Ding....And now in the left corner we have Daphne, and in the right hand corner, Juanita.
Every morning as I make my way out to greet the girls they exit the coop with such pent up energy that it makes me want to eat scratch corn and laying pellets.
Skippy my sweet docile Sussex heads right for me in hopes of a handout. However, Daphne and Juanita seem drawn to each other like a schoolyard bully and the poor kid that seems to always get picked on.
Ruffled feathers, screeching and squawking,erupt till Daphne runs to the opposite end of the yard.
Why I this I wondered. Juanita is clearly NOT the top hen so I guess her insecurity is taken out on poor Daffy Daphne.
With the larger space both girls have lots of room to co exist without interacting that much.
After all in TV land Daphne lived in Mt.Pilot!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Coop Deville gets an upgrade!
So..to continue!
Daphne and Skippy were making the adjustment quite nicely but I just did not feel that this coop design was providing all the room they needed to move around and if need be to find a quite corner to move to SHOULD things get ugly between two or more girls.
So..with a small sum in savings that had been previously earmakred for a NEW king mattress, I made the decision to purchase wire, posts and a ready made gate for a new yard.
Bob and I picked up the supplies and in less than a few days the girls moved from their present coop into a MUCH bigger yard. The coop is still in use and as they go in at night to roost we still close the door to keep out any unwanted guests.
As the girls were introduced to their new yard they immediately began exploring and pecking at every little blade of grass or moving bug. They ran, they hopped, they flew at each other, the chest butted..it was quite a site. Inside the area was an old mound of mulch and in less than 24 hours they have stripped it bare of ANY vegetation and are scratching it down in hopes of finding some grub worms or any other treasures!
Up next..round 2 of Juanita vs Daphne!
Daphne and Skippy were making the adjustment quite nicely but I just did not feel that this coop design was providing all the room they needed to move around and if need be to find a quite corner to move to SHOULD things get ugly between two or more girls.
So..with a small sum in savings that had been previously earmakred for a NEW king mattress, I made the decision to purchase wire, posts and a ready made gate for a new yard.
Bob and I picked up the supplies and in less than a few days the girls moved from their present coop into a MUCH bigger yard. The coop is still in use and as they go in at night to roost we still close the door to keep out any unwanted guests.
As the girls were introduced to their new yard they immediately began exploring and pecking at every little blade of grass or moving bug. They ran, they hopped, they flew at each other, the chest butted..it was quite a site. Inside the area was an old mound of mulch and in less than 24 hours they have stripped it bare of ANY vegetation and are scratching it down in hopes of finding some grub worms or any other treasures!
Up next..round 2 of Juanita vs Daphne!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Hens Gone Wild..The Backyard Coop Edition!
Thanks to Pat for the inspiration on the Blog Title!
So...Day 4 of the initiation of the new girls and I still felt uneasy. Skippy and Ellie were just not adapting very well and Charlene was being very inhospitable. Friends that know Chickens assured me that they would settle down. I had hand fed and watered the new girls for 2 days now fearing that they would starve or thirst to death. Little Ellie makes sounds like a tiny piglet (I know this sounds crazy) and it just broke my heart to see her running towards the waterer with Charlene hot on her little furry feet.
Sunday afternoon we noticed that Ellie had some pecked places around her neck and this REALLY bothered me. I had read that hens will go after blood. This and her pitiful sounds made our decision so much easier. The box was found that she came in and we took her back to Creekridge farms where she was raised. She is so tame she rode the whole way in my lap (with newspaper under her). I feel much better!
Today I am happy to report that Daphne and Skippy are out in the run eating and drinking and blending right in.This just goes to show me that I still have lots to learn about Chickens!
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