Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Glad you in joyed your break. You deserved it!

Aw, I appreciate that!

Truth be told, I could have used about 3 more weeks' break after the second half of that semester

But, back to the grind tomorrow! 17 weeks until summer break, and then it's all about the chickens for a couple months!


With regards to the birds, it's a bit milder right now than it has been, so I did grab a few pictures of them to post! Here is Rangi realizing I'd crouched down

"...Hi."

Sweet old lady With Wynne gone now, Rangi and Roha are my oldest birds in the flock, both turning 12 in May this year. I never expected those two to outlive so many, as accident-prone as Rangi has been all her life and as doddering as Roha has become these past several years!

Anyway, here's also a shot of Pete looking guilty. He's pretty touchy right now as he's been having a very slow molt for several weeks now. Wish some of the girls would learn from him and not go full naked when they molt!

Pete's daughter, Trixie, giving me attitude, as usual

And Opal realizing and becoming offended at me taking pictures of her butt

 

[Crazy Maizie]

That's for sure!! Chickens have this incredible expertise with finding new and unique ways to hurt themselves




Haha, that's Old English for you! They always want to be as high up as possible, whether we like it or not

My OEGB girls are bunking with me lately. I normally leave them out until I see any signs they aren't tolerating the cold, but this year I brought them in preemptively. This was mostly because Gwenyth--you know, the hen who already has half as many feathers as everyone else--decided to molt as soon as we actually got cold for the winter and I had to bring her in. So, I figured I'd grab Vega and Sumi so that Gwennie had some company. V was on the ground when I took this picture, but you can see they're getting along well enough at least!

View attachment 4025245

Then Achernar, Vega and Sumi's brother, was lying on the ground a few mornings ago, so I brought him in, too. He recovered quickly, thankfully, especially when he realized he was next door to some hens he could flirt with. Unfortunately, the only indoor pen space I have for birds right now are the brooders, the ones I have set up in my bedroom, so... It's always a delight to have a mature rooster in your bedroom.

It's been snowy and I've had to wear my coveralls out to do my chicken chores most every day, so I haven't had many picture opportunities with the birds lately other than the above. Not much to see anyway, other than a bunch of grumpy birds who don't want to go out in the few inches of snow we've gotten.


Also... I have no excuses for my absence the past week or so. I got caught up in vacation mode and have been catching up on some TV shows and couch potato-ing in between finishing up my program application for college. The semester starts for me on Monday, but it should be a bit less of a busy semester than the last one, I think... No guarantees, of course.

I will probably make them coop up this next week when we drop to single digits. But, what signs do you look for? (Obviously if they are on the ground when they should be roosting - I totally get that).

Now you have feathered roommates! What does Casper think of the set up?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

So, I made the littles coop up since the temps have been frigid all day. But this time, I got the ladder out and grabbed Rose first who was very agitated at being disturbed on her roost.
Ginger was like "ooh she's putting us in the coop" and flew right down. Rebel wasn't sure what to do, so he was still on the roost when I grabbed him. Ginger was a challenge since she roosts so high, but it was easier since I knew her evasive tactics. Once I was able to "sweep" her down, I scooped her up right off the ground.
Now, they are all tucked in and I'm sure warmer than they would have been.