New Feeder

Kristine picked up a new metal feeder that I am using for corn. They didn't have any plastic ones in stock. Metal is great until it gets wet and rusts, so I much prefer the plastic. I had to put the feeders inside this afternoon because it started sprinkling a bit. Strange weather. It is over 80 and it is raining. I opened the middle nest box to air out the one broody hen I have left. It is a Wyandotte so it is hard to get a glimpse of in that dark space. I should be able to put the feeders outside tomorrow. Hope so. There is not much room in there.

Here is a shot of the area where I dumped a wheel barrow full of chicken dirt. Now all I need are some plants. I would like to get some annuals. This area gets shade in the morning then a couple hours of sun and then shade in the afternoon. I need plants that will grow in the shade and stay alive through drought in the summer and winter snows. The ivy does well and so does the myrtle. The roses and that evergreen bush don't do too well. I need plants that are hard to kill.

I wanted Morgan to come in, but she doesn't want to come in until I lock up the chickens. I called her, but she is slinking away. Like I wouldn't notice? The chickens don't mind the rain because they stay under the trees where it is dry. Morgan might get a little damp, but she will be ok out in the hot rain. Hope there isn't any lightening.

[7 eggs today]

Smiles

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Lost and Found Hen

Look what Kristine found on her way to work! She drove past the chicken and had to make a turn and come back, but the chicken was still there and didn't try to make a get away into the bushes. Kristine walked up to it and said, "Boy, you're a mess!" and the chicken just sat down. Kristine said the chicken sat on her lap as she drove back home. Our neighbor agreed to take the chicken. Pretty neat! She has a lovely cool dark barn where this poor frazzled bird can have some quiet time to recover. The chicken has feathers missing on one wing, so maybe there was a dog attack?

Later on the way to work, Kristine said she saw a bunch of dead chickens on one of the side streets. But she said those chickens look like they had been dead for a few days. Strange, because they weren't there yesterday. Hard to figure out exactly what is going on in the chicken world. We would have like to have kept this pretty chicken but our 18 hens would have given her a hard time and she looked like she has had enough trouble.

These three hens crack me up. They are the early roosters. The rest of the hens are still out in the woods, by the side of the pen, or inside the pen eating a late snack, but these girls want to make sure they get a spot on the top roost. Nothing like camping out early! On the left of the roost you can see where I opened this side of the nest box by cutting the chicken wire away. I will have to cut the opening a bit larger next time I have the power saw hooked up. Or not. Depends on if they get in the box or not. Some of them like little spaces.

Today I spent more time in my little garden with Morgan helping as I brought in a wheel barrow full of chicken dirt and put it in the other planting area. I got this area cut back so now I can see the bird bath my little fake stream.

Morgan is a wonderful dog. She is 3/4 Border Collie and 1/4th Australian Shepherd. The first dog I remember having was a blue spotted Australian Shepherd. Morgan is a mix of all the best characteristics of both breeds. She was named snow by the breeders, but she has slowly developed her black spots. Here are two links to information and photos about Border Collies and Australian Shepherds.

[6 eggs today]

Smiles

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Eggs?

Isn't Morgan cute. She waits patiently while I open each nest and move the chickens in hopes perhaps of me dropping a chicken in her direction. I move the hens as I look for eggs and Morgan is very interested in the search. She would like to get in the nests and help.

Kristine took this photo for me to post. Over the years I have collected these little stuffed animals. I think they were all mostly gifts and they were so cute that I decided to display them under a counter behind glass doors in a bathroom under the sink. This way they stay dust free and they are there to bring a smile. Cute little critters.

I worked in the garden today and finished cutting back the overgrown plants. I'll get a photo tomorrow and I'll wheelbarrow in some dirt to the garden and plant some potted plants. The chickens got carrot peelings and spinach for treats today. The girls are using the new nest boxes which is a surprise to me. I crawled in under the roosts and cut away chicken wire on the inside of the top nest box so they can use that one too. I'll try for a photo of that tomorrow.

[6 eggs today]

Smiles

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Coop Cleaning

After much thought last night I decided I was getting way too upset about the eggs in the dirt and trying to get the chickens to lay in the nests, etc. So, my new plan is to go with the flow. No stress. I put some straw in the corner dirt area where they like to sit. And I will check it every day.

I unscrewed and pulled one of the boards off the back of the tall nest box thing so I can reach in and collect eggs. I saved the screws and used them to screw the board to the back wall. That way the next time I move things around I will be able to find the board if I want to put it back. There were two eggs in there today! I'll check tonight and see if I have any eggs on the ground.

As for rehanging the gate, I decided to just pick it up off the hooks it was hanging on and take it out of the chicken pen. Duh! Those migraines must lower my IQ. I got it unhooked and dragged it out all by myself, but Tom helped me put it back.

It was so great to be able to get the wheelbarrow in the pen. I took out six, maybe seven wheelbarrows full of coop and pen chicken stuff. It didn't look like there was that much stuff in there but there was. Morgan came in the pen and ate an egg! How about that. So, maybe she is the egg breaker?

The pen looks about the same, but it will be easier to rake up each day. Using the bucket to remove stuff works out fine as long as I don't get behind and keep to a daily schedule. I take the buckets to my little green garden and dump it there around the plants.

And here is one of the invisible things. Everybody eats hot dogs, but how? Here is my favorite way to prepare a hot dog. Kristine got hot dogs and the fixings because they are easy to chew. She is still healing up from the wisdom tooth business.

[10 eggs today!]

Smiles

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Cool'n Under the Porch

The hens have found a nice cool spot under the porch on the east side of the house. Pretty smart chickens. I wondered where they went off to during the hot part of the day. I spotted the girls leaving their cool spot this evening when I went to make another check for eggs. I bet there are lots of eggs under the house. If so, there must be critters coming around for eggs.

Today I worked in the chicken coop and pen. These are the tall nest boxes. This used to be a bookcase that I found at a flea market. I added the roosts and boards to hold in the straw. Since I would like the hens to lay their eggs in a nest instead of in the dirt I am going to turn this around against the roost area and hope they will lay eggs in a nest.

I love power tools! I took the roosts off and cut away

the chicken wire over the bottom open area

so the hens will have access to the nests.

Then I cut an opening so the hen can get in the bottom nest. Hopefully, the hens will not stop and lay their eggs in the dirt. I spent a long time with a pitchfork and shovel getting chicken poo and dirt cleaned away from under the roosts. And I took the branches away. They didn't work to stop the hens from laying their eggs in the dirt. I hope the girls will be lured into the nests by the comfy straw. Maybe?

Here it is turned facing the roosts. Tomorrow I need to make an opening of some kind so I can reach in the nests and search for eggs. And figure out something to block the light from leaking through that opening. One reason I think the hens are laying their eggs back there in the dirt under the roosts is because it is dark. Well, it was dark. And it is cool back there too. So, I need to block the light. Or not. If the light is on the dirt, that should be a good thing. I need to make the nests dark. Duh.

I hope I can come up with some great ideas tomorrow. Maybe I will even turn the gate in the pen around. Maybe? If I can figure out how I can remove the hooks that the gate hangs on. I'll need to find a really big pliers or wrench or something like that. I would like to be able to get the wheelbarrow in the pen to remove the old chicken stuff and to bring in some new dirt to make a new clean surface for the hens to scratch around on. Taking the chicken poo and dirt out a bucket full at a time is great exercise, but boring. I would much rather use the wheelbarrow.

[9 eggs today]

Smiles

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Duct Tape Orp/Roo

The Orp/Roo was missing her saddle this morning, so I had a fun time chasing her around. I finally caught her and put her in one of the tall next boxes and played chicken keep-a-way with the duct tape. Henny Penny is calm compared to Orp/Roo and she gave me a lot of trouble. I had to keep one hand on her all times. But I finally got the new duct tape saddle on her. Much to her disgust. She is not happy. Unlike Henny Penny who has pin feathers coming in, Orp/Roo still has a bare back, but at least it isn't red or irritated. In this photo you can see how she is getting rooster characteristics: the large comb, the upright posture, and the upright tail. Help! I think a lot of my hens are turning into roosters.

Everything is so dry! Scary. This year I didn't hear any fireworks going off on the fourth. The woods are so dry that it would only take a spark to start a blaze. Today I do hear booms every now and then, but Kristine and Tom think they are from some kind of work and not fireworks. I want rain! I really, really, don't like this hot, hot, dry weather and we have months of it to go before we get any rain. Or... maybe we could have some kind of freak rain storm. That would be super good. Except, no thunder and lightning. I think the heat has fried my brain.

Here is Henny Penny this morning, with her duct tape saddle still intact. I'm so happy that she is doing so well. Except for the saddle you would not know anything had ever been wrong.

I get nervous in this kind of weather because of the fire danger, but also because the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake happened in this kind of hot still weather. And the dogs were barking. But now it is quiet again. OK, I know, I'll calm down.

I need to go add a photo of Orp/Roo.

I'll go ahead and publish this much.

[5 eggs today]

Smiles

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Ouch!

Friday I was playing around on the computer when Kristine came up and stood beside me. I thought she was waiting until I was finished to tell me something. As I turned to face her I found a chicken foot in my face. It was Buff Brahma feather foot wound up with string.

Kristine said she was looking out the window and saw a chicken fall forward and lay there on our decorative rock pile. The hen had string snagged around both feet and the string had caught on a rock and tripped the hen onto her face. The hen managed to get herself scooted around, pecked away at the string around the rock, got it loose, and got back on her feet and hopped and shuffled away. I guess she had had to deal with the string long enough to learn how to get unhooked. Kristine said that even with the hens feet hooked together it was still hard to catch her.

Kristine brought the hen to me so I could help cut the string off this foot and also so I could take some pictures. Duh. She had to remind me. One of the hens toes was a little swollen and had a mark, but luckily there were no cut marks from the string. Kristine said the hen just clucked a few times when she put her back on the porch and walked off clucking quietly. The hen hadn't made a sound in the house or even moved. I hadn't noticed the string on the hen earlier in the day. Maybe it happened after I unlocked the coop? Tom said it looked like string from a feed sack. Maybe. But I always throw the strings away in a feed sack I keep in the shed just for trash.

Today I found two more dirt eggs. I am getting a basket full of dirt eggs that I don't really know what to do with. The last time I tried to bury them in hopes of adding nutrients to the garden soil. I dug a deep hole, but even so, some critter dug them up and made a mess. I think I will try again to bury them, but I will dig an even deeper hole and role a tree trunk or something on top. Or I could just send them to the dump. It just seems like such a waste. We don't have a rooster so I can't try to hatch them. I need to turn the tall nest box around in the coop to face the roosts and see if the hens will go in it instead of in the corner to lay eggs.

More remodel stuff to do in the chicken coop. I do like building stuff!

[3 eggs today]

2 in the dirt

phooey!

Smiles

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Happy Fourth!

I wish us all a Happy Fourth of July! Aunt Jean got this eagle for us after 9/11/2001. We had been up here for two years and were just getting settled in. After living in one place for over thirty years it had been difficult for me to feel that this was home and I wasn't visiting. The world around me did change that morning and hasn't come right yet. I will give this as one example: We had been attending a local flea market during the years and having a wonderful time. It had a carnival or county fair atmosphere complete with ice cream, soft drinks, barbecue and lots of treasures to find. There was a level of laughter, a buzz of happy humanity that made you feel good just to hear.

Then 9/11 and the next time we went to the flea market people still came but it was as if someone had turned the sound down and it is still that way where ever I go. People laugh but not as fully, we do things but don't seem to fully engage. Perhaps it is just that way in my neck of the woods? But I notice the difference. Perhaps it is the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the other unrest in the world that keep the joy of life from showing, but I notice how seldom that joy is let loose in public and I miss how it was. Even at the grocery store, shopping, at the theatre, where ever, it all seems toned down and maybe that is the way it should be.

Perhaps it is a new awareness? Finding out that people hate you and want to kill you just because you are who you are certainly has settled me. Its like the quiet you have with you after attending a funeral. Some of that is always around. I thought it was just me, but it's not. People must have felt the same after Pearl Harbor. Profound sadness. Yet life goes on. I love this country and I feel privileged to have been born here. So lucky! And I truly appreciate that the freedoms I enjoy were won by the sacrifices of many.

I found these two quizzes about the fourth.

So, on a lighter note, if you like, have fun here

http://www.theholidayspot.com/july4/quiz.htm

and here

http://www.riversongs.com/happy/independence_day.html.

Kristine has gone to spend the holiday with good friends and to do a bit of fence painting to add some fun. Tom has gone down to spend the holiday with his family. And me? I'm holding down the fort. Morgan is out with the chickens doing doggie and chicken stuff. Very nice day. It is only 74 degrees in the house. Very nice. I think I will go out and give the chickens some more watermelon rinds to celebrate. No fireworks around here! Not in these dry woods. I sure hope not. Only two eggs so far today. Happy Fourth of July to us!

Smiles

Sweet Hen

Morgan is clean! She came back from her monthly trip to the groomer looking white and stressed. She had a side trip to the vets office next door to the groomer for a health check up that included blood tests. I had her sit next to the hedge which she kindly did. She just looks hot here. Poor Morgan. She has gone to bed early. Too much excitement?

This is such a sweet Wyandotte hen. At first I thought she was cooing, but she is making a chicken noise. She didn't have an egg and it was late in the day for her to be in the nest. So, maybe she is broody? She stayed in the nest after I moved her around looking for an egg, so I decided to see if she would make the same sounds again and tried to capture it on video.

Watermelon IQ Test

Who can make it out of the pen and get to the watermelon rinds? Starting on the left we have Curly the feather foot Cochin, Hen/Roo, Orp Roo, Henny Penney and then two Light Brahmas, an Australorp, a Buff Brahma, an Orpington and a Wyandotte behind them. The hens love the watermelon rinds, but there were hens in the pen eating chicken feed.

Before: This is a photo of what my little green garden looked like before I started working on it this afternoon. Some critter got in and broke and ate some of the rose bushes. I rushed around and tried to stay ahead of the mosquitos to get a bit of work done. Most of my time was spent cutting back dead stuff and raking. I didn't get very much done before the mosquitos chased me away. Morgan had fun sniffing in the leaves. I guess I raked up some neat stuff.

After: Lots more to cut back and I have some planting to do. I will put the leaves under the shrubs along the fence after I water them well. The idea being that the leaves will help hold the water in the soil for awhile. The ladder is there to hold potted plants on the steps. I need to make it to a nursery or ask Kristine to pick up some flowers to plant and put in the pots. There is a huge pine tree at the front corner of this garden that keeps it in the shade most of the day, so shade loving plants do well but the others don't thrive. I added chicken wire and fencing to keep the chickens out and the plants in one piece.

This morning I set out three watermelon rinds for the hens to enjoy and then I unlocked the door and expected the hens to rush out for a morning treat. I don't know if the girls were trying to get through the gate to the rinds or what, but I had to walk around in the pen before they started coming outside. Finally most of them came out, but there were a few still in the pen.

[8 eggs today]

Smiles

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At The Slider

Last night there was some critter/s running around and setting off all the dogs in the area. I tried to make a video to capture all the noise and neighbors shouting at their dogs, but it didn't turn out all that well. I have to turn the sound way up to hear anything and there is too much scratchy noise. Kristine came downstairs to make sure the chickens were locked up and then she turned on the outside lights but we couldn't see anything. All the noise went on and off during the night. Wish I knew what was going on.

A couple of years ago we would wake up to the sound of gun fire. Now that was exciting. Turns out there was someone in the area who for some unknown reason thought it would be a good idea to bury their garbage instead of taking it to the dumps. Welllll... of course, a bear showed up to partake of his garbage pit and the fellow's solution was to shoot at the bear. Some people! The guy finally moved and the new owner sent in a back hoe and trucked out all the garbage. The new neighbors are a welcome change!

I must admit that having wildlife show up around here is exciting. Hearing a mountain lion scream is memorable. A bear jumping from a tree onto the roof of the chicken coop is interesting. But the critters I hate to see are the mosquitos and the flies. I hate flies and mosquitos. Tomorrow I'm going to try and work in my little green garden if the mosquitos let me and if it isn't too hot. It is supposed to be in the nineties, but it may be cooler? Tom got me some new garden gloves! Yea!

In the afternoon once it starts to cool down a bit and there is some shade on the porch, the moochers show up at the slider hoping for a treat to appear. We hear cluck clucks, chicken hoofs and the click click of Morgan's paws and Morgan adds some more nose prints to the slider and we comply with their wishes if at all possible. Tom has been lucky and picked up outdated greens at the store twice this week. So, along with carrot peelings, tomato leavings and old lettuce the hens are very happy. Poor Morgan. All she ever gets are dog treats. We bring her in the house while the hens eat up their treats because Morgan gets excited when the hens get excited over the treats and she runs around on the porch and makes the chickens fly up in the air and then they run around too. And then Morgan gets more excited, etc. So, best if we just bring her inside. I love my chickens on the porch.

[6 eggs today]

Smiles

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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

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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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