Ever wonder what happens when chickens go to sleep? I had heard that chickens liked to go back in their coop at dusk but I wasn’t prepared for how rigid their bedtime was. Every night at about the same time they all start walking up the little ramp from their run into their coop. I started keeping track for a few days to see what time their little chicken minds were telling them it was time for bed:

They seem to be getting a little later each night, which makes sense since sunset has been about a minute later each night.

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A few nights ago they all went to bed but FoShizzle must have been distracted because she was left behind. She ran back and forth calling out for her friends until finally Rey (the large brown hen chickie) ran out to help her, but that didn’t help either. FoShizzle ran all over the coop looking for the other chicks. (I think her large plume of feathers is starting to affect her ability to see above her line of sight.)

All the chicks went to bed as usually tonight…except FoShizzle…she must have been daydreaming. Then she couldn’t figure out where everyone went and ran around calling for her friends…they kept calling back for her but she forgot how to get into the coop. At one point you can see Rey come back out for her! Eventually she figured it out. ??? #sunset #chickencoop #raisingchickens

A video posted by @foshizzlethepolishfrizzle on May 26, 2016 at 6:50pm PDT

Eventually she found her way into the coop, where she was able to climb up to the top roost with the others:

They sleep every night on the top roost in their coop. I have to get some video of that soon…it’s very entertaining. They spend about 30 minutes trying to get the best spot on the roost, squeezing towards one side, sometimes squeezing each other off the roost completely and then the entire process starts again. They sleep perched on their little roosts all night and are so excited when we reopen the coop door again in the morning. The below time lapse was when they were first learning to roost, on a small makeshift roost just off the floor:

Bedtime for baby chickens is pretty much like bedtime for toddlers. #timelapse #chickencoop #thecooponhospitalhill #babychicks

A video posted by Ashley Hackshaw (@lilblueboo) on May 4, 2016 at 5:59pm PDT

We been worried about how Max would react to the chickens. When the chicks were about two weeks old I cupped Sunny backwards in my hand and let Max sniff her behind. I was horrified when he stuffed his snout forcibly through my hand and grabbed ahold of Sunny’s backside. Sunny screeched at the top of her little chickie lungs and I ripped Max off roughly enough to make him screech as well. We were all pretty traumatized for a few minutes….I thought Max had killed Sunny….and I thought I had killed Max. Ever since then we’ve kept the chickens and the dog separated. You can see Max peering in as Boo and Brett feed the chicks some tomatoes below:

This past weekend I started to let the chicks out during the day, usually when we plant to be outside working for a while so we can keep an eye on them. They don’t venture too far from the chicken run, they are still too “chicken” to wander. I took Max out with us too, but kept him on a leash. I would bring him close to the chickens and sit with him, having long talks about how he needed to protect them, not eat them. Max quickly lost interest in them.

Yesterday I let Max off the leash for the first time and he just sat lazily and watched them peck at the clover patches around him. At one point when he got up to start walking around….before I could do anything…FoShizzle took off running straight towards Max. She ran toward him so quickly that I thought she was going to attack him, but instead she put on the brakes inches from his face and stared at him as if saying, “Bring it.”  Max was so startled that he stood there frozen like a statue, wagging his tail a million times a minute:

I read an article yesterday about a loose dog that killed 280 chickens at a farm. I don’t think Max could kill 280 chickens, but he could probably kill seven if he wanted to.  I’m just happy that they are for now one big happy family.

Our backyard flock was recently introduced to their new chicken run from the coop. The photo above is the moment that I first opened their little coop door to the ramp that Boo built for them. I just love their expressions! That’s Sunny peeking out from the back of the flock.

Each one of our chicks has their own personality…it’s so fun to get to know each one.  I wish I could just have you all over to meet our chickens in person but a virtual chicken meet and greet will have to do. I’m still working on the live cam idea. And I’m seriously contemplating having an “open coop” for the neighborhood. If everyone had chicken coops we could have a chicken house tour….but that might be a few years off until I can convince them all.

Our chicks have been so much fun. They are the first thing Boo visits when she gets home from school…always out there feeding them scraps and trying to teach FoShizzle tricks. Here’s a little about each breed of chicken we have so far and an introduction to each chick!

Our Backyard Flock:

Welsummer Bantam

“The Welsummer (sometimes spelled Welsumer) is named after the village of Welsum, Holland, and was first imported into this country in 1928. When many people picture the stereotypical rooster, a Welsummer is what they have in mind–this was the same rooster featured on the corn flake boxes! Their hackles and saddles are fiery burnt orange and scarlet, with beetle black tails iridescently shining green, like the bars on their wings. The hens are modest, heathery brown, with their hackles shading to glints of gold and black. Even their eyes are a lovely red bay. The birds have single combs, medium wattles, almond shaped ear lobes and a strong, short beak. Welsummers are friendly, intelligent and easily handled birds that love to free range and forage for food but can also be kept in runs quite happily.” –My Pet Chicken

This is Rey. Yes, she’s named after Star Wars Rey…because Boo says she’s independent and kind of a loner. I call her Martha Dumptruck, she’s our largest, and most-in-charge-chicken. And she’s strong! She can rip a cherry tomato right out of my grip before I’ve even had time to prepare.

Buff Brahma Bantam

“Bantam brahmas are gentle sweeties with feathered legs and feet and profuse, fluffy feathering. Originally from India, these birds were bred for meat production, though the hens lay relatively decently and are great setters and mothers. This fancy breed of chicken makes a great pet for its quiet and tame nature, tolerance to the cold, huggability and sheer chic-ness.” -from My Pet Chicken

We have two Buff Brahmas, Plump and Sunny. They are so fluffy and their coloring is just beautiful. I love their feathered “boots with the fur” feet. Here’s what their feathers look like right now….they are two toned:

Plump is very elusive and you can tell that she’s in shock that I’ve actually managed to capture a non-blurry photo of her.  Most of the other chicks are very easy to catch but not Plump…even with her neck-disappearing-into-her-body-fullness she is so darn fast! She’s been that way since we got her. Once she is caught she’ll squeal so loud that your first instinct is to drop her and then the process starts all over again. It’s like a chicken-chasing scene right out of a movie. She reminds me so much of Aunt Fanny from the movie Robots.

Meeting Aunt Fanny…one of my favorite scenes:

Sunny is much smaller than Plump. Our 5-year-old neighbor Natalie named her “Sunshine” or “Sunny” for short. Sunny is always very curious about my phone…whenever I’m trying to take a photo she will walk around to the side of the screen and watch what I’m filming, pecking at the screen. She loves to have her chest scratched and she was the first to set boundaries as a young chick, pecking at my finger when she wasn’t sure about it.

Barred Rock Bantam

“Barred Plymouth Rocks or “Barred Rocks”, as they’re called, are one of the most popular dual-purpose chickens on small farms today, and this bantam variety is as sweet as can be. The heritage of the breed is unclear with reports of different crosses, but what is clear is that they’re very friendly, great layers of brown eggs and fairly cold hardy for a bantam. Though they tolerate confinement, they’re most happy when they get to range freely.” – My Pet Chicken

We have two Barred Rocks, M-LO and Henrietta. They are the tamest of all our chicks. And their feathers are striped…hence the “barred” name. You can be sure that I will gather and keep every single discarded feather.

M-LO is the smallest of all our chickens. M-LO stands for “My Little One”…kind of like J-Lo or J-Law, celebrity status. She’s the last of the chicks to get her big girl feathers. For being so small she’s always been the bravest! Most of the other chicks will just stand frozen and stare in horror at a strawberry or piece of watermelon when I toss it to them. M-LO is the one that always gets the courage to go up and peck at it. She’ll usually try to carry it off too, but not very subtly…it’s like she gives off a signal that says to the others “I’m eating something yummy!” Then all hell breaks loose and the whole flock is chasing M-LO around.

And then there’s Henrietta…our far-sighted Barred Rock. She’s much larger than M-LO, but I was worried about her for a long time because either she can’t see very well or she has a depth perception issue. If I hold out a treat for her she can’t pick it up, instead she pecks all around it, and then usually gives up out of frustration. It’s too hard to watch so I started just letting her eat straight out of the treat bowl, which has made her my most loyal chick. (Chick loyalty can be bought ya’ll.) Henrietta is the first to greet me each day and she loves to sit in my lap.

White Crested Black Polish Bantam

Polish are a very special and unique breed of chicken with their huge bouffant crest of feathers and v-shaped comb. They are tame and as such make good pets, but their behavior can be a bit wacky since their crest limits their vision! When in a flock with more aggressive breeds, Polish will tend to be on the low end of the pecking order. Polish lay smallish white eggs, and production depends on the individual. –My Pet Chicken

We have two Polish Frizzles: Ditto and FoShizzle. They are like tiny Sesame Street Big Birds.

Ditto was the first to try to fly out of the brooding box. She’s very opinionated and often greets my petting hand with a high, snooty trill.

And Foshizzle is FoShizzle. Known as “Fo” for short. She loves to sit on Boo’s shoulder. And she has her own Instagram account FoShizzlethePolishFrizzle….because she’s pretty darn photogenic. She reminds me of Grumpy Cat.

I mean, have you ever seen such a beautiful bouffant? It’s like she was born to be a Pantene model. Here it is in slow motion:

@foshizzlethepolishfrizzle eating a tomato…and making a Pantene commercial. #Pantene #polishfrizzle #backyardchickens

A video posted by @foshizzlethepolishfrizzle on May 19, 2016 at 7:00pm PDT

I often see both Ditto and Fo running up to each other and greeting each other with a “What’s up?!” They are so funny to watch. They definitely do act strange and erratic because they can’t see through their feathers, maybe that’s why they take such funny photos. You can see their quirky mannerisms below when Sunny jumped up and invaded Fo’s personal space a while back while they were still in their cardboard brooder box:

Personal space violation. #foshizzle

A video posted by @foshizzlethepolishfrizzle on May 5, 2016 at 5:29pm PDT

We have more chickens coming in August….I think Mottle Cochins and a few Silkies. 1 chicken + 1 chicken = 7+ chickens. Chicken math is real ya’ll.

You can read more about the renovating of the old depot into a chicken coop here. 

And all chicken-related posts here.