The Broody Bunch

I was enjoying a quiet evening reading a fabulous book I borrowed from the library (more on that later), when a strange “thump” came from the window.  Little Maiden’s sun catcher that she made in Sunday School swung mysteriously on the inside of the window.  Immediately I knew that some poor bird had just knocked herself silly on my reflective window!

Sure enough.  When I stepped out on the porch, I saw a tiny bird sprawled upside-down on my porch.  I stooped to see if she was still alive.  I saw that she was breathing rapidly so I gently put my hand out to help her right herself.  As soon as I touched her she flapped and turned over.  She seemed dazed and was holding her beak open to breathe.

I hurried for my camera and started taking pictures.  She was such a pretty little bird and it’s so rare to see one so close.  She was smaller than a chickadee and was mostly gray, white, and black.  But she had a brilliant yellow cap and yellow on her wings that contrasted sharply with her black beak and beady eyes.  She also had a reddish-brown stripe that ran down both sides of her white belly, just under her folded wings.

I wanted to give her the best chance for recovery and I knew the porch was not the best place to leave her.  So I gently nudged my finger under her feet.  She picked up one foot and grasped my finger and then the other foot.  She was holding her left eye closed.  She must have had a monstrous headache in that tiny head!

The bird made no move to fly away so I took her to our flowering crab apple tree.  I tried to place her on a twig but she faltered.  She fluttered and clung to leaves until at last she settled on the tree trunk.

I called my mother for advice.  She’s nursed poor little senseless birds before.  We decided that my little bird would probably be okay.  Ten minutes later she was still on the tree.  Twenty minutes after that she was gone.

Mom and I spent several minutes on the phone trying to determine what kind of bird she was.  Mom’s first guess was a Warbler.  She was right!  By comparing my pictures to others on the internet, I’ve found that my little bird was a Chestnut-sided Warbler.

The chicks are really liking their new space.  They have plenty of room to run around and play games or chase bugs.  They’ve also fallen into a daily routine.

Now that the chicks are outside, it has become more exciting to go see them.  Every morning Young Master and Little Maiden beg to go with me to check on the chicks.  The short walk from the front door to the coop is like a field trip.  The kids race to see who can get there first.  GH put locks on the tops of the doors to keep the chickens protected from irresponsible children and clever raccoons.  So by the time I get to the coop Young Master and Little Maiden are jumping  up and down with excitement!

By now, the chicks expect to see me around the same time every morning.  They will lay in front of the door, peeking through the cracks to watch for me.  They know that they’ll get more food when I arrive.

The chicken coop is amazingly cozy.  I never thought that the tool shed would bring such comfort to me.  It really has become one of my favorite places to be.  I find it relaxing to sit and watch the antics of my birds.  It’s a place where I can come together with my kids and God’s creation in a sort of harmony that’s not forced or fake.  It’s a place where my mind feels clearer and a place where memories are captured.  Truth be told, even the sweet smell of chickens and pine shavings has a certain draw for me.

Call me weird, but I think I was born for this.

P.S.  Two exciting things happened today!  We harvested our first four radishes from the garden and Young Master lost a tooth!

I didn’t sleep well last night.  I was more worried than I thought about the chickens’ first night in their coop.  I kept waking up and looking out the window to see if their light was still on and if there were any predators lurking in the shadows.  I wondered if they were warm enough or if I should have put their light closer to the ground.

I was in the coop first thing this morning!  The chicks had all gotten back into their brooder under the light to stay warm for the night.  They didn’t seem distressed at all.  I checked the food and water.  All was well!  And there wasn’t one mosquito left in the place!

Maybe I’ll sleep better tonight.

On a side note, GH shot a rabbit that was in the yard today.  It sounds sad but he may have just saved my garden!

I didn’t really want to do it, but it was time!  We moved the chicks outside to their coop today.  The reason?  Two words.

Chicken poop.

I mentioned before that the chicks had started roosting on the edge of their brooder at night.  It was okay as long as their backside was hanging over the inside of the box but most often they would face the inside.  So, in the morning there would be a ring of chicken poop on the floor around the brooder.

You know, I could handle that to a point.  At least all of the droppings were localized in one area, but then the chicks started taking over!  They wouldn’t stay in the box during the day anymore.  At any given time we had one to three chicks wondering around the kitchen.  Then I was cleaning up the floor every five minutes!  I was getting pretty fed up with it and GH put his foot down!  (Not in chicken poop, thankfully.)

We spent a good part of this evening chicken proofing the coop.  We secured the run and tightened up the coop some.  I put shavings on the floor.  Then we moved the chicks out, brooder and all.  We put their light back up to keep them warm during the night.  I gave them fresh water and filled their feeders.  (I got an extra one from Willhi.)

It didn’t take long for the chicks to warm up to their new space.  The mosquitoes made it all worthwhile for them!  The chicks were running, jumping, and fluttering all over to catch them.  Then the chicks started picking all the spiders and bugs off the walls and out of the webs.  When we left them for the night, they were all busy and happy!

I was finally able to clean up the floor and rid the kitchen of most of the chicken dust.  It’s nice to have my kitchen back, but it sure is quiet in here now!

Dolly has become quite a dominant personality in our house lately.  Being that she is the largest and the most developed of the chicks, she figured out what her wings are for first.  Initially, she was the first to get out of the brooder.  Then she decided that since she could, she would start roosting on the edge of the box when it was nap time. 

Dolly has also taken a keen liking to Young Master.  She was the first to eat out of his hand.  She hops up on the edge of the box to be close to him when he stops by the brooder. 

But today beat all!

I have my computer set up in the kitchen and Young Master, being a product of GH, is a computer geek.  He enjoys playing computer games whenever he gets the chance.  As he was playing his game this afternoon, Dolly fluttered up onto the edge of the box to be close to him.  Then she took courage and flew onto his shoulder!  It shocked Young Master, who called for me to come rescue him from his attack chicken.  Instead, I grabbed the camera!

After taking several photos of Young Master with is chicken/parrot, I placed Dolly back in the brooder.  She promptly jumped up and flew to his shoulder again.  I, again, placed her back in the brooder.  Then I got my camera ready and was able to catch her in flight the next time!

It was shocking the first time, funny the second, and even funny the third and fourth.  Now it’s just annoying.  Dolly will fly onto anyone who’s sitting at the computer now.  She’s flown onto my shoulder three times now since I’ve started this post.  She’s asleep in my lap now.  If it wasn’t for the chicken droppings, I’m sure she’d sleep in my bed!

We named the chickens today!  I’ve actually had names picked out since before we brought the chicks home.  I have some apprehensions about naming the chickens though.  It has nothing to do with sentiments; I’m already attached.  My biggest dilemma with naming the chicks is being able to tell them apart!

Right now the only way that we can tell the chicks apart is by markings and how developed they are.  Some have longer tail feathers than others and some have stripes or spots that will disappear when all of their feathers have come in.  Regardless, the kids were bugging me to name them, so here they are…

Dolly – She is the largest and most developed of the White Leghorns.  She also seems to be the most dominant.

Patsy – She is the second largest White Leghorn and has slightly shorter tail feathers than Dolly.

LeAnn – She is next in line.  Nothing really note-worthy to mention.

Faith – She is the smallest of the Leghorns and of all the chickens.

The Rhode Island Reds are distinguished more by their markings.

Wynona – She has four black stripes going down her back and also has a trade mark chirp-chirp when you pick her up.

Shania – She has white-ish tips on her wings.

Reba – She is very uniformly red and black striped on her feathers.

Martina – She is the smallest of the RI Reds and doesn’t have any black markings on her head.

So, they are all named.  Soon the white ones will all look the same and the red ones’ feathers will change color.  I think I’m going to have to invest in some leg bands.

Chicken dust.  I don’t think it’s related in any way to fairy dust.  Except that it seems to show up over night.  I’m sure that anyone else who has had chickens knows what I’m talking about.  But probably normal chicken keepers don’t keep them in the kitchen!  Every morning I have to wipe down all the counters and appliances.  If it was fairy dust, I would have flown around the galaxy several times already!

The chickens like the dust.  I’ve seen Willhi’s chickens take dust baths.  Yesterday one of the RI Reds scratched out a hole in the shavings and then started kicking and fluffing herself.  She’d bury her head under the shavings and give a contented twitter.  The other chicks came over and walked over her and pecked at the shavings on her back but she seemed in such ecstasy that she didn’t even move.I’m sure sure that chick really enjoyed her dust bath.  All of the chicks are looking very uncomfortable.  They’ve got feathers sticking out everywhere.  They kind of look like a cross between a powder puff and a pin cushion!

I would have thought that it’s a little early for my chickens to be flying out of their confined area if it hadn’t happened today.  The chicks’ wings have been feathering out quite well.  They make a big show of stretching them out one at a time or flapping and stirring up shavings and dust.  Now and then, when a chick can’t get close enough to the food, she’ll flutter in on top of the group and the rest will scatter.

I’d like to know how she got out.  When I got home from work, GH was looking behind the furniture for the escapee.  We could hear peeping coming from behind the bookcase.  GH spotted the Leghorn behind a basket of magazines.  I returned her to the brooder.  I’m sure she had a story to tell the other girls about the great big world beyond the walls!

I’m not sure if I should be worried about it happening again soon or if it was some chance happening.

I wish I’d seen Dapper’s reaction to the run-away chick!  I’m glad he’s not a great hunter.

I made it through the weekend!  It was nice to visit with all of the family that I usually only see once or twice a year.  We all got to see how each other’s kids have grown and get updated pictures.  Unfortunately Little Maiden came home with a stomach bug.  She’s resting on the couch now with a bucket at the ready…

My chicks also made it through the weekend!  Willhi checked on them to make sure they were doing alright.  She said they had filled their waterer completely with shavings so she cleaned that out.  Otherwise, they did fine.

The gardens also came through okay.  They weren’t withered or torn up.  Something did dig in the spinach last night, though.  I think I’m going to have to fence it all in.

The sun is out today and there isn’t a cloud in the sky.  The breeze is very light and I’m guessing it’s in the 70’s.  I put the chicken brooder outside on the porch so the chicks could enjoy the sun and fresh air.  I put bird netting over the top to keep them in and the hawks out.

I’m a little nervous about this weekend.  We’re traveling 150 miles to visit my family in Northern Maine for Memorial Day weekend.  We’re leaving the chicks home by themselves.  I’ve decided that with the self-feeder and waterer that they should be okay for a couple of days.  Willhi has promised to stop in to check on them.  I’m glad because I’m afraid the temperature might fluctuate too much.  The temp outside has been in the 90’s for the last two days.  Very unseasonable for Maine.  (I love global warming!)  Anyway, the house has gotten very warm so I’ve been leaving the chick’s light off so they don’t get too hot.  If it cools down this weekend while I’m away, I don’t want them to get too cold if I leave the light off.  On the flip side, I don’t want to leave their light on and cook them.

It makes me feel better that Willhi will check on the chicks.  I guess it will depend on the temperature in the morning whether I leave the light on.  I’m using a 100watt bulb and the brooder is too small for the chicks to really get out of the heat if they need to.  I’m almost as nervous as I might be if I were leaving my kids alone for a three day weekend.  I hope they’re all still alive when I get back home.  I’m sure they will look different.  The chicks are developing so fast.

Willhi has said she would water my garden while we’re away too.  I’d hate to lose my garden as much as I’d hate to lose my chickens.  I’ve already been contending with some mysterious animal who only comes out at night and likes to dig holes in the gardens and eat up all my lettuce.  I’d hat to lose all of it to a drought.  I’m going to water them thoroughly before we leave in the morning. 

I’m just a bundle of nerves.  Let’s not even mention staying a whole weekend with family…