February 2013
I’m writing this with one eye out the window – keeping a watch for coyotes as this morning we saw three frolicking on the snow covered front lawn. The sheep and the chickens are all out having a naively relaxed wintery morning, hence the watchful eye!
So, the chickens, we are down to only three from the original twelve that we got four years ago, one brown and two white. Hardy, hardy birds. In fact, one of the white hens, or maybe both, is still presenting us with an egg on a daily basis. That was a big surprise after their very badly timed moulting in November; we thought we wouldn’t see any eggs again. Let’s face it; we’re amazed the girls are still with us! Chickens should be the poster girls for “You Are What You Eat”. For the first few weeks of our cold and dark winter, they refused to come out of the hen house; they huddled inside eating their grain and not exploring the world around them as they normally do. Their combs withered and became dry and droopy. Ick. Then when the snow melted and we had a few glorious days of sunshine, out they came again, often touring over to the ponds even, snacking on all sorts of goodies from the melting earth. Their combs perked right back up, bright red and vivacious, the chickens were back to ruling the roost. The past few days have been a bit up and down with them, they did not come out in Friday’s big blizzard, but they’ve been happily tootling around the farm ever since.
How long do chickens live? I just checked this out on the world wide web and apparently pet chickens can live 15 to 20 years. OMG! Really?
So, here are a few recent pictures starting with a view out the front of our house during the blizzard on Friday, then day after the blizzard and John has cleared the road, our cat Dolway staying inside away from coyotes and the snow, and finally Emmy and Suzie the pet sheep, just doing their thing.






