Leaving the Invisable Egg

Chicken update: Eenie has finally left the nest on her own after the crushing realization that her invisible egg will never hatch. For a couple of months she has made ungraceful attempts to free range but her crazy ass behavior has been a bit off-putting to say the least. She drops with great force from her nesting box, begins to cackle as if she is being snatched up by a predator then makes a drunken low fly up the hill to the first mole hill where she will scratch madly until she remembers….. THE INVISABLE EGG!!! Distressed that it may be cooling off she lifts her head looks directly at the coop, begins a top volume cackle and runs at breakneck speed, wings out back to the coop where her invisible egg waits patiently.

Apparently I have been more companionate with her than the flock; I have carried her all the way up the hill hoping to save her the embarrassment but the girls have noticed and have been keeping notes!   Sadly there is an initiation process involved when one wishes to leave the nest behind and reenter the said flock; Eenie has only one tail feather left with the remainder in the corner of the coop. She has been defrocked and excepted back, it’s a ruthless process but strangely forgiving.                                                                                                                             ,

 

Making The Rounds

There are 8 steps up to the deck where I enjoy sitting when I get home from work. Every early evening the supervisor (The chicken formerly known as puppy) makes her rounds. As Jack and I sit and chat about our day, listen to lawnmowers, birds and wind chimes we wait for the click, click, click of chicken feet up the stairs. She has greeted us, checked all of the plants and has now descended. She is the only chicken who maintains this ritual and has declared Evening rounds complete.

The Huckleberry Jump

One never expects to pull into the driveway greeted by chickens jumping up and down. I thought they were just happy to see me, but I would be wrong. As I got out of my car and moved in closer I realized that the huckleberries were ripe and they had cleaned off the lower branches and now had to use their well-rehearsed jumping skills to reach the berries on the upper limbs. Really this has been a skill that they all strive to master due to the fact that the highest jumper gets the treat first and more to boot! The chicken logic…… Use your skills and take them out of the box you may get huckleberries or even better!  

The Big Shakeup!

There seems to be an unexpected shakeup in what has been a seemingly well run coop thus far. As I opened the hatch (on time I might add as chickens run a rather orderly life) there was a cackling push through the hatch that reminded me of Black Friday at Walmart! This might be a good time to add I had an egg drought yesterday!

A chicken on a mission is like a laser to a target and Eenie the brooder raced to a place near the door of the coop where I had placed the plywood used for the first couple of days of Marjorie’s recovery period. Following her was Puppy the curious and rather nosy chicken. As I took a closer look to see what all of the ruckus was about I discovered a first ever outside nest complete with eggs!

As I pondered the chicken logic in this I have come to understand that as the girls roosted in the rafters of their coop they had a bird’s eye view of the special attention and lean-to I had created for Marjorie’s safety. Later, in came a rather large kennel and out went the straw stack that had once been the favorite nesting place! In my limited capacity to understand the rotation theory I had only seen its lack of use lately. Apparently they were near rotation and they had been robbed! 

Today’s lesson from the coop: Don’t ever assume that you have a clue what is important to anyone other than yourself, there is a pretty good chance you don’t have all the details. Ones useless straw stack may be another’s throne!

From The Jaws Of Death

Four days ago tragedy hit when my distressed husband came in and told me that something had gotten a chicken that he only counted six! I have miscounted before but the huge pile of feathers and a trail that ended just beyond the coop made my heart sink. I was also shocked because my 150 pound dog was outside at the time.  I went back into the house to get an English muffin so that my remaining girls would follow me back to the safety of their coop.

As I scanned the girls to see who was missing I heard a cackle outside the door, it was Marjorie! She was badly injured but I couldn’t see the extent until I got Jack who was able to get a good look as I held her and lifted her right wing. Her puncture wounds were so deep we could see bone, we were sure that she wouldn’t last the night even though she enthusiastic about the muffin.

We discovered a wound on our dog’s ear and knew that he had saved her, probably from a raccoon. I never knew when I got chickens that I would care for them more than the fresh eggs but this is the case. I am realistic but have discovered that kindness has a force that heals those who offer it and the recipients who fall under its grace

We dressed her wounds with deep wound meds. But when she squeezed herself between the wall and a nesting box, I thought it was to die, I was wrong, it was to protect herself from her sisters who have a rotten health care plan that basically includes a visit to Dr. Pecktodeath.  After returning to the coop in the morning with a box to carry her away we were surprised to say the least when she was standing in the middle of the coop alive!

I made her a lean-to so she would feel safe in the coop and looked for medical advice. It’s hard to find a chicken doctor. After a few calls to the vet, then to a couple of exotic and wild bird rescues we decided to do what we could for her here. We have antibiotics in her water and she is eating. If she weren’t trying so hard to live we would have put her down.

Today I let her dine on rice, yogurt and grapes. I closed off the coop for a while so she could walk around a little. I let Puppy and Eenie in because they frantic to start working on their daily egg as I stood guard over her so she would feel safe.  The day after the attack she laid an egg so I fixed her up a personal nest and she looks content. It looks like from what I can see no infection, but I didn’t lift her as she easily tolerated before, probably due to shock.

If she continues to heal and do well we are going to rename her” Scar Tissue” because an event of this magnitude deserves a new name or title if you will.

The Fallen Hatch

Chickens require routine, you can set your clock to their schedule and when it is interrupted it’s never a good thing. Today the prop that I use to keep the hatch open somehow fell out leaving some of the girls trapped inside with full access to their nesting boxes while the rest were left trapped in the secure area with all of the food and water! Happily when I discovered this unfortunate event I was touted as somewhat of a hero! I solve problems, that’s something that I can hang my hat on!

Swooped By an Eagle!

I just had a heart beating surreal experience! I stepped out the back door to check on old dog Elsa when a giant bald eagle swooped down from the treeline laser eyed on one of my girls! If I have learned one thing from chicken logic it is this...follow your instincts!! thus the racket dance was born! I surprised even myself, it was unexpected and had little rhythm or grace and it was loud! Seeing this however caused that eagle to loose his train of thought as he completing a capital U pattern with empty talons! Seven of the eight girls ran down the hill with me shouting a shrill chick-chick-chick! Marjorie required some negotiation, finally folding so that I could carry her down the hill and into the coop where they are now safe!

Free Agent

Unlike congress, when there is a problem in the chicken world they put away their differences, come together and solve it, so when Cora the neighbor cattle dog stopped by for a visit, as expected they all came together to form one giant chicken! Suddenly Majorie bolts from the group like a free agent at a dead run in a grand attempt to chase Cora off of the property!!! Proof that if you can't overwhelm them with size baffle them with audacity! Cora left.

Unlit

Finally put a light in the coop after having to actually buy eggs! after contemplating chicken logic I have made a startling discovery, I believe I am less productive unlit as well! I'll bet if a person were to rig up some UV lights in the brim of a hat the darn thing would sell like hotcakes!  

Bitch Slapped!

In the chicken world my friend, having ones frocks snatched off is not a wardrobe malfunction! No! This is a bitch slap to the bottom of the pecking order! I find it particularly disturbing considering the onset of winter is upon us! I do have an old down coat I could covert into a chicken vest, but when one thinks about dressing a chicken it usually involves bread......

Run With Your Bun

Today's lesson from the coop: Run with your bun! I wandered out to check on the girls, coop politics have left Eeny nearly pecked clean, defrocked so to say. At one point not so long ago she was at the top of her game,but  life being what it is offers one predictable factor, it's unpredictable. What you have today may not be what you have tomorrow, blind-sighted by the unknown, it happens.

I always wondered who it was that lays the beautiful spotted eggs. I poke my head in the coop, she lifts her half plucked body and I see that it's her, I feel I owe her something, she is a warrior! If I were to offer you a hard bun, perhaps you would find it offensive, to a chicken it becomes a prize, it's something you can run with that won't break off! After a near bun theft by a sister Eeny emerged as the victor, she owned that bun!!!

So the lesson here is: If you have been blind-sighed by unpredictable circumstance and someone throws you a bun, fight for it and run with the damn thing! Chances are you still have a few good eggs left to lay and things will get better!

Updates and Ramblings

I haven't have a lot of time to write, finally had some nice days and the feathered garden crew and I have been trying to get some weeding done! It's a slow go as this seems to be the event to attend! Marjorie my garden chicken has taken a back seat to Dorthy who has lost most of the feathers on her head while working her way up the pecking order! Interesting how one can lose ones spot in live so quickly!

 Dorthy it seems has a whole new lease in life and follows me around like a puppy! Her nickname in fact is Puppy! She is the only one that can  actually fly up and catch food midair! I was carrying some lemon cucumber from my garden to the house the other day when she did a fly-by and took a chunk right out of my hand! Not crazy about this trick!

Sadly we did lose a girl. Three of my Rhode Island Reds look so much alike I couldn't tell them apart so they became as a group, "Hey There Chicken!" I now know the signs :( Not wanting to roost and trying to separate from the rest of the hens. It seems that animals have more of an acceptance than we do in these matters. I would sometimes place her on the roost thinking she had been bullied off, I had misread it, she was   simply preparing for her transition. She may have been egg bound, something I didn't know about before. I placed her in the hatch where she was found in the morning. RIP Chicken, hope I gave you a good life!

I  have been trying to upload a couple videos from my Android but I am having some trouble. Puppy
 ( formerly known as Dorthy) has learned to pick blackberries, due primarily to her food addiction. I was able to catch that on video what I thankfully didn't catch was what happened after! I discovered I was standing on an ants nest! Poor hubby got to see the most horrid strip tease ever!!!

Personality Disorder

I think Eenie has a personality disorder! She has been all fluffed again to about twice her size brooding on an eggless nest. This morning I opened the hatch, as the girls marched out in an orderly fashion Eenie got a wild feather and flew out of the hatch like a drunk fighter pilot! I'll tell you it was like a bowling ball hitting pins! About two hours out and I saw her suddenly stop, start clucking and run full bore, head down and wings out, the optimum aerodynamic position. She is now back on that stupid nest!    

Working The DR Mower

Concerned about the overgrowth that we can't quite keep up with, Virginia tries to figure out how to get the DR mower started!

New Phone

Marjorie finally gives up trying to teach me how to use my new phone as Dorthy steps up to the plate! They have decided to teach in shifts as their patience is limited!

Deer Netting

So, I've been trying to pull up the old deer netting to movie to my raised beds. This has caused great excitement for my feathered friends because it involves pulling weeds along the bottom to release it! As I am pulling weeds with one hand and swiping chickens away with the other I console myself by saying, at least I'm learning patience! Then it occurs to me, I have already learned patience! How much is one actually required to have? At some point I believe it's okay to just be annoyed!  

BUGS!

I've spent some time riding around on my lawn tractor trying to hack up a bug that I sucked in! I don't see what the chickens see in them, they don't do a thing for me! Oh, and talking about chickens Eeny's still brooding! she's puffed up to the size of a flippin turkey! Every day I have to drag her tail feathers off the nest and lock up the coop so she will eat and drink! She didn't even have an egg under her today, she is mothering air!

Dissapointment

A gallant attempt was made at the introduction of popcorn. Virginia was disappointed, they had to go at it like jackhammers to break it down to consumable pieces. Disapproval bites!

Deranged Penguin

Marjorie: WTF Eeny! You look like a deranged penguin!

Eeny: The Messiah cut off access to my coveted nest, I dream of motherhood, I must enlarge!

Marjorie: Get over it! No rooster, no chick! You're as scrawny as the rest of us!

Eeny: You're cruel!