Ruby Update

Hello, world!  I'm happy to say that our Ruby bird has taken a turn for the better!  She's back to her chipper little self, though she seems to not be really excited about yogurt (a once favorite treat) and does not really seem to be eating the chicken crumble (kibble).  So, fearing that she might be hungry, I went out today with a garden trowel to dig up some bugs for her to eat.  She fell back into our old routine:  I shovel out a trowel-full of dirt, she inspects the dirt and the hole in the ground for bugs (scratch, inspect, and eat - if bugs are found), she looks up when she's done, and we repeat this process.  

Greedy bird comes into this garden routine too, but she's more skittish with me.  She is a little bit nervous about getting too close to me, but, if she's on a mission to find some bugs, she may lose her bearing a little bit and inch toward me.  And Prissy - well, she's too much of a lady to engage herself in looking for and eating bugs.  So this leaves Ruby bird and me some quiet time to look for worms and other delectables.  

The moral of the story is, as much as people say chickens aren't too smart, they're not that dumb either.  To the extent that they can take care of their own selves and needs, they will, and they do.  So, I'm not going to worry about Ruby not eating kibble - I'm sure she'll figure it out on her own!  

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Amy

Pray for Ruby!!

Apparently - since getting chickens, I have become really religious.  (see previous posting about praying for Prissy)

But unlike the futile prayers for Prissy to lay an egg, this one is serious!  I think something is wrong with my Ruby bird!  She's just so lethargic, and unlike her usual sparkly self.  Usually, she's very curious and social, and when you come out to see her, she's sure to greet you (even though she may be looking for a hand out).  These past couple of days, her reaction has been very slow, she's less social, and she appears to not be extending her head.  And, I'm not a doctor, but I think her pupils look dilated.  

Poor little bird.  She's been getting the same food, and has had plenty of water.  And her little sisters are fine.  And it's SO sad to see an otherwise charming little bird reduced to this unresponsive creature!  

Please send your good vibes and maybe ideas on how to help little Ruby?!  Just a note - I have had a conversation with Sandy D. about mixing up hen and chick food to help out the little chicks - we didn't do that.  the chicks appear to be thriving, so I just let them be.  Maybe I should?  

Help!

The Great Egg Derby!

Inevitably, when you have hens, you wonder about their egg laying habits, and what might cause your little hen to lay an egg or not.  

With one of our little birds, little Prissy, well, I've given up the thought of Little Prissy Bird laying an egg.  She just doesn't seem the sort!  For example, if you go out in the chicken run area with a shovel, my Ruby bird will come right up to you and keep her little eyes on the dirt for movement, which, in her food-driven mind means bugs, which means, delicious treat!  Greedy also enjoys a wormy treat too!  But, against everything we know about chickens, little Prissy bird doesn't!  You might think, "Amy, Prissy bird is just shy!  She's scared of people who are like 1,000-times taller than her, especially if they are wielding a shovel."  And I thought the same thing!  So we have actually excavated a clod of dirt with a juicy worm in it, and tossed it in the direction of little Prissy bird!  She pecks at it coquettishly, then does not go in for the kill!  Little Prissy bird does like grassy and lettuce treats...could it be she's a vegetarian?  Anyway - her not eating worms probably has nothing to do with whether or not she lays an egg, but it just all seems to work together, I think.  One time we did find an egg the size of a large gumball (a sad little egg) - and I half suspected that it was the handiwork of my Prissy bird, but since then, no additional gumballs have been laid.  

Now there is Ruby bird.  When we first got her (it was a cold spring) - she produced about an egg a day.  Wow!  And from the get go, I pegged her as our champion producer.  Not so fast, though!  Recently, as the weather has gotten warmer, she's laid less eggs.  And this makes me think - why?  Once, I speculated, if it was because little Ruby bird ate TOO many worms!  On Wormy Sunday (see previous post), Ruby may have eaten close to 200 worms!  Yes, really!  Mark just kept digging, and she just kept eating!  And after that, she didn't lay an egg for about a week.  I thought, maybe my Ruby bird is constipated...which may be freaking out her laying cycles.  I brought this up to a friend, and he asked, "Wait, don't chickens eat worms naturally?"  And his comment made me think, how could a chicken eat too many worms - that's what they eat!  OK - scratch that.  I then realized that about that same time, we switched up their food from one brand to another.  Aha!  I quickly re-supplied their old food, and voila!  Little Ruby bird laid an egg the next day!  I thought I was pretty smart - but since the re-switching of their food, Ruby isn't laying an egg a day like she did...more like an egg every three days.  Hmmm...

And in the meantime, my little Greedy bird (or "Lebron", as Mark likes to call her because she's so athletic) has been laying close to an egg a day!  (BTW - you can tell because Greedy eggs are green, and Ruby eggs are light brown.)  Wow!  Why is little Greedy bird becoming so prolific?  Could it be that some birds prefer warm weather, and some birds prefer colder weather?  Could it be because one bird is getting older while the other bird is reaching egg laying prime?  Bottomline is, none of this is known to the author.  These little birds seem to have a mind of their own, and whatever they want to do, they do.  

Oh - it should be noted that while little Prissy bird doesn't "lay" eggs, she does like to sit on them.  Isn't that funny?  We keep a golf ball in their laying area as to encourage our little birds to create their own eggs.  I have spied little Prissy bird sitting in the corner over the golf ball!  It's true!  And if, when she squishes around to be more comfy, the golf ball squirts out from underneath her, she gently pushes the little golf ball back into place with her wing!  Isn't that cute?  I think in the chicken world, they call this behavior "broody", as in, likely to brood over her flock (to be).  As for me, it makes her Prissy name all the more fitting!  If you recall, the Prissy of my bird's namesake is from Looney Tunes.  And the cartoon Prissy does the exact same thing!  Prissy's always taking the other snootier hen's eggs for her own because she can't lay her own egg, and as a result, she feels like she's always on the chopping block!!  

Until next time, pray for Prissy to lay her own egg.  I know that when she does, she'll be very pleased with her pretty self.  And her mommy will throw her a big chicken-y party, full of vegetarian delights!  

PS - Camera still not fixed...so no new precious spring photos.  I'm working on it!

The Chicks Are Growing Up

Our little chicks are growing up.  They've "feathered out" - lost their downy soft baby fluff and grown in full grown chicken feathers.  To celebrate their new feathers, we've moved them from their little plastic crate that was inside, to a newly sectioned off part of the chicken coop.   And little by little, they're wandering around in the chicken run.  

Now the reality is, the little girls are terrified of the big girls.  They spend their time outside scurrying along the perimeter of the run, scared.  Thank goodness they have one another.  They are inseparable when terrified.  So when the big girls get too close to the little ones, you hear a series of frantic cheeps, which is coupled with a lot of running around.  

And now that they're bigger, there's less opportunity to pick them up out of their crates and taking them to the chicken coop for their exercise.  It'll just be a matter of time before there is no reason to pick up the chicks anymore, just like there's no reason to pick up my big girls anymore.  Sad.  The little chicks are growing up so fast.  

No new photos yet - my digital camera has been on the fritz since sand got in the lens from the GA coast!  But here is a wistful photo of my little girls, in their infancy.  

Wormy Sunday!

Good morning Sunday!  It's a bright and cheery day here in the chicken house!   This morning, Mark and I spent some time digging around the chicken run and looking for worms!  Since it's been so rainy this spring, the worms are in abundance!  Mark would dig up a shovelful of dirt, and little Ruby bird would bring her little self over and oversee the operations.  And if she sees a worm, watch out - in she goes!  We think she may have eaten like 50 worms this morning!  

The other two precious girls are too shy around people to jump into the front lines of worm excavations.  So they hung back.  To make sure Ruby bird didn't eat all the worms, we would throw some clods to Ms. Greedy and Ms. Prissy.  Ms. Greedy is pretty thankful for the offering, while Ms. Prissy, well, she may be too much of a lady to eat a worm.  She pecked at one, and didn't make the kill.  More for Ruby bird!  Hope you are having a nice weekend!  Our birds sure are!