To go outside, or stay inside, that is the question PPS

THE PLOT
It is getting close to week 7 and hypothetically I can kick the chicks outside permanently when there 6 weeks old, IF the temperature at night is no lower than 10 degrees. 


THE PROBLEM 
Yesterday night I was going to kick them outside but it was the first time they had spent the whole day outside and I felt like it was too much at once for the chicks (they were freaking out.) 
To sum it all up I am dithering about kicking the chicks outside permanently.


THE SOLUTION
.......I might let them out tonight????




Sincerely,
The Ditherer 

Queen of the Castle

'Freedom'

Today the chicks will have been with me for FIVE WEEKS also this week (starting today) I will start getting them used to being outside!!! 


I had to get the brooder cleaned so it worked out perfectly having the chicks go outside in a 'chicken run' 
(A.K.A a wooden frame with chicken wire on it.) So after some preparation I loaded the chicks into a cardboard box, brought them outside and put them in the run. They were quite tentative at first but Medly caught on fast pecking at the grass will Demeter and Papagena looked around. 
After a while Demeter and Papagena noticed that Medly was finding amazing 'treats' (in the form of grass, leaves and so forth) and was reveling in her 'freedom'. Not wanting to be left out, Demeter and Papagena joined in the fun.  After probably 30-45min of the chicks running around and playing outside, (and after I had finished cleaning out the brooder) I decided that the chicks should come back inside ( It was getting kinda cold.)  I picked them up and carried them back upstairs in there cardboard box. 
After placing them in the brooder the chicks kinda stood there for a bit wondering what to do, and where was the grass???  But as they looked around they saw there food dish filled with food and pounced on it like hungry chicks! which they were (:

Zoë

Getting so big

The chicks are getting sooo big! So a few days ago Rachel got a new plastic box for the chicks, so they will be comfortable for there last 2 weeks inside. That's right, only 2 weeks till I  kick them outside. 
And in a week they will get used to being outside by spending few hours everyday in the great outdoors (they will be in my chicken tractor) Below are pictures of there new plastic house (:  

Zoë

Chick Days

I ordered a book on raising chicks and It came today!!!! Even if you don't want to get chicks its a super fun read. You should see if you have it at your library (:

Zoë 

Day 21

Boy have the chicks grown!!! Here are some close up pictures of them.
(for perspective the chicks are standing on my knee, but it looks like there standing on my thumb (; 

Zoë

Day 17 Perching

Today I made a bigger perch for the chicks, cause there normal perch does not fit them all.
It will be a 'playtime perch' cause its to big to have in the brooder all the time (:




It took me a while to build the perch but finally it was finished. I brought it upstairs to show the girls. There was the first "what is that new thing in our house" excitement where they would jump up on the perch and sometimes fall off the perch with tons of flapping about but after probably 2 or 3min of this they stopped all except Papagena who jumped onto it for a few more minutes, I was excited cause I had finally found something that Papagena liked! But after a while she jumped of it to.  So, after probably 5-10min after the original excitement  I decided to take matters into my own hands and I picked up Medly and put her on the perch she didn't jump off and then Papagena and Demeter joined her then they actually slept on the perch I was soooo happy.

Look at Medly's  Head, she has it hanging over the side of the perch! and Demeter has her head tucked under her wing!

From Left to Right, Medly, Papagena and Demeter 

The late night 'cookie' fight (Day 15)

At 10pm last night I hadn't fallen asleep yet, and suddenly I heard the Chicks making more of a ruckus than they usually do (lol). I was worried that they might have gotten out of the brooder, so I got out of bed and walked/stumbled into the chick room/bathroom. As soon as  I walked in I could tell something was wrong but I couldn't tell what, cause they were running around like a chicken with it's head cut off  like little kids fighting over a cookie. (And I guess in their case they kinda were fighting over a 'cookie.')  Papagena had a wood chip in her mouth and Demeter and Medly wanted it too. Wanting to get back to bed I figured out a compromise for the chicks; nobody would get the wood chip. So I picked up Papagena, wrestled the wood chip out of her mouth (not unkindly) and placed her back in the brooder. I washed my hands, noticing in front of the mirror that I looked like the walking dead, and went back to bed content that I had a few minutes of peace and quiet.


Zoë

Cleaning the brooder. The Beginning of Week 3

 I have cleaned the brooder in the past (you should clean the brooder every 4-5 days), but today I will show it in steps in case one day you will be about to clean your brooder full of chicks(:


You will need
1. A Brooder: cause that's what I'm cleaning!!! 
2. A cardboard Box: to put the chicks in when your cleaning
3. Newspaper: To line the bottom of the Brooder
4. Garbage bag: What do you use garbage bags for???
5. A scoop thing: to scoop out the dirty wood shavings 
(I use a clean Kitty litter scoop) 
6. Paper towel (or old cloth): to wipe things off
7. Wood shavings or alternative bedding: For the brooder
8. A source of water: For cleaning things
9. And most importantly a Helper(s)!!!!!! 




Step 1
Take your feeder, waterer and any other items out of the brooder, and then Clean them with Water and Paper towel then, refill them.

Step 2
Line your cardboard box with newspaper (so you can reuse it again.) Then take the chicks out of the Brooder and put them in your cardboard box.

Step 3
With your Scooper scoop as many old wood shavings out of your brooder as possible ask your Helper to hold open your garbage bag so you can dump the old wood shavings in it.

Step 4
When you've scooped as many wood shavings out as possible, pull the old newspapers out from the bottom of the brooder and dump in plastic bag. Then tip your brooder and dump out the rest of the old wood shavings into your garbage bag. At this point in time your helper will be quite board, they may leave.




Step 5
Fill your brooder 1/6 of the way with water and dump it outside, then with your paper towel (or old cloth) wipe the brooder off until it looks like new!  

Step 6
Bring your brooder back into the chick room and line the bottom of it with your clean Newspaper, 

then put clean wood chips (or alternative bedding) on top of the newspaper 

and spread around evenly.

Step 7 
Put your feeder, waterer and other items back into the Brooder

Step 8
Put the chicks back into the brooder and smile (: it's a job well done
and in 4 more days you can do it all over again, lol   

Before

After

Special thanks to: Bronwyn and Mallory, My Helpers!!! 
and to Seamus, who hid in the corner of the chick room and scared me soooooo much!!!!!


Zoë

Day 14

The Girls are getting bigger, a few more days and they won't fit in my hands!!!
Papagena is as scared as ever but I think Demeter and Medly are as calm as they've been in the past or getting calmer.
I will be persistent, till the are as calm or hopefully calmer around me than they are around each other.
These pictures were takin' right after I went for a run, I'm still in my running gear (:

Medio Pollito 

(Above, Below) 

Demeter

(Above)

Papagena

(Above)

Zoë

Over 30hrs Day 9-13

April 28-29  2011
So your probably wondering why I have not posted anything lately. Well I didn't have a choice, cause our power was out for OVER 30HRS!!! .......It was a really windy and stormy day and I had almost finished lunch when the power went off. I thought at that time that the power had just flickered off and would come back on in a few seconds, I waited, waited and for it to come back on and did it? NO. At that time Rachel had rushed down stairs cause of our sump pump. (it runs in the spring. A few years ago, due to the power being off, it had flooded our basement) Rachel was calling for buckets, so we could start bailing water out of the sump pump and I rushed around grabbing buckets well Bronwyn phoned Grant to tell him to come home and start the generator cause none of us new how (Zeke and Jesse were at work) Bronwyn did phone work but told him the generator was broken!!!! So, on top of bailing water we were worried that Grant would by new generator on his way home when we had a perfectly fine on here.  Seamus, due to the fact that we were all panicking, Had started crying. And having found enough buckets, me, Bronwyn and Mallory were running up the stairs and dumping water over the side of the deck well Rachel was bailing water from the sump pump into our buckets. After probably 45min of bailing Bronwyn ran down to tell Rachel that a tree cracked on the side of the house but hasn't fallen on the house, So we all started praying that Grant would get home and the tree wouldn't fall on the house. Your probably wondering "What about the chicks?" At that point in time they are old enough (and the bathroom was warm enough) that they would survive the day with the power off (Not the Night) but they were REALLY scared cause it was soooo dark in the bathroom.     
So, after a hectic Hour of bailing Seamus yelled to us, Grants home!!!  We doubled our efforts running up and down the stairs our faces painted with relief, But still worried cause the generator might not start. After probably 3-5 more min the generator came back on! but only for a few seconds and then puttered out. I looked up the window at Grant and so him pause.. looking into the forest... and I heard a gigantic crash. I ran up the stairs with my bucket of water and looked of the deck, 4 trees had fallen down missing our electric wire and our house, So instead of feeling horrible I felt kinda excited, the trees were rotten and we would have had to take them down at some point, but the wind took the trees down for us.
I ran down to report, and Grant tried a few more times with the generator, and was able to start it, Yipeee!!!
Hydro quebec said our power would come back on at 7pm. 
O.K I thought that isn't that bad, at 6:30pm the boys brought food home from the grocery store. At 7pm the power was not back on, Rachel phoned Ute to see what we should do about the chicks, Ute said that we could bring them over to her house cause she has a 
fireplace, So at 7pm we drove over to Ute's house (We had to take the long way, cause a electrical line was down on the usual road we take) At Ute's house we dropped the chicks of and after the feeling that I had failed and abandoned them we drove out of Ute's driveway (which took use probably 5 min cause the geese chased us up the driveway moving in front of our car, backing off and then moving back in front of the car again. To sum it all up we spent the next hours being told by Hydro Quebec that our power was going to come back on and having it not come back on. But finally, it did!!!!
The chicks came back home healthy and Not hurt and with tuns of feathers and a lot peeper!!!

The Light 

(we plugged it into the Generator)

                        

Writing By Candle Light

The Art of Drawing by Flash Light

I love Kerosene lights

The Generator 

The Fallin' down trees

Ripped From the Ground

The Last Survivor 

Bronwyn By the Trees

The pictures of the trees and our house were takin'  at 8pm ish and the power came back on at 9:30ish that night.

The Pictures of the chicks were takin' a lot later than that.

Zoë