Moths Galore

I'm trying to handle to birds more so that they don't freak out and run away from me when I want to put something in the brooder. I'm picking them up everyday and feeding them a little out of my hands. The Arcona and Sexlinks seem pretty Ok with but the Wyandotts are standoffish which is strange as I had read that they were quite affectionate birds and made good pets. Maybe they'll come around. The chicks are now standing on my hands to eat and pecking at my bracelets and ring, and occassionally just my fingers. I've been able to catch some moths for them to eat and previously one of the Wyandotts had taken them but now the darker Sexlinks gets it every time and then runs around with it being chased by most of the other chicks. I'm not sure they know what she has, just that she seems to be trying to make a break for it so it must be good.

We're now looking into vermiculture. I've done it before with mixed results, but it would be a good way to get rid of our kitchen waste as well as creating a good protein source for the chickens once they are out in the yard. I suggested a maggot bucket, but M seems resistant. I need to look into the Black Soldier flys which are apparently just a good maggot producer but without all the toxic smell. We want to try and feed the chicken as naturally as possible with as little supplemental food as possible. We hope to plant some grains and greens for them to range on, and of course getting them to eat as many bugs as possible outside the beds is one of their main purposes. Then in the spring and fall they can scratch and de-bug and de-weed the beds, as well as spreading their good nitrogen rich droppings directly into the soil.

Chicks pics

Here's one of the Silver Lace Wyandotts

Here's a sleeping Golden Sexlink.

All the chickies sleeping together. It took a couple tries to get the distance for the heat lamp right, but it looks like we finally got it.

The Goldens are definitely not camera shy.

Day one in the new accomodations.

The chicks are already showing signs of growing up. The Arconas have their wing feathers coming in, way ahead of the others. One of the Wyndotts is worrying me a little. She's quite small and very timid, to the point of not wanting to eat when the others are eating. She seems to spend most of her time picking at the shavings and also is very reluctant to be handled. The chicks are all getting in a tizzy whenever hands come into view. I tried picking them up and holding them to get them used to people but it doesn't seem to have done the trick. We have some very cute pictures which I will post soon.

The sprouts are coming up in the basement - onions, tomatoes, leeks. I put asparagus in the ground the other day. I'm not totally confident that I did it right after looking for better directions on the web yesterday. I should have spread the roots differently and spaced the plants wider, but hopefully they are hardy enough to adapt to the less than optimal conditions. We had a nice snow storm on Thursday, leaving at least 5 inches on the ground, so the soil should get a good deep soak. Hopefully the brussel sprouts will survive the freezing overnight.  

Day 1

We got chicks today! Three Arconas, two Silver Lace Wyandotts and two Golden Sexlinks, hopefully all hens, as we are not allowed any roosters. Technically we are also not allowed more than four hens, but considering this is our first time as chick owners we wanted to make sure we ended up with four adult hens. Hate to be a bit morbid, but we'll do our best. 

One of the Goldens is already asserting her dominance, pecking at the Wyandotts who are smaller. They are all sleeping , then up five minutes latter, then sleeping. They seem to have adjusted pretty quickly. We're keeping them in the dining room so we can socialize them, and hopefully the dogs won't try to get at them. Milo was very taken with them, but he wants to poke them in the eye, so it's a little too soon to let him handle them.

I have found some trusty allies in my war on the moths in the house. I caught a moth and threw it into the brooder and a couple of the chicks raced to peck at it. One of the Wyandotts was able to catch it and tossed it back. I found a couple more, and the W rushed over again and got them. So now I don't have to feel so bad about the moth deaths as at least they are contributing to the circle of life.