My Little Flock

About a year ago, I became the owner of a small flock of egg-laying chickens.  I've been taking care of chickens for a few years, on and off, but they weren't mine until this year.  I started with a dozen barred rock chickens, the black and white mottled ones.  In the spring, I added 16 chirping, fuzzy chicks to the flocks.  The camp fellas dubbed them "chicken nuggets."  I don't have any pictures, but they, as any other baby is, were adorable.  I had my chance at mothering with these little cuties.  One of them had it's eyes closed, was kinda skinny, and wouldn't eat unless I forced it to.  So, I went to the trusty old computer and typed in "What do you do when a chick has it's eyes closed."  The site said sometimes when the chicks are hatched, the fluid dries on their eyes and makes them stick shut, so you have to open them.  Well, it worked!  I wiped the little thing's eyes with warm water, and they opened!  When I stuck it back in the box, it looked at the food, it's eyes got wide, and it quickly devoured all it could hold!  Then,...there was Tipsy.  One of the chicks came with some kind of disorder that made its head twitch.  It looked kinda funny, but that chick was fatter than all the rest, so I thought it was healthy enough.  Unfortunately, it's only method of transportation was running in circles until it got where it wanted to go.  It couldn't walk in a straight line.  We had to get rid of that one, which I had named Tipsy.  There were a couple of others that got out and got eaten, one was a rooster, so he had to go, and now, there are 12 of the 16 remaining.  

Chickens are fun to watch, and pretty easy to care for, and eggs are so yummy!  I enjoy walking down to the chicken house every day to take care of them.  This may sound kind of funny, but you can learn a lot from chickens.  Sometimes, they are a little like people.  Jesus, in the Bible, many times compared us humans to sheep-stubborn, easily led, needing a master.  In a lot of ways, chickens and all other animals are like that too.  They need someone to take care of them, to feed them, to keep them alive.  Left on their own, they would be devoured by wild animals.  We are like that-we need our Heavenly Master to take care of us, to fight off the attacks of the devil, to feed us, to watch over us.  

My Little Flock

The little ladies, peckin' and scratchin'

George the chicken.  I know 'George' isn't a good name for a girl, but she's a curious little thing, and George  just seemed like a good name for a curious chicken. ( Actually, I was going to name her Angie, but Angie wouldn't let me name a chicken after her :) )

Bobbie, the spastic Polish crested chicken.  She can only see what's right in front of her, so she gets scared easily!  Sometimes, she follows me around and eats snow off my boots.  Okay, chickens are not the smartest creatures on earth! :) 

Eggs from the hens.  The light brown ones are from Barred Rock chickens, the blue and sometimes green from Easter Egger chickens, and I also get dark brown ones from the Welsummers.

You have to watch out for predators.  Possums are one animal I can't find the least bit of affection for, not even the baby ones!  They are like overgrown rats-yuck!  We also had some problems with skunks this year- that was exciting.  DJ DuPree turned into the Skunk Hunter.  The skunk that we caught in this live trap took 13 shots to the head to kill!  Yikes!

"Fast", one good-looking rooster.  I got him off Craigslist when the old rooster perished after dueling with a critter that had bigger fangs and claws than he did!  Fast was a good rooster, until the end of summer, when he decided to attack and tried to spur me.  Uh,...he is no longer with us.  Roosters have an ego to beat the band!  They think they are invincible.  I've heard that roosters are one of the most confident and toughest animals there are!  I can believe it!

Footprints, from many, many treks to the chicken house. (Uphill...both ways...in the snow!)