We have such a vibrant community here at BYC... tons of active friendly members. Of course, life gets busy, so I was thinking it would be fun to start a thread welcoming some of our peeps we haven't heard from in a while.
If that's you, come say hello and let us know what you've been up to.
(if that's not you, feel free to invite peeps you haven't seen in a while and say hi to those that post
Hello and happy It-is-Finally- Spring!!!,
our days are quite full.. last summer we lost 3 hens as kfc to a coyote.
I know it was such, because when it was headed to the horse trough for a drink ( feathers must tickle the throat) I saw it. I ran out towards it, waving my arms and hollering big scarey noises. A now Very confused young coyote ran away with nary a backward glance. I rationalized, perhaps "she" was a mom with a desperate need of food for her pups' survival---aka circle of life. Even though I missed our hens (1, Molly, was my fav) I felt equally bad when
i saw what I presummed to be "our" coyote dead on the road shoulder 1/2 mile from our house. I really felt concern for "her" pups survival, if indeed she was a mom at the time.
This April my wonderful husband took me to buy 3 new chicks, and then again 2 weeks later 2 more chicks. Our youngest 2
(Maran, Welsummer) are growing in our bathtub brooder while their three older coop-mates grow in a large dog crate in the family room.
All was going well until... Last night 1 of the three( a black lace silver Wyandotte) passed smelly chick diarrhea. Enter the Corid "enhanced" water. She still had diarrhea but still has good energy and appetite... so i'm hoping we caught this in time. Her crate friends seem quite healthy.
Our 5 indoor cats- the Kracken- become Very protective of Their chicks once the chicks are old enough to go outside, even to providing a wedged guard around their yard if a "strange" cat even thinks about going over to say hello or looks at them.
Our outside cats could not care less about the hens... And the hens like to check out the cats' food dish-as a way to protect their cats from eating stale food! I now hide the cat dishes before letting the hens out.
Our horse, Caleb, isn't sure if he is a person ( great fondness for breakfast cappuccaino with pecan rolls), a chicken (yummy hen food kibbles- the egg that accidently fell into his breakast was crunchy, weird but ok) And the chickens like to follow underneath Caleb, eating any yummies he might stir up.
And just to add a touch of sanity to our household, we-the 2 people- decided to replace a leaking garage roof, drafty home windows and old-very old- much worn house siding.
Now that I have written this, if it seems we are crazy, we are not..... just wildly eccentric.
Hope you all have a pleasant year with laying hens, colorful roosters, hatching eggs.. and any predators thinking to kfc , go shopping far away. C2H
