside by the chicken run...then they go hunt lizards.

Harry watching Live Chicken TV.

Interestingly I have no pictures of my Boston Terrier Piggy watching the chickens...because she couldn't care less about them.  We were most worried about how she might be around the chickens because she is a notorious cat chaser (but not our cats?), but she looks over at the run and goes about her business, not even the least bit interested.

So the babies continue to grow and feather out and show more and more of their personalities every day.  I am so happy that I finally made the decision to raise chickens again...I cannot express in words how much enjoyment I get out of spending time with these little critters.  I even leave my bedroom window open at night (our bedroom wall is one of the walls to the chicken run) so I can hear them making their little chicken mumbling sounds at night.  I wake each morning to the sound of them emerging from the coop at dawn. I don't know how my husband is going to like the sound of a rooster each morning (if Barry turns out to be a boy), but I know I am going to love it.  I grew up to the sounds of chickens and I hope to spend the rest of my days doing the same.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!