Day 3 Of The 9 Calico Cochin Chicks

I'm a proud mama, I admit it.

Poor iPhone pic, excuse the poop!



Each day is a gift, open now.
xo
Suzcali

Day 115 Chicks

Day 115

Sam was thrilled to hold her first chick today.  :-)  I thank Lindsey for her help as my photo assistant today. 
Each day is a gift, open now.
xo,
Suz


No photos from this blog may reproduced in any way without the written permission of the blogger and polkadot magpie.

Google's Shakedown

"Maeve" in the middle.

I haven't been writing my blog because recently Google prevented me from putting any photos on my blog without paying them.  I feel a bit of bait and switch going on here.  However, when I tried to load a photo...it worked today. 

I ask other bloggers to send me an email with their suggestions.  I will be back, but you may be getting a link to a different site.  Contact me at:  polkadotmagpie@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!
xo,
Suz

Meteorite, Chicks, and Mad Men

"Bowl of Chicks"

Our 6 chicks are doing well.  Weather had me move them into the kitchen for a few cold windy days.
We will decide on their Irish names when my grandson arrives Saturday. 

Bob and Charles and above the meteorite.  Notice the area that Bob polished.

My pursuit of meteorite brought "the meteorite man" Charles from San Antonio. With him came a 40lb. whole meteorite from Sweden: Muonionalusta. He took it in his carry on bag.  I bet the TSA had a fun scanning that! Bob and Charles just left for Santa Fe to have our friend at Santa Fe Stoneworks cut this on a gang drag saw.  We've enjoyed our time with Charles.  He shared stories of his world travels to buy these exotic materials he sells. Here's a link to the background of this meteorite:
http://www.muonionalustameteorites.com/

I finally got up into the studio and finished some small mixed media paintings on paper in honor of Mad Men starting season 5 this Sunday.

Mad Men piece in my ThePolkadotMagpie Etsy shop

Thanks for reading.
Each day is a gift, open now.
xo,
Suz

4 More At The Door

Australorp chicks

Last night I got an email from a chicken farmer in the East Mountains of Albuquerque.  I had contacted him in March about getting some of his Australorp chicks.  He was out of them but said he'd have some mid May to late May.  I wrote back saying I needed them before of after our trip to see the elephants.  However, I never heard from him again.  I also left several voice mail messages.  Imagine my surprise when he emailed me!  

Full sized Australorp hen.

So here we go again.  I now have a broken foot, and am in a walking cast. So I can't do the things I normally can do.  I will enlist help of Lloyd and Ethan to move the nursery back into the walled patio area.  There will only be 4, so that is much less clean up or work. They are a large breed, and will grow fast.  Eventually they will be commingled with our flock.  Of course Ethan is thrilled to have chicks again.  

I could have told him no.  But these are a favorite gentle breed of mine.  And for another week, I have a 13year old farm hand. :-)

Thanks for reading.

Each day is a gift. Open now.
xo,
Suz

What Are These Birds?

"Tallulah"

Here is the latest video.  I shot it with my pocket camera.  They are the funniest looking things.  I am absolutely in love with some of them who have earned names.  "Tallulah, Irma, Renee" for starters.
I think I need help with names.  Today was one of those days that nothing went as planned.  I made no progress on "Fort Chicken."  Hoping tomorrow will bring the end.  My friend Charlie is coming to help.
Bob doesn't know it, but I'm snagging him in the morning to help put the horse fence on the two small sides.

"Myster E"

Click on the link below for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYR615djb9M

The large blonde who comes the closest is "Tallulah" (the real Tallulah, you know who you are :-)
"Irma" is the prettiest of the black Cochins.  "Renee" is the first Dominique to really feather out in a barred pattern.  One moment they look like prehistoric dinosaurs, and the next emus with long out stretched necks.  The feathers are so tiny.  And Myster E the "surprise" bird looks nothing like a chicken. He looks like a house sparrow.  Sort of the "Ugly Duckling" of the chickens.  When I open the cage, Tallulah flies into my lap, and Irma follows.  They get that "the Mama"  look in their eyes when they see me.  The Brahmas look as if they have leather flying goggles on.  I have to get a picture before their feathers come in.

"Yeah, we can make it...fly!"

Thanks for reading.
Each day is a gift. Open now.
xo,
Suz

Getting To Know Them

The chick in the middle is Ethan's favorite.
The standard buff Cochin on the left is a giant.
 The brown dark Brahma on the right.

It's been only 5 days since the chicks arrived.  They are all doing well.  We are beginning to see personalities in many of them.  Ethan has his favorite who is the "surprise" chick the hatchery sent that is a Seabright.  He picks this chick up (I think it's a boy) and rubs under it's ear, and the chick lays down and sleeps on E's chest.  It's a very calm bird.  My favorite is still the black Cochin.  When we open the door of the nursery several of the same chicks come running to me.  They haven't learned to put on the brakes, so they sort of crash land when they need to stop.  It's pretty funny.

My favorite has many feathers now. You can see that her
"type" is perfect Cochin from the side.

Here she is full on...

Tomorrow we are going to our friends ranch in Magdelena that I have written about before. Communing with cows and calves.  I can't wait.  For now we have no water...tonight something happened to the well. In the light of day, we will figure it out.

Good Night!

Thanks for reading.

Life is a gift. Open now.

xo,

Suz

Don't Count Your Chickens Before They're Shipped

A bantam buff cochin posing.

Saturday when we were  leaving to pick up Ethan from the airport my phone rang:
"Hi, this is Ruth from the Post Office..."
 I think I said: "They're here!"  I had received an email from the hatchery saying they would be shipped yesterday and would arrive Sunday -Wednesday.  So much for autobot email.  I was ready with everything but securing the sides of the coop with wood to keep the temp up.  So we went to the airport, got the grandson and went to the post office. E held the chicks in the box on his lap, peeping the whole way home.

Or son and fiance came over and helped put the wood on the nursery. The chicks sat in the bathtub in their box with a lamp over it suspended from the shower rod.  I got the temp in the nursery up to 95 degrees and in they went.  A few still had their egg tooth. Which is used to peck through the shell, and then falls off.  As we were putting them in, it looked like there were more than 24.  Hmmmm.

A crazy brahma doing the chicken dance :-)

I tapped on the feeder with my finger and they all came up and started eating. Then stuck my finger in the water (which has chick starter in it) and wet a few beaks.  They began to eat and drink like they'd been doing it forever.  Pretty amazing.  As the sun went down we had a hard time keeping the temp up.  So Bob and I opened the patio doors and brought them in the livingroom for the night. Switching out the heat lamp for a smaller bulb.  Lola the cat sat on top, and Buddy the dog posed in front.  There was a lot of staring at this nursery from all the animals.  :-)

nap time 

When we changed the papers in nursery we counted the chicks as we took them out.  27 not 24.  On the invoice in the box I noticed that more Langshan  chicks had been added, as well as a "surprise exotic breed."  There is one chick with zebra stripes on it's back and a buff colored head.  I think it's a Seabright bantam.  It would be my first of that breed. 

Tonight they are back in the living room in front of the patio doors.  In the next few days I will work on making the nursery warmer, so they can stay outside at night.  It's still pretty cold here in NM and they need more insulation.  There is still so much work to do on "Fort Chicken.".  The whole family worked outside today. It was back breaking work moving tons of stones, landscaping cloth, and putting down the chicken wire.  But they all lovingly did it, as they know how happy keeping chickens has always made this mother hen.

Tomorrow night is the "Chick Party."  I am baking chick shaped sugar cookies, and egg dishes.  Good night chickens, and good night to you all.

Good Night

Thanks for reading.

Every day is a gift. Open now.

xo,

Suz

The Chickens are Coming !! part 2

Dark Brahma Hen

Here is a link to Dark Brahma Chicks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0osv6-Bgog&feature=player_embedded

This morning I went on a field trip to all the feed stores in our area.  I was comparing feed brands and types.  I am not lover of medicated food. But baby chicks tend to walk on the feeder, and drop feed all over, as well as poop everywhere.  So that the babies don't get Coccidiosis (fatal) I will probably get one bag of medicated feed to start with.  But I did find organic feed at Dan's Boot and Saddle. That was great! I also found a great hardware store that has 6' x 150' rolls of poultry wire. It took 2 guys to load it in the back of the Yukon.  Bob and I are ready to build "Fort Chicken."

A PERFECT Black Cochin Hen  

I have the heat lamp, bulbs, feeders, waterers, and thermometers.  Chicks have to be kept at 95 degrees for the first week, then the temp is decreased 5 degrees every week after that.  Tomorrow I will put the sides up on the "Nursery" and fire up the heat lamp and see what temperature we have.  This is so important. As heat is the number one priority for these chicks. I plan to have this all worked out before they arrive.

Buff Silkie Hen and Rooster  

I got an email from the Hatchery and it looks like they are not sending all hens....oh boy.  When I can determine the roosters, they will have to go to the farmers market.  I am being a chicken sexist and only want hens. I've had enough roosters for a life time.  My neighbors are only an acre away, and would not enjoy crowing at the crack of dawn.  We once had a rooster who crowed at night, and almost drove us mad. Above are some of the breeds we are getting.  The Silkies are Japanese chickens, and the Brahmas and Cochins are Asian.

It feels a bit like Christmas for me! I know this sounds strange. I've had so many emails from chicken lovers here and on Etsy that I know I'm not alone.   I'll take pictures of the nursery when I have it set up.

Thanks for reading!
Each day is a gift, open now.
xo,
Suz