Niwatori and Henny Penny

Fresh Vegetables?

On Tuesday afternoon, we received a long awaited, yet, much delayed due to various factors including a sprained thumb, a potential job-related travel out of town (tickets booked and paid for, but, the meeting was cancelled at the last minute), and a mini heatwave, delivery of a box of...farm fresh vegetables?  What?  Who ordered fresh vegetables from a farm?

But, wait, what's that peeking out from one of the holes in the box?

Peek-a-Boo!

Is that an eye?  And are those feathers? 

Feathers!

Could it be?  Yes, it is!  Chickens!  Our chickens have arrived! 

Daughter opted to get chickens that had been feather-pecked by others in the flock because feather-pecked chickens deserved to be loved just as much as any other chicken (maybe the fact that she was bullied at school made her feel more empathy towards them).  The fact that they were half priced was a bonus.  She was told that they had feathers missing and bare patches, but, were otherwise healthy. Presumably, the feathers will grow back, eventually.

Daughter requested heat tolerant chickens suitable for our climate, but, the exact breed and age of the chickens we'd receive would depend on what was available, and the chickens would be anywhere from 3 months to 1 year (daughter had originally wanted coop-ready chickens that were still fairly young).  

The chickens we received are a bit bigger than we had expected, but, here they are:

Niwatori and Henny Penny

Introducing Niwatori (Japanese for chicken, with niwa meaning garden and tori meaning bird), a Barred Plymouth Rock, and Henny Penny, who we believe is a Rhode Island Red.  Daughter has emailed the farm to ask if they knew the exact breeds and ages of the chickens they sent us, but, we haven't heard back yet.  Not that it matters that much.  We already love them!

We introduced Niwatori and Henny Penny to the coop yesterday and they checked it out.  The coop comes with a small run, an open enclosure, which them seem to prefer to the coop, itself as they refused to stay inside the coop when daughter put them in there to see - can't blame them because who'd want to be cooped up inside when there's so much to see?  LOL.  

Henny Penny Smiling at the Camera

 They both have small patches of bare skin on their backs, but, there are no wounds as such.  

Henny Penny giving me the side eye, but
Niwatori seems unconcerned

Daughter has made the coop as predator proof as she could and that's where they will spend their nights.  However, the coop and its small run is placed inside a bigger enclosure (6' x 10'), which gives them extra room in which to run.  

Chicken Enclosure with Coop Inside

Daughter assembled the enclosure and gardener M helped her with the canopy and laying down the hardware fabric underneath to predator proof it.  After the hens had explored the coop, we let them out to explore the bigger enclosure.

Coop and Enclosure

It was funny to see them explore this bigger area.  Niwatori seems to be the more placid one.  She happily stood in one spot and made some contented sounding clucking noises as she pecked at bugs in the ground.  Henny Penny, on the other hand, took it upon herself to strut around the enclosure, crowing every few feet, as if to proclaim that this is her territory!  Then, she went over to Niwatori, gave her a small peck on the back as if to establish the pecking order, and stood next to her, still keeping an eye on us standing outside the enclosure.  

We plan to let them out into the garden, eventually, but, with the garden cats and other critters around, we will do so only when either my daughter or I are there to keep an eye on them.  The rest of the time, they will stay inside the enclosure until they need to go inside the coop at night.  We still need to trim the zip ties and tidy the enclosure a bit (even today, M put more soil on some areas inside the enclosure to bury some exposed hardware fabric so that the chickens' feet don't get damaged when they scratch, etc.), but, the chickens seem happy enough.

The First Egg!

In fact, one of them gifted us with an egg, this morning!  I found it when I went to let them out of the coop run into the larger enclosure!  They both lay brown eggs, so, I've no idea quite who laid it, but, I rather suspect Niwatori as she seems more relaxed while Henny Penny is still a bit wary.  When daughter carried them, yesterday, Niwaroti allowed herself to be carried without any fuss while Henny Penny flapped her wings and squawked a bit at the indignity of being carried!  LOL.

I brought the egg in and washed it and refridgerated it.  But, first, I took a picture of it next to a grocery store, size large egg:

Not a bad size, at all!

I'll let daughter have the pleasure of cooking the first egg as she has done all the work and spending to get the chickens and the coop and enclosure, etc.  

But, isn't it "eggciting"?  LOL.

I do wonder what Chicken Little would have thought about all this?

Chicken Little
(neighbors' hen who spent her days in my garden
and taught the garden cats who was the boss!)

Today, I am grateful for:

- Our own chickens
- Who arrived safely
- Who seems to have settled in nicely
- Our first new egg
- M's help with the chicken coop and enclosure

This is the first time we are having our own chickens and we are learning as we go!  We are hoping that the chickens will like their new home and reward us with many more eggs in the days and weeks to come.  

Have you kept chickens?