One Week

So, if anyone is actually reading this then they will have seen the pictures I put up a couple of days ago.  I wanted to have some to share - now I am going to go back and give everyone an update on how our first week went.

This is Ginger, she has settled down with the other girls now and isn't as much of an outcast.  Poor thing was nearly drowned by one of the duckies this morning (heard an awful squawk and came in to find her soaking wet and limping), so we moved the ducks into their own temporary enclosure.

 

This is Basil.  She has the most distinctive feathering coming in - it almost looks like she is wearing leopard print shoulder pads right now.  She is currently the calmest of the girls and the easiest to handle.

This is Paprika.  I think she has the most tail feathers of the group, but personality-wise she doesn't have anything that particularly stands out.

And Curry, who is just a little pistol.  She is constantly looking for ways to escape, is nearly impossible to catch, and I think she can already fly.  She makes changing the pen very interesting to say the least.  This past week she has gotten out of the box 3 times and been found wandering around the spare bedroom.

Daffy - the ducklings have gotten HUGE.  Daffy is the shyer of the two - will run away when you get close.  Constantly pecks at my hand and bites at my wedding ring when I am trying to do things in the pen.

Aflac has grown even more than Daffy I think.  Definitely the noisiest one of the bunch.  He is not at all happy about being separated from the chicks.  He is the friendliest out of all the birds, being the first to come up for belly rubs (which I've read is a Pekin thing?).

It's looking like this will be the last week in the house.  The weather is finally starting to break and we were able to find a good deal on a pre-fab coop at the feed store.  Weather permitting we will clear out the garage next weekend and set it all up.  Which cannot come soon enough!  The ducklings are horribly messy - I have had to do complete litter changes twice a day the past three days because they kept tipping the water bottle over!

Meet the Flock

Part of the goal of the blog is to document the (rapid) growth of the babies as they mature from cute balls of fluff to mature egg-layers.  We can then also share our failures and successes for anyone else who is looking to raise "house chickens" and wants some advice. This is what we brought home the first night:

If you can tell from the grainy, Instagram-enhanced, cell phone picture that is 4 chicks and 2 ducklings.  We had pre-ordered 4 Easter Eggers (all female).  Medium-sized, can handle confinement and our local temperatures, pretty docile, and lay anything from brown to green to blue eggs.  The ducks were more of an impulse buy.  The conversation went something like this:
     Hubby:  I want a duck.
     Me:  A duck?!
     Hubby:  Yes.
     Me:  You realize you will have to build a pond for them?
     Hubby:  I always wanted a pond.
     Me:  Can you even have just one duck?
     Hubby shrugs.
     Me (to salesman):  Can you have just one duck?
     Salesman:  Well, generally they do better in flocks.  They might be okay if you plan on keeping it with the chickens, but if not you are going to want to get a couple.
     Me (to hubby):  We'd probably better get two then, just in case.  You're sure you want a duck?
     Hubby (to salesman):  Give us two ducks.

So that's how we came home with two ducks.  Now Hubby will probably say that it was I who wanted the ducks in the first place...but really, who is going to put up much of a fight over such cute fluffy things?  After all, we already are halfway crazy planning on chickens in the backyard, what's a few more poultry?  And I did say that if we were going to get them then I wanted one of the black and yellow ones because they looked like penguins (and as you may or may not know I have always thought that it would be awesome to have a penguin as a pet).

Now, individually:

This is Daffy.  See how he looks like a penguin?  And no, I don't know if "he" is a "he" or a "she" - I've just been calling the ducks "he" and the chicks (which were sexed) "she".  Daffy is quieter and shyer than the other duckling.  I think he is a Swedish Blue (a black one, the blue does not breed true) but time will tell for sure.

This is Aflac.  We think that he might be a Pekin, though again we will have to wait until he is grown to know for sure.  Nosier and bolder than Daffy, he is also less likely to sit calmly in your hands once you pick him up.  Supposedly Pekins make excellent pets though, and will learn their names and some basic commands.

This is Ginger.  She is the only one of the girls to not have the chipmunk-like stripe down her back.  At first she seemed to be a bit of an outcast with the group, but everyone seems to be getting along now.  She also is the calmest of the 4 so far.

This is Paprika.  Since Hubby chose Ginger's name I said we should stick with the spice theme.  The lighter parts of her chipmunk-like stripe are more tan than the other two girls.

This is Curry.  She has the most yellow on her chest.  She is also the troublemaker of the bunch.  This morning she hopped right out of the smaller box I had moved the flock in to while I changed out the wood chips in their primary home.  She will also struggle the most when you try to hold her.

And lastly, this is Basil.  She has more brown on her chest than curry, though their faces look similar.  She also has the small black spot in front of her left eye.

That's it for the starting pics - the descriptions are sure to change as they grow and get adult feathers and as their personalities develop more.

So Why Chickens?

Given the fact that we live in a pretty urban area, where yards are smaller, homes are closer together, and there are two grocery stores within walking distance (not counting places like Target and Walgreens were you can pick up basics like milk), people tend to look at you a little strangely when you mention that you want to raise chickens.  So here is some of the background information.

• Cost - it doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that food prices are on the rise.  With a growing family and a growing food bill, it only makes sense to produce what we can on our own instead of buying it at the store.  Granted, it will take us a while to recoup our initial investment, but the birds will help in other ways as well - hunting insects, providing fertilizer, and acting as a teaching tool for our kids.
• Health/Taste - this is a two-for-one.  If you have never had a home-raised egg, try it.  The differences between it and what you are getting in the grocery store are visible.  Plus we will know exactly what our chickens are eating, how they are being treated, and so forth.
• Self-Reliance - we live in uncertain times.  And while we haven't fully embraced say, a "prepper" lifestyle, it still makes sense to be prepared.  We lost power for 4 days with Hurricane Sandy.  We regularly get lake effect snow in the winter.  You never know when a "Walking Dead" scenario might happen, a solar flare will fry electronics, or the economy will collapse.  Regardless of the scenario, knowing that we have a back-up plan, no matter how small at this point, offers some comfort.
• Fun - this is the pet factor.  We are considering the chickens (and hopefully the ducks should they prove to be girls) to be "pets with benefits."  Much as we love Misun, aside from being a pretty decent watchdog and a fun companion, doesn't provide much for the household.  Chickens (and ducks) have their own personalities and will be just as much a companion animal as any other pet bird - plus we will be able to enjoy breakfast on their behalf.