I went to put some water out for sun tea and there was something funny going on our flock of one, sometimes two is now three.
Alice made the grand return to the yard. She is not fluffy or in a foul (or fowl) mood. Hopefully she is back for good, but coming out on her own is a good start.
Yiayia an Olive forced to hang out while the rest of the flock is broody.
These two started off as the worst enemies one can have. Olive was having trouble coming to grips with the fact that she was the smallest in the flock, and was put down as last in the hierarchy line.
When Yiayia came along, Olive worked hard to make sure Yiayia was the new lowest.
Yiayia did not agree with that, as started a rivalry for the ages.
Now here they are, two alone girls looking for a friend. Any port in a storm I guess. We will see if this changes the dynamics after the other girls come back to the flock.
Three broody chickens. GAH!! Come on Snookie, didn’t we just go through all of this? Here are our culprits:
Alice, the queen broody girl.
Stella, “If the queen is broody than so am I.”
Snookie, “I just finished being broody, but I can do it again.”
Two nest boxes and three girls piled in. It is not good for the other two, Olive and Yiayia, as they have nowhere to lay now.
This is what we are dealing with today. Alice and Stella in one side, and Snookie in the other. If that was not bad enough, poor Olive was trying to get in to lay her egg. Melissa pulled Snookie out, and Olive was in the box within 5 seconds, sitting and getting ready to lay. We made Snookie roam the yard to give Olive some time. It was not long enough though. Within a few minutes, Snookie made a run for the box, and tried to sit on Olive, forcing her out of the box. We are going to have to get very proactive with these girls. It is okay this weekend, as we are having unusually cool, overcast weather for late May in California, but it is supposed to get to 85 degrees next week, and the girls will not do too well in that kind of heat in the box.
Just in case you have always wanted to know what a broody chicken sounds like, watch this little video to give you a little taste. Alice and Stella are two of the best in the business at making some great broody girl sounds. Interesting, this time around, Snookie did not make any sounds, but took to blinking a lot.
Who knew when it came down to it, our little Yiayia would be the lone protector of the yard?
Our little Hulk of a chicken, still broody, still angry, still our fluffy tan marshmallow.
Alice is a tough one to break. Any time we take her out, she stomps, scratches, and grumbles her way around the yard. She even attacked poor Clark the other day. His feelings were genuinely hurt that his girlfriend was mean to him.
While we were eating dinner tonight, we had the back door open from going in and out while I barbequed salmon for me, and tofu for Melissa. The girls were in and out making noise, and getting the dog in a tizzy that they were not where they were supposed to be.
The noise became a little more than just them walking in and out. Upon investigation, they were gathered around, taking drinks from the dog’s water bowl.
Clark was not too happy about this, but he did sit by for a nice photo op. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity, I also took a video to share with all of you.
After a time, the dog was fed up, and it was time to shoo the girls back outside. Olive being the little bugger that she is decided to:
She jumped onto the water table and drank as fast as she could. You would think that these girls never get water, what with the stealing from the dog, and following the hose around the yard. Silly chickens.
Melissa says when it takes more than one watering can trip to water the garden, it is time to break out the automatic watering system.
So, after a pleasant Mother’s Day lunch with the family, I set out to get the watering in.
There are a few things still to go in the ground, but the major running of the lines is complete.
It is always a great feeling to come in after hard work in the sun and see all of that dirt I have collected on my hands wash away.
Next stop, veggie collection…but that will be a little ways off still.
Melissa was In the garden watering the veggies on this hot morning. I took charge of watering the “orchard”- fruit trees, berries, grapes, and flowers. (I have GOT to get water run to those this summer.
Anyway, I digress. While I was walking around with the hose, I noticed I had a shadow. While all of the other girls were following Melissa with the watering can, and not able to drink the water due to the fences keeping them away from the succulent little plants, Yiayia had the good sense to come over and follow me around and drink from the plentiful reservoirs of water.
I don’t know what it is about the fresh water from a hose that draws the girls in.
It was not that long ago that Snookie stopped being broody. Now Alice has turned around and started. Just wait, Melissa has some fun in store for our faithful followers. A new way to break a broody girl? Stay tuned, this could get fun.
I mowed the lawn, and started to pull the grass that crept into the other plants over the winter. Before I knew it, I had Olive, Stella, and Yaiyia all overseeing my progress.
They could be anywhere in the yard, but they NEED to be right on top of me. Boy are they some curious girls.
It’s going to be another hot one. But out in the yard, the animals are alive with activity… well most of them are. Clark has taken up position on the chaise lounge and is sunning himself.
I don’t know if I will ever understand why the dog, a dog who hates hot weather, will go out and lay in the sun and bake himself, and then have to come in and lay on the cool hardwood floors in the house and have to pant for a half hour.
Melissa is mowing the lawn, so that means the ambulance chasers are out in force. We took off the grass clipping bag from the lawn mower after we got the chickens. Now they follow the lawn mower and eat the pieces of grass. Melissa says they also like to run around in front of the lawn mower. Maybe “like” is not the right word for it. More like they feel a compulsion to be in front of it, but have to run away from the loud noise.
As the fun of the lawn mower wore off, the girls ventured back into the garden. As you can see, it appears the weather did something we could not do over a period of a month, breaking the broody Snookie.
And it appears Yiayia is happy with the outcome. She has been following Snookie around all morning.
The girls have been digging holes in the newly tilled garden all morning. Some of the holes are six inches deep in some places. They are really taking their work seriously.
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