Oh goodness, she’s precious! She also seems quite calm. However, I think I hear one of her sisters calling for her in the background. Who is her bestie?Desdemona actually suits her really well. I did think it might be too big a name for her @ first but apparently not.She is a very calm, sweet ladylike chicken. She is the only one of my new ones I can handle without major dramas.
I think most people have seen this but here she is:
Ok, that is funny about the soup, and Little Red looks GORGEOUS!Well speaking of Roasting... My morning chicken chores are now done, it is raining, and I am pleased to say that a very dark time in my relationship with DH is about to come to a close... it all goes back to this November, and it was so embarrassing I initially didn’t want to talk about it; now that it’s almost over, I feel I can share this with all of my dear friends here. We had our 11th anniversary this fall (though we don’t really celebrate it), but this very nearly ended our relationship. Sometimes it’s like you just don’t ever really know your spouse.
As most here will know, I do the bulk of the animal and housekeeping chores around here, things like fence repairs, oil changes in the generators, keeping the water jerrycans and propane tanks properly rotated so we don’t run out un-expectedly (splitting firewood is going to be on this list once we get the woodstove, I know it). DH, bless his heart, works far too much at too many “real” jobs, and thanks to his travel schedule between the islands, he also does almost all our shopping. He usually does the cooking as well, a 70/30 split with me only really doing big stews, pasta, and such. He also has a congenital heart defect, repaired by a modified Fontan surgery, a pacemaker, and is on medication to help control an arrhythmia, tachycardia, and atrial fibrillation. We mostly have a very low sodium diet because of this, which once you adjust to you honestly don’t really notice until you eat out. Or a disaster strikes...
Well, in early November I sent DH a shopping list (perishables, feed, etc) for his return trip, with some added winter staples. This was a little prelude to our big winter stock up shop, as thanks to ‘the Covid’ item limits were being introduced on some things here again. (We are ok for TP, don’t worry...) I usually get several flats/cases of canned condensed soups for the year on this big winter shop (enough to see us through the full year). Our “Covid shopping protocols” have included picking up, whenever it’s on sale or in stock: catfood, cat litter, the cheap TP we can use in the RV without clogging the plumbing or our DIY septic system. I added to this “Cases of soup, just the ones we usually eat” (vegetable, chicken noodle, and cream of mushroom) especially the cream of mushroom because we also use it in some casseroles and it’s often sold out.
He bought the low sodium cream of mushroom soupA full case of the Crud... It has been horrible, but I am finally down to the last two cans! I have been forcing myself to eat it, and far more frequently than I would normally, just to get it gone. I briefly considered donating it to our local food bag program... but then realized I couldn’t do that to people. We may not salt things, or usually cook with salt, but some things are just not to be messed with!
Chicken Tax: Little Red this morning
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That’s huge. I’d say definitely an eagle. Do you bave Golden Eagles, too? Or just Bald Eagles? (we have both)
Oh I don't know and would worry about it. My thinking would be to bring her in after she has settled so she isn't fully 'with it' or aware you are bringing her in and then pop her back out early in the morning. But really I want to hear what everyone else says so I know what to do myself!It’s so bizarre. Ester is the first of the 1.5 year olds to molt. I hope the others don’t follow. Then there is Buttercup, a winter-hardy breed who should lay through winter. She is on her 4th or 5th molt since summer. I don’t know what’s going on, but she had one heavy molt late summer, I think, and has had several mini molts since then. She was turning red in the face and squatting a few weeks ago, but now she’s very light in the face and her shoulders have the keratin (?) sheath around the feathers like she’s molting again and I hadn’t noticed. I see the odd feather here and there, but nothing significant.
On that same molting note, Ester already want to roost (not roast) over an hour before sunset. Should I bring her in tonight? Forecast was originally a few degrees colder than last night (which froze), but now it’s saying a couple degrees warmer. Since I have so many feet of roost space and it’s mild California, my birds don’t really cuddle with each other.
What a lovely payment!
My gosh! They look so much like my Aurora!
Nothing other than I wanted some more big girls to hang with Hattie. Poor Hattie has to be thinking she lives with tiny hens. I bet they say mean things about her too.
I would say Bridge is definitely more dinner material than Sydney, though Soda seems like she might be the clear winner for a dinner invite over the three I’m familiar with from these flocks (I would need to really see a few better body shots of Soda to say for certain though). Note how much broader Bridge is through the back and breast? She far more closely resembles my curvy ladies and little Red and Roostie, compared to Sydney. The Barred Rock Rescue from the farm coop here “Old Lady”, before she passed, was more like Sydney. I’ll see if I can dig up any pics of her.
Yes, Soda definitely has the roast dinner genes!
I'll see if I can get some recent pictures of her. She is the heaviest of my present girls. Only Lavender came close. Hepzibah is a much smaller bird.
Remind me, Kris, of your dog situation? While we have eagles, we VERY rarely see them from our yard. Hawks, on the other hand, are a daily occurrence. Therefore the birds don’t get out unless both of us (dog and I). When I see/hear a hawk, I send the dog zooming through the most visible part of the yard (chasing a ball). If I had been smart, I would have trained her to look after the chickens, as she is a border collie and super smart.
