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

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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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Pillows!

The other day, Tom was helping Bill clear out some stuff at Jean's house to ready it for renting. Tom came home with this box of embroidery thread and bundles of lace for me to play with. How neat is that! Lovely colors.

He also brought home a bunch of bed billows, a comforter, and a mattress pad for Kristine's bed. These pillows will come in handy for the motor home. Now I won't have to give up my pillows when company comes and stays. We use our motor home as a guest house. It will sleep five easy, or two double beds and three singles.

He also brought these pillows to live on the window seat. They will be happy joining my Home Sweet Home pillow that my sister, Sharon, gifted us with. I can cover some of these pillows so they have a theme going... or not. I really don't like matchy matchy stuff. 

This has been a slow lazy day. The sick chicken seems better, but she is still just staying in the carrier and not moving around much. I checked her over and didn't see any wounds or anything. But she moves as though she hurt herself. Hope she is better tomorrow.

[8 eggs today]

Smiles

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Recovering?

The hen was still alive this morning when I let the chickens out of their coop. So, I moved the hen in the carrier back into the feed shed where it is warm all day. Today the hen drank water, she even spilled it a little and ate all the corn and some feed. Eating is a good sign. Then she turned herself around so she is facing the back of the carrier. ?

Tonight I moved the carrier back into the coop for the night so she can be locked up where critters can't get her. I would like to leave her in the feed shed but it is not safe. Too many openings that I can't close. I covered the carrier to help her retain her body heat. Hope she is doing better tomorrow morning. It is still cold, well, in the 50's tonight. I gave the hens some corn to help keep their energy and temperature level high.

I would like to just put her in one of the closed nest boxes but I am worried that the other hens might start pecking on her because she is weak. Don't want that!

[5 eggs today]

Having the weather go from the high 90's back to the 40's

has thrown the egg laying awry.

Smiles

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Sick Chicken

Yesterday when I went to lock up the chicken coop I noticed a Wyandotte hen that had scrunched herself into a corner and who was not looking like she felt good at all. In fact she didn't even make any effort to move or look around. I left her alone because she looked comfortable and warm where she was, but I didn't expect to find her alive this morning. But there she was this morning in the same place.

So, I made a straw bed in one of the cat carriers and put her in the feed shed. It is warm in there during the day. I managed to spill the water. She scooted up to the water, but I haven't noticed her eat any feed. I don't hold out much hope for recovery. It has been my experience that once chickens show they have a problem they are in real trouble. This is one of the hens that never finished her molt and I suspect the abrupt change in temperature was the cause.

I blocked off the entrance to the feed shed so Morgan wouldn't bother the hen, but so the hen could have some light and might eat and drink. I'll move her back into the chicken coop when I lock up tonight. I hope she does recover. Maybe?

[10 eggs]

I hope she gets better...

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Wood Fire in June

Cold today! I was standing at the slider looking out at the grey gloomy sky and clicking my nails on the slider glass. The hens heard the clicking and came running to the porch hoping to find some treats. Kristine accused me of teasing the girls. So, what could I do? I had to go get some lettuce to give them. That's Curly the Cochin on the left with the feathers on her feet. Even Morgan showed up, so I had to give her a doggie treat. I didn't know the chickens kept that close a watch on the slider. Surprise!

Like I said it is cold today. Cold enough that Tom fired up the wood stove so we could have some heat and I took advantage of the fire to heat up the stew I made yesterday. Seems that I am the only one eating dinner tonight. Kristine ate out when she was at a library meeting and Tom already ate also. I was going to put all the wood gear away for the summer, but I'm glad I was slow in getting to that job. We really need the fire because it is in the 50's and is going into the 40's tonight. 

Kristine said she was talking to a fellow who is in his 70's who has lived here all his life and he said he never saw a lightning storm like the ones we experienced on June 3rd. So, it was an uncommon event. Supposedly, the lightning is supposed to be over tonight. But it is not going to warm up very much.

Kristine got good news today. Her car was making terrible noises, but it was only a brake guard that got knocked up against something else and was rubbing it and making lots of noise. So glad it was not something that needed a costly repair. Yea! She has her car back.

[9 eggs today]

Smiles

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June Lightning 6/3/09 - Placer County, California

Here is Hen/Roo staking claim to the top of the rock pile this afternoon and perhaps celebrating survival of all the lightning we had last night. We did get dumped on by the clouds (13 inches an hour) but they moved over us so fast that there are no puddles left. 

I gave the hens some corn to help with the celebration. They were happy to work over the corn to show their appreciation. I see that Wyandotte sitting over by the fence... I will have to check later to see if she left an egg in the pen. [no egg] And I have to remember to bring in any left over corn because more storm cells are supposed to show up tonight and tomorrow. [no corn left either] We do need the rain, but I could do without the lightning.

The lightning didn't seem to upset the hens

because they laid 10 eggs today!

They must feel safe in their coop.

Happy chickens!

After the lightning started we unplugged the computers and then turned off the lights so we could enjoy the light show. Wow! It probably wouldn't seem like much if we lived in the mid-west but we had over 1400 lightning strikes in an hour in one weather cell that moved over us. Constant booming and light flaring lighting up the trees.

If you can stand to sit through the commercial before the lightning video part starts this news video gives a good idea of the non-stop lightning. It was pretty amazing. But much louder where we are and more rain.

The lightning rattled the windows and shook the house. Lightning is not that unusual up here, but I never experienced so many lightning strikes in such a short time. Spectacular!

My video clip is only 6 seconds long because the lightning strike was so close that the bang came at the same time as everything lit up. I was so startled that I backed up into Kristine and she grabbed hold of me because she thought I was going to fall and I tensed up and my finger pushed the button and turned off the recording. Phooey!

There were lots of lightning flashes during the dark part of my video, but the camera could only get the very brightest flashes. I do have other videos but they are rather boring to watch since there is a lot of black screen in between the biggest flashes.

This was the brightest and loudest that I caught. My poor little camera did the best it could. Sorry the video is so short. Later if you want you can click on the video button and drag it slowly and you can see the big bolt of lightning.

I know it's black! Go ahead and click on it!

The noise you hear is the rain and then the thunder.

What's in the Hole?

(We have lots of lightning so I am turning off my computer.)

I'm back. Wow! That was intense non stop lightning and we got dumped on with rain. But it was quick. Didn't take long at all for the weather cell to move off of us. But there is another cell moving up so I have to be quick and post in between the weather cells. I think I got some film of the lightning? I'll check and if there is anything on my camera that is any good I'll post it tomorrow. As soon as I get this posted I am going to unplug my computer.

Here is a curious Light Brahma.

Bet she wonders what the hole is all about.

Maybe something to eat?

Must be something good down there.

She is digging trying to get at something.

These potholes make it dangerous for me to walk in the pen.

Sorry dear, but I'm going to have to fill the hole up. 

Here is a Dark Brahma.

I think their color patterning is so pretty.

Sweet little chicken.

These two girls are very cozy! I think it is Curly the Cochin and a Light Brahma both determined to lay their egg in the same nest. [at second look I think it is an Orpington because of the dark feathers in the tail] I don't understand how chickens think. I would like to think they are pals and happy to be together. Cozy!

[10 eggs today]

Plus one dandy of a thunder storm!

Smiles

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Chair Chicken

Light Brahma on the chair, two Orpingtons, two Light Brahmas at the feeder, a Dark Brahma and a Wyandotte in the back on the left. The Light Brahma likes to sit on the chair, but doesn't like to have company. Of all the different chickens we have I like the Brahmas best. They have a very calm easy going temperament that make them a pleasure to be around. We really liked our Light Brahma rooster that Kristine named Brutus. He was so sweet and took such good care of the hens. He was protecting his hens one day when a coyote came by. Morgan wasn't out for some reason, but Tom was out cutting wood, but the coyote hopped over the fence anyway. Brutus was friendlier even than the Brahma hens. He was a very big chick which was why he ended up being called Brutus. He was a sweetie and we miss him. 

I had to go to the dentist today and have a filling fixed because I had worn the top off. So, I had the opportunity to take some more photos on the drive. I got the middle shot on the way home.

This shot I took from a parking lot. Usually you can't see the view because of all the trees along the roadway. We are supposed to be getting lightning and rain, but the only rain we have seen has been for five minutes today. And no lightning I'm happy to say!

[8 eggs today]

Smiles

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I really like this little chicken emoticon that Tristan sent me.

So, I adopted it for my blog.

Gathering Eggs

Eggs? No, this is definitely a plate of cherries. I am finding that it is difficult to eat cherries and post on this blog at the same time. So, I think I will go eat these yummy cherries and let the video load and come back and finish my post for today.

 If you don't have chickens, you can pretend you are gathering eggs for breakfast. Usually there are eggs and chickens in each of the three nest boxes. Sometimes the hens are sitting close together, sometimes most of the eggs are on the top or middle, but usually most of the eggs are in the bottom nest box like they are in this video. You can hear Morgan running around behind me.

I will have to shoot some more video of these nest boxes when there are chickens in them. I haven't run across the screaming chicken that Kristine talks about. Kristine says that when you try and take her egg she gets really upset and does a really load screamy squawk. Maybe that hen doesn't recognize Kristine since she is at work most of the time. Ah, yes, that must be it. The hen likes me so she lets me take her egg? Ahhh! Sweet chicken!

[10 eggs togay]

Smiles

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