Those Crazy Chickens

We dug some of the split rails out for the goat playground.  Thinking of making a chicken perch now.

Silly chicken laid an egg in the Quarantine Coop.

RIP Effie Grace

I knew it was coming yesterday when I took her a special plate of bananas and vitamins and she just stood there.  When I came home a few hours later she was still standing in the same spot.  She was the sweetest chicken.  I'm going to miss her.

My little chicken cemetery is getting a little full...not liking that.

Goat Playground

Boot LOVES the new playground!  And he is always the king of the hill.

He has figured out how to go up and down the ramps very so gracefully.  Sometimes his dismount is a 10!

Boogie is a little bottom heavy and can't make the jump to the high platform.  Or at least he hasn't done it yet.  So we added a stump for a step.  No one has figured that out yet either.

This is a far as Boogie has gone.  I put a little bit of their grain as a trail but nope, Boot ate it all and looked at me like...'where is the rest.'

And then there is Scoot, the big chicken.  Mark picked him up and 'laid' him on the ramp.  Nope, having no part of it.

More For Moey

 Look how long his beard is!

Beautiful Morning For Chicken Watchin'

I raked a pile of leaves for the goats to run through...but instead I got chickens scratching and sunning

. 

Good day from strutting your stuff too.

Lots of sitting and dusting in the dirt.

Oh no, guess I better start looking in here during the day for eggs and at night for chickens.

I just love a good chicken heart butt.

Great morning in the sun and the shade watchin' my little farm.

For Moey

Remember my friend that lives in Australia.  The one that painted my more than awesome barnyard with the original girls.  Well I have asked her to do portraits of the boys.  Just small 3x5 or 5x7 so they can be framed and  on the wall in the pantry hallway too.  She is really busy...mom to many, working multiple jobs, going to school...I honestly don't know when she sleeps.  So I have been trying to do some headshots...one problem...when they see me they come running.  And they never seem to stop.  I guess I am just going to have to campout hiding in the bushes to get more.  These are too bad but I feel that she will need more to get a true picture of their personalities.

 Boot is the more aagile of the bunch.  He will climb and jump from anything in his path.  He also is the most loving.

Becasue of Scoot's coloring, he is the hardest to get a good pic of.  He is a little camera shy also.  Also runs from me since I helped tihe his surgery.  I think he know I was the one holding him down wheil the vet did the dirty work.  He may never forgive me.

 And then there is Boogie.  Loves the camera..works it everytime.

Knows several poses.

Egg Basket Had Been Found

Lost my only egg basket last week when there were eight kids running around in the backyard.  No one knew where it was.  I have look for it over a week and have asked numerous times to the same people if they knew where it could be.  So much so that they were starting to roll their eyes. 

I was walking through the backyard two days ago and stepped on it.  You see we don't have to cut the grass in the backyard, the animals take care of that for us.  And now it is two inches deep with brown oak leaves.  Nature's camo.

Note on The Girls....have 5 that are molting and two that are starting to get their feathers back from the last molt.  EffieGrace is looking like a well chicken now.  So we are only getting about four eggs a day compared to the dozen we were getting in the summer.  Today we are going to add a little scratch to the feed to start fattening them up for the cold, bad winter that has been predicted.  Still have two at least that are laying theri eggs in the corner of the goat house.  It amazes me that tey don't get broken.

Oh No...Big Bird

Yesterday I was sitting at the kitchen table reading and taking notes in a great book for church (It's Just A Phase So Don't Miss It) and I saw and heard chickens going crazy.  About that time I saw something move in the tree outback...

 A lot out of fucus...two reasons  I get really nervous when I see a hawk of this size anywhere near the chickens.  And two the night before a scout was showing me something about my camera and the setting were all wrong.  Oh well, you get the pic...big scary bird stalking the girls.

I have never seen them huddle so fast.  And loud.  Crazy.  They stayed under the bushes long after the hawk flew away.  It scared us all!

And It Is A ......

We used all the old wood that we had.  We only ended up buying three 2x4's and four 1x4's.

We used the milking stand/nail trimming station to make a goat playground.

They love Phase One.

Boot jumping from the top deck.  He loves it!

Phase Two...ramps and logs

My favorite picture of the day...Boogie loves it!

And I am sure this is just the beginning.

Too fun for all of us!

My Four-Legged Chicken

Always glad to share our Jack-O-Lanterns with the chickens.  I have read that they are a good dewormer.

And somehow our four-legged chicken likes them too!

I seriously dislike molting  any time of the year.