Here We Go Again

Pictured: Lacey (bl&wht Brahma hen), Rosie, UMAR (Brahma rooster), Goldilocks. ************************ Here we go again... Umar formerly, Uma, until the recent crowing brought me running to the kitchen window. He/she is a monstrous-sized hen. I fantasized 'her' as just overly plump and exceedingly tall. Is this the 2nd or 3rd round of keeping a supposed hen, only to have her reveal her true self? Rather than just a gender switch, why not a species switch. What if she showed herself to be a penguin? She's big enough. What about morphing into a llama. That would shock Mr. Fox! I've always wanted a goat. Why didn't she become one? The rest of her 'hen' deception is in play. She is truly hen-pecked by the other three. At a mere side-long glance from Rosie, Umar will retreat from a food morsel. He/she runs off whispering apologies for the intrusion....bowing and scraping in utter sincerity for even considering taking food before Rosie or Goldie or Lacey. Lacey can merely appear from around the corner to make Uma/r take leave. Soon after the crowing incident, Goldie walked up and pecked Umar's wattle. Umar backed up and ran behind the henhouse. Umar is really a beauty and a sweetheart who brings out my sympathy. If I return her to the farm she will join the other roosters at the auction house and end up as someone's Christmas dinner. So, until she becomes a rooster-nuisance or eats us out of house and home, she can stay to keep the ThreeChickenFarm an unbalanced foursome.

Miss Blue's patchwork colors; Uma2's egg cackle

In this photo of Miss Blue whom I affectionately call 'Rosie', you can see her blue feathers in the sunlight. Also her breast is copper/gold. She is a patchwork bird. I'll probably call her 'Patches' also. The name 'Rosie' just popped out of my mouth when looking at her. She is feisty and full of street smarts....like I imagine Rosie Perez!

This morning I ran to the kitchen window when I heard loud chicken noises. I live in dread of Lacey being a rooster. To my surprise the noise was from Uma2 doing an 'I laid an egg' cackle. The other three stood in stone silence, staring at her. I looked for an egg but there was none.

The photo on the right shows Uma2 and Goldilocks' tail and back.

Jus' hangin' with my peeps

The girls are sitting on the edge of their back bedroom pen. Lacey and Henrietta are perched on the edge. Uma is sitting atop the water bottle. She is capable of flying to the edge. I've seen her. None of them has jumped out....at least, they've hopped back in before I entered.

Fortunately the tarp under the pen is a little wider than the chickie tails....get it? The tarp does.

Fox vs Taj Mahal

Photos show Mr. Fox stalking on the outside of our Taj Mahal, and then Mr. Fox on outside left of the Taj as Arriauna and Hecky stand in snow atop the run. [The big black blobs behind the run are a compost bin and sacks of leaves for insulation.]

Mr. Fox has met his match. First he stood on the path between the house and the Taj Mahal hen pen. I was looking down at the action from the kitchen window which is why the photos are taken through 2 window panes and a screen. The hens were in their covered run, backlit with a light bulb, so he could see them easily. I don’t know if he made a noise, like ‘Heh, heh, come here, girls, I’ll give you a cookie”, but those sweethearts came marching out to greet him. Then he began to run around the outer edge of the pen, no doubt chuckling and saying “It won’t be long, my pretties”. They recognized him as the bad guy he is and they began to run. They all made a lap around the pen; hens on the inside, fox on the outside. Arriauna and Hecky flew up onto the run. That really excited Mr. Fox. He ran around to the west outside. He stared at Arriauna for a moment then leaped straight at her. He bounced off the double wire wall. I hope he had a wire imprint on his nose. At this point I intervened before he got too frenzied that he might figure out how to climb over the top.

Chickie Taj Mahal

No longer do we worry about escapee hens OR uninvited deer and foxes. Mr. Fox still has us on his list but he just runs by as he checks out the neighborhood. Word has it he asked Santa for wire cutters. Tom and Camille built this incredible fortress. The corner posts are set deep in the ground. Two opposing walls were made as kennel walls for very tall dogs. The other 2 walls are made of cattle corral wall wire covered with chicken wire. The roof is yet to be complete but will be a continuation of the cattle wire. The base of all walls have an apron of chicken wire, one foot up the wall and one foot out pinned to the ground. This will thwart any predator digging.

The birds and squirrels think it was all built for their perching pleasure. It has already served one squirrel escaping from the cat. The pen was closer than the tree! The hens love it. They can run around, even fly (a bit), in safety. I love the people door. It is very secure, yet easy to get in and out.

Tune in again for how to keep chickens warm, happy and laying in freezing weather.

Set up the run in the backyard

Set up the run in the backyard

The eglu graces the front garden where it was unpacked. So I moved it to the backyard. I placed it so I can see it directly out the kitchen window over the sink. I’ll be able to see it and the 2 hanging bird feeders, the cottonwood logs and wooden boxes that serve as squirrel, bird and mouse feeders. The most frequent bird visitors are wrens, finches, sparrows, juncos, blue jays, and flickers. Occasionally if the offering includes peanuts and the squirrels have not stolen them all, the magpies, crows and starlings will stop by.

Almost have the run put together with the great little green clips. A workable clever invention those green keepers…a joy to use. It seems there is an ample supply of clips. Sat down to admire my work. Realized I needed to rearrange all the lawn furniture for better chicken viewing. No small task to move the covered porch swing in our recently thawed dirt, plus a white wrought iron chaise lounge and two matching chairs. I suppose grandstands will be next. When I invite friends over to visit the hens I think my invitation will read ‘Meet the Flockers’.

First days of peeps in the bedroom

First days of peeps in the bedroom

Such fun! Two fluffy black and yellow Astralorps and one fluffy charcoal gray Barred Rock. Each would fit gently in my cupped palm. Ms. B. Rock started out looking much larger and has more developed wing feathers than the other two. In height the 2 Astralorps are catching up. They have a yellow wing feather starting.

I’m wondering if Ms. B. Rock might be Mr. B. Rock because of his more developed wing feathers and his comb is somewhat evident along the top ridge of his beak. I guess that is premature comb…I don’t know. If she is a he, I hope to know soon. I would replace him with an Ameracauna next week if the farmstore receives them. Ameracaunas lay blue and green eggs. Having them is what lauched my whole adventure in chickdom. I may get one Ameracauna anyway. The eglu is designed for 4 max anyway.

The 2 A’s are more curious. They wander around the whole box. They peck at most anything. A couple of times one of them pecked at Ms. B. Rocks butt.

One thing they do that cracks me up is, one will peck at some imaginary spot on the wall of the box, another will dash up and peck at that exact spot. Whaaat? There was nothing there! I expect the first one to say “Made you peck, made you peck?”

Wish come true

I'm finally getting chickens!!