Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Snow and Sunshine

Mark and I let the girls out a little earlier this evening just because we could because we had nothing else to do.  Mark took them a little treat tonight of green beans and a half of a tomato.

The tomato was a big hit because it was on the straw.

The green beans not so much because they were in the snow.  The girls don't like snow on their feet at all.  Dory would walk from bare ground spot to bare ground spot to get anywhere.

There was lots of bumping into each other because everyone wanted to walk on the fence instead of the snow.

They love to scratch.  Even better when they find some cracked corn that Mark threw out in the yard.

Crispy doesn't like the snow either...
 
...she flies wherever she wants to go.
 

Now Sunny could care less.  I'm guess by her size that she might just be the warmest bird we have.  She is so fat!

RayJeana could take it or leave it.

EffieGrace standing on one foot waiting for her turn on the chair.

Queen of the coop.

But she did manage to share a little arm space with Ethel.

Ethel got as high as she could go...roosting on the top of the chair.  I still haven't seen any of those chocolate eggs she is supposed to be laying.  Maybe I should feed her a Hershey bar so she can see what she needs to work up to.


Her white legs were starting to turn a little pink.  We decided to put them away so she could sit on them and get warm.

Dixie and her frostbitten comb.

Judy, Judy, Judy
 
 Mark got out the rake and started raking up a pile of leaves so the girls could find the green grass.  They loved it.  Then when I threw in some little bits of feed...they couldn't get enough.
 
Somebody's got some big ole feet!

Monday, January 19, 2015

Some Helping Hands

Had a hankering for some oatmeal cookies this morning.  But didn't have any baking soda.  Sarah to the rescue!
(Sarah, why the ugly face?  The nesting boxes are clean)

It was killing me not to go out to check the eggs this morning.  I had decided to let Sarah gather them.

They are off to a good start...Little Girls leading the way with four.

AKA Prissy

Thinking of changing EffieGrace's name to Prissy.  You should see her priss across the backyard when I get out the treats!
 

 

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Butts and Combs, Combs and Butts


Now those are some good lookin' clean chicken butts!

But these combs don't look so good to me.



Susie was a little bit too sassy today.  She had Dixie on the ground...on top of her...pecking away.  So she is spending a little time out in the run all alone while all the other girls are eating in front of her.  Hopefully she will learn her lesson.  My guess is that it is a lost cause because as Michael would say...'that's just how nature is.'

All I can say is that she better what she is doing around me or she might just end up in the chicken and noodles.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Spa Day For Some Of The Girls

You are going to think I am even crazier than before....if that is possible. 

It was brought to my attention that a few of the girls personal hygiene practices aren't as good as they should be.  I've been watching their backsides to see if maybe they would take care of the embarrassing situation.  Nope, the girls don't care one bit.
 
Today was the day to clean those dirty chicken butts.
 
Everyone was given a chore.  Alaire was the rinse/towel wrapper/drier.

Emmy was in charge of drying.

Michael was the chicken wrangler while Ellis was the catcher.  Susie was the first customer at the chicken spa.




Alaire doing a bag up job!

Emmy was cracking me up.  She was pulling one of my acts...gaging all over the place.

A little bit of B&W ointment on the frostbitten combs.  Alaire asked when we were going to paint their toenails.

EffieGrace was second for her treatment.


I thought Emmy was actually going to hurl!  Tears in her eyes and everything.

We saved Keithetta Renetta for last because she was way worse than the other two combined.
 
We covered the couch and chair with towels just in case we had an escapee.  We even blocked off the hallway and closed the bathroom door.  In the end the girls were very well behaved.  And we checked on Susie's bumblefoot and it is healing up on its own...no surgery needed that heavens.  Don't think Emmy would have been up for that one.

While I am cleaning up our mess, Ellis comes to me to ask if I have ever been able to catch a chicken with one hand.  Nope, I don't think so.  Well, just so you know, he can!
 

Monday, January 12, 2015

I Thought I Was On Top Of Everything

I've been watching everything about the animals in this cold weather.  The rabbits have gotten extra hay to burrow in and water changed about every two hours.  They seem to be fine.  But then some of the chickens have frostbite.

I have been reading all my chicken books and they all say that I need to cover the combs and waddles with some type of jelly.  All I have on hand is my Amish B&W Ointment.  I'm getting pretty good at catching them one at a time.  I am so glad we have a privacy fence because people would think I am crazy going around the backyard talking to and chasing chickens in my chicken suit.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Cold Feet, Warm Hearts

Our first snow of the new year and the girls aren't excited bout it at all.  They really don't know what to think.  Do we go out in it?  Or do we stay in a bunch to stay warm. You go first...no you go first.  I'm not going if you aren't going!

You all talk about it while I fluff up to stay warm.

You bunch of chickens...I'll go first.

Forget it Dixie, I'm getting this stuff first.

Hey, we can beat The Big Girls to the food today.

 You can't hide anything from the Big Girls.
 
Hey, don't mind the dog, she's just a poop eater!


All that trick corn they earned by doing tricks is paying off....I can see that extra layer of warm fat!

Maybe if I walk on the fence my feet won't get cold.

Nope, it is still cold.


Hey, want to have a race and see who can stand on one foot in the snow the longest?

Synchronized chicken strutting 101

I have read that in the cooler months my chickens will slow down in egg production.  Quite the opposite with The Little Girls they are in full production mode.  Six girls, six eggs a day...even on gloomy, rainy days.

And then there are The Big Girls.  I'm lucky if there is one egg a day.
 
But that is okay, I'll take what ever they give me.  I'm loving this chicken farming thing!