Houston, we have an "animal" problem.

Those of you with spouses or mothers will know exactly what I'm talking about when I mention the "something's wrong" voice.  In the past, I have heard it too often for comfort. Thus, when I hear it now it strikes fear into my heart - when I hear the "something's wrong" voice, I immediately get irritated.

This morning, when Laur came in from checking the birds she called to me.  "Please come here. We have a bit of an issue - an animal issue."  I'd checked the birds not 2 hours ago and knew there was nothing serious, and yet there was a tone in her voice, verging on panic, that irritated me immediately.

I sighed heavily and plodded down the stairs, certain that whatever was the matter was going to be neither fun nor clean.

Laur motioned towards the coops. "There," she said, "it's in there. There's a squirrel in the feed bin."

I sighed again, grabbed my rubbers and continued plodding out the door and down the hill.  This is what awaited me.

The hatches are battened.

Seems we have a bit of a blow comin' in. As usual, Laur has the chickens, ducks and particularly the Guineas best interest in mind and we set out for the back to make sure everyone was comfortable.

Laur has been making a warm porridge for the girls every morning. Although today isn't as cold as yesterday, will be around zero by day's end, she likes to make sure everyone is well-fed and healthy. Laur is worried that with winter temperatures the Guineas (named The Kabuki Twins) will become quite weak and has decided to move them into the chicken coop. To that end, I hung the heat lamp in the coop. When the temp warms a bit I'll be back to make a few changes in order to accommodate them - a higher perch will enable them to stay away from the hens, lest they be picked on.  The ducks seem to be quite content with the little duck-house-inside-a-duck-house that we made for them.

It would also seem that the porridge breakfast and extra protein has paid off, as today we had our first chicken eggs!  We need to start keeping a sharper eye on those girls as the two we found this morning were frozen, but now that we know they're coming we'll be paying close attention!

Clockwise from top left:  jugs to take water to the birds; food for the stray kitty;

a spare chicken toy; our first, albeit frozen, eggs; and an empty porridge dish/spoon.

And so, with the fire blazing merrily, a bottle of mulled wine in reserve, meat in the crock, dogs happily chewing on some stinky hooves, a tall stack of books to tuck into and a few crafts on the itinerary, we are going to sit back and enjoy the season's first Maritime storm!

Chickens and chicken accessories.

Well, we finally got some snow and it looks like it's here to stay - at least for a couple of weeks anyway.  The current temp is hovering around -5 which means that snow is melting in the sun and making the roads a bit  slick. But the sun is shining, the birds are singing and I can't help but feel upbeat. 

Yesterday I processed the last three of our male chickens.  We had to put one down a few weeks ago as he looked unhealthy and we managed to rehome one of the Silver Laced Wyandottes.  But the two Black Australorp x Golden Laced Wyandotte crosses and the Chantecler were too much for our small flock.  When the testosterone starts to flow, the flock hierarchy changes. They started by trying to out-crow one another and moved on to chest bumping. One of the BAxGLW was absolutely gorgeous, but was itching to get into a full-on fight with one of the other males, started to chase people around and tearing feathers out of the hens.

Oddly enough, we'd chosen Flinker Ban many weeks ago to be our flock roo. He matured faster than the others, has been crowing the longest and seems to be the most docile whilst doing a good job looking after the girls.  What does "looking after" mean? Well, he makes sure no-one has wandered too far, sounds the alarm when something looks threatening, generally struts around looking good without being aggressive and the hens listen to him.  He's also been really good with the females, and I think if we do hatch some babies in the spring they'll be a decent looking mix.

We've still got all three Buff Orpingtons  - Blanche, Penny and Hillary (with Hillary being my favourite of the favourites); one BAxSLW - Poe; and one Chantecler (Shorty - who seems to be at the bottom of the pecking order).  I think we're going to add one Red Comet from Mooshum's house, just to round out our hens to six.

Laur saw an interesting post on making a toy for the chickens and I think I'll put that together this afternoon.  Might help to relieve their boredom come winter - they've already decided to blockade themselves in a tiny chicken snow-protest.  Although, Penny and Hillary will hop up on the door barrier to receive some treats and evaluate the weather on a day-by-day basis.

 The beginnings of our own chicken toy.

Lucy wondering what I'm doing.

Skiffin and Poppy with the view from the stoop.

 Some new Nova Scotia product to try - Stutz cider made from 100% Nova Scotia apples; Glowine, a mulled wine from Jost; and Smuggler's Cove dark rum, distilled on Cape Breton Island.  I asked Laur why she had such a broad smile walking out of the liquor store this morning. She replied, "How can you not feel good about getting Air Miles from NSLC?"

"Pardon me, but have you heard the good news about our Lord and Saviour, Jésus Polito?"
Berwyn might no longer be with us, but his Chickengelical legacy lives on.

Fowl!

A few photos of the chickens, by request.

 Attila, el stundo, the Hen.

 Flink! Eater of worms! Herder of hens! Possessor of fabulous gams!

Penny, Berwyn and Blanche. Gossips.

The new Muscovy clan.

Mr. M. Hathaway earned himself a time out - i.e. out of the coop - by being a jerk to the girls.  The girls had a fabulous time in the downpour without him.

Found him up on this stump. Seems he couldn't figure out how to get down.  Serves him right!  Left him there.

Sunday Supper

We're having some wonderfully warm, low-humidity days!  Temps are in the low 30s and a slight breeze blowing makes for pleasant work outside. Those who didn't get their haying done before our last stretch of rain are back in the fields, trying to get the work done before it rains again.