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The chicks are slowly getting weened.  Mom is going off with the other chickens, ducks, and goose at the pond during the day, leaving the chicks at home to fend for themselves.  When everyone is together again in the late afternoon/early evening, she still watches out for them by nipping the bigger birds that get too close, but she's no longer saving food or actively hovering over them.

Indeed, on Tuesday she became testy and nipped many of the chicks who tried to snuggle up to her at night.  Currently, she only allows 4 or 5 lucky chicks snuggle time throughout the night (remember less than 5 weeks ago, when 20-30 chicks fit?), and certainly her patience for being stepped upon is approaching zero.

The ducks are now comfortable with the chicks, which is easy to see because they no longer stare wildly at the wee birds, nor do they run away when a chick approaches.  Another clue is the newly laid duck and chicken eggs sitting in the chick space.

Becoming a little older, larger, and getting more freedom, that's what weeks 3 and 4 were about.

The older chicks continued to snuggle with Mom as much as possible, though they also became more curious about the outside world.  During week 4, we opened up the chick fencing so that they could roam wherever and whenever they felt the need, but we kept the opening small enough that only they could fit back through for non-adult R&R.  Much running ensued.

The youngest chicks in the holding cell become bigger, more active, and very into sunshine.  The injured chick recovered nicely, and after we returned her to General Population, we turned her box into a space to sleep in and jump upon.

Notice that the same box from last week looks substantially smaller next to the growing chicks!
The chick on top of the box stood in the sun for a quite a while.

During week 4, we moved the youngest chicks outside, in their own fenced space to prevent Mom from pecking at them.  Since they didn't get Mom warmth, we gave them a warming light.  They did quite well in their own outside space, getting big and developed enough to begin blending in with the older chicks.  In week 5, we let all the chicks mix!

Week 2 of Chicks 2010 was filled with drama, rejection, and healing.  

Day 3, the day after my last post, Broody rejected some of the wee chicks, and they died in the cold night.  This was a bit shocking for us, as last year's adoption of chicks (and 3 turkeys) worked quite well.

Regrouping, we purchased more chicks on Friday, introducing them to Broody very carefully that evening.  While she initially nipped the small chicks that were peeping (since the week-old chicks had stopped such infantile behavior after day 3), it was dark, so she calmed quickly.  The next morning, however, we sufficiently disturbed Broody mom (while checking on the smallest additions) that she began noticing and again nipping the day-old chicks.

We made an emergency evac. of all day-old chicks, placing them in a warm alternate location (aka, the holding cell).  One of the chicks couldn't use her foot after getting pecked by Broody, so we gave her a smaller recovery space (and a playmate) right next to the rest of the chicks -- we're happy to report that she's almost healed.  Everyone has been warm and growing nicely, so we'll attempt to reintroduce them to Broody mom at the end of the week.

Success!  We completed our chick trickery last night, and when mom woke up, she had many new babies!

New chicks arrived 1 hour ago!  This year we ordered 35 males that are all different breeds (so many, in fact, that we have no idea which ones are which), and just like last year, we are cordially inviting the broody hen to raise them for us. 

We know it's best to sneak the chicks beneath mom at night, when all chickens are rather dazed, but we decided to see what would happen if we snuck in all 35 in the day.  It partially succeeded; she took about 8-9 underneath her before starting to peck at all the ones that were wondering about.  Given yesterday's snow, it's a bit chilly outside, so we quickly snatched up all the unlucky chicks for a second attempt this evening.

In the mean time, all the non-mommed chicks are in a box with food, water, and sources of warmth.

Meet the newest members of our farmily! (Sorry. I had to say it.) You are not supposed to name food animals. But we couldn't help it, so at least we gave them both the same name: Nom, and Nom.

As in: nomnomnomnomNOM! That is what they do all day. They are amazing digging machines. I had no idea. Fortunately we are just starting a new journey in landscaping, so having portable self-powered tillers is great. They are digging up all the crappy dirt in our yard and aerating and enriching it so that next year it will be super-nutritious for all the plants.

They are very rambunctious little ladies and spend a fair amount of time galloping around the yard. The ducks are, frankly, not amused, but the chickens love all the new dirt being dug up.

They're also VERY curious about everything and run over to see us when we come out of the house, and try to nibble on our boots and the hose, and, well, everything.

How many babies can fit on top of The Mothership? I saw at least seven while I was taking these pictures.

It's time for baby chicks!  This year we had a broody chicken starting in mid-April.  A broody chicken is one who refuses to come outside and scratch and eat and drink and do all those things that chickens should do; instead she sits inside on a nest full of eggs and waits for them to hatch.

Never you mind that all her eggs were infertile (we don't have any roosters), or that Spruce Goose regularly kicked her off the nest to lay GIANT goose eggs in it.  She was determined.  So when it was time for us to get chicks, we decided that instead of raising them ourselves, we'd give them to the broody one.  We called her Broody McBrooderson.

She is the best mom ever.  When the chicks came, I went into the bird house and, while Aaron distracted Broody, I snuck out an egg and put two chicks in its place.  And then I did it again, until there were 21 (you read that right, TWENTY ONE) tiny babies underneath her.  They all fell asleep immediately.  We lifted up a wing to check that they weren't being smothered or anything, and they were all lined up like tiny fuzzy sardines. The next day we added 12 more (they came late), so she's got 33 little ones to take care of.

Notice the tiny foot sticking out under her wing. Now we call her The Mothership. She moves around like a tank and all the little babies follow her and sometimes they hop onto her head and when they get chilly they all disappear under her belly and she lies on top of them.

This chick is clearly giving me the stinkeye. She's a Buff Orpington (just like mom!). This year we also got 3 turkeys, some Barred Rocks, and some Araucanas, who have cheeks like chipmunks and apparently lay blue and green eggs.

Our first hike of 2009 was up to Lonesome Lake. If you have been reading this blog as long as I have, then you may recall that last year's Lonesome Lake hike was absolutely exhausting, on account of having 18" of fresh snow to slog through. This year, however, we actually ditched the snowshoes about 1/4 of the way up because the trail was so well packed. It is a much easier hike without snowshoes (though I still contend that it is not the easy-peasy beginner hike that all the books make it out to be).

It was a beautiful day, cold and clear, so at the top we had a lovely view across the lake. You can't really tell from this photo, but by the time you get to the lake, you're on top of a mountain. So the cloud-covered peak in the background (Mt. Lafayette) is extra-tall. And being at a lake on top of a mountain is pretty cool.

Once again, the AT hut was open with a caretaker (who was in the process of making some sort of baked good while we munched on our snacks). It's pretty fun to have a mid-walk rest inside a nice warm-ish building, listening to NPR. From the radio, we learned that we were going to have a dismal winter storm later that day, so it was a good thing we chose to hike in the morning.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, the ducks have come to terms with winter. If it is really cold, they stay indoors, otherwise they spend time hanging out on the snow. If it is actively snowing but not too windy/cold, then they camp out under the chicken tree (so named because, though you can't see it in this picture, those branches are all full of chickens). The geese, however, have not come to terms with winter. They don't understand, they don't like it, and they'll thank you not to mention it.

Meet Daisy! She was named by Elise of Pixels & Pulp.

Daisy is a little bit of a co-conspiritor with the geese -- when they are being loud and annoying, she hangs around right nearby pretends like she is big and tough like them. However, if you try to pet her, she will run away like nobody's business.

It is getting harder to take pictures of these ducks because Bruce and Spruce have decided that the camera is The Enemy and keep trying to bite the lens.

Here you can see Bruce's handsome nose-bump developing. This is a feature, not a bug. The bump looks hard (like beak) but is actually all soft and fleshy (like the tip of your nose). I am not sure what it's for; I'd like to think it's some sort of echolocation apparatus like that big bulge on a beluga whale. (That bulge, called a "melon" is full of oil! You learn something new every day.)