Two weeks and the chicks are so cute! (Video)

I was told that chicks were only cute for two weeks and then watch out!  But, I must have already bonded, because although my girls have passed the two-week mark, I think they are cuter than ever.  They are part down and part feather, and sweeter than I could imagine.  This week the girls decided that I was fun to perch on top of.  My arms and legs became roosting bars.  And if a strong wind gust or dog bark happened, they quickly ran under my sitting legs.  I think that officially makes me the Mama hen.

The girls have been practicing their flight skills with their new wing feathers.  Three of the four (Mary, Edith, and Daisy) will fly out of the brooder box when I remove the lid.  Jessie still waits for me to take her out.  It could be an excuse, though.  She prefers to be held and cuddled.  Mary gets these short bursts of energy where she sprints and flies hitting anything in her path.  They definitely have unique personalities.

I read that you can start giving chicken treats at this age.  We splurged on some dried worms.  (Yuck!)  I thought the girls would love it.  But, as you can see from the video, they were more interested in perching and catching some rays.  Free range time is its own treat.  Click here to see the video of the chicks with their first treats!

Sneak peek! Chicken coop construction

Planting Hens and Chicks on the Chicken Coop's Living Roof

Our little chicks will soon outgrow their brooder box and will be ready for their new coop.  If only it were finished!  Here's a sneak peek at what we've done so far.

Our baby chicks arrived safe and sound (video)

Lady Edith and Lady Mary on their first day home. 

I'm so excited to be the adoptive mom to these four little chicks!  Let me introduce you.
We have Lady Edith (the Buff Orpington), Lady Mary (the Black Australorp), and Daisy (the Delaware).  For those who are PBS fans, you can probably tell that I picked out their names when I was watching Downton Abbey.  Then, we added one more chick to the order, and my husband named her Jessie (the Silver-Laced Wyandotte).

They were hatched yesterday, and this is their first day in their new home.  They are so excited about it!  Today they took their first drink of water, ate crumbles, scratched the ground, and pecked just about everything.  However, one of the chicks didn't tolerate the toe pecking and gave a few head pecks back at her sister.  (The sibling rivalry begins!)

Our earlier pictures were all red - the color of their heat-lamp bulb.  But, I turned the lamp off for just a minute to get a short video and a few pictures. 

What to do with all these radishes!

Image courtesy of The Sub-Urbans.  Copyright 2013.

Summer signals the end of the spring garden.  Today we harvested the last of the radishes.  In the summer my radishes tend to get spicy!

Radishes are great cut into salads, or even just dipped in a little salt.  But, instead of filling up my over-stocked fridge, I decided to use the remaining radishes in a side dish with dinner.

I sautéed the radishes with a touch of olive oil, freshly ground pepper, sea salt, and garlic.  Cooking  radishes is a way to reduce the spicy heat of a summer radish.  Just be careful to not overcook, so you can retain that delicious crunch.