Up to 29...

So how did I end up getting back up to 29?  I'm sure if you have read my previous post, you can guess.  I had the eggs under Poof (two hatched) and the four I ordered from McMurray Hatchery (one died, a Phoenix).  I also bought a Lavender Orpington pullet from a local, and I'm very pleased with all these breeds.  Poof adopted all the chicks she didn't hatch, and not two weeks later, I find Labelle sitting in a nest.  She has gone broody, too!

Poof and her chicks

 left: Poof, Baby Bok Joy, and a Phoenix
right: Terra chasing Poof and her chicks

 left: Phoenix.  I named him the Caped Avenger, though I doubt it will stick.
right: Poof chasing after her chicks.  Terry in the background making the new duckhouse. 

left: Poof overseeing her chicks pecking around.
right: Baby Bok Joy scratching around in the center of the food bowl.

Labelle over her clutch of eggs.  We started out with two to test her broody, then we added eight more after she was determined not to break her broody.  Apparently, the splash OE decided she didn't have enough, and she added two more.

Now there are twelve.

---

I have plenty of pictures to show.  Some are okay, some are not.  I didn't go through them all, but I'll try and weed through some of them.  The girls we received in our February hatchery orders are 24 weeks old.  Most of Erin's are laying, though only one or two of mine are laying.  Any day now I should be getting some blue and darker brown eggs, but the girls don't seem to be in too big of a hurry.

What happens when I put a small pile of hay out?  They climb it, peck it, scratch in it, and play like little kids.  Butter Cup was the first to jump to the top.  Little Runt was just passing by.

Several of the flock were out scratching around.
Spaz and Duchess walk around a bit, skirting the scratching scene.

Duchess was staring at her feet.  I think she may have stepped in some ants.

Cluck Norris the OE cockerel and Angel the EE pullet are walking wing-side-wing.

The Wonder Twins and the other EE girl scratching around.

Butter Cup and Dora peep out from under a building.

The Wyandottes have decided to join the hay.  Bandit isn't sure why they are having such a great time.

Little Runt was interested in what the Wonder Twins may have dug up.  The EE girl seems pretty into it.  Little Runt was the last chick to hatch from my incubator.  He's the last of that hatch I have.  All of the others have been sold, and he still gets picked on by the bigger chickens.

Spaz came out for a little bit.

Butter Cup, Joan, and Bandit

Butter Cup and Red came from Meyer Hatchery the first week of February.  Red has already started laying.  The other girls out of it have not, to my knowledge.  The girls I still have from the shipments are Red, Spaz, the other EE, a Salmon Faverolle, Jersey, Butter Cup, and Dora.  I have gotten two brown eggs in one day, so either Butter Cup, Jersey, or Dora has started laying, though I only got one. The Salmon Faverolle lays white eggs, and Spaz and the other EE should lay blue (or blue-ish) colored eggs.  

Bandit

Angel, the very first to hatch from my incubator in February.  She is close to 21 weeks old here, and she should soon begin to lay.

This is my younger Blue OE.  I'm not sure how old she is, and I have no clue how much longer I need to count before she finally starts to lay.

Even though she was a part of the young flock, she has integrated well into the older flock.  Bandit is happy to keep her close.

Duchess.  I told you, like kids playing in hay.

Angel and Duchess

---

My wonderful DH has finally started building me a duckhouse.  I call it "The Quack Pack Shack," and it is glorious!  I made him bring home some recycled wood from pallets and Lowes, and I'm very pleased with this so far.  Terry has already almost finished one wall, and the frame itself is up.  If you want to take a peek, head over to my FB page and see all the progress.  I posted all the photos I have of the house on it.  Doing this much, it took most of a two-day weekend.

Here the base is already put together and elevated.  Terry's working on measuring for the frame.

Here we have both wall frames up, with windows for ventilation.

Frame is mostly up (three walls), and the outside panneling is almost finished on one side.  We need more pallets to complete it, but I think it's safe to say we got a plan.