Birds & Beasts Talk

It's tempting not to slip day-old chicks under a broody hen, as this might break her broodiness and would be less work for us. BUT a few months of cleaning an additional coop/stock tank pays off when your teenage chickens run to you and squat near your feet making those ridiculously cute clucks and purrs waiting to be pet.

Anybody save bits and pieces of their dead birds and make ornaments from them?

It was 12:30AM when my concious slapped me out of a dead sleep. It was freezing outside and my birds were still in the run.

I got side-tracked earlier in the evening and forgot to help them to their new roosting area.

I ran outside across crunchy, cold grass in just my Birdaddio "Hocus Pocus Give Me Focus" shirt and skivvies, afraid my girls might have frostbite.

Never start coop-training in freezing temps. Chickens rarely roost in new areas without our due diligence.

For the record, they were fine. They were fluffy and huddled together, their beaks tucked in their wings.

Dear Bird Nerds,

The past few weeks, we've woken to a massaquer by fox-amount of feathers in the chicken coop. And each morning I get frustrated because I know I'll have to dedicate at least 30 minutes to cleaning them up otherwise they get caught in their feet and can cause infections. As if my day isn't busy enough...

But every morning, I slip into my bird boots and sift the feathers from the sand--a Handful from black and white Wyandotte and Plymouth Rocks, half a bucket full of Sussex Speckles and grey Easter Eggers, a scoop of yellow Buff Orphingtons and a pluck of our orange Sebright.

And I have to admit, it's been the best therapy. Nothing else does a better job at shutting off my analytical mind and allowing me to be in the now.