The Planting of the Greens

 

 At this time of the year, it is very hard to find anything green to eat.  The nice lady brings us chopped up greens as part of our breakfast every morning, but that's all there is for the day.  The nice man saw that we were pretty sad about this, so he decided to plant winter wheat.  What a brilliant idea!

First he roughed up the soil.  That was pretty interesting to watch.  I sure didn't want to get in his way.  I think that tool he used might be the same one he used on the snake.  It's pointy and it's sharp!

 What we weren't expecting was that we wouldn't be able to eat the wheat right away.  Those humans put wire things over the seeds, and we couldn't get to them.  There were a few seeds that were around the edges, and we jumped on those like a dog on a bone.

Then we started watching for little green shoots to come up, but there was nothing.

 How long do we have to wait?

Anything yet?  Wait, I think I see something!

We had forgotten about the patch that had been planted earlier.  And when we looked, there it was.  This beautiful patch of green.

 If we worked our necks just right, we could grab the wheat from around the edges. 

One of us was trying out more circus tricks.  

I wasn't too wild about having all of that wire stuff on top of the wheat.  After all, we love to scratch the ground.  But now I realize that this wheat will last much longer, and we can go out everyday and eat what grows up through the wire.  Pretty neat!

Let's PAR-TAY!

Wow! Did we have a great weekend or what! I wasn't too sure it was going to be fun when I woke up one morning and saw this thing right outside our gate.  Our people have one sorta like it, but this thing was like the Taj Mahal--Big and Beautiful!

When were able to get outside, we went exploring.  Too bad none of the doors were open.  I'm sure we would have had a fun time in there.  We might even have left some eggs for the owners.

Friday night was hotdog night!  Whoo-hoo, you know how I LOVE those things!  I prefer them plain, no mustard, no relish, no bun, just a hotdog.

Sis really likes them, too!  She wanted a bun with hers, but she was happy to get what she got.

Then to top everything off, the people who had parked outside our gate gave us some CORNBREAD!  What nice people.  I just love them!

I pounced on that stuff like a dog on a bone.

And I shared it.  I was so full I felt like a tick ready to pop!

I hope all of those people come back again soon.

Kids! And I Don't Mean Goats!

Every once in a while we have some smaller versions of the nice lady and man come to visit us.  We, hens, certainly get our exercise during their visits, but we also get lots and lots of special treats.

 

 

We have to be on the look-out for small, colorful feet. 

 Sometimes they're still, but most of the time they're running!  That's when we really flap our wings and get our upper body workouts!

The nice lady usually gets them to help when they're here.  They think it's fun, as long as they don't have to actually clean out our house.  Feeding us, they like.  Collecting our eggs, they like.  Cleaning out our poopy house, NO WAY!

They like to go through our gate that leads to our side yard.  I don't think they'll be able to do that very much longer.  I think they've really gotten taller just since I've known them.  And their feet are getting bigger, too!

I got a little nervous one day.  I thought the little girl was going to go up our ramp into our house!  Luckily somebody reminded her about the poop in the house.  She stopped in her tracks.

When the kids come, it's always a good time for us.  We get more treats and more attention.  That makes us very happy chickens.  And as we all know, happy chickens lay happy eggs!

I'm Going Bald!

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It's a good thing I decided not to enter the local County Fair's Chicken Beauty Pageant.  I am a mess!  I'm too embarrassed to show you my current picture, but here's a look at where my old feathers are right now!

Every morning when I wake up, there are few more feathers GONE---scattered all over the floor under our roost!  None of my other hen friends seem to be worried.  They assure me that I'll be fine--no permanent feather loss.   

Here is a picture of the Iron Maiden before she lost her feathers and one showing how she looks now. Poor thing, her tail looks like is has been chopped off!

 

Even Goofball is looking a little scruffy--white patches all over, dark spots on feathers.  She doesn't seem to be worried because there's a nice juicy grasshopper waiting to become her next treat.

I am very glad that the nice lady hasn't put mirrors in our house!  

The Beauty Pageant

It's time for the local chicken beauty pageant, commonly referred to as the County Fair.  Never having been in one before, I wasn't very interested in the details.  I decided to check out the rules, just for fun. 

The first rule says, "The Judge will use as a guide the American Standard of Perfection.  All birds will be judged by comparison."   I got pumped up after hearing that one.  Although I try not to be too vain, I felt sure I could win. The prize money for first place would almost pay for a big sack of chicken feed, or better yet, chicken scratch.  Yum! 

I didn't fully understand the next 2 rules---something about definition of terms and breeding pens. But rule #4, caused me to put the brakes on.  The words that struck fear in my heart were "pullorum-typhoid BLOOD TEST."  Yikes!  "BLOOD TEST" means needles, right?

I think I'll just stay home.  The nice lady can take pictures of the contestants and show them to me.  

 

My Friend, Sis

My hen friend that looks most like me is named Sis.  Those who don't know us get us mixed up--just like twins.  But really we're so different.  Here's Sis on the left and me on the right.  Can you believe that anyone would get us mixed up!

The other day I heard Sis squawking unusually loudly in the hen house.  We are very proud of ourselves when we lay an egg, and we let everyone know what we have done by squawking loudly.  But Sis sounded like she was either in pain or very, very proud of herself.  When I went into the house to check on her, look at what I saw!  That's my egg on the left, and hers on the right.

Here's what it looked like in the pan. 
(WARNING:  This is a very disturbing picture if you are a chicken.)

This may not be unusual to some of you, but for Sis, it's amazing, considering she almost died last winter.  I'll tell that story another day.

Togetherness

Being members of a chicken family means that we practice togetherness.  It's a "flock" thing.  However, there are times that togetherness is just too TOGETHER.

For example, take the nest boxes in our chicken house.  There are 3 nest boxes for 6 chickens.  Since we don't all lay our eggs at the same time, that should give every chicken a private place to lay her egg.  But some of us, prefer to give moral support, and share in the experience.  

I can assure you that if you're the one who got to the nest box first, you don't appreciate being the "support" for the hen who wants to lay her egg with you.

Encouraging a hen friend to leave the box you want can be difficult.  

When it's time to lay an egg, it's time!  There's not much you can do, but grin and bear it.

As much as I love my hen friends, there are times that I just want them to give me some space.

A Brooding Chicken

My WEF (White-eared friend) has decided to brood! All she does is sit on the nest! How boring!

Everyday, the nice lady takes her off the nest so she'll eat something and drink some water.

I was in a nest box the other day when the nice lady came to move her. I kept trying to tell her that she needed to get outside and smell the roses--that life is too short to stay in the house. But, no-o-o, she wanted to stay on her nest.




Once she was outside she ate something, drank a little water, then she was back on the nest. I wonder how long this will last?




Doesn't she understand that since there is no rooster, there won't be any babies!? Since she isn't listening to me, maybe I should ask Sis to have "THE TALK" with her. Sis knows everything.




I miss having her with me when we're roaming. Get well soon, my WEF.