Poor thing. Mourning dove.

Mourning dove.....I think the van hit it. 

My Chickens and Cat: An interest.

Well, Jeannie has began to crow!  And dear Sweetiepie has a little girlfriend chickie following him around!
The cat, Pasta, likes to follow me when I feed everybody, and sometimes he almost gets in the coop!
Once he did, but he just watches them walk around.


They get along okay, but I can't leave them alone.
I have recently lost two more hens, Dusty and Chestnut, to Babyjuicy the murderer.
She killed them both and almost Nubbs, who is recovering in the chicks' coop.

My Chickens: Zesty in the "Special" nest.

Today Zesty was really desperate to lay, but meanie Half'n'half wouldn't let her in the nesting box!

With nice chicken.

Poor hen.

So I put Zesty in Chester's old cage and put a special nesting box in for her.

She immediately started her nest.

Zesty's picked spot. Ouch!

I'm not sure if she has laid her egg yet, because I'm at the library, but I'm excited to get home and get her egg! The sweet girl:)

My Chickens: Sad happening.

The new Phoebe nesting in Caps nest has been murdered.

I arrived to find all her eggs on the ground, smashed, and her dead in the yard.
I don't know what had happened, she didn't have a mark on her and wasn't mangled at all.
Maybe Cap killed her for some reason, if she didn't want a stranger in her nest.

Like before:
'The life of a wild animal always has a tragic end.'

My Chickens: Never mind, I'll post it now.

Okay.
Sorry I haven't told you guys about my moving.
It will explain why I haven't been so up-to-date on your posts.

Moving...Is...Stressful.
For your pet and yourself.  The chickens don't understand that they'll be suddenly whooshed across the globe to a strange new place they'll have to call home.

So I have to help them adjust.

As my followers know, my chickens grew up here and, in the chicks' case, hatched here.
I hate the idea of them being confused and/or sad.  "They're birds, for crying out loud."
But they have feelings!

If you guys, and girls, have any ideas of how to help my hens and chicks with the moving stress, Please Tell Me!!!!

My Chickens: Jeannie's foot?/New Eggs!

Jeannie has recently started limping, badly.  She hops on one foot all the time.
I don't know how that happened, but Sweetie Pie is taking good care of her. He won't let her out of his sight!

Jackie. Don't you want to hug her!!!!

And a new bird is nesting in Cap's nest!  It's another Phoebe, but bigger than Cap.  It's eggs are huge, and there's only four.
I cant wait to have more chicks in there!

My Chickens: Jeannie, Zesty, Half'n'half, and a Whole Lot of Toothpaste!

First of all, Jeannie is so much better and becoming a doll! She loves me and it is very difficult to keep her from jumping out of the hutch to get to me!  I'm trying to keep her calm so her head will have a chance to heal, but what can you do to stop an affectionate chick!?

Second, Half'n'half(see below) is really getting rough with Zesty!

She has pecked her way to the top of the pecking order and sees to it that Zesty(or anybody else)does not have the chance to challenge her position!  She is pecking every one, but the two Ameraucanas are getting the brunt of her attack.  The only hen she doesn't bother is Little Lady, her constant companion.
Both Zesty and Cranky have bald spots on their backs, but Zesty's is worse, extending from nearly her neck to her stump of a tail.   Cranky has a huge, beautiful tail still and I hope she keeps it!

To save Zesty from being reduced to bones, I took a tube of minty toothpaste and lathered it across her back and Cranky's.   Surprisingly, it works!   Chickens DO NOT LIKE TOOTHPASTE!!!
When Half'n'half, or Little Lady reach over for a good peck, they get a beak full of sticky, nasty, minty goo!

My Chickens: Jeannie's Head, Continued.

Jeannie is alright.
She is still separated from the others, though, as her head hasn't healed yet.
She is peeping again, and even jumped when I tapped the wall and clapped.
I think she was only momentarily deaf.
Which I'm glad for.  
She gets so excited to see me in the morning, it's so sweet.
Her bald head reminds me of the guineas.

My Chickens: Jeannie's Head!!!

The chickens tore Jeannie's head open!  She isn't bleeding a lot and she's eating.  I separated her so they won't kill her.   She is sleeping now.  I'm not sure if she'll live; with that hole in her head, but I hope so.
I tried to sew it up, but she moved too much and I didn't want to hurt her any more.
I'm not sure if she's in pain(but I would think so!)because she won't say anything.
I found out that she is deaf, and maybe half blind, when I called her and she didn't even turn.
I hope her wound will heal and she'll be okay, even if she's deaf.

"Sorry, I did that."

My Chickens: The Chicks Survived the night!

First of all, I've decided to call Sally, Sammy, just to clear things up. And Deanie is now Jeannie, Jackdaw is Jackie.  The chicks are big and covered in glossy, black(Sammy is white and brown, and Jeannie is red)feathers.
Last night I put them in with the big hens and they were bullied, as usual, although Sweetiepie tried to fight back to defend "his" girlies.  Sammy made no such effort and only tried to saved his own skin. Later in the day, when the hens started going to roost, the chicks were utterly confused and began to run around, searching for a way out of this strange, huge prison.  When I came in to check if they were sleeping, they ran to me and tried to cuddle in my lap. I sat with them for a while, then placed them up on the roost next to Zesty, who did not peck them.  Jeannie was content to sleep on my shoulder, but i managed to get her on the      roost. When they had settled down, I left.
At around 8:39pm, I ran out in the dusk to check one more time.
I saw THE sweetest thing in the world!  Gracie was perched on Zesty's back, sleeping!
Zesty gave me a look that said:
*groan* "The things I put up with!"
I love that hen!

Cute O!!!

Not my Chickens: These poor hens!!!

I just found this horrible video on youtube about battery hens.
 Must watch! Show it to your hens, they'll see how good they've got it!!

               Click the link above!