Chicken: It's not What's for Dinner

Our latest yard visitor of note:

The biddies were in their garden, doing the things that chickens do.

Penny, Molly, and Bessie dust bathing

I was in the house when I heard the squawk.  Or was it a scream?  It did sound a little like sheer terror.  Which is slightly more alarming than the sound a chicken makes when it lays an egg.  But only slightly.   

I looked into the garden and saw one chicken, Jo, tucked into some tall grasses in a corner.  I looked out another window and saw the other chickens high-tailing it into the coop.  I looked into the trees above the chicken run and saw this:

I picked up the phone.

me: "Hi-it's-me, will Bald Eagles go after chickens?"

husband: "yes, why?"

me: "There's one watching the girls from a tree directly above the chicken run."

husband: "You'd better get them inside then."

me: "Okay-bye."

I ran outside (with camera in tow) and realized that backup had already arrived.  The eagle looked up

and saw this.

Crows started dive-bombing the eagle.  I thanked the crows as I ran to the garden, escorted a distressed Jo into the coop, and closed the door.  By this time the crows had handily escorted the eagle on its way.

I left the girls in their protective coop and run for the rest of the day.  And that is why we don't free range our chickens.  Just too many wild animals looking for a meal.  What a beautiful predator.

The Heat is On

Here's what a little heat will do:

We are eating our first few zucchini (Costata Romanesco).  Beautiful, stripey, delicious.

The acorn and spaghetti squash are out of control and the squash are about halfway grown.

The calendula is bursting.

We've been eating cucumbers and carrots with every meal but breakfast.

And the flower garden is just ridiculous.

This all has nothing to do with me.  I've just been the watergirl for all this bounty.  Next year, when it's cold and dreary and nothing is growing except the chickweed, I will remember this summer fondly.

Name That Bird! Part 2

...and to continue,

Guinevere

The other main character from my favourite movie, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.  She is the more buttoned-up counterpart to Delysia, another Silver-Laced Wyandotte.  More straight-laced, but very much in charge.  She lays medium sized warm brown eggs.

Prudence

I named her this specifically so I could call her Broody Pru.  She is a lovely little Easter Egger that lays small pale-green eggs.  Her father was Ameraucana and her mother, Cochin.  Cochins are known for being very broody.  Prudence is very broody.  She ends up in chicken jail every six weeks or so, but that's a story for another post.  She is such a nice girl but, sadly, someone has to be at the bottom of the pecking order.  That's her.  She bears it with no small amount of grace and growling.

Matilda

Matilda is the Welsummer with the biggest comb, lays the biggest eggs, and may well be the biggest, baddest chicken out there.  No one gives her any grief.  She looks very much like a dinosaur and I think the other hens would agree.  This is the boss.

Penny

Penny is a Silver-Laced Wyandotte with a beautiful comb and delightful, no-nonsense personality.  She gets the job done, just like Henny Penny.  Her comb is the largest of all the Wyandottes, but still low-profile.  Smaller combs hold up better to winter cold.  Penny lays medium brown eggs.

Bessie

Bossy Bessie is an Easter Egger with attitude.  She is small, but don't tell her that.  She is always first.  First to come when you call, first to get out the door, first to talk to you, first to take any treat offered, first to come running to the camera.  She is not at the top of the pecking order, but don't tell her that either.
 

So, now you've met all the girls.  They're a ragtag gang of toughs, but they keep us entertained and fed, so we put up with their shenanigans.  And, most of the time, they put up with us.

Name That Bird! Part 1

What's in a name?  Because I don't have children I missed out naming someone.  This is something I really wanted to do.  So naturally, when we got chickens I took great pleasure in selecting a name for each girl that would suit.  Some names came to me out of the blue, others are based on a character trait.  And if you don't think chickens have character, spend some time with them.  They will set you straight.

Each name seems to suit.  And I have finally convinced Mr. Practical to start calling the girls by their names instead of calling them "all those chickens".

So, without further ado, here's the first installment of Name That Bird!

Molly

Molly is a beautiful Silver-Laced Wyandotte and the first chicken we named.  She has a cocked tail and a teetering gait.  She lays beautiful medium-brown eggs that are rounded on both ends.  Because of her cocked tail we thought we should name her after a cocktail.  But since we don't drink we could only think of a different kind of cocktail to name her after.  Can you guess the connection?

Sweet Pea

She's our biggest girl but lays small greenish-blue eggs.  She is an Easter Egger, which is a cross between the blue-egg laying Ameraucana and any other breed. We think she may be part Orpington because of her considerable size.  She is also very sweet, as the picture indicates (she is standing on my lap).  No one messes with her.

Nellie

Meet Nellie, short for Nervous Nellie.  She's a Welsummer.  She is often the first to give the alarm call, warranted or not.  She lays solid dark brown eggs.  She's shyer than most of the biddies, unless there's a bug to be had.  If you're a bug in the garden, watch out.  She's gonna get ya.

Delysia

She is just such a showy, pretty thing, Miss Delysia.  One of my favourite movies, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, is such rollicking good fun. This Silver-Laced Wyandotte reminds me of the lovely, showy character Delysia from the film.  She lays the palest thin-shelled brown eggs.  I wonder if her pale eggs have any connection to her colouring, paler than all the other Wyandottes.

Jo

Also known as Beardless Jo, or Josephine.  This lovely, demure Easter Egger lays greenish-blue eggs that seem impossibly large coming from her tiny frame.  She is low on the pecking order and has lost her beard feathers to other girls.  I can hardly wait till she molts in the fall so she can have her full beard back.

Cora

Also known as Cora the Crow.  She really likes shiny things.  When I open the nest boxes to check for eggs she pecks at the metal latches.  When I squat down she pecks at the snaps on my cargo pants.  She likes pecking shiny things almost as much as she likes hunting insects.  This Welsummer lays enormous rich-brown eggs, almost the same colour as her feathers. 

Well, that's the first installment of Name That Bird.  I'll introduce the rest of the girls later.  Now I've got to head out to the coop and see what those characters are up to. Silly chickens!

First Time for Everything

Here's a new visitor to Clay Swamp Acres.  The neighbours say they have never seen deer out here before.  Moose, bears, lynx, coyotes, muskrat, yes.  But deer, no. Until now.

The White-tailed Deer came toward the yard in the shade, enjoying our salad bar.  He was in excellent condition, with shiny brown coat, velvet antlers, and a delightful insouciance.

The official guard dog was sleeping just on the other side of the fence.  I think the deer was sticking out its tongue at him.

He came a little closer

just to see if we'd left any birdseed out for him.  We had.

At this point (15 minutes into the buck's visit) Scout woke up.  Obviously chagrined at his failure to notice this invasion of his yard and nap time, the dog put on a great show of barking and hackle raising.  The deer, appropriately terrified, reacted by raising its tail and twitching its ears.

After a couple minutes the barking became annoying so the deer ambled off to get some peace and quiet.

So long, friend.  You are always welcome back.

By most of us.