Buggy Town Auction

After weeks of trying to find Starbuck and Sparrow new homes through Craigslist and Facebook I gave up and looked for other options. More than one person suggested eating them; I considered it but decided it wasn't what I wanted to do. Then a friend mentioned a poultry auction in Barnesville, Georgia (90 minutes south of our home). It was the only option left. The boys had to go. So Friday at noon we packed the two Splash Silkie Roosters into a make shift cage and headed to the country.

 We arrived a little before 2pm and joined the line of pick-up trucks waiting to register barnyard animals for that evening's auction. At some point a goat escaped; this sent half a dozen people in denim and camouflage running around a field in half hearted attempts to catch it. A teenager in muck boots, with a noticeable ring of dip in his back pocket, finally got close enough to pin the goat to the ground with his knee. I was impressed.

 After our chickens were checked in and dropped off we headed into Barnesville for lunch. There were two pizza places, two BBQ places and a Chinese Buffet to chose from. After eating we wandered around the three antique shops/flea markets. At dusk we headed back to the auction. All the poultry had been lined up in rows. The make-shift cages were as interesting as their contents. I found Starbuck and Sparrow between a peacock and turkey. I couldn't help but wonder how they were feeling about all this.

 The auction started with what they call "farm miscellaneous" but could more accurately described as "garage sale crap". Tiki torches, old buckets of house paint, a cat bed, a bag of nails. The auctioneer was genuinely entertaining but as far as I could tell everything eventually sold for "one dollar bill". The poultry bidding was still two hours away. I decided if I didn't know who took Starbuck and Sparrow then I could go on pretending they ended up on a big beautiful farm somewhere out in the country. With that in mind we left the auction and headed home to Atlanta. Maybe we'll be back in a month or two to pick out a few more hens.  

 Flock update:
• 2 Gold Laced Wyandotte hens 
• 2 Ameraucana hens
• 1 Black Silkie Rooster - we're going to try and keep him quiet (so we can keep him) but if it doesn't work he'll need to find a new home too. 





Urban Backyard Chickens: the first 6 months

A summary of our first six months raising urban backyard chickens in Grant Park, Atlanta: 
• May 29th - bring home 7 chicks. 4 Ameraucanas, 3 Silkies. We hand raise them in a brooder in our dining room. The "chick cam" is born. 
• June 7th - the chicks pose on the front porch in my favorite vintage milk glass pieces for their official baby pics. 
• July 11th - the chicks move outside into the coop. 
• August 23rd - Mary Anne mysteriously dies. We suspect she either ate glass (there is a lot of it buried in the yard) or suffered heat stroke.
• Late August - Blackbeard crows: surprise Roo#1. 
• September 7th - bring home three 5 month old Gold Lace Wyandottes to replace the unexpected rooster and unexpected death. The "new girls" quickly dominate the existing flock. 
• September 13th - Starbuck crows: surprise Roo#2.
• September 24th - Professor dies after battling a parasite for several days. She was the friendliest and my clear favorite; this loss is hard.
• October 12th - We find our first eggs in the coop. It seems the Wyandottes are laying but the Ameraucanas are not (those eggs should be mint colored).
• October 17th - "New Girl" Wyandotte is eaten by the neighbor's dog. 
• November 9th - Sparrow crows: surprise Roo#3. This means all of the Silkies are roosters. This news coincides with a neighbor finally complaining. Verdict: my adorable "Muppets" must go... but where? Help, please (seriously - help)!








Get the scoop from the coop!

If you're not following And Topher Too on Pinterest and Twitter then you're missing most of the new content! Twitter has up to the minute updates from the Coop Cam* (with photos) and Pinterest has links to both helpful relative articles and images from our daily life on this teeny tiny urban hobby farm. 

*After clicking the link to the cam, then click "flash" or "browser". 

Something to Twitter about: our first eggs

Sunday evening we found our first eggs in the coop! Since then there has been one a day in the same spot. They're brown which means they're from either the Gold Lace Wyandottes or the Silkie (though we're pretty sure it's the former). They've all been relatively small but I think they will gradually get bigger with time. Hopefully the rest of the flock will start laying very soon!

 Also, And Topher Too now has it's very own Twitter account! Click here to follow us. 

Starbuck (ahem, Kara Thrace) and her special destiny

Well, I guess when you name something after a character defined by their "special destiny" then you get what you deserve. A few weeks ago one of our little Silkies, Starbuck, revealed her special destiny - by crowing. Whoops. A rooster? That wasn't part of our plan. She's (ahem, HE'S - that has been a hard transition) been fighting with the new girls so I've decided he has to go. If you're interested in making Starbuck part of your family please leave a comment. Later this weekend I'll post him on Craigslist.

Gold Lace Wyandottes!

This evening I brought home our newest girls! They're Gold Laced Wyandottes. Aren't their feathers beautiful? The edges look painted. In the beginning I planned on naming all the chickens based off nautical themes (so far, pirates and Gilligan's Island) but I'm thinking of making an exception for this breed. Perhaps they'll be named after female painters/artists. "Georgia" O'Keefe, Mary "Cassatt" and "Marina" Abramović (she was performing her famous The Artist is Present when Oliver propsed at MOMA). 

Chickens love snacktime!



In an effort to keep the chickens cool, during the hottest part of summer, we've started giving them frozen treats. Mostly grape tomatoes, blueberries and grapes. The first day they were interested but not enthusiastic. By day three they're so excited about snacktime that they'll eat right out of your hand. We're thinking about what tricks we might be able to teach them to perform for food.

 In the video: Professor, front and center. Then the twinsies, Starbuck and Sparrow (aka Tweedle Dee and Tweddle Dum) run over; they specialize in stealing the snacks and running to a corner with them. Next Blackbeard saunters over but Lovey jumps passed him for the grape. Ginger is standing in the back. 

The trouble with bedtime / we lost our first chicken

The photos for this post were taken earlier in the week with the intention of writing about "the trouble with bedtime". And while that is still what I want to cover there has been a sad and unexpected turn of events. Saturday morning, around sunrise, I went to let the chicks out of the coop. One by one everyone filed out except Mary Anne. I climbed up the ladder and opened the door to shoo her out. Instead I found her dead; she was laying in the shavings just below the spot on the roost where I'd placed her the night before. No blood, no bite marks, no obvious cause of death. The only significant thing was her behavior the night before: she'd gone into the coop on her own, alone, and settled into the corner while the rest of her flock did their adorably ridiculous corner crowding in the dirt below. I now realize she probably went off on her own because she wasn't feeling well. 

When I found Mary Anne in the coop the night before I was excited because it is rare that any of the chicks move indoors at night. When I found her there I thought "they're finally getting it!!" The rest of the flock was still piled like puppies in their "yard". 

In an effort to teach them what they need to be doing, every evening at dusk we go into the coop and move them, one by one, from their hot crowded cuddle to their upstairs roost. Once placed on the roost they quickly fall back to sleep and stay in that exact spot until the next morning. We're not sure why they won't move to the roost on their own. The Ameraucana's have no trouble with the ramp between the yard and coop but the Silkies struggle. Starbuck, Sparrow and Blackbeard have to be encouraged up the ramp (and poor dumb Starbuck frequently sticks her head to the side or spreads her wings out just as she should be ducking into the doorway).  Perhaps the problem is they all want to stay together? And the Ameraucanas feel sorry for their chubby friends who aren't so good at climbing the ramp so they all sleep together outside? Doubtful, I know. It is sweet though, the way they wrap their necks around one another and rest their heads on each other's backs. It almost makes me want to leave them in their snuggle. But for safety from predators and (the seemingly far off) winter weather they need to learn to go inside at night. If anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I'll let you know when the girls finally figure it out.



••••••••••••••
For our record keeping/bloggy almanac:
Sorry to lose you little Mary Anne. You were spastic but sweet and smart. As a chick you liked to jump. 
Died at 13 weeks. Cause of death unknown, possibly heat stress/stroke or eating a shard of glass. 

Urban Chickens: the girls are growing up!

Friends and neighbors, I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun and entertainment the chickens continue to bring us. I'd try to regale you with stories of their antics but I'm afraid they're possibly only interesting to me because I love them. Suffice it to say, the chickens' intelligence and unique personalities grow by the day. And those aren't the only things growing - look how big they've gotten! Over the next few days I'd like to photograph each chick beside the milk glass bowl they were posed in as chicks. (So far so good, but definitely not as easy as the first go round.) Anyone out there have any questions about the girls? We're happy to provide answers!



Life at home

Life in Grant Park, Atlanta. Summer 2014. Our almost century old home is half way between the Braves stadium (leaving) and the Cyclorama (leaving) with an amazing view of the downtown skyline. A lot of people might be surpised that everything you see below is living and growing in the center (literally) of one of the Southeast's largest cities. 

This summer our urban "homestead" includes:
• 4 Ameraucanas
• 3 Silkies
• Peppers: Thai, Poblano & Red
• Tomatoes: grape & several heirloom varieties
• Corn (not shown)
• Strawberries (not shown)
• Eggplant (not shown)






Backyard chickens: corner crowding



Yesterday at dusk the chickens had me cracking up while they "wrestled" to see who got to sit in the corner. It was so odd and pervasive that I thought it must be an instinctive chicken behavior. Sure enough, "corner crowding" is a thing chickens do! Tonight I went back to the coop with my camera hoping to catch a repeat performance. It's close - but last night was definitely better. Silly chickens.

The chicks last night at home

Everyday for the last week the chicks have spent a few hours outside in their soon-to-be pirateship-coop home. Tonight is officially their last night in the dining-room-brooder. I'm going to miss having them indoors... so much so that I'm debating keeping two inside (don't tell Oliver). Six weeks into our urban chicken project the Muppets are even more muppety (the Silkies) and the Ameraucanas are unexpectedly intelligent and sweet (well two of the four at least). So far, so good; the chickens are exceeding my expectations!

 (To see them live in their coop check out the COOP CAM click here and then click BROWSER.)

The chicks are growing up!



The chicks are getting too big for their brooder so the time has come to move them outside into their coop. This two minute video was taken tonight while I was cleaning out their box. You'll see Topher walk into the room, a couple of close ups and a lot of pooping. I admit to underestimating how much these little guys can eat and eliminate! Even so, I think I'm going to miss having them in the house with us. They're so full of personality!

 Second video chick line up (left to right): Starbuck, Ginger, Professor and Blackbeard (with Mary Anne and Topher in the background). 

City Chicks ATL: Day 15

It's been two weeks since we brought the chicks home. Watching them grow has been way more fun and entertaining then I would have guessed. Their interactions with Topher (and vice versa) have been everything I hoped for. So far, so good, on all fronts! Photo updates below. 

Do you see the chick!? Starbuck and Topher get comfy on the love the seat. 

The girls checking out their reflections in an old make-up compact. 

Starbuck and Lovey tour the construction on their new coop.

Topher tolerates Lovey for a little laptime snuggle.

Topher negotiates with Blackbeard.

All 7 back in the box they traveled home in two weeks ago. They're already so much bigger!

Meet the chicks!

Our fledgling* little flock is comprised of two breeds: Ameraucanas and Silkies. When adopted, the Ameraucanas were 5 days old and the Silkies were 2 weeks. Their adult coop is being built inside a ship shaped tree house so we decided the chickens' names should stick with the theme; silkies are sailors/pirates and Ameraucanas are from Gilligan's Island.

Their live video cam is embedded in the post below. 


*After using this word I questioned it's true meaning. And hey, I've just learned something new! Fledge - the act of a chick's parents raising it to a fully grown state. 

Baby Chick Cam - LIVE FROM ATLANTA!


Hi friends, as of June 19th the chick cam will be down for at least a week. (We're about to exceed our internet provider's data limit.)  If we put it back up I'll send out message on the And Topher Too Facebook page (so be sure to like us). Thanks! 

 As of June 26th the chick cam is back. The girls have quickly grown from chicks to pullets and it won't be long before they're moved to their new home in the Black Pearl/Queen Anne's Revenge (the coop)! Watch them while you can! 

 July 5th update: the chick cam has come to an end. Thanks for visiting! Check back in the future to see if we've installed a coop cam.