Friday, May 31, 2013

Feathered Friend Friday: The Pre-Teens Go Outside!

Welcome to our series "Feathered Friend Friday." Every Friday I write a post with interesting facts, photos, or funny stories about our chickens and guineas. If you need to catch up, you'll find all the Feathered Friend Friday posts here

As you may remember, about eight weeks ago we got some new chicks from our local feed store. Since then, our hen Ellie went broody and hatched out five of her own chicks. So we now call the original chicks "pre-teens" and Ellie's babies the "chicks" to avoid confusion!

We moved the pre-teens outdoors to their new coop a few weeks back, and they have recently begun to roost on the perches in the coop at night. Once they begin to act upon their instinct to roost, they will usually return to the coop each night on their own so we figured it was a good time to let them explore the covered secure outdoor run.


We've done this several times, and it's always the same. They are scared at first and unsure of what to do with the pop door open. It takes a little coaxing to get one of them to come over and take a peek outside.


There's usually one chick that is a little bolder than the others (Pearl, in this case) and she will take the lead. Once she braves the strange new territory, the others will eventually follow.




We will let them stay in this coop until they are fully grown, then integrate them into the main flock. For now, they can all see each other since the runs are connected, so when the time comes to integrate them it should go much more smoothly. The chickens don't seem to mind the pre-teens at all and the pre-teens don't seem to care about the chickens, so hopefully they are already getting used to each other!

I can't end this post without reminiscing a bit. Two years ago today we closed on our house and began our homesteading journey. I still remember that day so vividly; full of promise and possibility. When we first moved, there was nothing out here. Just the house and a carport in the back. Over the past two years we have added a vegetable garden, flower garden around the house, and chicken coops with a big run that we have expanded several times. We have added many members to our family including Duchess, our outdoor cats Baby and Sylvester, a flock of guineas (and their two flocks of offspring), more chickens, and tens of thousands of honeybees. I am so very proud of what we have accomplished in such a short time. If we were able to get this much done in two years, I can't wait to see what the next five or ten years hold! Promise and possibility are still as rich and real as ever.

~Tammy

Shared with From The Farm Blog Hop 

37 comments:

  1. Tammy, just reading that last sentence makes me so excited to be on this journey with you guys! And it makes me reminisce about our yard-used as a parking lot by the previous owners, and not a flower anywhere in sight. It's been so rewarding making the space beautiful again!

    And oh how I love those pre-teens:)

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  2. Your pre-teens are so sweet. Someone has to be the brave one! Congrats to you on all that you have been able to accomplish so far in your journey!
    Farmhouse hugs,
    Cindy

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  3. Those pre-teens are so big now! Pearl looks pretty determined :) Congratulations on your two year journey, you have done an awesome job!

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  4. Possibilities abound!!! You are so blessed, and on such a wonderful journey. It is good to know you 'friend' and 'see' all that you are doing and can do!

    I just love that you have 2 coops for you feathered friends, I may have to do this sometime. Still on the fence about getting a Roo...I really don't want to mess with such a good thing right now.

    How is Duchess looking these days!? I still can't get over her transformation! My pup is no longer a pup :( It goes so dang fast.

    Continued blessings to you dear.

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  5. Tammy, your girls are looking so grown up! Congratulations on your two year anniversary of living in the woods, you certainly have accomplished a lot already. S:)

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  6. Congrats on your 2 year anniversary of this homesteading journey! Glad all the chickies are doing well and getting along :)

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  7. All that in just 2 years! You all sure are impressive :-)

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  8. I LOVE the first and second photos. Thank you for sharing the sweetness!

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  9. Happy house anniversary! I just love your chickens and the teens. It is funny you have to coax them out of the house. Great post and photos, Tammy! Have a great weekend!

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  10. You guys have really accomplished a lot in the two years you've been there and I can't wait to see how much further you will go! :)
    Love your preteens being "chicken" about going out!

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  11. OMGosh.. it's those darling chickens!! They are so cute and I can't believe they are almost entering their teenage years ;) I like the picture of you coaxing them out.. it's kinda like teaching a child to walk. You do everything you can to get them to take the first step and then suddenly they are off and running!! Two years and MANY to come:) Enjoy your weekend! xxleslie

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  12. So happy for you that you are living your dream! Y'all will be able to accomplish anything together!

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  13. I was thinking when I was reading that WOW you've gotten a lot accomplished together in just two years. That's wonderful and amazing and it seems to suit you so well. You sound and look happy on the blog. :)

    Happy House Anniversary!

    Good luck w/the integration of the teens w/the adults. I hope all goes smoothly.

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  14. I love seeing what your chickens have been up to! :)

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  15. Congats Tammy on such a productive two years ~ wishing you many more. :))

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  16. I love reading about your chickens - it's a strange new world of me (in a good way). It's amazing all you've done over the past two years - yeah for you two and your ever growing family!

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  17. okay.do hens eat leaves? cos u took a plant near it to bring it out.......

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  18. Congratulations to you on all of your accomplishments of the last 2 years. Sounds like so much more is ahead of you! Love your feathered friends

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  19. I love how sweet your little hens are! They look so healthy, too! It's too cute that they are afraid to come out. I guess when you are that little, it is a big, scary world! You have accomplished so much in two years and I can't wait to see what lies ahead, too! An exciting journey and so fun to follow! xoxo

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  20. I love how beautiful your hens are and what an exciting day for you - the preteens are out! Yay! I bet they are partying like crazy ;)

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  21. I still can't believe you did so much in just two years. You guys should be very proud of yourselves because it's obvious that you both have worked very hard since you moved. Oh, and I LOVE that you're calling the 8 week old chicks pre-teens :)

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  22. They are beautiful pre-teens! Congrats on your anniversary! I do love hearing about what you have been through and am so happy that you share to help others (like me!) learn and get more idea's!

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  23. Happy 2nd homesteadiversary!
    Janie x

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  24. Goodness Tammy - you HAVE come a long way!! In just two years - what a wonderful life change you both have made! Your baby chicks looks so healthy!! Fun!!

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  25. They are adorable!! Chickens are such, well.....chickens, aren't they? Congrats to the two of you and all you've accomplished - isn't it just amazing to look back over everything? Can't wait to see where life leads you next!

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  26. They look so shy! Happy "homesteading" anniversary!

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  27. A picture's worth a thousand words-and yours tell the whole story!! :D They are so cute and BIG!

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  28. You are quite the inspiration, Tammy..
    Take care .. Love your chicks.. xo

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  29. Our newer chickens (that we got in February) are not shy at all. They have been free ranging with the older chickens now for a couple of weeks. Happy anniversary -- xo

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  30. Your life choice and energy and beautiful personality are an inspiration to me. I love homesteading with you.

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  31. LOL love that picture of the little greens to coax them outside! What a hoot.

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  32. Sounds like you have come a long way and you should be so proud! Love reading about your pre-teen chickens, they sound so adorable...

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  33. What a great post Tammy. I love the way you live :-)
    Very nice pictures!

    Sincerest greetings from the Netherlands,
    DzjieDzjee

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  34. I love that first trip outside for the chicks! :)

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  35. It is awesome what you guys have done in the past couple years! Excited to see what the next steps along the way are!

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  36. Sounds like the pre teens are doing great! Mine are outside during the day in the separated run as well. We'll be saying goodbye to 11 of them this weekend but they won't be going far ( my fathers house and my brothers house) ....so we can still visit. ;)

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