The Chicken Chronicles 9.18.20

There were several developments for our chickens last week.  On Sunday, they were introduced to a new type of animal for the first time when Joe-Z and Lindsey brought over their brand new, itty bitty puppy, Pippin.  Bandit chased Pippin for a few seconds and pecked at his tail, but Pippin scared off the other chickens.  It was funny to see this little puppy chasing the chickens that were easily three times his size.

I finally got out my good camera to take pictures of Bandit.  These aren't great - and I'll be sure to try again another day - but at least you can get an idea of how pretty his irridescent green feathers are, and the amazingness of his bushy old man eyebrows.

Early in the week, the No Crow Collar we'd ordered for Bandit arrived.  Following the manufacturer's instructions, we put the collar on Bandit loosely for a day, took it off that night, and then put it on to stay the next day.  Bandit did NOT like the collar, and he spent some time trying to peck it off.  Ms. Felix even pecked at it, though I don't know if she was trying to help him out or if she just found it odd and wanted to investigate.  The collar didn't mute his crow very much, but it definitely affected the sound: there's a significant pigeon-like trill in his crow now.

And a few more just for fun...

I so love these two pictures of Buttercup.  I was trying to give my loyal

reader (you know who you are) a visual of Buttercup's mohawk.  One of these days

we're going to gel that bad boy into honest to goodness spikes.

Cat took a break during an at-home school day to snuggle Dixie.

We found out that the chickens like peaches.

It seems that the chicken wire, initially intended to keep the chickens
in a specific section of the yard, has become a roosting option.

Also, Ben's camp stove.

And here Hei Hei shows off her budding jumping skills:

P.S. Two more quick things: (#1) this week I surrendered the tomatoes to the chickens.  I witnessed one of the hens eating a barely orange tomato and decided there was no way for me to win this battle, and decided they could have any tomatoes they want.  If I happen to find a ripe one that was too high or deep in the vines for them to find, then I'll take it.  (#2) Eliza found that one of the hens laid a soft-shelled egg.  It hasn't happened since, and I hope it doesn't happen again.