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Chickens are finally out! |
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Well, the day has come! The chickens are out of their coop and are foraging outside. They've gone to work eating grass and insects, as well as digging up the gravel driveway for dustbathing. The only problem is what to do with Mr. Burby's side. While the rest of them are out, Burby and his group are stuck by themselves. After seeing him start pacing and give some frustrated crows, I decided to let his little group out to see how they'd do. At first, they didn't come out, probably because they've never used the side door before, but all I had to do was throw an ear of corn right outside and they all came piling out. Luckily, they stayed off to the side away from the main flock. That is, until some birds from the main flock found the corn bucket. They are such greedy hens!
For some reason, Mr. Burby was intent on attacking my foot. I don't know why, but he just kept pecking. All of a sudden, I began to worry, because King was near. But for some reason, they ignored each other. At least for a while, but the inevitable conflict came. They stared each other down and raised their hackles. Mr. Burby's are HUGE! I think even King was a little intimidated. Despite that, King attacked first and jumped for Mr. Burby. Burby ducked and King went sailing off the porch and hit dirt. It was hysterical.
I felt they would be okay for a minute while I went to get water. When I was coming back however, King was chasing Burby into tall grass. I put the water bucket down and rushed to help. King was pecking poor Mr. Burby into the grass. I pushed King away and picked up Burby. He was panting and looking scared. I carried him and the water bucket inside. He tried sitting on the top of the lower dutch door that separates his pen from the main pen. I was a little wary about leaving him alone with the door open, but I decided to let him have his comfort. As I went back out, I saw Pancake panting too. Maybe Mr. Burby and Pancake duked it out and King stepped in against Burby as well. Roosters.
My work done, I decided to sit down in one of the lawn chairs and spend some quality time with my hens. As always, Stella was first into my lap. Her nostrils are really clogged up. I'm worried about her breathing. Her face seems to inflate whenever she exhales. All that dirt can't be good for her, but how can I remove it?
Mom remarked that she was looking ill, because of her sunken in eyes. Her eyes have been like that for a while, and I stopped giving it serious thought. Maybe she needs a vet appointment? Marcie came up to me too, and she had some brand new toe balls. Lovely.
Dee is still broody. It's funny to hear her scream whenever we get near. She knows we take her eggs. Florian broke one of his tailfeathers.
I went to the turkey coop to check things out when it got too buggy down at the coop. It can be mosquito city down there. There were four turkey eggs on the shelf. I guess Jenny AND Gilly are laying. When Gilly came in, she sat right down, telling me that she wanted to be picked up and petted. I gave them food first. For turkeys, food takes priority over everything, and Gilly forgot her friendly intentions with the first mouthful.
The goslings are enormous! They are almost the size of Ozzy and Lucy. Pretty soon, we won't be able to tell them apart.
 Breac · Fri Jun 27, 2008 @ 05:41am · 0 Comments |
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