Mommy plus Five: May 5, 2015 - Garden, Chicken Update

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

May 5, 2015 - Garden, Chicken Update

7:26 PM |

Posted by Veronica |

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

The garden is still in a holding pattern. I did plant the green beans in the raised bed yesterday, as they had completely run out of room in their little containers. They did fine overnight, and seem to be growing fine. My tomatoes are quickly outgrowing their containers too, but I still feel like it is a bit chilly at night to plant them just yet. I did leave the plants out last night to test how they would do, and four of my tomato plants looked pretty wilted this morning. I spoke with a gardening expert in my chicken forum today, and she said she waits until Mother's Day to plant her seedlings. Her garden looks amazing, so that sounds like a plan to me. Mother's Day planting would be a good tradition to start.

The aphids are back this year, which is a little upsetting. I hate aphids! But fortunately, the lady bugs are back too, and they love to eat some aphids!

The chickens are all doing well. They are definitely getting too big for their inside bed. The second they see me in the morning, they start chirping away! They know I will let them out into the yard, and they get so excited when I do. They love being outside. They are now between 5 and 7 weeks old, although I think Thelma is closer to 8 weeks.

Their feathers are coming in nicely, so this would be a good weekend to start building our chicken coop. They should be ready to relocate outside permanently very soon!

They gave me a heck of a fright yesterday. I had them out in the yard grazing. I looked away to check my green beans, and when I looked back, all four chicks had fallen over in the yard and were just laying there all pitiful. I had a heart attack! I thought they had been stricken with some evil chicken voodoo hex....lol. I did a quick Google search and learned that they love to sun bathe. Yep, my babies were getting their tan on. Little stinkers. :)

My favorite part of my gardening/chickening adventure is my partner in crime...Blake. He loves working in the garden and playing with the chickens. It will be a fun project to work on with my baby boy.

Miss Lilly loves the chickens too.

Miss Lilly and Thelma seem to have a special connection.

Thelma is our "Lap Chicken!" She loves sitting in our laps, or perching on our arms. She is such a lovely little hen.

The chick's feathers are coming in nicely. They are at that awkward juvenile stage...part fuzzy, part feathers, with faces that only a mother could love. :)

The Wyandotte girls, Rosie and Annabelle. Rosie and Annabelle are very sweet! They have lovely personalities, and are going to be beautiful chickens.

Thelma and Louise.

Thelma is still the largest of the chicks, and definitely the friendliest.

Louise is very different! She is tall and sleek. She matches every feature of her breed, Egyptian Fayoumis perfectly. It is till possible she may be a Silver Campine, but only time will tell. I sometimes worry that she might be a rooster? She is always rounding up the girls, and is very territorial about them. She is also a bit flighty and very fast. She is a sweet chicken when you get her by herself, but she is definitely the least friendly of the bunch. I really hope she does not end up being a rooster because then we would have to adopt her out. Roosters are not permitted within Boise city limits. So please, please, please be a hen Miss Louise.

As for getting the girls separated and by themselves...don't do it! They get so upset when one goes missing. They start calling for each other and get all in a panic. It is really cute. Miss Louise however makes the most noise! She gets so loud and so rowdy when you take one of her girls away. Which is why I wonder if she is actually a he. *sigh*

The girls...