June 12, 2015: Amelia just...died

Friday night: I went down to check the new chickens. They won't go in the coop to sleep and they all seem to fly up to the top of their temporary coop and it's about 42" high.

But, I looked in and saw a lump on the floor of the coop pen. 
Uh oh...oh NO!......Amelia was dead..!

There will never be a sassier chick than you!

My sweet, sassy Sicilian Buttercup who loved and hated me at the same time. She would fuss around me until I bent over and she could fly up on my back and chirp and walk around.
Or she would peck my hand, quite strongly, as if to say "I'm higher in the order than you...take that!"

I'd feed her the daily treats on top of the trash can, where she was safe from the hungry Old Biddies and I know she felt special.

She was a loner: given to me by chicken mentor Barb, who took her in and thought she'd make a good addition to my flock....and she did, but clearly never made it to full acceptance by the Original 3 [Curious, Fearless and Gabby]. So, she would hang out by herself, sometimes in the coop on a perch watching the others lay their eggs or outside scratching and dust bathing. I was hoping that the 5 new ones would become part of her "flock".


Her eggs were beautiful, small white with the most wonderful matte luster and so smooth to the touch. A surprise tangerine-colored yolk always made me thank her for her efforts. She was a great layer last year but for some reason this year, after her impacted crop she never really got back up to speed. 

And so, maybe it was her time. 

There is a 'chicken sudden death syndrome' which can be caused by many things and without a necropsy [chicken for autopsy] I can't be sure.  But sometimes they just get sick and you don't know it in time to save them. Or stressed from being low in the order with all 5 new ones scampering around....I just don't know.

I'm sad she is gone and I will miss her following me around, attacking my hand, and laying those gorgeous eggs.

A quiet service at the chicken cemetery. Good sleep, Amelia!

May 28, 2014: Integration Day

Today Steve went into the barn early to get some tools before heading to the job and ... uh oh....4 of the youngsters were out of the brooder pen and sitting on top of it ! He called me to clue me in, "Your chickens are out."
Huh, out? Who's out? Thats when he told me that the teenagers staged a coup.

So, down to the barn I go and there they are: sitting on top of the 2x4 bracing, but kind of nervous. I get 3 back in the pen, but Hosta did not want to be picked up and she jumped down to the floor, skittering around.
I had to open my little side door. When she heard peeping, she came over to the door, saw the others and hopped inside. Jasmine, who is Miss Amazonia, was inside the pen the whole time, so she either couldn't hoist and fly up and out or she wanted to be The Good Girl.

Well, I got the hint that this little space was too small. As the weather was getting warmer at night, into the 50's, and we had built out the area for them, I decided to go ahead and move them over.

A cat carrier worked to make two trips from the barn to the Chicken Hilton.

Steve built a nice roosting area which doubles as a spot to hide in, away from the Old Biddies.

And, they have an open area to get some sun and visually see the other girls while being safe for now. Since Kiwi and Ivy belong to the flying Earhart family [along with Amelia], we ran plastic poultry netting up to the roof line.
One escape is enough!






I call the new girls "my little chirpas", as they are almost non-stop chirpping.
They have happy chirps, nervous chirps, a cooing-chirp and a squawk [as in don't pick me up!].

And, after the initial fear of a new place, they settled in to exploring, scratching in the dirt and watching the Old Ones.

Here they are checkin' out the outside.....

  and here are Fearless, Gabby and Amelia pretending they don't see the Chirpas.

The 4 Big Girls have pretty much ignored the little ones: unless I give the Chirpas sunflower seeds and the Big Girls are left out, then Curious has a fit and paces in front of the net until I give her and the others their own handful of sunflower seeds...jeeze, talk about a jealous chicken!