I haven’t posted anything on my wife’s chickens in a while; mostly because there hasn’t been much to post. Over the past couple of months they have been doing what young chickens do. Unfortunately, during this time, they have fully established their pecking order. This is very upsetting to Sally and me. We really expected more out of our girls. We read somewhere that the chicken on the bottom of the pecking order would become your favorite. We can now affirm that bit of wisdom is 100% true.
This is Tiger Lily. Who could be mean to something this cute?
Tiger Lily is one of our Ameraucanas. She is the smallest of the six birds and as such they pick on her regularly. When it is time to roost at night, they kick her off. If she catches a nice, fat grasshopper they chase her down and try and take it away from her. Because the other chickens are so mean to her, she stays pretty close to Sally and I when we are outside. Not only does she know that we will protect her from the bullying, she has learned that we usually have something special in our pocket just for her.
My wife found a treat on-line called Chicken Crack. This stuff is amazing. We have experimented with different treats for them, but this stuff is by far and away their favorite. We used to share it equally with all of the girls. However, when they got so mean, we mostly cut them off. Now, treats for the five mean girls is plain old hen scratch. While they are scratching away, we call Tiger Lily over and let her eat all of the Chicken Crack she wants right out of our hands.
The coop is finally done! I think it turned out pretty cute.
Even though our girls look all grown up, they are not yet producing eggs. They are only 4 ½ months old so we are hoping for some October eggs. Knowing that they will soon be laying encouraged me to make the final push to finally finish the coop. Sally and I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon building their nesting boxes. We also got the door painted and the outside lights installed. It has taken me almost three months to get the girl’s coop finished. However, I think it was worth the effort.
The nesting box that is currently completely unused
Congrats, Jay and Sally! That is too cute. Now that you are finally done can you make me one?! ; )
Sure! If you will feed me for three months!
Any chick would be happy to live in that house! Good job!
I hope Tiger Lily can hold her own when she starts setting. Time will tell.
Thanks Deb! I realize it is a lttle over the top, but I really am proud of it.
So cute! It deserves its own spread!
Thanks Whit! You can come back to Texas and help me style it!
Great job on coop and good luck with sister!
Thanks Dave! Hope the snakes haven’t scared all the deer off you lease!
Jay I love the coop! Did you learn these skills at Connally or Texas A&M? This makes me want to move to the country!
You know I got all of my skills from Donald Jones, FFA and Vo Ag teacher extraordinaire!
The coop is darling! Stained-glassed windows AND a red door! I die.
What if you guys are contributing to the bullying by favoring poor Tiger Lily? They probably all knew that she was your favorite to begin with, now there’s no hope of her ever fitting in…she has Chicken Crack on her breath! :0)
You are too funny! I do admit that the coop is a tiny bit over the top. This is exactly why Sally hates to see me start a project; she never knows where it will go! BTW, I think we saw a ribbon on one of your precious daughters art work at the fair!
OMG! Your chicken coop is too cute! Tiger Lily looks so pretty. Maybe the other girls are jelly and that is why they are picking on her:)
Thanks for the compliment. BTW, your Hummingbird poem is as cute as Tiger Lily!