What did you do with your flock today?

[PopoMyers]

They love digging things up too
I put in some flower bulbs last year but they dug them up but the ones in the front yard are doing great

That is one main reason why mine aren't allowed out of their half of the yard, nor in the garden. So many flower beds dug and pecked to destruction.

 

[PopoMyers]

Well, Ferdy and I had a busy Christmas Eve finishing up my baking and decorations. He 'helped' nearly all day and into the night. I know he hated the high winds we had so he opted to spend the day with me and leave Stan to look after the ladies. Poor Stan was absolutely petrified of the wind and spent his day shouting 'instructions' to the girls from underneath some pine branches! Good job it's Gladys who's really in charge - she just remained calm and ensured the ladies were the same.

Anyway, amongst other things, View attachment 3713123View attachment 3713125we recycled some old plastic baubles to make them look a bit like Wedgwood 'jasperware'.
Some of you might remember I decorated my brother and SIL's wedding cake with sugar paste roses back in September? Well, it sparked an interest to try more sugar paste work. So, armed with trusty YouTube, we set to work:
View attachment 3713126View attachment 3713127
I can confirm that it is not easy to decorate a cake with your cut-price parrot on your shoulder, intent on eating the marzipan

Absolutely stunning! Wowza!

 

[PopoMyers]

More good Olena news. She sang an egg song yesterday morning, sounded like someone coming out of having a hoarse voice. Had to trim her beak again, and still doing PT with her. She is able to flap more vigorously. Friday begins week #9. Visitors are always surprised by the house chicken. On Christmas Eve, this mama forgot to put her to bed on time, so it was 10:30, and she took lots of naps the next day.

 

[Smokerbill]

Or just make a hook hanger!

The only food I buy for my chickens is their layer pellets. I get the cabbage leaves for free at the grocery store, so I need a leaf feeder. And I just finished putting it together.

I mounted the feeder cage onto the board and tacked a couple of roofing nails into the back, at the top. It hangs on the hardware cloth, and is height adjustable. LOL

I put the brick on top of the cabbage to push the leaves down as they're eaten. And also to prevent the birds from trying to eat cabbage out of the top.

They were working at eating the cabbage, until I threw each of them a ripe tomato. They like tomatoes much better than cabbage.

 

[LTAY1946]

Two firsts here today. My long legged rooster AKA Legs crowed for the first time. Honey the pullet that was supposed to have been Legs' brother of sorts turned out to be a pullet laid her first egg today. Beyond that the day went south early. Tomorrow has got to be better.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Yeah, Ducky Jr was one she took really hard. He was such a good boy, and really liked people best, and was very gentle with his chicken friends. It was so hard watching his very slow decline :-( I kept trying things to improve his immune system, but the mites he had were SO bad. I learned a valuable lesson that just visual appearance isn’t enough to know they are doing okay. You have to actually pick them up and inspect them, he acted so normal we had no idea until it was really bad. :-( Poor boy. I’m not sure I’m going to continue trying to own and breed wheaten Ameraucanas. They seem to have much weaker constitutions and are more easily affected by ailments. My blacks, blues, splash and whites are so hardy!

Its always such a pity when breeds you love seem weak as a whole. Could you breed the wheaten to other colors of ameraucanas to strengthen them and still get back to a good wheaten? Or maybe cross to EEs and then select back to a healthier wheaten ameraucana?
Poor Aria and poor Ducky Jr

 

[ChicksnMore]

Biscotti's still the scraggliest chick I've ever seen. He's not growing much...he's getting that wings longer than his body look. But...he is growing. He's energetic and eats great. He's getting his first color coming in!

And here he's getting some chick time so he knows what he is

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

Lately some, and last night ALL 8 (!) of my girls haven't gone into the coop at dark; I find them roosting on top of the nest box lid, pressed up against the hardware cloth window as close to their flockmates inside as they can get. Tedious going out there every night and grabbing dark-drunk pullets to stick them in the coop after the pop-door is closed! Not to mention it's wet at night, misting even when not full on raining, so we all get wet.

I thought maybe with the short, cloudy days, the auto-door's solar panel wasn't getting enough "juice" and maybe closed early, before the girls thought it was bedtime? So I "stalked" the chicken yard from outside (weeding, throwing balls for the dogs and ignoring the chooks) as dusk began, to see what was going on -- and everyone dutifully made her way into the coop for the night well before the door closed at full dark. So much for that plan! Will try again tomorrow.

 

[Shetland lover]

They love digging things up too
I put in some flower bulbs last year but they dug them up but the ones in the front yard are doing great

Mine like to do that too. And the little buggers will snap the flower heads off my tulip bulbs or just pull them up altogether when they're in full bloom!

 

[Shetland lover]

Absolutely beautiful results! Give me paints or pen and paper and I'm happy with what I create...but put me in the kitchen and all my artistic skills come to naught . It always amazes me when people produce something so lovely with food ! And you did it with a cut-priced parrot helping

Believe me, I'm usually more a 'slap it on the plate and let the taste do the talking' kinda gal - cut price parrot or not!