HorseGirlAbby's flock thread!

[HorseGirlAbby]

How do you pronounce that?… “Charlie” or “Carly” ?

Just like you say Charlotte

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

The chickens got nice fresh shavings yesterday! They enjoyed it very much, except when Penny knocked a shovel over and gave herself a heart attack…and when Cleo got so terrified she tried to fly onto my head…and when Bean and Little Nancy tried to share a nesting box…yeah. But otherwise it was okay. All four pullets—hens, I should say, as they turned a year old last week—are laying! We’d been getting another dark brown egg for a while, but I wasn’t sure if it was Baroness’s or Penny’s. Turns out Penny’s laying now! Twelve out of seventeen hens are, all but the oldest four and Ivy. It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since that first batch of six chicks came home. It’s been a journey, with ups and downs, but I’m thankful for every minute of it.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Bukky laid her first egg of the season a couple days ago!! Now just Goldilocks and Peeper aren’t laying.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Time for a chicky update! All the girls are laying now, but Dover's putting out some soft-shelled eggs here and there. They're enjoying the mild weather, though it's been a bit windy, as is usual for spring here. We're getting nearly a dozen eggs a day, from seventeen hens. That's super good, considering ten of them are over five . Charlotte will probably need a hen saddle soon, because she's Mr. Beard's favorite hen . I let some of them out for a bit of grass a few days ago, and here are some photos!
Peeper; this photo was taken a couple weeks ago, and she has such a cute fluffy butt!!

Colleen (Bukky), Baroness, and Goldilocks having fun

Goldi again

Mohawk (Mo) in the run looking pretty

Silver having fun pecking at things. Poor girl has had some weird respiratory thing going on lately, but she's fine right now.

Little Nancy posing

The littles (Charlotte, Bean, and Cleo) having a lot of fun chilling in the sun

Holly dust bathing, with Bukky looking on disapprovingly

"Eh, who cares what Bukky thinks!"

Goldi joining in

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

The chickens have been doing well, for the most part. Silver got to go to the vet a couple times, and got some medicine for her respiratory issue, which will hopefully resolve soon. She didn’t particularly like the car ride, but she was a very good traveler.

Everyone else is doing fine, though Peeper’s broody and Bukky keeps laying eggs on the floor. I mean, seriously. After six years you’d think she’d have figured out where the nest boxes were Mr. Beard is so happy someone’s using his nest

Dover was very interested in my phone. I put it on selfie mode and stuck it in her face, and she thought there was a real chicken in there

We had a TON of wind and rain last night, and when I went out there, the floor and shavings were pretty wet. I’m procrastinating this morning, cause I don’t particularly want to clean stuff today…
Anyways, here’s Mrs. Broody

I love taking pictures of her when she’s broody, she gets so mad.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Hallo. De hens be doing good Very short update today.

 

[Lovely Lettie]

Hallo. De hens be doing good Very short update today.

Dats good.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Dats good.

Yes, it be good. I love your profile picture, by the way!!

 

[Lovely Lettie]

Yes, it be good. I love your profile picture, by the way!!

Thank you!

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Well, nothing much has been going on with the girls lately. It's gotten up to 103 degrees here the past couple days, and no one's enjoying that, that's for sure. They've all survived, no heatstroke casualties so far this year. Bukky and Silver love standing in the water bowl I put out for them for hours on end, so they have no trouble in the heat. Unfortunately, the other chickens aren't smart enough to figure out that it feels good...I haven't taken many photos recently, as we went on vacation, and also none of the hens are looking their best right now. They're all pretty scraggly from the stress. But they're all doing quite well, except...Gidget.
My little girl is going blind. It started with one eye, but progressed really fast, and now she's almost completely blind in both eyes. She can see well enough to eat, sleep on the roost, and find water, but she's not doing so great. It doesn't help that she decided to start laying eggs again after a three year hiatus. So now she has to try and jump up into the nest boxes that she can barely see. She's still going strong, for now, and I'll continue to take care of her for as long as she can live a happy, healthy life.
Oh yeah, one other thing. The chickens have worms, intestinal worms. I won't disgust you with the details, but I found out in a pretty gross way. So, we've got to get some worming medicine and give that to them. All of them, orally from a syringe. I cannot imagine sticking a syringe into Mr. Beard's beak and expecting him to like that! I can't even touch him. So this is going to be fun. I'll end up getting out of bed at four in the morning, so I can dose them while it's still dark.
Anyway, in other news, I've been letting the girls free range for about half an hour before dusk, and they absolutely love it. They get to go out where it's cooler, and eat yummy bugs and grass, and overripe apricots, when they can find them. Charlotte likes to jump on top of the chicken tractor, which is about three and a half feet off the ground, sitting right next to the house. And then once she got on the roof of the house, which is about seven feet tall at the shortest point. I tried to help her get down, but she flew down on her own, thankfully not breaking a leg. I'll try and find a couple photos, but I take most of them with my phone, so I'll have to post from there. Give me a few hours (days, lol) and I'll get them.

I don't know exactly how many people are still following along, I imagine it gets kind of boring sometimes. I don't exactly live an exciting life, and neither do my chickens. But, if you're still here, feel free to say hi.