… are greatly exaggerated. It always makes my heart skip a beat when I see one of my chickens lying boneless in the blazing summer sun. As I approach they always pop up and look at me like I’m the crazy one (and do I happen to have some treats?) Seriously, it is 100 degrees and you are sun bathing?
The temperature is dropping, the wind is blowing, and the flock is huddled in a feathery ball in the outside run. Huh.
The coop is open, and draft-free, just in case you are wondering. It is their choice to be in this place at this moment. I don’t understand chickens. As a side note, they did have all their heads tucked down, until I so rudely crunched the leaves and rocks trying to take a picture.
I’m glad the hardware cloth on the top of the runs is sturdy since the neighborhood cats like to sit on it like fuzzy toadstools. I took the picture with the black cat up and Sophie looking on (I pretty sure she taught them all the trick). My husband took the one of the big white cat, who truly looks like a fungi. The chickens don’t seem to be concerned about fuzzy death from above, but did let out concerned noises when my husband approached. So there we go. The cats have found a place to watch chicken TV without disturbing the inmates.
And we have an egg! My eldest went out to check the chickens, and they have started laying again after almost 5 months. Phew! I still have powdered egg in the freezer, so the experiment to see if we could last without fresh eggs was successful, but I don’t think we will repeat it next year. I may save some powdered eggs, and I may try glassing some, but I’m not above buying fresh eggs when the hens have their hiatus.
My hens love scratch; some of them love it even more than grubblies (dried fly larva). They gobble it all up, except for one single type of grain (I believe it is the rye). I now have runs sown with a single seed. I’m hoping with all the scratching and pecking, some of the seed has enough soil contact that when the spring rains come they will sprout. Or the cardinals will steal it all. I guess we’ll see.
Critters and Craft 