Friday, November 19, 2010

impending snow = fatten up those chickens!

 
Snow storm Sat-Mon. So, today the chickens get an extra special treat:


Yogurt with broccoli, roasted beets (leftovers), and chopped nuts (fat & protein to get/stay warm). This breakfast is one effective way to quiet down the coop. Nothing but the sound of quiet chicken concentration and beaks tapping a plate.


The three amigos. That's Moby chick in the very back, she's done molting and super bright and fluffy, on the left is Cinder who did molt, but very mildly. Then, there's Edie, my chief concern. She's practically naked. Won't even roost near the window with her buddies, now. Of course I've since closed it. I hope she cuddles up this weekend during the snows!


 That's Fanny finger painting her meal, having a great time.


Fanny did seem to get some feathers to fill in where Moby had plucked them out when Fanny flew to their side of the coop. Doesn't go over well (Moby is designated butt-kicker), and I sincerely hope she never does that when I'm not here to rescue her. Anyhow, she's looking pretty well feathered, lately. Yay.

We recently shoveled a bunch of oak tree litter into their runs. They're loving scratching in all that for bugs, and it gives our soil a buffer between it and those always-scraping chickens.

It's tough to get sharp pictures of busy chickens on a dim, cloudy morning.

Hope you all have a great weekend. =)

biobabbler

4 comments:

  1. they're cute! cute. And they're snarfing their breakfast! :)

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  2. Nice to see your girls! I got so carried away with making my chooks warm porridge over winter, I think hubby thought I'd gone completely mad! It's hard not to feel sorry for them though, all out in the cold and I think they really appreciated their hot mash going by that (blissful) silent gobbling...

    I like the oak tree litter in the coop, we have a big old oak tree down the back that I usually just heap up to make leaf litter, but this would be a nice treat for them in the pen :)

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  3. Woah--hot mash?!? Christine, you have planted a new idea--that's GENius. I know they seem to love the warm water ("tea") I give them on v. cold mornings, but cooked hot grains? I'm SO THERE. And yes, my husband thinks I'm terribly indulgent to, but man, it's COLD out there sometimes, eh? =) re: litter, they are CRAZY about. Have so much fun kicking it around. It's pretty cute.

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