Broody hen

Buff chicken/Goldie is broody. Broody is when a hen starts to incubate some eggs.  The funny thing is, that she isn't big enough to cover them all.  So we aren't collecting her eggs.  I won't be making money on my egg business for a while.  Little miss broody is all stretched out on everyones' eggs.  She only comes out in the morning to get some water and a snack.  I am hoping that the eggs are fertilized.  Without the roosters the eggs might not be fertilized.  I can't sell the eggs anyways so it's worth a shot.  I hope the eggs are fertilized.  We are going to let the mom raise them.  Here are some pictures of chickens.

"Get off me!"

She isn't big enough to cover all the eggs.

See what I mean?

These are our other little chickens.

They love to hang out in the barn.

Parker

Fatto boids

We have these big fat meat chickens in the barn.  They are a pain in the butt.  I am constantly having to feed and water them.  Morning and night I give them food and water.  They eat like they have never eaten before. There is always a food rush.  Instead of survival of the fittest it is survival of whoever-can-cram-the-most-food-in-their-mouth-in-the-shortest-period-of-time.  They are so fat they barely even move around.  You are not supposed to let meat chickens free range.  You're supposed to keep them caged in by the feeder so the meat will not be tough (and purple).  My dad says they don't know how to walk.  We had to take them all out of the coop so we could clean the cage.  Boy did it stink.  Next time I need to wear a gas mask. 

Cole was put in charge of guarding the door to the barn so none of the meat chickens could escape.  We didn't know that they couldn't walk.  No one needed to guard the door because they didn't even attempt to move.  When one was trying to stand up in almost fell on it's face it was so fat.  We stuck two of them in a dog cage because the small coop was getting too small.  Wait, maybe the chickens were getting too big.   They probably need more food now.  Ugh.   We call the two in the dog cage the condo-balls and the others the basketballs.  Here are some pictures.

These are the basketballs.

And these are the condoballs.

Parker

Coles' big day

Cole learned how to jump on our swings to go higher.  Bad idea.  These are not normal swings.  My dad used a ladder and his climbing ropes to get our swings up into the tree.  When we swing on them we get the butterflies and can get really high.  So while he was doing that he missed landing on the seat a couple of times and went flying into the air holding on for dear life to the rope.  He did not get hurt on the swing. 

Here are pics of him on the swing.

We have a small 4-wheeler that Cole loves to ride but he can't reach the brakes.  If Cole wants to stop he lets off the gas and runs into the nearest thing he thinks can support the crash.  Yes, he wears a helmet.  My dad decided that Cole should know what to do if he accidentally starts sailing down the hill in our back yard.  With no brakes.  Our hill is great for sledding.  It is even good for sledding in the summer.  That's how steep it is. So, my dad sent Cole down Mount Everest (with no brakes). He didn't get hurt. 

This is Mount Everest and the 4 wheeler.

So he swung into orbit and didn't get hurt.  He rode down Mount Everest without brakes, and didn't get hurt. 

Then he slips in the bathroom and bonks his head in the bathroom.  He had to sit around with an ice pack on his head for the rest of the night.

Parker

The 2 Stooges go see the 3 Stooges - A day with my grandfather

The other day I went to see the movie the three stooges.  It was funny.  My grandfather said that it was a, "Kill your brain cells movie.  When you come out you will be dumber."  But first we went to Chilis' for lunch.  I had an, "Original bacon cheeseburger without the onions, mayonnaise and pickles.  That thing probably weighed three pounds!  I said, "It would be a miracle if I could eat all of this."  I ate about two thirds of it.  It was good.  Then I started reading the comics in the paper and he asked what I liked.  I said Garfield.  So then we went to the bookstore and he got me two three in one Garfield books.  Then we went to Lowes' and got some tomato plants because something ate his other ones.  After that we went to the hardware store.  Next to it was a Dairy Queen so we got some ice cream.  I had a chocolate malt and he had a vanilla cone.  Then he dropped me of at his house and I was there for the rest of the day.

Parker

A walk through the woods

This is what our woods look like in the spring.  It is covered in flowers.  And bugs.  Lots and lots and lots of big, dumb, worthless, buzzing things.  Chickens love it.  Sometimes you will see a chicken chasing a bug that flies.  When it does that it chases it until it drills it or loses it.  It's funny.  Did you know without flies we wouldn't have chocolate?  Really, flies pollinate the co-coa plant.  Pretty gross, right?

Lots of flowers.

Finding a red one is rare.

Lots of allergies too.

More flowers...

...and chickens!

Parker

Bath time!

Do you know how chickens take baths?    The reason chickens take dust baths is to keep their feathers clean of bugs and their skin healthy. They have made baths in my moms flower pots, by the house and next to the fire pit.  First they make the bath.  Then they roll in it like a dog.  And last they stand up and shake out all the dirt.  Their feathers and skin are now clean.  It is fun to watch chickens take dust bathes.  Here are 4 steps to making a good dust bath.  And if you don't make one your chickens will.  So either way your chickens get a dust bath.
1.  Clear out grass in an area of your choice.

2.  Cover in manure.

3.  Put chickens in bath.

4.  Watch and laugh.
Or
4. Watch them run away.

Here are some pictures of our chickens bathing.

This is Blacky, Spark and Polly.

Taking a bath in my moms' flower pot.

That was as close as I could get.

This is all of them bathing in manure!

Still more chickens in manure.

Gross.

Parker

Red is dead

Sunday my dad shot Red.  I have some pictures of him here

He also shot Gerome.

It is sad.

I have some of their feathers.

But it was all for good.

Him and Gerome were bad boys.

They always kept the other chickens in the woods about 20 acres away from us.  I missed my chickens when they were living in the woods. I liked it better when they hung around us.   I liked it better when they ran to me if I had food.

So, since the roosters are gone the other chickens are hanging around more.

That is good.

My mom is feeding them treats when they come around the yard so they will hang around.

;(

Parker