Fun With Chicks and Friends

Joey showing his friend the structure of the hen house.

No time for play with the green machine. Time to teach the chicks about bugs and worms. It is devastating to Joey that the chicks will eat such things. He loves bugs and worms.

Moving right along on the hen house and coop. Grandpa worked and worked while Joey played all day with the chicks with friends, cousins and neighbors.

 The chicks are soaking up the sunshine.
 

By nightfall Joey's grandpa had the plywood on for the roof.

Chicks At 5 1/2 Weeks Old

These photos were taken April 2, 2014. The chicks are five and a half weeks old. They are getting more color and definition in their markings. Their ears are becoming more noticeable too.

Beaker and all the black and white Plymouth Rocks are very gentle and friendly.

Belle is true to her clique with the other Rhode Island Reds. She is the only RIR with a black tail feather.

Eleanor (Ameracuana) is the beauty of all the birds. Her red and grey feathers make her look elegantly hand painted. She loves being the pretty one.

JoJo is slowly replacing her downy with her big girl feathers. She looks a little rough right now, but we are all anxious to see just exactly what she will look like when fully grown. We still aren't sure if she is an Ameracuana or a Cornish hen.

Merida is probably the most stand-offish of the RIR hens.

Penny is definitely a rooster. He is bigger than the rest of the chicks and he is starting to realize that he is the ruler of the roost.

Sassy is still the baby of the bunch. She is slower to interact with the rest of the chicks. She gets pushed around a lot by the other chicks. JoJo is usually quick to comfort her though. She is a Plymouth Rock and has been struggling to thrive. But seems to have caught up to the rest of the hens in size and strength.

Zoey is Joey's favorite. She is the easiest to handle and the most cuddly. Plymouth Rocks must be gentle simply by nature.

Hark at times reminds us of a turkey. She is an Ameracuana and we are anxious to see what she will look like.

Joey and Zoey have really bonded. they are being closely supervised by Hark.

Another quick photo of Joey and Zoey trusting each other.

Getting Structure

Joey safeguarding the hen house are while his grandpa and mommy continue to build it.

Joey's mommy and grandpa are moving right along on the structure.

Joey's mommy is using tools, she has never used before.

Grandpa sure is brave to stand so close to Joey's mommy while she drills.

Joey sitting on the floor of the hen house introducing Zoey to her soon to be new home.

The chicks are no longer afraid of the grass. It took some prodding but we got them away from the sidewalk.

Joey and his mommy encouraging the chicks to stay together and walk to the hen house area.

We got all the chicks gathered up again so they could be put back in their bin. But JoJo was nowhere to be seen.

 We finally found her blending in with the peacock lawn ornaments.

 

                   All the chicks are safely back in their bin.                                                                                                                             

Joey can continue to safeguard the chickens by keeping the bobcats, lions, bears and foxes away from them with his handy dandy fly swatters.                                                                                                                                        

Building The Hen House And Coop

  

The cold weather has broken and it's a beautiful day. Joey and his grandpa have already selected the hen house and coop they want to build.

Joey took out a lot of time to map out where the coop should go.

 It needs to be in a flood free area that is well drained.

It's also a good idea to put the hen house and coop in an area that sees shade during the hottest part of the day.

Grammy asked Joey to clear away all the sticks and walnuts so the area is nice and clean. 

Joey worked hard clearing the area. He wanted to gather as much as he possibly could. He knows he can have a bonfire and make lots of smores with those sticks and limbs.

Joey worked and..

 and worked...

 and worked...

 

and worked...

and worked some more...

 until he couldn't fill the wheel barrow any more.

Joey had his grandpa double check his plans to make sure he was measuring the area just right.

                                                                                                                                                        

 Joey thought his mommy should come out and help grandpa with the measurements just to be on the safe side.

They measured and worked and...

double checked Joey's plans.

Joey asked his mommy several times if she measured right. He had her to measure again just to be sure.

Everyone's hard work paid off. The foundation is perfectly level and ready for the structure to be built. Right when Grandpa started carrying the lumber over for the hen house, Grammy called us all in for lunch.

Joey had a hard time eating his lunch because he was starting to feel tired.

Joey went back outside, added a few more things to his plans so that his mommy and grandpa could continue working. 

And then, Joey came back inside, crawled into his bed and fell fast asleep. He slept just like he did when he was a little bitty baby. (Joey at one day old). 

 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Under the Weather

Joey hasn't been feeling well all week. He did handle the chicks a lot but he needed lots of help from his mommy, grammy and grandpa to take care of them. 

Joey used my artist's pencils last summer when he was four to draw this picture of a rooster. He even tried to sound out the word rooster above the drawing...it's written backwards but you get the idea. Who knew that eight months later he'd be raising chickens of his own.