Picture of the Day 2/4/2013 Flock of Five

We had a flock of four just ten days ago.  When we introduced Sassy to the flock, the sweet, gentle original four accepted her right away.

Sassy did not know how to behave around hens that would let her eat her share and not pick on her.  Sassy showed aggression a couple of times, but our original four allowed her to be in the flock. 

Now, the flock of five have gotten used to each other.  Sassy is not showing aggression towards the others; she found that it was not necessary.

What a great flock of five!

Notice how gray the day is.  The temperature is in the 40s, but the wind is howling.  Brrr...  The wind chill doesn't seem to bother the girls. 

Picture of the Day 1/29/2013 Footprints in the Snow

This picture was taken a couple of days ago.  It was a beautiful 55 degrees out and the snow was melting.  The girls got out and we could tell where they had been.  An hour later, this was all melted.

An arctic front is coming through tonight, so there will be more snow and cold soon.

Picture of the Day 1/25/2013 Our Rescue Chicken

We picked up Sassy today.  She is 8 years old and a sweet, gentle bird.  She has grown most of her feathers back, but the feathers are not too long.  She has been isolated from the other chickens for a couple of weeks, so she is already stressed.

We put her in a small coop inside the enclosure.  Our birds were quite interested in the new addition.  Yoda did a little posturing against the coop, but lost interest after a few bumps against the wire.  The other girls just watched for a while, then wandered off.

We will keep Sassy in the small coop or alone in the enclosure for a day or two to see how things shake out.  We have an arctic front coming in on Tuesday, so we are hoping they will be able to keep Sassy warm.  We will see.

Picture of the Day 1/21/2013

A cold, windy day deserves a warm treat.  I took some layer food and added hot water.  Mixed it up to a thick soup consistency and gave it to them.  They thought it was a wonderful treat! 

I got this idea from Our Neck of the Woods.  She also makes oatmeal for her girls!

Picture of the Day 1/17/2013

This is Spice, Ginger, and Yoda on the roost inside the coop.  When the weather is bad, you can usually find them inside the coop.

We have had horrible winds and wind chills this past week.  The air temperatures are 30-35 degrees, but the wind chills are still close to 0 degrees.  If you give the ladies a place out of the wind, they are content.

On another note, because the temperatures were above freezing, the poo was no longer frozen to the coop floor.  I was able to clean out the poo.  

Picture of the Day 1/13/2013

Winter storm Gandolf was not as bad as forecast.  In Billings, we only received 8" of snow -- where 12" had been forecast.  The temperatures did stay close to 0 degrees, but the temperature rose to 20 degrees today.

In fact, the girls came out on their shoveled path, onto the shoveled patio, and down their shoveled sidewalk.  Not for long, but they did get out today. 

The water heater tins worked great.  A 40-watt bulb prevented the water from freezing!  The tin inside the coop also gave off "safe" heat for them.

The girls seem to have survived their first below zero adventure.  I am having some trouble cleaning the poo -- it is frozen to the floor of the coop.  Go figure!

Picture of the Day 1/8/2013

Here in south-central Montana, a cold front is due soon.  Highs will be single digits and the lows will be close to 0.  When the weather turns so nasty, the ladies seem to spend more time in the coop.

I created another water heater tin to keep their water inside the coop from freezing.  The food has also been placed inside the coop so the ladies don't have to go into the weather.

Picture of the Day 1/4/2013

The sun has been a welcome treat today.  The girls are enjoying their afternoon treat.

Picture of the Day 1/3/2013

Our first egg of 2013! 

The cold weather, the shortened daylight hours, the molting, the addition of two new hens, and the deletion of two old hens have all played a part in our hens not laying for weeks. 

Crystal, one of our best layers, supplied us with the first egg of the year.