Peek A Boo - Sick Chicken?

 This morning all the chickens were milling around in the pen
eager to grab some chopped up cabbage pieces,
but I didn't see Lonely.

I finally found her snug and warm in a nest box and happy to stay there.
I had to reach in and pick her up.
She was not getting up!

Lonely is either not feeling well

or is a
very smart chicken

and has decided to stay warm and safe from the bullies

until the other hens have all finished eating.

To play it safe I fixed up the dog crate with straw, water and feed

and put Lonely in the crate.

At least she can eat in peace. Sure hope she is not sick.

I covered the crate with the plastic drop
to make sure there are no drafts.
There are places for air to circulate.

Most of the leaves have finally hit the ground,

but it was a bit too cold today for me to start raking.

The thermometer read 38 ∘this morning.

I'll wait for the leaves to dry out a bit and for the temp to get warmer.

There are still patches of snow
in very shady spots. 

My paths are all covered with leaves.
What paths?

Peek at the Past
(January 4, 2010)
Oh, dear, seems we were sick last year too.
Kristine is going to the doctor tomorrow.

Tom had to go to the store to buy a working thermometer.
We have two, but one doesn't work
and the other is celsius.
Kristine may have got it when she was in Australia?
We don't do celsius in the states.
Well, at least I don't. 

[0 eggs today]
Tom bought another dozen eggs.
Sigh...

Smiles

♌

(𝄐 𝄐)

' \/  '

Chicken Eats Alone

Poor Lonely. She is the only Dark Brahma we have left and I think she is the victim of chicken racism.

I find it a bit amazing that the hens seem to form clicks based on color. The Light Brahmas are chums, so are the Wyandottes, the Buff Brahmas, Australorps and the Orpingtons.

There are mixed groups and the hens move around together, but the hens do seem to recognize what breed they are. I should spend more time watching the hens interact before making any blanket statements.

Lonely used to hang out with her sister Dark Brahma, but once we lost that hen... Lonely was all alone. The two Buff Brahmas will sometimes hang out with her, but one of the Buffs picks on Lonely and the other Buff.

And the other hens are not nice to her at all. There are no missing feathers or peck damage, but the other hens run her around and they don't let her eat with them. Bullies!

So, this morning I made a place for Lonely to have a quiet meal all by herself. Poor girl.

Lonely is a big girl and I don't think she is missing any meals, but I do think she has to wait until the other hens are finished eating or have gone to roost before she can eat. I'll be so glad when things warm up and we can let the chickens out to free range during the day.

It has been too wet, rainy, snowy, cold, etc., to keep Morgan out all day watching the chickens. The weather is supposed to get up into the 50's later this week... so maybe we can all get outside. I'll move the leaves around with the rake, the chickens can scratch up the leaves, and Morgan can run through the leaves. Well, not really... the leaves are too wet to do anything but squish.

Come Spring I think we should expand the flock a bit and get a few chicks to help with egg production and we'll be sure that some of the chicks are Dark Brahmas. That ought to even up the score around the coop.

Kristine is still sick. I'm eating blueberries and drinking lots of tea. Not that I think that will help... I just like blueberries and tea.

Peek at the Past

January 3, 2010

(no peek - no post last year)

Wonder why?

[0 eggs today]

Smiles

♌

(𝄐 𝄐)

' \/  '

Dug = Morgan

Kristine and I watched an UP DVD today and when we saw Dug look for the squirrel we both quickly came to the conclusion that Dug is Morgan in disguise. Morgan does the squirrel head move just like Dug does and she acts like him too when she wiggles and gets excited. Yep! Morgan and Dug are definitely closely related.

This is "Lonely," a Dark Brahma hen, at the bottom of the pecking order of sixteen chickens and is sadly put upon by the rest of the chickens.

The other hens chase her away from any food she finds and generally keep her off by herself.

She has taken to staying on the porch by the slider in hopes I think of being first at any treats I toss out and also because she is out of the way of the bossy Wyandottes. Sometimes a Buff comes up and spends some time with her. I gave her some apple slices today.

One of the Wyandottes is molting! She looks so terrible. Hope the chickens manage to get through their molts before the cold weather begins. It is already starting to get cold at night.

Illinois University Extension has an informative web site full of questions and answers. Lots of things I didn't know.

 This whole sorting through boxes for stuff to keep and stuff to give or throw away is turning my brain to mush.

I tried doing the sorting inside today and this is as far as I got before I had to quit. I don't know what it is but I can't seem to do this inside, but when I take the boxes out on the porch I can empty the boxes quickly. Strange but true.

Peek at the Past

I forgot about this fire last year.

Hope we don't get any fires this year.

(August 30, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Sprouts Day Two And A Night

It was sunny today! Soon those oaks will have tiny green leaves. We are going to be having warm days for at least a week.

Kristine brought home the latest Foreigner book by C. J. Cherryh, so I'm going to post this and then go to bed and read for a while and then hopefully go to sleep early so I can get up early and work outside tomorrow.

Kristine is searching the internet for information about grants or fellowships for undergraduates. Not an easy job at all to find the information you want. There are lots of sites that will take your money  to find grants. I think I will be spending a lot of time doing my own searching for grants.

Sometimes chickens hang out together. The Buff Orpington and Dark Brahma are friends.

They looked like they were dancing the chicken dance in the first photo.



They ate the lettuce I gave them and then they came over to the slider and spent some time watching us! 

I guess that is only fair since we spend time watching them.

The sprouts still look the same and today is not really day three because I started the sprouts in the evening,  so this is really more of a day two. I did cover the jar with a kitchen towel because I read that the sprouts do better in a dark environment.

I was afraid to hide the jar away in a cupboard because I might forget about it and bad moldy things would happen.

I made breakfast (bacon and blueberry pancakes) for for dinner again. 

Peek at the Past

(March 15, 2009)

I don't keep food lists anymore.

[8 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

This Dark Brahma is the chicken at the bottom of the pecking order.

I had a terrible time trying to get these photos because she runs away from me, Morgan, other hens, leaves, etc.

The hen wanted to eat corn with the other chickens, but even the smallest Wyandottes would run her away.

Poor hen.

But I don't feel too sorry for her because she is a big fat hen. Well, maybe not fat, but she's not missing any meals.

She must eat after the other hens have had their fill.

I wonder if she is the Dark Brahma that can't remember how to find  the coop door.


I would like to give her a name, but I can't tell the Dark Brahmas apart. I can only pick this hen out of the mix when she is getting pecked and picked on.

One especially good thing happened today... my dentist appointment was changed to a later date this month. Neat! I didn't want to go to the dentist!

Peek at the Past

(March 9, 2009)

It is supposed to snow tonight too.

[4 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Green Garden

Even though this hen is dark against the background she still has a way of blending in with the straw on the ground, especially the area around her head. The hens can practically disappear in the woods when they hold still. However, holding still is not something they do very often. I like this Dark Brahma for her hennyness. I just made that word up, but she does look to me like what a hen should be. And she is calm, sweet, and fluffy. And lays eggs!
This is my little green garden from the driveway and that is Morgan wondering why I shut the gate and didn't let her out when I left. See, ivy does well in the shade, summer and winter.
And here is the garden from the inside. Yes, I had Morgan sit so she would be in the photo. I haven't been to the store to get any plants. I think tomorrow I will walk around the property and see if I can find any volunteers growing. Maybe some natives? Most of the plants in this garden are myrtle or ivy. I'll see what I can find. I know there is a lot of poison oak out there. Poison oak is a lovely plant and very hardy, but I don't want to plant any in this space.

[9 eggs today]

Smiles

~:>