MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

The hens are surprising me this morning. 30 minutes ago Peggy pecked Mary, then Janet defended Mary by immediately pecking Peggy. A moment ago, Janet bowed to Mary.

So there's not a pecking order as much as pecking network in which Mary has special status. She's pecked by Peggy, Peggy is pecked by Janet, Janet defers to and defends Mary.

The other news is that Mary is thriving again. Brooding is always very hard on her, more so than the younger hens. She ends up with dry skin and very thin. But she's looking great this morning.

 

[LozzyR]

I beg to differ.
I can sink to the bottom of a pool faster than gravity can pull me.
Swimming to me is something I have to endure once in while mainly because it's a cheap bath.
I can sort of swim; enough to save my life if I'm quick, but all that relax in the water nonsense I hear is for people who aren't lead bricks I've assumed.

My hubby is the same; he can swim but he doesn’t float, so swimming isn’t a relaxing pastime for him.

 

[MaryJanet]

I actually do ride a bike but am with you in spirit. I love to swim but won’t do anything involving a ball because it is more likely that the ball will hit me in the face than I will catch it or hit it or whatever you are supposed to do with it. When I see a ball my instinct is to run out of its path.
I make an exception for snooker, billiards and pool.

Chicken tax:
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I'm comfortable playing all sports but I'm no good at relating to sports people. I don't really understand competition. I've read lots about it, but I'm yet to find a good answer to this question: why set so many people up to be losers? It seems like a violation of dignity.

However if I play a sport with people who are humble and generous in their wins that's different because then I can respect what we're doing. Hard to find such people though. It takes a lot of self assurance to be humble in a win and dignified in a loss.

 

[LozzyR]

The hens are surprising me this morning. 30 minutes ago Peggy pecked Mary, then Janet defended Mary by immediately pecking Peggy. A moment ago, Janet bowed to Mary.

So there's not a pecking order as much as pecking network in which Mary has special status. She's pecked by Peggy, Peggy is pecked by Janet, Janet defers to and defends Mary.

The other news is that Mary is thriving again. Brooding is always very hard on her, more so than the younger hens. She ends up with dry skin and very thin. But she's looking great this morning.

How long did Mary take to get over her broodiness, three weeks? I’m hoping Charlie will come good in the next couple of days, it must be getting close to three weeks!

 

[MaryJanet]

How long did Mary take to get over her broodiness, three weeks? I’m hoping Charlie will come good in the next couple of days, it must be getting close to three weeks!

I interrupted her sitting with a bath. Her butt was filthy from watery broody poops. That was 9 days ago. She's just starting to look her best again.

 

[MaryJanet]

Good evening folks


I made it through the week. I guess that's a good start. I've never done well around lazy and incompetent people, which describes my new manager to a T.

Oh no hopefully they won't be in the job long enough to do any real damage.

 

[MaryJanet]

How long did Mary take to get over her broodiness, three weeks? I’m hoping Charlie will come good in the next couple of days, it must be getting close to three weeks!

How has Charlie been handling it? Is she as bonny as ever or is she looking a little worse for wear.

 

[MaryJanet]

I decided a while back that whenever I get off of a chicken related topic when posting I was going to tie it back to chickens by adding a picture of my chickens and pay a "Chicken Tax" for getting off topic. Others have adopted it and it has become a thing on these threads. I like it because it keeps us focused on why we are here.........chickens.

Chicken Tax
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It's interesting that Jabber didn't make it pasr Lilly's gate keeping. Did he usually defer to Lilly?

 

[MaryJanet]

....... should have read ahead.

We need an abbreviation for it: shra

 

[MaryJanet]

I beg to differ.
I can sink to the bottom of a pool faster than gravity can pull me.
Swimming to me is something I have to endure once in while mainly because it's a cheap bath.
I can sort of swim; enough to save my life if I'm quick, but all that relax in the water nonsense I hear is for people who aren't lead bricks I've assumed.

Did you have many swimming lessons when you were a kid? We had swimming every summer. I think it was part of the curriculum because i was in a public school (eg state funded) in a very poor neighbourhood. It was very much a "no frills" primary school.