Is Pip a boy or a girl?

Sometimes it's hard to tell if a chick is a boy or a girl.   Boys are called cockerels until they turn one year old, and then they are called roosters.  Girls are called pullets until they turn one year old, and then they are called hens.

Lately Pip is acting a little bit like a boy chicken. She is chasing around the others a lot and pecking at them, and in general is being pushy and just a little bit mean.  Pip is also starting to look like she might be a cockerel. The comb is the piece of red flesh on top of a chicken's head.  It is much larger in cockerels and roosters than in pullets and hens.  Feathers on male chickens are also pointier and fancier looking.  Their feet are also much thicker.

Pip's comb is turning a bit redder and bigger, and some of her feathers are starting to look a little pointy, but it's too soon to tell. Her feet are kind of delicate and don't really look like a cockerel's.  I've shown pictures of her to people who know a lot about chickens, and most of them say they can't tell yet. Some say she's a pullet, and others say she's a cockerel.  Time will tell!

Unfortunately if Pip is a cockerel, I will have to give him away.  There are a few reasons we cannot have a rooster.  One is that they make noise when they crow. Another is that they don't lay eggs!  We really want to have a lot of eggs.  Often times the roosters become aggressive, which means they might bite or attack people.  (Pip has already bit me for no reason.) And the last reason is that most of our chickens will be small. They are called "bantams".  They might have a hard time if they were living with a standard size rooster since there are so few of them.

Here are some pictures of Pip from this week.  What do you think?  Is Pip a boy or a girl?

The Coop

Our chickens live in a plastic coop called the Eglu Cube. This chicken coop is made in England. We bought ours from someone who gave away their chickens and didn't need it anymore. The chickens usually only go inside to sleep at night. They sleep on roosting bars inside and their poop falls between the bars onto the poop boards. When I clean up all I have to do is take out the poop boards and dump the poop in the compost pile. There is also a little room called a nesting box and when they are old enough to lay eggs they will lay eggs in there.  It has a special door so I can reach in and take the eggs without having to take the whole roof off the coop.  The best thing about this coop is that it is very easy to clean. I can take it apart and hose it all down in about 10 minutes.  

Chickens use this ladder to get into the coop.

Can you see the word "omlet" on the egg door?  That's the name of the company that made the coop. Pretty clever name for a company that makes chicken coops, don't you think?

As you can see this coop has a damaged section by the door. The previous owner melted some of the plastic with a heat lamp and made a hole in the wall.  I covered up the hole with black tape.  I was worried the chickens would peck at it but so far they have left it alone.  You can see the roosting bars in this picture. At night time I close the orange door to keep the chickens safe.

Chickens like to have a lot of space so there is a fenced in area attached to the coop. It is called a chicken run. The one you see in this picture is temporary. We are building a stronger one that will have a roof and use a stronger type of wire called hardware cloth.  In this picture you can see Pip keeping an eye out. She is the oldest (by one week!) and is definitely the leader of the group.

Chickens Can Predict the Weather

Today we had a big thunderstorm. About half an hour before it came, the chickens all went and hid in the coop. That is the first time they have gone into the coop themselves.  At night I have to go and pick them up and put them in. (Soon they will learn to do that for themselves.)
I guess they really didn't want to be outside during the thunderstorm!

Meet the Flock!

We picked up our chickens yesterday!  We couldn't get little babies because they have to have a heat lamp to stay warm and they would have had to stay in our little house. Mean Kitty and baby chicks just shouldn't be in the same house.  So we got some birds that are 6-8 weeks old.  They have their feathers and are ready to stay in the coop!  (Coop is what you call a chicken house.)
I have discovered that taking pictures of chicks is really hard to do.  They don't like to sit still for the camera. Here are some pictures of our new birds.

Chicky and Pip:  Chicky is 6 weeks old and was named by Cousin A.  Pip is 8 weeks old and was named by Cousin M.  Pip is the black one.

Emma is 7 weeks old and was named by Cousin Ay.

Cous cous looks just like Emma and is the same age. She was named by Cousin E.

Melia is also 7 weeks old and was named after Amelia Earhart because she flies very well.

And so they don't feel left out, here are pictures of Libby and Mean Kitty

Welcome!

We are new chicken owners!  I am starting this blog so my nieces can see what is going on with our chickens and perhaps learn about chickens along the way. This is a blog intended for young children and is really just for fun!