Parsons' Prairie Farm

It has been a stressful few days in and around the chicken coop!  I have enjoyed having my hens (and all those fresh eggs) so much that I wanted more…….both chickens and eggs that is.  Right around the 1^st of March, I purchased 8 new chicks (hopefully all hens) to bring home to the farm. 

I have been keeping them warm and safe in a big stock tank in the garage and they have grown like little weeds!  It has been somewhat of a challenge this spring as our weather has been cold and wet.  The chicks survived one big snow storm, a short power outage and many freezing nights but are doing well.  So well, in fact, that I had to get them out of that stock tank!  They were just getting too big.  So last Saturday they were put in the coop with Mr. Puffycheeks and the hens.  I’m not sure now that this was the best way to introduce them to each other, but at the time it seemed like the best option. 

We have been letting the hens and Mr. Puffycheeks, our rooster, forage around the yard all day for some time now.  They all go back into the coop at night where they are content, sheltered and safe.  On Saturday, when we added the new chicks, we kept the coop enclosure shut.  I didn’t want the new chicks running around too much until they knew where there home was. 

On Saturday, the chicks hid in a corner of the chicken coop and rarely if ever came out.  The hens and Mr. Puffycheeks were a little mean to the new chicks, especially that first day.  I can tell you, none of my feathered friends were happy on Saturday.

On Sunday, we opened the coop door.  The hens and Mr. Puffycheeks came right out and enjoyed their day.  Sunday morning the chicks were again hiding in the corner.  But by the afternoon they were out in the chicken coop, eating, drinking and trying out the roosting bars.  They seemed to be fine as long as the hens were out in the yard.  I don’t believe that any of the chicks made their way out of the coop at all on Sunday.  Things did seem a little less stressful once they were all in the coop and settled down for the night.

Ethel was not very happy that I was invading her privacy during one of my visits to check on the new chicks!

It wasn’t until Thursday that the new chicks began to venture out of the coop.  They are still very careful around Mr. Puffy Cheeks and the hens but it is getting a little better every day.  I can’t wait till they are all one happy family!