The chickens are back!

We went to a bird swap meet (which is a whole 'nother story! It was pretty strange), and bought 20 or so chicks last spring.  We kept them on the porch for a few weeks, until we couldn't stand them in the house anymore, and then moved them to their new home. The dogs got along with them (for the most part) and the stink that everyone said would happen, didn't.

We let them run around the yard and go wherever they wanted, which was fine for the most part, except you really really really had to wipe your feet before you came in the house! They would jump up and eat right out of your hand, and just were always there. They went back in their coop every night, we just had to lock the door to keep the critters out .  Every morning the roosters would crow when they heard us let the dogs out because they were ready to be out for the day. I think they would have even come right into the house if we let them.

Then came January.

Snow and cold. Fancy chickens with feathers on their feet don't like snow. Or cold. And we don't like trying to keep their water thawed out.

We took them up to the bird pen for the winter. It's heated and the guys feed the other birds for the park everyday anyway, so it was a good place to put them for the winter, and we had someone to take care of them when we were gone.

When we got back from Texas, there was an electric skillet at the shop. Al's assistants were cooking the eggs from the chickens for breakfast in the morning before work. Good idea, right?. They would just go to waste if they didn't eat them anyway. Although truth be told these eggs are only 1/2 the size of a normal chicken egg, and they only lay 5 or 6 a day, so they weren't having big feasts for breakfast, but what the heck.

They are now back at the house, in their 'summer home'. We bought a couple more this spring, we have the room, might as well have a few more eggs, right?

These two new ones lay blue/green eggs.

We also inherited a Bob-White Quail from the bird pen. He now thinks he's a chicken, although he won't come out of the pen. He has a foot that's hurt or something, he limps around most of the time, but seems to do okay. 

The dogs and the chickens forgot that last year they were friends, so it's going to be a learning curve for the dogs for a couple weeks. I let them all out in the yard yesterday, and Tai chased one and it flew into the side of the house, and two more ran out of the fence that we (Al) had to chase down. Roxie went into the pen and chased the quail. She likes to eat the bird food and he was near it. I think it must be sweet or something, but she loves it (and then promptly pukes!).

This is another new one.

We are down to one rooster. The other one from last year was just too horney. As soon as he was out of the coop he was on top of every hen he could corner. We took him up to the bird pen, along with another hen that just wanted to sit on eggs and do nothing else (and she was a b**ch to the other hens anyway). Al will put some turkey, quail or chucker eggs under her and (hopefully) she will hatch them for the display pen.

The rooster that we have left is pretty protective of his hens.  I stepped into the pen to change the water the other day and he pecked me on the foot, hard enough to make it bleed.  Al said he had been chasing the guys when they went in to feed them up at the bird pen this winter. But he seems ok now, so we will see.

We still have the "Tai" chicken. I feel bad for her. I don't think she can see through all the feathers over her eyes. She's always the last one to find the treats you throw to her. She's the "special one", kind of like Tai is a "special" dog.

Tai chicken:

Tai (the only time you will see him without a shirt):

I know it's weird, but what can I say? I like my chickens (and no, I do not name them. They are chickens. When they die, they die, then I can get more!)