Animals
- Part Two
Yes, you guessed it...I was (and still am) an only child.I learned very early to be happy with my own company...so, solitary farm life works ok for me. Let's continue... Rebecca: "I would like to know more about your chickens. How many do you...
- Lucille And Eileen
As I mentioned before,raising chickens is a little more work than meets the eye. Meet Lucille.She is one of my Rhode Island Reds,an old gal, and a bit of a busy body. She is what I call "long in the tooth"right now. That is, as sometimes happens,her top...
- The Great Free-ranging Escapade
Well, Saturday was the big day. Since the fancy chickens are full grown and laying now, we decided to allow them to free range around the farm in the afternoons when they are finished laying. They have complete freedom until roosting time (nightfall)...
- Chicken Tales
You might remember last week's post about "pecking order". I had removed dear Babs from the fancy chicken henhouse because she was being picked on. Babs has made the transition to living with the young pullets quite nicely...and all is calm in that...
- Guinea Eggs
Well, our young guineas have begun laying. They lay the cutest little, brown eggs. We have been letting them free range every day; and at night they return to their henhouse to roost. They lay their eggs in the henhouse. We have to quickly snatch them...
Animals
I Lean
I'ts early morning,
and the girls and I are heading to the henhouse.
Oakley is way ahead of us.
Sadie will bring up the rear.
There is someone that I would like you to meet....
Meet Eileen.
(I Lean)
She is a one of a kind chicken.
She is one of the nicer chickens in my henhouse...
That is, she is home every night on time;
she doesn't drink
or smoke
or text while driving.
Sadly, though, she is lame, and won't put any weight on her left leg.
I cannot see any visible injury,
but still she refuses to bear weight on that leg.
Lately, she has been staying very close to her henhouse.
She eats and drinks
and ventures out to sit in the shade.
Each night she is back in the henhouse and up on the second
rung of the roosting ladder.
None of the other hens have been bothering her...
which in itself is amazing.
You know how those hens are....
when one of them is down,
the rest do their darnedest to take them even lower....
sometimes to the death!
I will continue to keep a close eye on her.
Hopefully with a bit of time and rest, she will recover.
Keeping my hens healthy and happy sometimes feels like a full time job.
Besides daily cleaning their henhouse,
cleaning and refilling their water buckets and feed bins,
letting them out to free range,
and closing them back up safely at night,
there is also the occasional health issue to deal with.
Not to mention, the beak manicures for the gals
who grow their beaks unevenly.
(Sometimes the top or bottom beak will grow extra long,
necessitating a trim and shaping job.)
I love my chickens...
really!
But, sometimes they can be so high maintenance!
But then, those wonderful fresh eggs....
Mmmmm, so worth the effort!
- Part Two
Yes, you guessed it...I was (and still am) an only child.I learned very early to be happy with my own company...so, solitary farm life works ok for me. Let's continue... Rebecca: "I would like to know more about your chickens. How many do you...
- Lucille And Eileen
As I mentioned before,raising chickens is a little more work than meets the eye. Meet Lucille.She is one of my Rhode Island Reds,an old gal, and a bit of a busy body. She is what I call "long in the tooth"right now. That is, as sometimes happens,her top...
- The Great Free-ranging Escapade
Well, Saturday was the big day. Since the fancy chickens are full grown and laying now, we decided to allow them to free range around the farm in the afternoons when they are finished laying. They have complete freedom until roosting time (nightfall)...
- Chicken Tales
You might remember last week's post about "pecking order". I had removed dear Babs from the fancy chicken henhouse because she was being picked on. Babs has made the transition to living with the young pullets quite nicely...and all is calm in that...
- Guinea Eggs
Well, our young guineas have begun laying. They lay the cutest little, brown eggs. We have been letting them free range every day; and at night they return to their henhouse to roost. They lay their eggs in the henhouse. We have to quickly snatch them...