What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

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Stunning!!!

 

[TropicalBabies]

It finally warmed up enough today for the birds to come out. I shoveled around the coop a little:
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The birds escaped while I was distracted with shoveling and quickly found some dry dirt under the tractor for a bath:
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Poor Maggie gets in the way and gets pecked a lot:
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The old ladies:
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Smart and beautiful chickens

 

[TropicalBabies]

When Callia's last flock mate died, Callia became really close to my dad.

My dad had cancer, he couldn't work or do much in general, so he was lonely and depressed.

But Callia was there for him. She visited him every day at the same time, and he would leave the door open for her to come in the kitchen and "have tea" together.

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It's been a while since my dad's cancer progressed and he gradually lost his mobility. Callia is no longer allowed into the house for safety reasons, and my dad started having his meals in his bedroom as he's no longer able to go to the kitchen.

Callia waited for that door to open for many days. When I came to my dad's house and realized that she was waiting for him to open the kitchen's door, I let her in and let her see that his chair was empty. She made a few distressed sounds, but eventually she seemed to understand and walked away. She never insisted on being let in again.

But she knows he's there. Now that he's bedridden, mostly sleeping through what we believe are his last days, she built a nest below my dad's window. And she's just there, waiting...

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I'm sorry to hear about your dad. That does not sound easy at all. I think your dad/chicken story is terrific. I wish you all peace and love and kindness.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Happy Holidays all. It’s been awhile since I’ve had time to catch up on here, but I’ve missed you all!

@TropicalBabies im so sorry to hear about Elliot and all the losses youve suffered this year. I know your heart will need time to heal, but like @Shetland lover said…make sure you are doing self care too! Looks like the chickens are going to be living the dream when they come back down the mountain!! It’s so good to have you back in the thread I’ve missed you

@ChicksnMore its so great to hear from you too!! You've been missed!! I need to hear how all your birdies are doing!

As for me, we’ve been super super busy and the poor chickens have been a bit neglected. :-( We’ve decided that we can no longer do year-round sports so that we have a life at home at least part of the time. We’ve decided it’s time to thin down the flock some, and I know it’s going to hurt my heart more than I can even imagine right now, but it’s for the best. I got too excited about all the fun project colors and just can’t find enough space for them all! I will be letting go of the modern game, the silkies and satins, and most of my Easter Eggers. This should cut things down a great deal and reduce the coop chores I’m hoping. The kids can’t keep up on their own and my back has gotten worse so they have to do a lot more of it than they used to :-(

On the bright side, we have some really nice show birds that we hatched this year and I’m feeling good about the direction we are headed. I too, have found myself thinking I got too ambitious and think the flock needs to be more manageable!

Some of the babies that have grown up and my daughter showing off her wins at the last poultry shows in showmanship and with her birds. Our bantam Ameraucanas won Jr Champion and Reserve Jr Champion in the All Other Combs Class, and our black pullet bantam Ameraucana managed to win the Open and Jr Champion in same class at the Reno show in October! You can see she loves her bird she uses for showmanship…he’s our runt bantam Splash Ameraucana that had serious wry neck as a baby and has been babied ever since…his name is Tiltneck Was the only way we knew which splash bird needed meds—“go grab the tilt neck baby”. I’ll have to add another post so I can share some of my other birds, since it’s been awhile since I shared

For those of you that know me, I added some pics of the other animals too! Lola got some fun Christmas clothes…that she LOVES , Shadow is as naughty as ever…he will sit by a doorway or hallway opening and wait for you to come by and then hit you and run away He still loves to taunt Lola by sitting just out of her reach and whacking at her face…and he’s made it very clear that while I may have had plans for him to be outdoors…he did NOT. He will go outside for about 15-30 mins and then sit by the door and yowl to come back in…and FORGET about it now that it’s cold and rainy and muddy Such an ungrateful one he is! Miyuki is okay but I’m certain now that she has some kind of organ dysfunctions that cause her mobility and sight issues. Shadow however, has brought her out of her shell and she now sleeps with us and hangs out in the house more now, instead of hiding behind our bed all the time. And Koda is as goofy as ever and still our best rat hunter! I just wish he was willing to do it full time instead of only when the weather is nice and they’re easy pickings

Wow. Beautiful photos as always. What an evolution... life. Like you have come full circle, the long way around, with lots of sports. I was exhausted for you when I read your schedule. Yikes. But fun ♡♡♡

@kurby @chicks. It's like the band got back together wonderful to be chatting and catching up again

 

[TropicalBabies]

We got the shade cloth up. It is supposed to be 50% shade value. Not sure if it is, hope it is cool enough in the summers. Anywho, looks good even though my photos are funky.

and this is new gate opening. So, i will have 2 but garden gate will be mostly for show.

I should have restrung the fencing material but fed Polihale cats instead.
Tomorrow I need to start heading up with cats, or at least make a solid plan and pack.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Happy Holidays all. It’s been awhile since I’ve had time to catch up on here, but I’ve missed you all!

@TropicalBabies im so sorry to hear about Elliot and all the losses youve suffered this year. I know your heart will need time to heal, but like @Shetland lover said…make sure you are doing self care too! Looks like the chickens are going to be living the dream when they come back down the mountain!! It’s so good to have you back in the thread I’ve missed you

@ChicksnMore its so great to hear from you too!! You've been missed!! I need to hear how all your birdies are doing!

As for me, we’ve been super super busy and the poor chickens have been a bit neglected. :-( We’ve decided that we can no longer do year-round sports so that we have a life at home at least part of the time. We’ve decided it’s time to thin down the flock some, and I know it’s going to hurt my heart more than I can even imagine right now, but it’s for the best. I got too excited about all the fun project colors and just can’t find enough space for them all! I will be letting go of the modern game, the silkies and satins, and most of my Easter Eggers. This should cut things down a great deal and reduce the coop chores I’m hoping. The kids can’t keep up on their own and my back has gotten worse so they have to do a lot more of it than they used to :-(

On the bright side, we have some really nice show birds that we hatched this year and I’m feeling good about the direction we are headed. I too, have found myself thinking I got too ambitious and think the flock needs to be more manageable!

Some of the babies that have grown up and my daughter showing off her wins at the last poultry shows in showmanship and with her birds. Our bantam Ameraucanas won Jr Champion and Reserve Jr Champion in the All Other Combs Class, and our black pullet bantam Ameraucana managed to win the Open and Jr Champion in same class at the Reno show in October! You can see she loves her bird she uses for showmanship…he’s our runt bantam Splash Ameraucana that had serious wry neck as a baby and has been babied ever since…his name is Tiltneck Was the only way we knew which splash bird needed meds—“go grab the tilt neck baby”. I’ll have to add another post so I can share some of my other birds, since it’s been awhile since I shared

For those of you that know me, I added some pics of the other animals too! Lola got some fun Christmas clothes…that she LOVES , Shadow is as naughty as ever…he will sit by a doorway or hallway opening and wait for you to come by and then hit you and run away He still loves to taunt Lola by sitting just out of her reach and whacking at her face…and he’s made it very clear that while I may have had plans for him to be outdoors…he did NOT. He will go outside for about 15-30 mins and then sit by the door and yowl to come back in…and FORGET about it now that it’s cold and rainy and muddy Such an ungrateful one he is! Miyuki is okay but I’m certain now that she has some kind of organ dysfunctions that cause her mobility and sight issues. Shadow however, has brought her out of her shell and she now sleeps with us and hangs out in the house more now, instead of hiding behind our bed all the time. And Koda is as goofy as ever and still our best rat hunter! I just wish he was willing to do it full time instead of only when the weather is nice and they’re easy pickings

Sounds like we're all downsizing and for the same reasons ! It's so good to hear how you're doing. I just love all the pictures of your wonderful kiddo. Such a beautiful smile! I'm really glad you're readjusting your work load. I don't know how you manage to find any you time! I need a little me time, so I'm a firm believer that we all need that....
Tami's in her second year of college here and I've been missing her like crazy. She's loving college life and home for the holidays though. It feels good to just hear her breathing ! Ah, moms are strange eh?
I'll try to get some pictures of the birdies later today and give a fuller update. So many changes around here!
Biggest one right now is that I lost my sweet, darling, amazing, perfect blessing Tuck. We spent 7 years together almost every second of our lives. I don't even know what happened. We were working in the yard with my ancient puppies, and when I called everyone to come in...Tuck was gone. I've walked the streets calling and calling several days, put 400 flyers in all the mailboxes on several streets, checked the shelter daily, posted all over online, giant signs my kid made for me...and just nothing. I've never lost a pet before...anyway...I'm an emotional train wreck at the moment. But...kids and hubby are home, it's the holidays..and we smile and try to make sure everyone's happy. And in spite of everything, it has been a good holiday too.
Tuck

So much else to share on changes! Think I'll do it in little bits though...I haven't actually had any alone time to let myself grieve yet, and sharing stirs the pot so to speak.
On the bright side...everything else around here is good news! I'll share some of that a little later.
Its really good to hear everyone's voices again.

 

[ChicksnMore]

We got the shade cloth up. It is supposed to be 50% shade value. Not sure if it is, hope it is cool enough in the summers. Anywho, looks good even though my photos are funky.
View attachment 4017138View attachment 4017136and this is new gate opening. So, i will have 2 but garden gate will be mostly for show. View attachment 4017139
I should have restrung the fencing material but fed Polihale cats instead.
Tomorrow I need to start heading up with cats, or at least make a solid plan and pack.

Wow! That looks amazing! Your honey has some good skills there! I can't wait to see your chickens clucking around happily there

 

[ValerieJ]

Sounds like we're all downsizing and for the same reasons ! It's so good to hear how you're doing. I just love all the pictures of your wonderful kiddo. Such a beautiful smile! I'm really glad you're readjusting your work load. I don't know how you manage to find any you time! I need a little me time, so I'm a firm believer that we all need that....
Tami's in her second year of college here and I've been missing her like crazy. She's loving college life and home for the holidays though. It feels good to just hear her breathing ! Ah, moms are strange eh?
I'll try to get some pictures of the birdies later today and give a fuller update. So many changes around here!
Biggest one right now is that I lost my sweet, darling, amazing, perfect blessing Tuck. We spent 7 years together almost every second of our lives. I don't even know what happened. We were working in the yard with my ancient puppies, and when I called everyone to come in...Tuck was gone. I've walked the streets calling and calling several days, put 400 flyers in all the mailboxes on several streets, checked the shelter daily, posted all over online, giant signs my kid made for me...and just nothing. I've never lost a pet before...anyway...I'm an emotional train wreck at the moment. But...kids and hubby are home, it's the holidays..and we smile and try to make sure everyone's happy. And in spite of everything, it has been a good holiday too.
TuckView attachment 4017209View attachment 4017210View attachment 4017211View attachment 4017213View attachment 4017214
So much else to share on changes! Think I'll do it in little bits though...I haven't actually had any alone time to let myself grieve yet, and sharing stirs the pot so to speak.
On the bright side...everything else around here is good news! I'll share some of that a little later.
Its really good to hear everyone's voices again.

I'm so sorry you lost Tuck!!! What a cute little dog he is!!!

 

[kurby22]

Sounds like we're all downsizing and for the same reasons ! It's so good to hear how you're doing. I just love all the pictures of your wonderful kiddo. Such a beautiful smile! I'm really glad you're readjusting your work load. I don't know how you manage to find any you time! I need a little me time, so I'm a firm believer that we all need that....
Tami's in her second year of college here and I've been missing her like crazy. She's loving college life and home for the holidays though. It feels good to just hear her breathing ! Ah, moms are strange eh?
I'll try to get some pictures of the birdies later today and give a fuller update. So many changes around here!
Biggest one right now is that I lost my sweet, darling, amazing, perfect blessing Tuck. We spent 7 years together almost every second of our lives. I don't even know what happened. We were working in the yard with my ancient puppies, and when I called everyone to come in...Tuck was gone. I've walked the streets calling and calling several days, put 400 flyers in all the mailboxes on several streets, checked the shelter daily, posted all over online, giant signs my kid made for me...and just nothing. I've never lost a pet before...anyway...I'm an emotional train wreck at the moment. But...kids and hubby are home, it's the holidays..and we smile and try to make sure everyone's happy. And in spite of everything, it has been a good holiday too.
TuckView attachment 4017209View attachment 4017210View attachment 4017211View attachment 4017213View attachment 4017214
So much else to share on changes! Think I'll do it in little bits though...I haven't actually had any alone time to let myself grieve yet, and sharing stirs the pot so to speak.
On the bright side...everything else around here is good news! I'll share some of that a little later.
Its really good to hear everyone's voices again.

I’m so sorry to hear about Tuck!! I’m sure he was little but mighty! Hugs friend, it hurts so much loving our animals the way that we do.

So glad to hear from you though! I can’t wait to hear the updates on things. Life is always pushing us along…teaching us all the things. I too need me time, and I’m seeing a very good therapist who is teaching me to set better boundaries for myself so I get that me time! So first step was to say no to winter volleyball and sell some birds. It’s already made a big difference. I feel like I can breathe a bit more and tackle some of the stuff that seems so daunting when I’m so busy. Happy Holidays! Enjoy your time with the kiddo at home!

 

[kurby22]

We got the shade cloth up. It is supposed to be 50% shade value. Not sure if it is, hope it is cool enough in the summers. Anywho, looks good even though my photos are funky.
View attachment 4017138View attachment 4017136and this is new gate opening. So, i will have 2 but garden gate will be mostly for show. View attachment 4017139
I should have restrung the fencing material but fed Polihale cats instead.
Tomorrow I need to start heading up with cats, or at least make a solid plan and pack.

It looks awesome! You guys really do it right when you do things for your animals Seeing your dry, green, beautiful run area makes me very jealous though Right now mine are all brown gray mud and skeleton trees. We just got thru a week of rain they called a “family” of atmospheric rivers…all the birds are sad and muddy and coops are so gross. That just reminded me, the coop door on one coop is so clogged with mud I had to bock it last night instead of close it. So those chickens probably want to get out of their coop now! I better go open it! Back later.