Dorsal

This is a photo of the left side of the chicken coop. This is how the chicken side looked before I added the white metal door. I took off the metal panels, added some more 2x4's to make a door and window frame, hung the door and window and used some left over siding to make up the wall. I planted grass seed in the left pen last year and it was so pretty and green, but that only lasted a few days before the chickens tore it all up. I sometimes think about spreading grass seed around the place after the rains start, but then I would have to worry about more fire hazard. The leaves are bad enough. It is terribly dry in the woods. Not pleasant at all.

The temperature only got into the high eighties today, so there was no shooting down of cobwebs. Instead I walked around in the woods with the chickens to see if they did anything different in the hot weather.

Maybe they hide in the shade when it is in the hundreds, but today they did the regular chickens stuff: dusting, scratching, running around and sitting in the nest boxes. I was out under the trees behind the chicken pen when I heard a chicken sounding off. At first I thought it was Hen/Roo, but Kristine says it is Dorsal. Yep. It is Dorsal. The comb is small and the tail sticks up. Kristine named her that because her tail sticks up like a dorsal fin on a fish. I thought Dorsal was trying to crow, but Kristine says that is the sound the hens make after they lay an egg. I am so bad at chicken language. So where is the egg? Maybe she is the dirt layer?

[5 eggs today]

5 minus 1 in the dirt

Smiles

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Fumblefoot The Klutzy Chicken

So, I was out in the dark checking on the girls tonight looking for late eggs. There are a few hens who lay eggs very late in the day. As I am checking (in the dark) under the hen my fingers hit what I think is chicken poo. Yick! Ah! I should have brought a flashlight, but I have my trusty camera. So, I take a photo.

It's a broken egg! That would have made 10 eggs today. So, now I'm back to wondering if there are hens eating eggs or just clumsy? I'm going to vote for clumsy because if the hen was eating the egg she would have eaten the shell and all the messy bits. I hope that is the story! The hens have a feeder full of oyster shell. So the problem shouldn't be thin shells. Maybe the egg broke when the hens try to sit in the same spot? Hmmm?

Before I left I took some more photos inside the pen. I even took one of the fencing on the pen roof and got this shot of a big cobweb. Neat web. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the hundreds so my plan is to go out and shoot down all the webs with the hose. We'll see how it goes.

Screamer wants me to leave and let her get back to sleep.

OK! OK!

I'm going...

[9 eggs today]

None in the dirt!

Smiles

~:>

Chicken Pen

Here is a close up of the small hole chicken wire I have about one third up the sides of the pen to keep the raccoons from reaching in and grabbing a chicken. The Old Gray Egg here asked if the chicken hoof racket on the porch chased the raccoons away? Funny you should ask. We did have a colony of raccoons living under the house when we moved up here. My brother fed them dog food so they were very happy to live here. I must admit they were cute. Mommas, Pop, and all the little ones on the porch in the evening clamoring at the slider for their evening chow. But, we didn't want to deal with the raccoons and our dogs at the time surely didn't want them around. So, once the free food was cut off and our dogs made their displeasure known the raccoons took off for a friendlier place to live. I don't remember that the raccoons bothered my brothers chickens. Maybe they were too full of dog food to make the effort? Or. Maybe this coop and pen are that secure that they couldn't figure out how to get in. A few years ago I do remember a chicken going under the house and never showing up again. Maybe there are some raccoons still living under the house?

I managed to get a shot of Henny Penny with her new duct tape saddle. I never realized how much smaller she is or how much bigger the other chickens are.

I found some neat chicken coop links to share here and here.

The beer can roof on the outhouse coop is so neat

and I love the nest boxes in the second.

Here is a very short video of the chicken pen/coop. It has been very hot here lately and everything has dried out. I am not a hot weather person and like the wet winter weather much more that the summer we have here. There are only three months that are really bad as far as heat goes, but still it is way too dry to make me happy. The cobwebs don't look too nice, but they are a very good thing to have around the chickens to catch all kinds of crawly and flying insects. Once a year, after the temp goes into the hundreds, I will hose down the coop and pen, inside and out. It all dries quickly when it is so hot. And the pen is is the sun part of the day, so it doesn't take long at all to dry out.

[7 eggs today]

No eggs in the dirt!

Smiles

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Chicken Hoofs?

Last night I counted eighteen chickens, but I didn't see Henney Penny. I think that is her in the roost photo yesterday up on the top row on the right. I spotted her outside the pen when I went to get the eggs today and then went back to catch her. The duct tape saddle was hanging off to one side and I could see pin feathers about an inch long growing on her back. Wow! I didn't know feathers grew back that quick. I didn't get any photos 'cause I was too busy trying to catch her. I did manage to put a new batch of duct tape on her and set her down near the feed. She didn't look too stressed. Not too happy either, but she is OK.

The video today is my effort to capture the thundering herd of chickens running on the porch to get to their treat. When all the chickens show up at once they make an amazing amount of noise in their approach. You can hear some of the chicken hoofs in the video, but it is much louder in real life, especially when more of them are running together. They do like the carrot peelings.

No eggs in the dirt today. I added more branches under the roosts. Might work?

[6 eggs today]

Smiles

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Bad Girl

"Did anyone lock up the chickens?" I hear Kristine ask. Tom's watching tv. Kristine's watching a show on her computer. I'm posting photos to my blog. Soooo, into the silence I said, "I'll go lock them up." Tom says, "Check in the corner. A black hen has been sitting there most of the day." Ah! Photo OP. I grabbed my camera. It is 9:30pm and it is dark. Very dark. That light speck in the photo is the moon shining through the trees. I can't even see the trees. Well, I made it out to the coop with the help of a flashlight.

Surprise! There was a Dark Brahma roosting all by herself in the front open nest boxes.I went around to the roost side so I could get to the back wall corner and sure enough there is an Australorp hen in the corner. That is a Dark Brahma on the roost above her. You can get a glimpse of the other Dark Brahma on the front side.

Oh, and by the way, I'm doing all this in the dark. The flashlight doesn't add much light at all. The best light I get to see by is the flash from the camera. So, I manage to get myself scrunched up and bent over and grab the hen, pull her out and put her in the middle nest box with a Buff Brahma. She is not happy! Neither one of them are happy! And then I have to get my old bones to an upright position so I can climb back out. Phew!

Then I go back to look and see if there are any eggs. Oh, yes! There are four big beautiful eggs that I will have to get rid of. Phooey! Phooey! Phooey! She is a bad girl. But she didn't lay four eggs today, so there are some other hens on my list, but I don't know which ones. She wasn't there yesterday. I checked.

Since I was out there I counted the chickens. Yep! There are still eighteen chickens. So now what? The branches don't work to keep the hens away from this corner. I think the hen is broody and she just wants a quiet place to sit. I added the bottom nest box under the middle nest box because there were hens laying eggs in the dirt there. Maybe some hens just like dirt? I could add a nest box in the corner, but that area is under the roosts and that wouldn't work out very well. Oh, well, small problems. I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow.

I deleted the photos I had uploaded that I was going to post and then posted this little adventure. I suppose climbing around in the coop is good exercise for me and I should thank the girls for keeping me limber. Cluck, cluck girls!

[9 eggs today]

and 4 eggs in the dirt

Smiles

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Dog Coop

There was a comment yesterday from Wilmoth Farms here that stated their chicken coop had been a dog pen. Well, I do wish I could spruce up my chicken coop a bit, but it was a dog pen also. My brother built two dog pens (see the two gates) and then turned the left side into a place for the chickens to hang out. Over the years, I changed things around. The nest boxes were along the back wall. I moved them into the middle and added the doors and windows. It works as a coop, but it is not beautiful. I would like beautiful.

The bears and skunks can walk around up there, but they haven't been able to get through the anchor fencing on the top or sides. Yet. The coop is very close to the house and so far someone has always been around to hear the noise and investigate before the critter has done any damage. Except for the times we forgot to lock the door.

I have laid the corrugated metal down around the perimeter of the pen to slow down a critter from digging into the pen. And I have dug down along the perimeter on the inside and buried pieces of metal ducting for the same purpose. I cut open the ducting and pressed it flat and nailed the top to the bottom of the fence. And then covered it all with dirt. I suppose a snake could come up in the middle of the pen, but it would take them a lot of tunneling.

I don't open the gate anymore as it is stuck in the dirt. I would like to take it off and rehang it so it opens out instead of into the pen. Then I could get the wheelbarrow in there and that would make my life easier. Here you can see the windows and doors I added. Amazing what you can find at garage sales and flea markets. I first got the idea to change the coop around when I found a metal door for ten dollars. Then I found the windows for fifty cents each. Kristine and I would like to expand the coop by covering the roof on the right side pen and adding a door so the chickens can use both sides.

This is the back of the chicken coop/dog pen. And what you see are a bunch of heating ducts that I am using as a noise trap. My neighbor did the same. When the bear knocks this stuff over it makes a terrific racket. If a bear ever got right up to the wall they could knock it down easily. The round thing is a dog house standing on its door. I was going to get rid of it, but then thought that if we do ever get some ducks or geese they might like it for a house? I could put straw in it for bedding. They might like it. Or, knowing my goofy chickens they would probably lay eggs in it.

My poor chickens don't have a lovely chicken coop, but they don't seem to mind. Mostly they are out in the woods with Morgan. I am the one who would like a beautiful chicken coop. I have seen some super chickens coops. One of the neatest coops I ever saw was decorated with stained glass windows all the way around. Wouldn't the bears like that! If I can find the link I'll put it here. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to beautify this coop someday? Or build another one? I do like that stained glass coop, but I think I would have to make a place inside it for the chickens to stay warm when it snows. Anyway, we have to do what we can and if we have to use a dog pen makeover, and scrap wood and stuff... it's OK!

I've posted about this dog coop before, but this is the first time I think I got most of the info in one post. Now I want to go out and remodel the chicken coop again. Paint? Stain? It needs a new roof for sure!

[8 eggs today]

Smiles

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Good Night

Tonight I waited until it was almost dark before I went to lock up the chickens because I wanted to check and see if some of them were sleeping in the nest boxes. First I strolled down to the gate. I love my gate with its night light. Since we are at the end of the road we keep the gate chained and padlocked. When my brother lived here he had people blasting through this property on old dirt roads and knocking down his fences. The area is much more built up now with houses so we haven't had that problem, but some people seem to want to open and drive through unlocked gates, especially at the end of a road. I stood by the gate listening to the neighbor's dog barking at me. It is a good watch dog. Barks at any noise. Then they yell at their dog. I'll post the video I took of the dog barking sometime. Fascinating.

Then I walked back to the chicken coop to check the girls. I think I woke them up. They just sat there clucking at me. It was totally dark in there, so when the flash went off they were startled. My brother had tree branches for the hens to roost on, but I couldn't find any that fit this space, so I used old handles from rakes and shovels. The hens don't seem to mind. I liked the tree branch roosts.

Then I went around and checked this side and found these two hens on top and one in the middle nest box. Tomorrow I will check and see if these are the same hens that are there in the day and if so I will chuck them out of their cozy nests. They need to get out and eat and get a drink. I remember reading that if you want to break a broody hen you need to cool off their tummy. I really don't want to cage these hens so that when they sit they have air circulation under them. I admit it. I'm lazy.

I found an egg in the middle and one in the bottom nest box, but no hen down there.

Kristine's throat is better, but now she has gone to bed early with a headache.

Hope she feels better tomorrow.

Kristine took a photo for me to use in a post, so I'm saving it for when I totally run out of ideas. Thanks for leaving a comment, Kathleen. Thanks you to all who leave me comments. I never thought anyone would read this blog but my family. As soon as I feel a bit better I will answer the comments that have been left. The deal was I was going to make a blog and post on it with at least one photo for every day for a year. And I'm at the half way point already! Time flys. The other part of the plan was that I was going to have the blog printed. I still have to figure out how I want to do that.

[8 eggs today]

None in the dirt!

Smiles

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Just Post!

"Just Post!" That's what Kristine tells me, "Just Post!" I tried to get her to do another guest post, but with no luck, sorry. I like her posts much better than mine, for sure. I'm stuck with my ramblings this evening. After three migraines in a row, I'm suffering from brain damage. Well, it feels that way and it makes me sleepy. Surprise! Yep, I was sure surprised this afternoon when the phone rang and it was Kristine telling me she would be home an hour later. Tom wasn't home. He needed to take his Mom to the doctor. I had slept most of the day! So, first I let Morgan out. Poor Morgan. And then shuffled outside to let the chickens out. Wow, Tom is still working on the antenna, evidently since the ladders are still there.

Oh, dear! Poor girls! I'm so sorry you were locked up so long.

They are cussing me out!

I checked for eggs. Kristine says the hens fluff up when I open the door to express their displeasure at being disturbed. Makes sense.

When I went to fill the feeders, I tripped over a branch. Branch? Oh, yes, the branches! Sure enough, when I went to check there were eggs under the roosts. I guess the girls were bored and with nothing to do with their time they decided to haul the branches out into the pen. Arrgh! And then they, three of them, laid eggs in the dirt and chicken poo. Go figure? Ok, it is my fault because I didn't let them out. But, but, I was asleep.

On the way back to the house, I noticed that there was a volunteer berry bush in the rock pile. I think the seeds are dropped on the rock pile by birds/chickens because there are quite a few wild plants that get started amongst the rocks. The berry bushes are strong growers and do the best growing in the rock pile. I usually pull them out, but I think I will let this bush grow and see if it will actually produce berries.

I made some chicken soup with rice click here I love that song by Carole King and Maurice Sendak. I bought the Sendak books for my girls when they were little. They were such cool books. The girls loved to play the records that came with the books. Yep, those were the old days of record players. What can I say... I'm old.

And then I gave the chickens a treat of carrot peelings and lettuce which they ate up very fast, although only about half of them showed up at the slider when I called them. I guess the others had headed out for part of the woods that were on the other side of the house.

Tom called and he will stop and pick up some sour dough french bread and some meat loaf for Kristine, since she can eat that as her throat has healed up a bit. I'm back eating eggs, vegetables and fruit. I never would have eaten the ice cream if I had realized what would happen. I was living dangerously and hoping I was back to being able to eat what I wanted. I took Dilantin for over thirty years and that controlled my migraines, but I eventually got hives and had to stop taking it. I remember when I started the Dilantin my eyes wouldn't focus, I couldn't read, I was dizzy, and it made it hard to concentrate. That lasted about six weeks and then after I adjusted to the medication there were no more migraines. I would like those no migraine days back. So, I will have to be a good girl and be careful what I eat... but I get them anyway. phooey! Maybe Tom will eat the ice cream? I wonder if chickens eat ice cream?

Lots and lots of thanks to Kristine

for posting for me yesterday!

[6 eggs + 3 in the dirt]

Bad girls!

Smiles

(Yeah, gotta keep smil'n)

Guest Post: The Culprit!!

This will probably look a bit different than the normal post, as Mom is in bed nursing what remains of her brain after three migraines struck inside a 24 hours period. Lovely is it not? So, I was asked to step in and do a post.

You may be asking what could have set off three migraines in a row, and others are possibly wondering what "The Culprit" means. Hopefully I'll answer both questions.

Mom hasn't been getting very many migraines lately, which is good. I'm afraid that its my fault she's got the migraine. You see, I paid good money to have my wisdom teeth removed (... i ask again, "I PAID FOR THIS???"), which consequently fell to not being able to eat much besides pudding, jello, yogurt and other extremely squishy food. Then I got a throat infection that keeps me on the afore mentioned squishy food, but it must be cold, as in ice cream, sherbet, popsicles, ice cream bars... etc. Thus we have many foods in the house we normally don't have available. Mom, I'm afraid has no will power when it comes to her sweet tooth. She fell afoul of the siren calls of said pudding, and ice cream. The pudding seemed not to bother her, but... well the ice cream is another story. We now know that it gives her migraines. I suspect the salt content is just a tad higher than she's able to handle.

So, I give you, The Culprit (along with me keeping her up for 3 days in a row... gee how I love guilt):

There you have it. Ice cream. Sherbet. Now watch me get sued for bad mouthing these brand names. Which technically I'm not doing by the way. They just tend to have lots of salt in them, and some people with certain conditions aren't able to deal with it. Personally I really like these products.

In case you're wondering, here is a mug shot of Mom's friendly foods that she eats all the time without any problems whatsoever.

In other news, there was a battle of the chickens this afternoon, which was very quiet, and we have no idea what started it. It was Light Brahma vs Buff Orpington and it was quite the smack down going on under a small pine tree. The proceedings went on for about a minute before HenRoo appeared on the scene and gave them both what-for. Both hens ran away from HenRoo in quick order, and HenRoo went and stood on one of many small boulder we've got laying around, puffed up her chest and I swear gave everyone within eye-shot a smarmy romance cover sneer. That chicken has issues.

I'd give an egg count, but Dad was the one who got the eggs today, and I have no idea if he counted as he wrestled the eggs away from the indignant hens.

:)

Smirkles.

Collecting Eggs

When collecting eggs lately I find hens in the nest boxes who are all fluffed up and who don't have eggs under them. So, I'm trying to remember the fluffy feather business from last year and can't come up with any mental pictures of setting hens with fluffed feathers. They can't be cold as it is warm out. Tom brought in 10 eggs today! I guess the hens were saving them up?

I had already checked under the hens for eggs before I took this video. I just wanted to show how the girls usually arrange themselves. Sometimes there are two or three all sitting together.

Tom has been up on the roof working on the new antenna he installed. Kristine is still under the weather and I'm fighting off a cold. Thus not much in the way of blogging today. I can add ice cream to the list of stuff not to eat, because I got fortress lights twice now after eating it. Phooey!

Buff Brahma in the top and middle nest boxes and a Wyandotte, Orpington and another Wyandotte in the bottom.

[10 eggs today]

Smiles

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Slow Saturday

It was a slow day for the chickens too. There were only 5 eggs today and the chickens had to stay in their coop for most of the day, so I know they didn't sneak off and lay their eggs in the woods. Tom had some people over looking at cars he wanted to sell and the people had their dog running around the property, which meant we had to keep Morgan in and the chickens locked up. Tom brought these eggs in this afternoon after the people left. We are out of lay and are feeding raiser and corn so that may account for the decline in egg production. Jean gave me the pretty blue and white dishcloth. Latest I heard is that Jean is up and walking around using a walker! I keep meaning to call her every day and then forget. Bad me.

Here are a couple of invisible things. The wall decorations are from Dolores. I always liked them and this is a good place for them. They are out of the way as far as getting bumped and damaged and yet easily seen.

And these string game books have been around since the girls were young. They are fun to pick up and read or to play a string game. I can't believe we still have one of the strings that came with the books.

Kristine says she feels like she has razor blades in her throat. I'm still catching up on sleep, so we had a slow sleepy day. We both kept our computers busy. Kristine watched shows and I played games and listened to old time radio. Mostly Gildersleeve podcasts that I downloaded from iTunes. The computer games I like are pretty low key, games like: Games For The Brain, 6 Differences, puzzles and Mahjong.

[5 eggs today]

Smiles

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Henny Penny and Hen/Roo

Henny Penny and Hen/Roo scratching around today under the shade of some Madrone shoots off of an old Madrone trunk. I should cut them all off and I suppose I will someday when I get to clearing out this area. I remember that my brother raked this whole area clear. I have never been able to do that and have just managed to clear some paths from the chicken coop to the back fence and along the back fence. A mosquito tried to bite me as I was taking this video so I gave up and retreated to the house. I would love to have some wind to blow the mosquitos away, but then I would have to worry about forest fires. I'd rather have the mosquitos.

Things didn't go the way I thought they would today. Kristine got sick and had to go to her doctor. She is going to have to stay home for some extra days and get over the sore throat she has developed. She ended up spending time at the doctors and I ended up sleeping. I wish I could send her to Australia again for a vacation. She will have to pretend she is on vacation around here instead.

[9 eggs today]

Smiles

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Henny Penny's Saddle

Since Henny Penny's duct tape has been working out so well, I decided to look around on the internet and see what I could find about chickens and duct tape. I came up with these three sites that have some good information. First is a site here that lists an even better tape (Nashua Tape R 357, max temp. 200) than duct tape and has some good photos. Second is this site that has chicken saddles that you can purchase. And third here are instructions on a sew or no-sew your own chicken saddle. Personally, I think I will stick to the duct tape method. Pun intended. hee, hee.

The Old Grey Egg said that roosters will cause the hens to lose feathers because of mounting. Kristine said that these two hens had feather loss when we had roosters and never molted properly. We don't have roosters anymore, but our hens mount each other, so I guess that accounts for the feather loss. Silly hens.

Kristine took the next four photos for me because I was complaining that I didn't have anything to post. So, she went out to my little tiny overgrown neglected garden and took these pictures. I slept late today, so tomorrow I should be rested and I will make a start on my green garden.

I like this little welcome sign that Kristine got for me.

I think Tom and Kristine got this rooster .

This poor little bird bath needs water.

It needs filling every day.

These flowers are volunteers from last year.

Kristine is doing better today, except she had a bloody nose last night. She thinks that happened as a result of the fifteen minutes of retching yesterday at work. She went back too soon. Since then she has followed the dentists instructions and stopped all the medication and she is feeling better, except for the pain, and is eating foods like mashed potatoes, noodle soup, and ice cream. She plans on going back to work on Saturday. I plan on more sleep time.

[6 eggs today]

+1 = 7

Smiles

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Henny Penny

I took the camera with me when I went out to collect eggs this morning and was lucky enough to catch Henny Penny. She took advantage of her photo op and slowed down and did some chicken poses and a cluck or two. She seems to be doing well and is back to running around with the other hens. How neat is that! I was really worried about her, but she is fine.

The duct tape doesn't seem to bother her and maybe it is a fix for whatever? Or maybe she ate a bad bug or plant or? Well, at least the duct tape will keep the mosquitos away and keep her from getting sunburned.

Happy Birthday, Kristine!

I must say that having your wisdom teeth pulled is not my idea of a birthday present. I'm sorry you got sick at work today and had to come home, but I'm glad you will be home for a few more days. Hope it all heals up quickly and you are back to yourself very soon.

I'm going to go back to bed. I need sleep.

[6 eggs today]

Smiles

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Duct Tape and Chickens

I didn't see Henny Penny this morning because Tom let the chickens out before I got up. Henny Penny showed up with her duct taped sister when I went out to look for eggs. The duct tape on the Orpington looks like it is coming loose, or maybe it got messed up when the other hens jump on her. Henny Penny looks and acts fine. These two hens are smaller than the others. Maybe they get picked on? They seem happy to come back into the pen when the other hens are out in the woods. Duct tape is pretty neat stuff. I read that the duct tape will come off when they molt, but I think I will check and see what's happening under there before that.

The duct tape will keep the hens from getting sunburned for sure and should keep the mosquitos from a free lunch. I really don't know if that was what made Henny Penny sick, but I hope the duct tape is a fix for whatever was the problem.

Eggs! Tom found all these eggs, when he was counting the chickens last night. Yep, there are still 18 chickens. And all these eggs under the area where the chickens roost. I caught a Wyandotte sitting on them this morning. But from the different sizes and colors of eggs you can tell lots of other hens are laying eggs here. I picked up all the eggs and got rid of them and then got a bucket and filled it several times with dirt and covered up the area. I will have to check tomorrow and if there is an egg here I will find a branch with lots of twigs to put in the corner.

I'm going to go back to bed and see if I can catch up on some sleep.

[2 eggs so far]

The weather changed and the chickens started laying eggs

in strange places.

Can I blame the weather?

Smiles

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Chickens In The Morning

The hens are very noisy in the morning especially when they see me coming to let them out. Except this morning! I think the camera caught their attention and for awhile they were very quiet. This is the third video I took and it has only about half of the girls yelling at me.

Sometimes I think that most of the hens are turning into roosters! I see so many of them with large combs and some who are developing the strangest cackles. Maybe that is why I only found five eggs today?

I have a theory about why Henny Penny got sick. I think she might have got sunburned and/or suffered a lot of mosquito bites which caused a bad sunburn and/or too much blood lose. She is one of two hens that didn't ever finish their molt. They have bare patches on their backs. So, I decided to cover the bare spot with duct tape. I hope the duct tape stays on and I will try to get a photo of her tomorrow.

Kristine is doing better, but one side of her jaw is still very swollen because the dentist had to cut into the bone. brrrrr...

[5 eggs today]

Smiles

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Up and About!

Wow! I opened the carrier this morning and Henny Penny waited for a few moments and then walked out into the chicken pen. She scratched around a bit, ate some, laid down for a sun bath and then went about doing chicken stuff. I'm keeping a watch on her to see how she is doing, but so far so good. This is way better than the way I found her laying in the corner totally limp.

I'm making chicken soup so Kristine can have some broth if she wants. Then I can go to sleep for the day. Maybe I can post some more later.

[4 eggs so far]

Smiles

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Nite, Nite, Henny Penny

Henny Penny looked pretty chipper when I went out tonight to put her back in the coop for the night. She moved up to the front of the carrier and looked me in the eye and said something in chickens that I didn't quite catch. I do think she is feeling much better. Messy girl. Look what she did to her feed bowl. I was asleep all day because I was up all night changing out the cold packs on Kristine's jaws every 15 minutes with a rest period of 5 minutes in between. What did me in was the trips up and down the stairs. Tom took over for the day pills and cold pack shift.

Here is Henny Penny all tucked in for the night. Tomorrow, I will try letting her out in the chicken pen for awhile after the other hens have left for the woods. I hope I will be surprised and she will not be injured. I looked back at the 1st photo here of her I posted and she really looked bad. I still don't know what is wrong with her, but she is eating, drinking and moving. Well, I'll find out more tomorrow.

[4 eggs today]

Where have all the eggs gone?

Smiles

~:>

Friends

Here is Curly the Cochin in the middle with her feathery feet, hanging out with two Buff Brahmas. Friends? They are moving around pretty fast scratching away, so it's fairly hard to catch them on camera.

This is a shot of Tom on the roof putting up a new antenna because the old one got clobbered by a branch. Gee, really? Most everything around here gets hit by a branch of one size or another sooner or later.

We cancelled our DTV. They kept raising the price! Phooey! Kristine and I watch tv on our computer screens using DSL and Tom is happy with the local channels that come free through the air, so, bye, bye DTV!

When the acorns are falling or the wind is blowing, Tom wears a hard hat when he takes his dog Lucky out for their walk. That stuff hurts since it is falling so far.

This is a pretty fast post because Kristine got her wisdom teeth pulled this morning and I'm playing nurse. I was so surprised when I got faint after she got home from the extraction. Maybe it was the medical odors or just seeing my daughter totally out of it? The sick chicken, Henney Penny, is doing much the same as yesterday. I have to check on her again and look for eggs. Have a great weekend!

[4 eggs today so far]

...where're my eggs?

Smiles

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Look'n Better!

Henny Penny is looking better today! She looks bright and alert. She ate a lot of her feed and all her lettuce. The feed was a combination of raiser and corn and it was filled up to the top.

Today the other hens were coming up to the cage and visiting. Or maybe they were just trying to get to the feed? But she does look better. Hope she recovers!

I dumped out the four hens that were sitting in the nest boxes for most of the day. It was like they were in a daze. Once they were out and about they clucked happily over the corn and went and did chickens stuff like scratching around for edibles. I guess I will have to get them out of the nests earlier every day.

[4 eggs today]

Smiles

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Ahhhh...

This is Rapunzel. She is such a lovely doll that I thought I would finally break down and put a photo of her on my blog. This doll belonged to Donna and Jean gave her to Kristine. I kept waiting for Kristine to post on her blog again. I thought she would want to put photos of the dolls on her blog, but she doesn't want to blog for awhile. And I don't want to nag at her again.

So, I posted the doll and these figures that she keeps near her laptop. They always bring a smile to my face and make me feel happy. Cute, huh? I think so. Sometimes we need fun stuff around us to lift our spirits. These little guys are always around to lift my spirits. 

The sick chicken is still the same. She is eating and drinking and clucking, but not moving around much. But, she does seem much more alert today, so I would like to think she is getting better. Hope so.

[8 eggs today]

Smiles

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Just Sit'n

This is what I see during the day when I check the nest boxes for eggs. I think some of the hens are getting broody because I catch them just sitting in the straw. I hope they don't go broody because then I will have to go through breaking them of that cycle.

Here is another one! This is a Buff Brahma. Maybe I should borrow a rooster from someone, but we don't really want anymore chickens and I don't like bringing new chickens into the flock because I worry about introducing sickness. 

The sick hen is still the same except now she is clucking. I suppose that is a good sign? She ate and drank and moved around a bit more. I kept her in the carrier again today and tonight. Hope she is better tomorrow.

[7 eggs today]

+ plus one in the driveway

Smiles

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