I forgot to mention in the first big muckin' update that Auntie and Fred are proud parents of four racing-striped poof-balls with orange legs.  Guinea chicks are very susceptible to moisture and wetness, but they managed to survive the tornadic storm and subsequent yard flooding, so who knows, they might have an outside chance to make it to ( Read more... )

Wow, I hardly know where to start.

Where I am now...
I'm in Baltimore for the IAFC Haz Mat conference, the one I've been attending for several years now. It's in a new location, in the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott. I have a room on the 23rd floor overlooking the harbor. It's a stunning view.  The trip here was mostly uneventful, although I had ( Read more... )

It's been a while since I provided a nugget update, and much has happened. After shimmeringstar1  left, we finally had a few days of sunny warm weather, and we decided to let Harriet and the nuggets out of the cage to scratch around outside. The first day went great. Harriett led the nuggets around and showed them how to scratch in the dirt, and she taught them ( Read more... )

Harriet and the nuggets:

Click to view

We have four nuggets who are being mothered by a very protective Harriet!  Harriet is very attentive, and when a nugget strays too far from her, she clucks the little chick back to her. She gets particularly alarmed when one strays out of her immediate line of vision, and she cranes her neck to keep an eye on it. Apparently, that mothering instinct ( Read more... )

We decided to keep Harriet separated from the other chickens for a week to give the chicks a better chance at survival. So, yesterday we moved her to a pen in the garage. Today we went to get the chicks ( Read more... )

Harriet, the barred rock hen, has been very broody for weeks. She won't leave the nesting box, and she pecks at the other hens when they go to lay. Consequently, we've seen our egg production drop from 4-5 eggs a day to 1, if we're lucky. The other hens are laying outside, and we don't often find the eggs.

Video of Harriet pecking Kate's hand.

Click to view

( Read more... )

Myrtle, rest her soul, was killed by the red-shouldered hawk last week. I'm a big fan of hawks, normally, but the $15 dollar-a-plate dinner buffet in our backyard is getting expensive. And it makes me sad, because I'm very fond of my chickens.

Floyd has been very bold lately. Evidently, surviving the winter storms has boosted his ego and confidence ( Read more... )

 The male guinea, Fred, has come up lame. This is probably a good thing, because it makes him less of a target for Anthony, who attacked and beat up poor Floyd pretty badly earlier this week. Pretty Boy Floyd (see icon) is not looking so pretty these days, but he's still as bold as ever, announcing his arrival and departure every morning and ( Read more... )

There has been lots of drama in chicken world the past week. First, Auntie Two, one of our guineas, was killed by a hawk. Auntie One and Two were inseparable pals, and Auntie One was clearly distressed when her sister disappeared, looking around for her everywhere and pot-racking rather piteously.


( Read more... )