Thumbnail ala Thursday… weekend videos!
More winterizing… added plastic to the chicken run to protect from the wind and rain. I did this last year and it worked great!
https://youtu.be/X7vz4MwJTdQ?si=yv1Cc…
In the meantime, PK decided to hurt her other leg because she apparently loved the attention she got last time. No vet visit though… just a little isolation and recovery time.
Thursday’s Thumbnail videos come out this weekend and we’re talk’n drainage rocks?
Yup… I added some rocks under the new chicken run roof line to help with, what else, drainage. Keep in mind my videos are quite a bit behind and one of these days you will see a video where these beautiful rocks end up facing the weather of winter. I love the idea but not crazy about the upcoming spring cleanup.
https://youtu.be/IrB80qGU_QA?si=5vB2E…
This week was so uneventful and stress free that I spend the first two minutes talking about and/or to my shadow. It might seem crazy but it’s actually insane. Michael makes an appearance with Popcorn… and I don’t mean the food. 😉
Another Thursday Thumbnail means more videos this weekend!
I added electricity to the coop (aka long extension cords lol) and tarps to help with the upcoming wind, rain, and snow. Even added a little parkour park that they will probably ignore!
Spent some time inside the chicken run sitting on a small chair while chickens sat on my lap. Mr. Squirrel was back gathering materials for a nest and came a bit closer to me than I think was necessary.
https://odysee.com/@phenixjiraliving:c/lazy-day-with-chickens-and-a-squirrel:d
Thursday’s Thumbnail. My next video shows some quick follow-up projects, like adding hardware cloth to the chicken run to keep out skunks and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
I also spent quiet time with the chickens, witnessed Phoenix high off the ground, and ended up with chickens on my back!!
Main videos come out Fridays and Saturdays.
We were able to witness a bit of the solar eclipse in October of 2023 (about 85% of it) and caught a bit on camera as well as a sliver of it on a piece of paper. Michael explained what we were seeing and what was actually happening.
In this video, we are looking at the sliver of sunlight through a pinhole onto a piece of paper. Later, we turn the camera and point it at the sun while blocking the view so as not to go blind! We ended up getting some pretty neat shots while seeing a reflection of the sun as it was eclipsing. It was a fun afternoon.
We finally decided to extend the chicken run and probably just in time! Having 9 chickens in the small space would not have been the best move. In this video we show the progress and how we got it done. A future roofing video is coming out as well!
That’s right… adding an extension to the chicken run! The square footage of the underside of the coop, the wooden run, and the kennel is 112 sqft combined. That is a little more than 12 sqft per chicken. Although this calculation seems adequate, the coop & run space is 3.5 feet wide and 15 feet long which does not give them much space to get around each other. The kennel is 6×10 which is much better. I then determined it would be good to have another enclosed space about the same size as the kennel. Basically, imagine setting another 6×10 ft kennel up against the existing one and that tells you what we’ve done… sort of. 😉
We prepped the land in order to move the old coop and then prepped the land for the new coop just prior to it arriving. We ordered this from a local builder and he did an awesome job! We asked for a few modifications to the original plans and he was great at making adjustments for me. I love the color of the coop and the whole design!
Even though I considered this coop to be expensive, in relation to other coops and other options (building it ourselves), this was the cheaper way to go.
We asked the builder to do a few modifications and he was super easy to work with and didn’t seem to mind at all. He told us that, over the years, he’s come up with more options based on what others have suggested.
We had him leave the perches unattached inside the coop and asked him to put the hatch door to the back of the side wall (easier for me to get in and out now). We also asked that he raise it from the original 15 inch height off the ground to 24 inches. This allows me to crawl under if necessary which is why we also asked for a door to the underside of the coop.
The only other modification we asked him to do was to cut a hole out of the far side of the chicken run so the hens can go from the run to the kennel giving them a lot more room.
Check out the video on YouTube or over on Playeur.
This was one of those days when I was so at peace that I simply started singing to Trinity. Try not to judge my singing voice too harshly LOL! It was just for me but I figured… what the heck… let everyone benefit from it. Ha!
Song to Chickens…
Singing a song to chickens all day long. They seem to love me, but I don’t know.
Is it really love or perhaps just a phase? You’re near me little Trinity, yes you are.
Oh, Trinity, my little Trinity. Eating the grass and ignoring me.
Would you like some tea? Some for me and some for you?
Some for you and some for me… what do you say little Trinity?
Here she comes just a walk’n down the street. Singing doo a diddy diddy dum diddy do.
Is there a song you want me to sing? Sing, sing, sing… sing a song, sing outload, sing out strong.
See you later Trinity.
Oh, Trinity, oh Trinity. Why are you so mean to me?
You simply do not like me. What are you doing to me?
Oh Trinity, oh Trinity. You are so perfect to me.
Why are you singing these songs Jira?
You’re really not all that good at it.
Because I feel like doing something different.
Parkour Chick you are so hungry.
Trinity, oh Trinity. You ignore me so much Trinity.
I gotta chicken butt in my face, it’s not very pleasant, it’s a disgrace.
Who is this? Oh phoenix. If I try to touch you, you’ll run away.
Here I come to touch you, oh my goodness run away.
Eating some grass… it smells like… and we don’t like it anyway,
Oh Trinity, oh Trinity, why are you ignoring me?
Don’t turn your back on me, don’t walk away and leave me here.
Oh Trinity, oh Trinity, you’re getting further and further away from me.
Created and Sung by Phenix JiRa
I brought home four new chicks from the hatchery this year. There were initially just two Silver Laced Wyandottes and two Americaunas (Easter Eggers) but then chicken math happened. I fed them after midnight and had more the next day.
Oh, just kidding! They eat at all hours of the day and night!
The next morning I decided I wanted two more Easter Eggers so went back to the hatchery. I told myself that if they didn’t have any, I would just go back home. That logic did not work so I ended up getting two Blue Gems to add to the four sitting in the brooder at home.
Here is where my ignorance came into play.
This flock of chicks is not the same as my last. For some reason, I assumed a flock of chicks was a flock of chicks but apparently I am completely wrong.
As you may know, I recorded the life of the first flock from day one and still am even now. So, as with the others, I’ve been recording them and watching the new flock’s activity. That’s when I noticed one was not eating but instead just pecking at dust particles of food. That alone might not be an issue but she was not getting enough food!
So I added some feed to a small bowl of water and sure enough, they all enjoyed that. I still had a dilemma because adding water to feed forever it not a thing I can or want to do.
After a few days and nights of worry and even trying to give the one chick some scrambled eggs, I noticed that the other chicks weren’t really eating much either.
None of their crops were as full as my previous chicks were and yet they were very interested in eating to the point I wondered if they were starving. They would run all around the feeder and nearly attack it in desperation.
I asked my neighbor if I could have a small amount of her chick feed (assuming it was different) to see if that would make a difference. In the mean time, I ground up my chick feed into smaller pieces even though it came pretty small in the first place.
They seemed to eat the smaller bits easier but still not as I would expect. When I got the feed from my friend, I ground that up and gave it to the chicks. There were two containers in the brooder and they were going more for the new feed than the old which told me my next move.
The next day I took my feed back to the store and exchanged it for what I’m using now. I’m still grinding it up because they are just a week old and peck around the larger pieces. At some point, those large pieces will become small to them and I will stop with the extra work.
The two Silver Laced Wyandottes are not as happy with the new feed as the other chicks. They stand around the feeder occasionally pecking at the food or dig in the pine shavings looking for something else.
They do eat it but it seems to be done out of reluctance more than anything else. At least they are all eating it enough to show in their crops. And they are drinking, which is even more important.
Check out the video below and my YouTube channel if you’re interested in watching their progress or even going back a year to the first flock’s brooder moments. They are just as fun to film and watch today as when they were chicks.
I’m also beginning to include product links. If you’re interested in this one, please use my link. Thanks!
In a couple of days, I will be driving back to the same hatchery where I purchased my current flock of chickens in order to get 4 new baby chickens. We call them chicks!
This time around I am getting two Ameraucana chicks (Easter Eggers) and two Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks. They will hopefully fit in well with my two Barred Plymouth Rock and two Black Star chickens.
There will be a new grouping of videos published on Phenix Jira Living that showcase the new chicks and then, eventually, the blending of the two flocks. The whole process will take approximately 4-5 months.
I will keep the new chicks in their own coop/run until they are old enough to move to the larger and newer coop/run with the others. The new coop will be delivered in the next couple of weeks and will be 7.5′ x 3.5′. It will sit about 2 feet off the ground (much like the current coop) so that they can go under the coop and have even more ground space. An 8′ x 3.5′ run will be attached to the coop and sit in between it and the existing kennel. This will give the 8 chickens quite a bit of square footage (approximately 125 sq ft or 15 sq ft per chicken).
The whole process will be recorded… moving the coop, getting the new coop, getting the new chicks, blending the two flocks, etc. Should be a good time!
Today we added a board under the coop for next years outside nesting box. Michael gets struck in the head, Miss Cloud tries to help, and I’m somewhere in the jungle.
That’s right… Michael is under the coop! His favorite thing!
Brought a pumpkin out to the ladies… did they like it? Eh, not a whole lot. I also show how I add water to their chicken feed to plump it up to almost twice the amount. They love it! I harvested a few potatoes and obviously, I’m easily satisfied. Also, I think my compost is too wet.
Remember… new chicks coming soon!!
How about a little chicken TV while we wait for the new chicks to arrive. That’s right… we are about to get a new batch of chicks to add to the existing flock. Oh, it will take a while for them to grow before they literally live with the adults, but it will be fun.
This was a lazy day following the chickens while talking to myself. Miss Cloud finally laid an egg with a hard shell… all the soft shell eggs are mine to eat!
If you need to ask this question… let’s just say I asked and got an answer that I found to be a bit unbelievable. I was told by my neighbors that their chickens don’t mind it at all. Well, watch this video and find out how mine reacted!
