The Birthday Gift

Yesterday was my birthday.  The girls must have known because for the first time in over a month they gave me 6 eggs.  I hope that means we are over the winter slump and production will continue to go up from here.  The 3 previous months they have been producing enough eggs to provide our family with eggs and sell them to co-workers and in turn buy feed with the egg money.  Self supportive.  I like that!  But this past month we had to fork over the feed money.  Even though we've had a mild winter I think that they've been using their energy to stay warm instead of making eggs.  It's all good, they need to rest.  

Then this morning....I found Georgia in a nesting box and under her I found this beautiful green egg!

It's been so long since we've had a green egg.  I'm thinking it was before Christmas.  The Easter Egger's really don't like winter at all.  They haven't been laying and they are the first ones on the roost the minute the sun hits the horizon.

Speaking of mild winter...I don't ever remember a birthday without lots of sparkly snow on the ground.  This is what it looked like yesterday.  I've never been able to walk through the woods on my birthday, in running shoes!

This is why I took that walk...

Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting!

Today is a new day and it's snowing!  Winter has returned.

Hopefully the eggs don't disappear again...

Spa Day...

After being cooped up (literally) for the past 2 days due to the bitter cold temperatures and sub zero wind chills the girls were finally able to venture out to the run this afternoon.  What fun they had!!  I knew they'd be desperate for a dust bath and I was right.  They were so fun to watch and to listen to their happy chatter.

Patty and Buffy were really getting into it.

It was good to see them enjoying the new treat toy also.

Cooped up!

 

When the temps really dip I worry about the chickens but so far the temperature inside the coop has been steadily 15-20 degrees warmer than the outside temperature.  This morning the outside temperature was hovering around 0 and the wind chill was -12.  Inside the coop it was a toasty 23.  Chickens handle cold weather better than hot, humid weather. (me too).

The Max temperature was from yesterday afternoon.  The thermometer resets itself every 24 hours.

What a difference from a week ago when it was 53 degrees outside and I was able to get out on my bike...in JANUARY!  

A chickens body temperature is 107 degrees and when it gets cold they huddle together and puff up their feathers to hold more of that heat in.  They look so cute and fluffy like that.  Here Buffy and Riley are demonstrating that heat trapping technique.

They had very little desire to venture out into the run this morning.  They were only interested in the warm oatmeal and apples that I put out there for breakfast.  Amelia, one of our Easter Eggers, refused to venture out at all.  I've noticed that the EE's do not seem to do as well with the winter.  We've had no green eggs for a couple weeks now.  Not sure if it's a light thing or a cold thing.  Although we've had a really mild winter so far.

As soon as that was gobbled up they were back inside.  Since the girls are cooped up today by choice I thought I'd introduce the second new toy.  A ball that releases treats as it's pecked at and rolled around by the chickens.  I filled it with scratch (cracked corn, oats and other grains and seeds) and dried mealworms.  Again they were curious but not as thrilled as I had hoped.  They did a lot of looking and only a few were brave enough to actually peck at it.

Again another video.  

Listen for the crow outside about 8 seconds into the video and see how they're ears perk up.  It's funny.

How are you staying warm today?

What's wrong with this picture?

Can you see what's wrong with this picture???

Here is a hint...

Here is another hint....

That right!  It's January 10th and the temperature nearly hit 50 degrees and the window in the coop is open and the warm sun is streaming in!!!!  

I know lots of people LOVE this but I'm feeling like Old Man Winter is cheating on me.  I like winter.  My birthday is in winter.  I grew up making snowmen, snow forts, snowballs, ice skating, sledding and skiing.  There was never a shortage of things to do in winter.  I love the sound and feel of snow crunching under my feet.  I love the feeling of being trapped inside while a snowstorm blows outside.  I love being toasty warm under a blanket with a crackling fire in the fireplace.  I love the way the sun shines on fresh snow and makes it look like a field of sparkly diamonds. I love how trees look with their shroud of snow.  Today is the last day of this crazy weather and then I get my winter back.  We are under a Winter Storm Watch and by this time tomorrow there will be snow on the ground.  I'm excited.

Meanwhile out in the coop I'm sure the girls are also loving this but I also think that boredom is setting in.  So I bought a couple new "toys" one of which I introduced this morning.  It's a simple wire basket ball that hangs and can be stuffed with "treats".  I stuffed it with red leaf lettuce and red cabbage.

They were not real sure what to make of this intruder in their space.

Patty didn't hesitate too long and was rewarded with a chunk of red cabbage.

I also captured a video because that is worth a million words.

Next week I'll introduce a rolly treat ball that they can push around and treat will fall into it.

Happy Winter!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our coop to yours! 

Buffy

I sat with the chickens for about 15 minutes this morning.  Buffy gave me the gift of jumping up into my lap.  She sat there for about 5 minutes.  Thank you Buffy, I needed that.

The sun is shining into the coop window and casting a beautiful light. Riley seems to like to sit up on the perch in it. 

Riley

Holiday Treats

Chickens will eat just about anything we eat.  I haven't tossed table scraps in the garbage for a long time now.  Natural composters.  Sometimes I buy things especially for them.  $0.82 for a small package of collard greens doesn't faze me.  They love a treat of warm rice, cream of wheat, pasta or oatmeal on a chilly morning.  

 In today's treat pan for the chickens were the greens and and apple.  Red and green.  How fitting.  It sends them into a feeding frenzy and is cures any boredom they may be experiencing.  I keep a couple old baking pans on the counter and fill them up during the day with trimmings from veggies and fruits and old bread.  It makes for happy chickens and healthy eggs.

Here is a list of treats for chickens...

Apples

Bananas

Green beans

Bread

Broccoli

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Carrots

Cereal (low sugar)

Cream of Wheat

Corn

Cucumbers

Fruit

Grains

Grapes

Lettuce/Greens

Melon

Oatmeal

Pasta

Peppers

Popcorn

Pumpkins

Raisins

Rice (cooked)

Sprouts

Summer Squash

Tomatoes

Watermelon

Yogurt (plain)

That's a wrap!

Today we wrapped the run in plastic in hopes of creating a bit of a warm solarium for the chickens and to give them protection from the winter wind.  This will also keep the snow from drifting in and mucking up the sand in the run.  Seems pretty cozy already.  All they need now is a hot tub!  Pampered chickens for sure!

The girls were a bit freaked out at first and wanted nothing to do with being in the run but soon they found that it wasn't that scary.  They then discovered that some green goodies got trapped between the plastic and the hardware cloth and had to gobble up all they could.

We also added a homemade water heater to keep their water from freezing in really cold weather.  It was super easy to make.  My 12 year old son made it in less than 15 minutes.  We haven't had to plug it in yet because the temperature inside the coop has not gone lower than 31 degrees and we haven't had to deal with frozen water. It's simply made from an old cookie tin (Thank you fellow Freecylcer) and a lamp assembly bought at the hardware store for about $7.  Add a 40 watt bulb and you've got enough heat to keep the water from freezing.