The Four Nuggets

Introducing:  

!  

Born May 5 --- 

I raised them in the living room for the first two weeks. Not because I especially wanted to raise them indoors, but because they'd been vaccinated for Marek's Disease, and they needed a little time for their immune systems to kick in.  

Marek's Disease is a virus that thrives in my yard. I lost both Pigeon and Fern to the disease. Lucy has suffered from it, but she is a strong survivor so far.  I'm hopeful that the vaccine will protect the new little flock members. 

There was no shortage of fun activities for the chicks indoors.

They met THE HAND... 

---pretty darn exciting.

Then they met THE PAPER PLATE, with watermelon slices. 

 --- a little too scary.

They played a variety of sports.
  

Phoebe showed natural athletic potential... Jenny, not so much. 

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Dorrie, the Barred Plymouth Rock, warmed right up to The Hand. 

I was alarmed that Dorrie sported a tiny comb on her little noggin from day one.  And from day one I was sick with worry. Was she a "he"?  I read that the boys are the most personable chicks.  Dorrie was by far the most personable. She was uniquely endearing.
I struggled to keep my heart in check while I searched the chicken sites for information on the sexing of Barred Rock chicks.

I posted the above photo on Facebook, asking knowledgeable chicken-friends whether Dorrie was a pullet or a roo. 

Many opinions and educated speculations were offered, but the response was pretty much 50-50.   So I continued to wring my hands over Dorrie and I tried not to fall in love with her.

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Meanwhile, Jenny the Australorp, who we named after our first Jenny, 

 

 sported no comb at all, thank goodness. 

Instead, Jenny had a curiously enormous head. I wondered about the size and complexity of the brain inside her huge chickie skull.  

Jenny grew twice as quickly as the others-- perhaps her body was trying to catch up to her hat size.

It occurred to me that she might actually be an ostrich.

Or an albatross?

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Now, Scarlett - she's my little Buckeye.  She's named after a flowering tree: the Scarlet Buckeye, and her adult feathering will be a deep red.

Her breed is supposed to be good at catching mice.

What they do with the mice once they catch them, I'm not sure.

Scarlett is a bit shy, so I don't know much about her personality yet.

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Phoebe, a Speckled Sussex,  

 is elegant and vivacious.    

And very photogenic.

Here's Phoebe at nine weeks:

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And here's great big Jenny at nine weeks, with her friends Phoebe and Scarlett:

Jenny's still the largest.  She's a respectable and level-headed lady, and has accepted the leadership role of her young flock.

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After nine weeks of worry, I can now officially declare Dorrie a GIRL.

I can tell by her stance, and by the shape and color of her feathers.  Thank goodness. Now I can sleep at night. 

Except now Dorrie is showing herself to be a spitfire and a daredevil.

She rushes to greet Marky, fearlessly.  

She taunts Daisy.... 

very foolishly.  

If we can keep her alive to adulthood despite her reckless tendencies, she may turn out okay. 

After all,  

she is quite handy with power tools, 

and she's an avid reader. 

So with a bit of luck, some smarts and wisdom may eventually displace the lunacy in that little head of hers.

....we'll see.

Happy Day

A Solution to Every Problem

Lately I've noticed Lucy's neck looking a little scraggly.  
But I chalked it up to old age...

I mean, my neck certainly doesn’t look like a spring chicken’s either. That's why I always pose with one of my hens.

See how young I look?

For a five-year-old hen, Lucy has been looking pretty healthy.

But here's what I mean about her neck:   

Then a couple weeks ago I witnessed this:

and I realized the problem wasn't old age -- the problem was Lil'White.

Lil'White goes after Daisy all the time, 

but Daisy has enough spunk to stay a few steps ahead of her.

Lucy, however, couldn't outrun a snail.

I only saw Lil'White pecking at Lucy once, and never again....but Lucy's feathers have been looking worse and worse.  

The night Lucy chose to roost outdoors at bedtime

I realized that Lil'White must have been nibbling at Lucy all night long on the roost inside.

Lil’White and Lucy always sleep side by side on the roost.

I couldn’t change their roosting situation - each gal chooses her place, and the bedtime routine is pretty much set in stone.

So I considered other possibilities:

These "pinless peepers" helped my friend Jennifer's gal, Lily,to change her peckish ways....

I had one other idea that seemed easier.  I took two pieces of wood, a couple of nails and a big ol’ C-clamp, and built a wall.

So now Evil Lil'White has a bedroom of her own. 

I'm not sure how Lil'White feels about this setup,

But I think Lucy and Daisy are thrilled.

A Little Hen with a Big Heart

In the scope of things, with the horrible tragedy in Boston and all the other sorrows in our world, the death of a chicken really doesn't fit in.  

But Pigeon will be missed, like any of Mother Nature's creatures, by the ones who loved her.

She was a survivor, a trooper, and one of the happiest characters I have ever met.  

Pigeon endured some hard times, just as we all do.

Those hard times ended the day we met.   
She healed, she blossomed,

She thrived. She was a treasure. A comical, half-blind, enthusiastic hen. She became the flock leader and she ruled with a warm and compassionate heart.

You can find out more about Pigeon's happy life HERE....and HERE.... and her rescue story is in my book.

Today, the day after Pigeon's passing, we have no sorrow in the coop.  While Pigeon was ill, Lucy and the gals paid their respects, treated her with kindness, and prepared for change. 

Today Lucy and Lil'White and Daisy carry a bit of Pigeon's warmth with them as they joyfully trample my young garden in search of slimy and crunchy treats.  

The sun is shining and the breeze is soft. 

And it's okay to pause and cry, because pain and loss happen.  

But still, today is a beautiful day.

Pigeon

Everything's Bigger -- even the Grackles!

The 2013 Austin Funky Chicken Coop Tour has come and gone, but the thrill of Austin is fresh in my memory. 

Ah, the sunshine! The flowers! The Austinites!

....The grackles! 

We have grackles in New England, and they're a gregarious bunch.  But the Austin grackles are twice their size, 

and far more... um... outgoing.

This here grackle, for example, helped himself to an entire slice of my tomato and basil pizza without even a "Thank you, Ma'am."

But Austin's grackle guys are the exception. All the the other Austin fellas are polite and good lookin'.

Here’s a truly charming Texan:

Pretty Boy, a cream Barbanter, and the official mascot of the Austin Funky Chicken Coop Tour. Pretty Boy stole my heart. He’s a friendly rooster...the kind of guy you'd like to take home to meet the flock. 

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Other Texas observations:

The sky... definitely bigger in Texas.

The boots are fancier.

Flowers are explosive.

Thorns and prickers? Enormous. 

 Rain Barrels are big enough to swim laps in.

Even my head seemed bigger in Texas.

The coop tour was so fun and inspirational that I forgot to take pictures of chickens.  

But I did snap some shots in and around Austin for funky inspiration:

A mushroom greenhouse.

Old baby crib as Garden Gates.

Tidy graffiti,

sweet graffiti.

plates and bowl as chicken feeder,

my dream-home.

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Speaking of dream-home….

The coop I built for the gals is almost three years old now. And while I still love its design, I’m getting itchy to build something new.

With four fresh chicks arriving in May, this might be the perfect time for a major construction project....

I'll keep you posted!

Lauren