Mini eggs! Spring is here!

So I'm not so good at this blogging thing.  Whoopsies.

So much has happened since I gave up my chickies.  I've been fortunate enough to go visit them a few times now.  At first, I think Gertie was still pretty mad at me...or just really cold.  She seemed to be shivering.  She did survive the rest of winter though.

About a week after they moved out, it was still cold enough for down coats.
Good thing they have this snazzy chicken coop to keep them safe and warm!

Both of them have continued to grow, little by little.  And about a week after this visit, one of them started laying eggs!  We weren't completely sure which one, but I have a hunch it's Gertie.  I think she probably thought she was going to die in the cold, so she had to reproduce before it was too late.  

Then a little after that, the other one was laying eggs too!  So both Millie and Gertie started laying eggs around 4.5 months.  Slightly early by normal standards (usually it's 6 months).  But maybe being around all the other hens was helpful in getting them to lay early.

Here they are!  Mini eggs from my chickies :)

According to the internet (which is 100% reliable), the eggs will become bigger as the girls continue to grow. So hopefully they will have normal-sized eggs in a couple months.  But to be honest, I kind of wish they will always have mini eggs.  I think they're cute!  They would be cute little eggs to dye for Easter, they'd make adorable little hard-boiled eggs for snacks, AND most importantly, I could tell people I can hold 4 eggs in one hand.

We took 6 eggs home and made them for dinner the same night.  I was eager to see what fresh eggs were like.  And boy were they DE-LI-CIOUS.  The yolks were richer, deeper in color, and tasted decadent.  I don't know how to describe the difference in the whites, but if you could describe normal store bought egg whites as "runny" or "watery", these were not--they're not like solid, but more gelatinous?  Maybe that's the word.

I'm so proud of my girls.  And they looked so happy.  Here's a video of them in the garden.  The first two shown are my little ones.  The others are their new sisters.  They seem to travel in pairs.

Millie and Gertie become big girls

I gave up my chickens yesterday.  I don't have any pictures or video; I was too sad and too preoccupied with making sure they were okay to document it.

They are living with 6 other chickens in a very nice and spacious coop now.  My girls are so tiny in comparison to the other hens (about half their size...and half their age).  Gertie was getting picked on by the alpha hen almost immediately.  Millie and Gertie were scared and wanted to flee.  I tried to comfort them, but they're just not brave enough to stand up for themselves yet.  Gertie was so scared, I picked her up to comfort her and when I went to put her back down, she didn't want to go.  She scurried up my arm and up onto the back of my neck and didn't want to leave.  It was so sad seeing her so frightened.

I know they are going to be okay, but when they looked at me with sad little faces that said, "Why are you doing this to me?" my heart just broke.  I miss them.  I hope they take care of each other.

Once there was a Millie, and she lived with her Gertie in the bathtub.

That Quvenzhane Wallis was so freakin' adorable in Beasts of the Southern Wild. That movie was filled with some quotable little gems, including the adapted title of this post. Oh, Hushpuppy. Too cute.

Sometimes if the girls are behaving, you can pick both of them up, one under each arm, and just take them where ever they need to be. Sometimes they need to be put in a box.  

2 Chickens in a Box

More of my favorites from Beasts of the Southern Wild...

"The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right."

"Sometimes you can break something so bad, that it can't get put back together."

Snow chickies

In our attempts to acclimate Millie and Gertie to winter weather, we brought them outside in the snow for the first time.  They were quite curious.

Even as big girls, they have furry little butts.

*Nothing really happens in this video, they just walk around and peck at snow and then stare at me and peck at more snow.

Chickens are like little kids

They never want to go to bed.  When I turn the lights down they start getting all loud and fussy.  Sometimes they even try to jump out of the tub...with a success rate of about 75% now.

Millie is turning into a somewhat graceful young lady.  Charm school pays off.  j/k.  I don't teach them manners.  Funniest part is that once she's out, she doesn't even know what to do.  So she cries and I go put her back.  Silly Millie.

Grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes...

I work from home on Fridays and usually get up around 6:30 and start work at 7.  That's a little too early to wake up the chicks, so I usually give them a couple extra hours to sleep.  This past Friday, I had some nonstop calls in the morning all the way until noon.  And then I realize, "Oopsies, I forgot to wake up the chicks!"

So I gave them time to wake up, eat, and drink.  Then I put them in their diapers so they could come out in the living room and play while I worked.

I felt bad about not waking them up earlier, so I gave them a little treat.  (If you've seen Tom Green at Zanies, you might get the title of this post.)

The chickies have their coming out party!

Well, "party" may be a stretch.  We just put their diapers on and took them to the roof deck for some fresh air.  It's literally the first time since they've arrived at our home that they have been outside...in the real world!

It was a little cold and windy, but the girls are troopers.  We're actually trying to get them acclimated to the winter.  The chicken lady (yes, she exists) told us we should try to take them out for a couple hours at a time for a few weeks so the cold doesn't shock their systems.

Millie was getting blown away!

In addition to getting them ready for winter, I'm also trying to get them used to wearing diapers so we can have them around when we have company over.  They still fidget, pick, and pout, but the diaper fits are decreasing each time.

Chickie butts hit the runway dressed in Bunnie Bottom originals!
Miss Gertrude is sporting the adorably wicked little monsters ensemble,
while Miss Mildred is donning a ferociously fierce dinosaur number.

Strut your stuff!

I am still trying to get the girls to wear their diapers with some success.  They still pick at them, but they give up after awhile.

Here is Gertie with her "little monsters" diaper:

Gertie says, "Don't I look fabulous?!"  Darling, you sure do.

And here is Millie with her "dinosaur..RAWR!" diaper:

Millie says, "I still don't like this even if it is adorable on me."

If anyone was wondering, I got all my supplies from Joann Fabrics (I heart that place).  All less than $20 with a coupon and enough to make maybe 6 diapers.  If I bought more elastic I think I could make another 6 because I still have tons of fabric left over.

Here's what I used:

• 3/8-inch knit elastic
• metal snap fasteners
• waterproof diaper fabric (They have a pretty cute array...I almost bought the monkey ones that said, "bananas for you.")

Chicken diapers!

Yes, you read correctly.  There is such a thing!  After doing some extensive googling, I found lots of DIY tutorials including a great video on how to make them:

Here is the first attempt...

They didn't like the diapers so much.  But I read somewhere on the internet (b/c the internet is always right) that if they weren't raised on diapers early on, they need some time to get used to them.  So, I'll keep trying! I hope it works so then we can have them running around the house!

8 weeks old, 66% adult, 200% poopinators

The girls are almost outgrowing their space here. In about four more weeks they will be going off to the big girl farm.

Millie has escaped a couple more times and Gertie none so far.  I think she just likes her home, no need to leave.  They both have beautiful little tails now, really starting to look like chickens!
And they don't stay still much so it was extremely difficult getting clear photos. But here they are...

Goodnight, chick-a-dees!

The chicks tend to get a little rambunctious before bedtime, so we try to dim the lights when we get home to let them know it's almost lights out.  Once they start making sleepy sounds, then we know they're ready for bed.  Here are their special sleepy noises...(it is a long video, don't say I didn't warn you.  AKA, no, I will not give you your two minutes back.)

From the reserves, fluffy and thirsty

I was going through some older chick photos and videos and came across some unpublished ones that I still think are cute.

I remember when they were sooo fluffy and tiny!

And this was when I just taught them how to drink water.  I had to dip my finger into the water so a drop would form and I'd bring it up to their beaks.  They'd drink it and eventually understood they could drink it out of the feeder themselves.  But they would tilt their heads back so far they'd stumble, it was so adorable.  Here is Millie being a little overzealous with her drinking...

And here is one of them when they started preening.  Aww...I miss when they were this little.

They're just like little dogs, Bella

Bella, the poodle meets my baby chicks (who aren't so baby anymore).  Sorry, I'm a horrible video taker, but you get the idea.

Playtime with Gertie

I discovered this by accident while cleaning up their home.  I was putting something away under the sink and Gertie couldn't see me, so she started jumping/flying up to see over the tub.  I thought it was sooo cute, she loves me! 

So now we turned it into a game.  I duck behind the tub and then she scurries around trying to find me.  Sometimes she jumps, sometimes she just tries to peek her head over the wall, and sometimes she perches on the rod to peek over.  My goal is to get her to jump/fly.  And I'm usually pretty successful...

Prison break

Millie escapes...AGAIN!   At least she didn't poop on the floor like last time.

Helicopter landing

Gertie is soooo good at balancing, she doesn't want to leave my arm!  I try to shake her off several times but she doesn't want to go.  So we bring her down to the helipad!  J/k.  She just flapped her wings a lot and it was generating a lot of wind.

Charm school for chicks

So I'm trying to teach Millie how to descend gracefully like Gertie, but it's a struggle.  She's too nervous and she doesn't really grip onto you when she's perching, which leaves her so unstable and shaky, she just wants to jump off.

Anyway, she's so big now!  5 weeks and look how tall she is.


Me holding her with her dinosaur feet out.
Mwhahaha, you can't get away!

 

Chickie tricks! (Err...maybe it's just singular.)

We let the chicks out of their "home" (a.k.a., the bathtub in the second bathroom) and put them on a blanket in the living room.  They seemed to like it a lot.  Much more freedom and it was a whole new world for them.  We also discovered a fun little trick by accident.  I made a circle with my thumb and pointer finger and Millie started pecking through it.  (Most likely because it reminds them of their feeder.)

Also, today while I was working out, I heard Millie's crying chirp.  It's the one she does when we take Gertie away for too long and she is sad.  When I heard her, I instantly knew...she got out of the tub.  I open the door and sure enough, there she is standing in the middle of the floor, looking so innocent and sad, with a big ol' pile of poo behind her.  Of all the birds in the world, Millie, who is afraid to use her wings, actually figured out how to fly out of the tub.  Shocked and maybe slightly proud she finally figured it out.  Never underestimate the little ones.

Bigger, faster, stronger!

Still scruffy around the neck, but she's catching up in size...

Gertie is curious and comes in for a closer look.  Then she pecks my camera.


"You look shiny and tasty!"




Millie says, "I want to be curious too!" 
Gertie says, "Copy cat."

   Gertie is plateauing, size-wise, but they're both stll growing pretty fast...and they're so much stronger.  In another month, they will be close to adult size!  Isn't she a pretty little chicken?  I can't believe she started out as a wobbly little gray fluff ball.

Side note: "Bigger, faster, stronger" a.k.a., BFS, was a gym program at my high school.  It was mostly filled with meathead jocks who wanted to spend their hour of gym class in the weight room.  Mildred and Gertrude do not pump iron.  They are LADIES.

The chickies are 4 weeks old!

Happy 4 week birthday to my babies!

Gertie is the best at balancing on hands.  Isn't she lovely?

She's got an impressive wingspan now...

And here is my pretty little Millie...



This is her red carpet pose.