Thief!

I went outside to look at my garden. Henrietta our flying leghorn was having an early evening meal in my garden. She tried to hide behind my cabbage when she saw me looking at her.

The Thief, trying to get away.

Henrietta trying to hide.

Beauty Queen

We have 37 chickens now. Eight different breeds. The prettiest one of the bunch is my Brahma. She has gold and black feathers. She even has feathers on her legs and feet. We had another Brahma but it ended up being a rooster and we gave him a way.

Our Brahma chicken gave me a surprise the other day. She is normally timid and quiet. But this particular day she was different. I was in the chicken yard cleaning and visiting my birds when my "Beauty Queen" decided to be a little friendlier. She was only about three feet away and jumped up on one of the feeders to pose for me. She would pose, wait for me to snap a picture, then pose showing a different side. She did a complete circle as I snapped each shot and even faced me when she was on the ground.

Left Side.

Rear View.

Right Side.

Front View, with a tilt. 

Chicken Trap

Recently, our Little Blue got stuck between a pile of lumber and the fence. I thought it was because she was dumb. Well, we either have another dumb chicken or a chicken trap that needs a better fix (we thought we had fixed it already).

My husband and I were out in the yard working. I walked into the chicken yard and just happened to look at the fence and saw another chicken caught. It was anxiously walking back and forth trying to get out. I quickly called for my husband and showed him what happened again. He went to move the lumber making an opening for the the chicken to get out. Instead of coming out, it went in the other direction out of fear (or stupidity). My husband ended up having to take a piece of lumber to block it from the other end coaxing it back in the right direction.

It was a such a happy chicken being free again. I was a happy chicken owner knowing my little bird was safe.

Visiting with Rockett

Ever since Rockett was injured and we brought her into the house to provide her care, she believes she is human. When she sees us, especially my husband she comes to us and begins talking to us with all her chicken sounds. She will walk around us and just wait for attention. If she doesn't get the attention from me she will walk away. If my husband is out there visiting, she will wait for the right time and jump on his leg, shoulder or head. She is a determined bird and wants all the attention she can get when it is visiting time.

Little Blue

Earlier this year we purchased what we thought were four White Crested Polish Chickens. We ended up with two White Crested, one Golden Laced and one Blue Polish. We were excited to have a "blue chicken". My husband actually made a card game called the Blue Chicken Game named after the Blue Polish a few years ago. You can read about the Blue Chicken Game here.

Our little Blue is very different from our other chickens. She's smaller in size compared to the others. Very much a loner, she will actually roost on an old chick feeder on the floor or roost on the wood pile outside at night (which if we find her outside we pick her up and place her in the chicken house) to stay away from the other chickens. When in the yard she scratches and feeds away from the other chickens too. 

If I'm outside I will go and visit with her. If she doesn't see me coming, because of all her feathers on top of her head, I will pick her up. She doesn't enjoy being handled and will squirm and squawk in protest. Then when I put her down, she will turn on me peck my foot or charge my leg to let me know she is angry with me. 

Unfortunately for Blue, she doesn't seem real smart. We have found her in some unusual spots, like being caught in our shed and between a pile of lumber and the fence. God must have been looking out for her, because she spent about 24 hours in the shed with no food or water and lived. When caught between the lumber and the fence she was able to feed in a circle around herself because of the bugs she found.

The one thing I find the funniest about Blue is all the feathers on her head. They are not neat and clean as our White Crested Polish Chicken's head feathers are. She looks like she has constant bed head. When she is walking or searching for food you can see her shake her head trying to get the feathers out of her eyes so she can see where she is going. 

As dumb as she is, I've enjoyed having her and I think I may order a few more Blue Chickens from cacklehatchery.com next year. 

More Roosters!

After we gave away our two roosters, we thought that was it. No more roosters. Nice quiet chicken yard. Wrong! Mohawk, our Golden Laced Polish was a rooster too! The most beautiful bird we've ever had. It took some time to realize he was a rooster. I believed he was crowing, my husband didn't. Then Mohawk started standing on his tiptoes and crowing at my husband and charging him. My husband believed then.

I kept asking everyone I knew who has chickens if they wanted a beautiful rooster. One that could be shown at a county fair. No takers. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever find a home for him. I was starting to get a little nervous. He had started to crow more and more and I kept waiting for the neighbors to complain. (Thankfully we have great neighbors and no one complained.)

Perplexed with my rooster situation, I decided to go relax at the local county fair. Going through all the animal exhibits, I met a lady with two baby goats. The goats were only three weeks old and I couldn't help visiting and petting them. I started talking chickens with the goat lady and explained my dilemma. She took my number and said she may have a friend who would want him. (I didn't hold my breathe.) A few days later she called, her friend wanted the rooster. Hooray!

Fair lady's baby goats. 

Knowing the lady and her friend were coming to get Mohawk, the fun began. Mohawk doesn't like to be picked up. He runs fast and isn't easily caught. When he is captured he squirms, tries to fight and makes all kinds of chicken sounds in protest. Thankfully the day they were coming one of my husband's customers was present and assisted in the rounding up of Mohawk. The men went outside, I followed close behind with camera in hand. The chase began. (Steps to catch a chicken)

Step —Enter yard, making birds think it is snack time. 

Step 2—Find your desired victim. 

Step 3—Surround him,  hunched over and arms spread wide.

Step 4—(Quick capture by customer), hand over bird to husband.  

Step 5—Try to calm captured bird.

Step 6—Smile proudly, your customer caught the bird. 

Step 7—Provide snack to calm other birds  

Step 8—Keep giving snacks until birds forget their caged friend.

Step 9—Capture a bird on your own to prove you can. 

They came with a cage and off Mohawk went to his new home filled with female chickens. I guess he went to his Garden of Eden for Chickens. I sure hope he is happy.

The only problem I have now is, I still have a new chicken crowing and can't figure out which one yet!!

Cherry Picking

We have an abundant crop of fruit from our nine fruit trees this year.  Our cherries are almost ripe enough for picking. They have only a hint of sourness yet. But that hasn't stopped some of our young chickens from enjoying them.

Chicken in the Cherry Tree. 

Choosing which cherry. 

Going in for the bite. 

Our chickens are comical. Is it any wonder we don't have TV?