Cloudy Days in the Coop - My Adventures with Chickens.

[Sally PB]

I am soooo curious! What is boba tea?

 

[TwoCrows]

I haven't seen the hawk today, though I did hear a hawk’s call, so I got my chickens in fast and am keeping an eye on them and the sky to make sure it doesn't sneak in again.

Oh no, sounds like the hawk is lurking! They are pretty sneaky, you can walk right past them and don't even know they are there! Keep your babies safe.

 

[Starburst]

I am soooo curious! What is boba tea?

It’s usually a milk tea with tapioca pearls. It is also called Bubble tea.

Credit: Numi Tea Blog

 

[Sally PB]

Ok, gotta Google that! Looks delicious!

 

[Starburst]

Oh no, sounds like the hawk is lurking! They are pretty sneaky, you can walk right past them and don't even know they are there! Keep your babies safe.

Yeah, keeping a close eye out for it. Hopefully it will leave my flock alone, but I’m not going to put my flock's lives in that hope. I’ll just have to keep my ears and eyes peeled for now.

 

[PioneerChicks]

And here are a few pictures I took of the forest in autumn, along with a very chatty squirrel. (Not chickens, but you can see what they're free-ranging in, so...)
View attachment 2366394
View attachment 2366398
View attachment 2366399
View attachment 2366400
View attachment 2366402

My dream home! You even have the friendly flock of chickens!!! I'm pretty jealous right now...

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Kiki:
Kiki is my Cukoo Marans. While she’s not one for being held, she’s still one of the first ones to run up and greet me. Just recently beginning to lay, her eggs are a beautiful dark brown. She, like Minnie, is about 7 months old. She really is delightful, taking anything as a challenge she’s ready to face, be it a new treat or figuring out a way to sneak into the garden. She loves cooked oatmeal, but only gets it on special occasions. Though she’s a very brave chicken and strong chicken, she seems perfectly content being near the bottom. Thankfully, most of the others don’t seem to bother her.
View attachment 2347320
View attachment 2347323
As you can see, Minnie and Kiki are almost inseparable! They never seem to leave each other!

Adorable!

Boba:
Boba is one if my Silkie Bantams. She is, hands down, my sweetest chicken of the flock. Whenever they are free-ranging and I come to call them in, I can see her fluffy head bobbing up and down as she runs as fast as she can on her little legs towards me. I brought Boba home from the feed store along with Minnie, Kiki, Mochi, (you’ll learn about her soon), and two others who ended up being roosters, which I can’t keep. Anyway, Boba is also about 7 months now, and if any of my chickens were to be a house chicken, it would be her. She’s always jumping up onto my lap and loves attention. She’s constantly bullied by some of her flock mates, but she knows that if she’s in my arms, they can’t get to her, so in my arms is where she likes to be. She started laying a few weeks ago, and lays almost every day currently. Her eggs are without a blemish, small, cream colored, and round. They’re so adorable! Boba likes to dust bathe in all the wrong places, like my herb garden. Actually, almost all of my chickens seem to prefer to dust bathe there. Any ideas why? Boba has trouble eating bigger things, even grapes can be difficult, but I’ve found that she adores corn on the cob.
View attachment 2347801
View attachment 2347803
View attachment 2347807

She's so fluffy!

Mochi:
Mochi is my other Silkie Bantam. I’m pretty sure she’s a splash, but not positive. (I really hope she’s a pullet, not a cockerel. No eggs from her yet, but no crowing either...) Anyway, Mochi and Boba are always hanging out together. To be honest, I’ve never seen them apart except when Boba was attacked - and poor Mochi was wandering the yard, calling out for her friend. (Don’t worry, Boba is doing great. ) Mochi is a little more shy then Boba and doesn't love being held, though she’ll tolerate it. She’s friendly all the same, though. Like Boba, Kiki, and Minnie, she’s one of my younger chickens and 7 months old. As you can see, the chick in my profile picture is Mochi only a few days old. She sure was adorable back then! (And still it, of course!) I used to carry her for hours, and I would write with her sitting next to me. I find it interesting, that, the chicks I hold the most are always more shy when they're older. Your thoughts? Has this happened to you, too?
Mochi seems to love blackberries - but her face is always such a mess after eating them! She also loves to hang out by my apple tree -if apple tree is what you would call it. It’s very old, gnarly, unpruned, and infested with bugs. I guess Mochi loves the bugs and apples that fall on the ground!
View attachment 2349192
View attachment 2349193
View attachment 2349195

GIRL!

Yuki:
Yuki is my Ameraucauna, 2 years hold, and bossy head hen. She lays green-blue eggs. They are very pretty. Before Jasmine was injured (See Jasmine’s ’profile’ to learn more), Jasmine was head hen, and rightfully so. Yuki fought to be at the top, but it was only when Jasmine was separated from the flock that Yuki became head hen. And she made sure to keep it that way! Yuki really is a nice chicken, and she likes to be held and carried around. She’s very friendly to the other chickens, so long they know her place. If not...she can be vicious. I love her all the same, and Yuki’s very relaxed, making her way through the yard, grabbing a bug here, an herb there. I would say that Yuki’s favorite treat are huckleberry, though she likes just about anything. View attachment 2350780
View attachment 2350797

Easter Egger! And a pretty one, too.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Minnie:
Minnie is my Gold Laced Wyandotte and is about 7 months old. As a chick, she would constantly fly out of the brooder into my hands to take a nap, and would sit for hours listening to me sing to her. Now, while she's a little more shy and doesn't love to be held quite as much, she's still very friendly. Minnie is, if I do say so myself, a very beautiful bird, and she lays nice brown eggs. She loves to free-range throughout the day, and some of her favorite treats are grapes, scratch, and mealworms. One thing she often does is fly up onto my shoulder for a ride as I walk around taking care of the flock. Minnie does tend to be a little mean to some of the other chickens, but with humans at least, once you get to know her, she really is sweet at heart! View attachment 2344494
View attachment 2344493

That face!

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Jasmine:
Jasmine is my Australop and is one of my original flock and is 2 years old. She was always very friendly as a chick, and is still happy to be held from time to time. Last Autumn, she was attacked by a large dog. While I managed to get to the scene before the attack could become fatal, I found that she couldn’t walk. She refused to eat for days, and only drank when I coaxed her to. While one leg seemed to work, the other wouldn’t work at all. Thinking it was dislocated, after several days I took her to a vet that would take a look at chickens. After four hours, they determined that she was most likely paralyzed. They explained that when the dog was shaking her around like a rag doll, her spine may have been severely injured. They gave me medicine after I refused to put her to sleep, telling me that it may help her. Jasmine was a fighter! After two weeks of giving her medicine, a check-up pronounced her to have nerve damage. She was always weak, but one day when I took her outside to be in the sun, she flew out of her bin to get around. That gave me hope. After several months living in the house and giving her medicine, she was hopping on one leg. By winter, I had a chicken tractor made. The ‘Chicken Infirmary.’ She spent those snowy days in there, nice and snug, and I would put her in the coop to stay warm. By spring, I began to introduce her to the flock again. One the head hen, she was now at the bottom of the flock, and still is. Amazingly, she began to use her weak leg to walk as well. Though she’s still slow in moving around, and her limp evident, she has gone a long way! Her favorite treat is mealworms and popcorn. And she loves to free range, despite her having a harder time getting around. She especially loves to dust bathe in my garden.
View attachment 2345203
View attachment 2345204

She's gorgeous!

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Ponyo:
Ponyo is my Rhode Island Red and about 2 years old. She came home 2 weeks after I bought my first chicks, because I couldn't resist. And let's just put it this way - Ponyo has quite the character! From the first day I brought her home, she didn't let anything bother her. Despite being much smaller compared to the other, older chicks, she would match right up to them and show them who's boss. For a while, I was worried she would become a bully, but no. She was just the bravest and most curious chick I met. Once, my old cat Ginger was stalking Ponyo when she was about 2 months old. I was running towards the two to save Ponyo when Ponyo turned to Ginger and pecked the cat right on the nose! Ponyo is also my little escape artist - no matter what I do, she always seems to find a way to escape the chicken run! The other day she dug a deep hole under the wire of the run - that chicken loves to free range! She also loves to go on little excursions to my porch when I’m making lunch. How she knows when to come is beyond me, but she always hopes for a little taste of it. When it’s cold or hot out, I often see Ponyo try to sneak into the house to warm up and cool down. And she always dust bathes in my potted plants. It makes quite the mess! I could go on and on about Ponyo’s silly antics! But, anyway, Ponyo is very friendly and surprisingly not the head hen. She lays brown eggs all year long, even in the winter. I think her favorite treat is either raman or popcorn...not sure which. And she loves to sun bathe! Whenever the sun is out of the clouds, you can be sure to find her in a sunbeam. All in all, I would award Ponyo as the most funny chicken in my flock.
View attachment 2349401
View attachment 2349406
View attachment 2349408
The dear was in a molt when I snapped these pictures, so she looks a little disheveled

Aww!