Fancy and Thelma and Louise have been busy, learning new tricks. Hey, all three now come and get into their cage in the house. (Okay, that was the big news, but it seems so lame now.) Yet, they still frantically try to find their way out of their outdoor pen when the door is wide open.
Chickie Mama is coming...
so there must be food. I looked out the kitchen window and saw Fancy standing in my swing you can see way in the background of this picture, behind and to the left of the picnic table. I went out to take a picture. They heard me and started toward me. You just never can tell when I actually have food!
Hen House
The dog pen is their dwelling place. You can see the Rubbermaid box in which they lay eggs and sleep. Another box needs to be replaced on top of this one. They sleep two to a box or all three, just however they work it out. Both boxes sit on a plastic table. The ladder is for their amusement. Just to the left of the tree in the foreground, you can see a waterbowl that seems to be suspended in air. It is actually sitting on one of the three-legged plant stands. Raising it helps it not have trash scratched into it every day, every hour. The tarp lashed to the top of the pen is leaking. Poor hens have to rough it!
Oh, the side of my house is rock at the bottom. The picture makes my house looked cracked.
Eggs for baking
Right now, I could use the four eggs a day. When Chessie was so violently murdered, I was reduced to three egg sources. Putting the hens indoors has reduced the egg production. I am NOT getting up early enough to put them out at first light, even if first light is later due to Daylight Savings Time. My solution to having few eggs is to not eat them often for breakfast.
This week, I need an egg for the cornbread for dressing. Another three chopped, boiled egg will go into giblet gravy. Five eggs for Chocolate Pound Cake, four for pumpkin bread, 4 for pumpkin pies...maybe I can get the cakes and pies made. We will see. I still have three days to collect eggs. Some days I get none.
Fancy is lucky she is cute
She may be the slacker layer. When I gather two eggs, hers is not there. If she were not so cute and talkative, she might be dispatched to the oven after some prep work.
Fancy and the telephone
When I sit outdoors, I usually talk with a certain friend--Donna. She hears Fancy talking. We laugh about her insistence and coming so close, jumping up on the swing to talk with me. Yesterday, I decided to sit a bit in the yard because it was so warm and dry outdoors, very pleasant autumn day. But, I did not talk on the phone. All three chickens were contentedly pecking, silently going about their grass-eating and dirt scratching and bug-pecking. I took the phone out and dialed Donna. As soon as the phone started ringing, Fancy came running as fast as she could and TALKING to me. She must have heard the phone ringing! Anyway, she could not be quiet, but jumped up on the swing and talked to me as Donna and I laughed.
Fancy and the camera
She is accustomed to the red cell phone at my ear and never seems concerned. But, let me put the red camera to my face for a picture, and she is out of there. I can never just whip the camera out, bend or sit and get a picture of what they are doing at the moment. At first, all four shrieked and ran away at the sight of a camera. Now, they just go away. Finally, I have figured out that I am extending the camera toward them and making them uneasy. (no viewfinder) I don't dare lay it down to let them become accustomed to it. They would peck it and ruin it.
Whew
I promised you no more chicken talk for a week, and I have abided by my promise. Thanks for letting me share.
Your turn
If you have hens, are you as fascinated with them as I am?
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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.