Attack Hen

Alex and I were playing upstairs when we heard something outside.  I think it was a dog barking, but we ran outside to make sure it wasn't the chickens.  (Yes, periodically we run across the street to ensure the safety of the chickens).   They were fine.  They escaped from the netting once again, and they were happily exploring the yard.  We decided to check for eggs, and as we walked back, Sandie flew up at my head.  For a split second, I thought she was attacking me for cracked corn.  Instead she landed on my shoulder and roosted there.  Alex was laughing uncontrollably.  He took this picture with my phone. 

I decided it was her way of saying "thank you."  I think they're going to miss us.  I know we will miss them when Beth gets home and we don't see them two (or ten) times a day. 

Chef Alex feeding the chickens, once again.

Why you shouldn't put chicken eggs in your pocket

I'll start  off by saying this could have been worse.  Also, I knew this was a bad idea when I put the egg in my sweatshirt pocket, but I didn't have anywhere else to put it.  We were in the back yard with the chickens, trying to figure out how they keep getting out of the netting -- Alex calls it "doing our research."  This included Alex chasing the chickens into the netted area and me bribing them to escape with cracked corn.  By the time we got home, I totally forgot about the egg.  We started playing with play doh, and I leaned over to pick up something and crack, the egg rolled out of my pocket and onto the floor at Alex's feet.  Alex thought this was hysterical.

If Will were home, he would have scrambled it for a snack, citing a five second rule.  It wasn't easy to clean up.  I'd like to say that I learned my lesson, but that remains to be seen.

We only have about a week of Chicken Nanny duty before Beth and Esteban return. Time sure flies!

This is Alex feeding the girls
(screeching "they're pecking me" and giggling).

Very wet chickens

We had a thunderstorm this afternoon, and I decided to go over and check on the chickens.  I was worried about them, and something told me I should go over a little early and check on them (let's call it my amazing chicken nanny intuition).  I ran over in the pouring rain, expecting to find them in the coop, warm and dry.  Instead, Sandie was running around in the yard (completely outside of the netting), and Brincolin was stuck in part of the netting that I had fenced off.  She must have jumped over the fence and wasn't able to get back over.  I have no idea how Sandie got out.  I guess they really wanted to get out earlier and found a way, but then got stuck and couldn't get back in when it started to rain.

They were both freaking out, and totally soaked!  I got them in the coop, and they headed straight to their food bowl and chowed down.  I am going to check on them again tonight to make sure they dried okay and are still fine.  Poor girls.  I told Will I was worried about them being all wet, and he said "Carrie, they're chickens."  He's probably said this to me about a million times since we started nannying.  

Alex is so worried about the hawk, so I'll have to figure out what happened to make sure they stay in the netting, at least until we get some leaves on the trees to give them some more cover.  The weather hasn't been nice enough for them to really want to be out, until now, but now their little chicken brains are determined!

Spring is here!

Chicken Nanny bonding

Spring is here!  The chickens love this weather as much as we do!  They try to escape from the netted area as soon as we come over.  Will informs me that I am not a good "chicken herder".  He got a good laugh watching me chase them around to put them back in the coop for the night.  But he made up for it by helping me fix the netting with his staple gun (my twist tie technique was only temporary).  

It may be hard to see, but the very last of the snow in
Beth's yard is in the center of the picture.

For those of you that wonder what Alex does when I'm taking care of the girls, here are a few pictures.  Sometimes he tries to pet them (and he is much, much worse than me at trying to "catch" them).  Usually, they see him coming and they head for the coop. 

This is him pretending to be the Captain.

And now he's a pirate, Arrrrr!

 

Finally, we have the chicken dance.

Green Eggs (and a Ham)

Alex not eating his eggs, and hamming it up

For St. Patrick's Day, I made green eggs for breakfast.  The white stuff is cheddar cheese cut into a shamrock (or at least it was my best attempt at a shamrock).  Alex ate one bite and said it tasted "too green", and asked for waffles.  Funny, the Shamrock Shake from McDonald's was just the right amount of green.  Hmmm.

For Beth, with love from the chickens

Thanks for the video for Alex, Beth! 

Since I know you're missing your chickens, here is a video they asked me to post for you.  I'm not sure if you'll be able to view it with the internet connection you have in Mexico, but I hope it works!

This happened right after they "escaped" from the Aviary.  I opened the fence to check on them, and they bolted for the yard.  I let them run around for awhile, and they were so happy to be out.  Alex was worried about the hawk, so I stayed close but we didn't see it.

Poetry in Poultry

What to do with Alex in school?

I think I need a job

The clock is a tickin'

Better watch me some chicken

So I don't turn into a slob

Okay, so I am no poet, but I could be a chicken sitter professionally...Check out this article:

http://www.countryliving.com/homes/country-chic-0311-chicken-sitters

Thanks, Becky, for sharing this article!  Loved it!

Security Breach

I mentioned in my last post that we got a lot more snow.  This time, I didn't shovel the snow from the roof of the coop.  I meant to, but laziness/stupidity took over.  It warmed up a little, and then froze again, and the snow turned into a huge sheet of heavy ice.  The giant ice block slid down the sloping roof (how did I not see that coming?!) and collapsed/tore the netting.  It was a huge pain to clear the ice from the netting so I can repair it.  I may have to bribe CNA2 to help me when he gets home from work.   For now, the chickens have to stay in the coop so they don't become hawk food.

Notice the icicle hanging from the netting.  It's really hard to
clear the ice without tearing the netting even more!

I got smart and shoveled the ice that was still on the coop.  It broke off
in HUGE sheets and was very heavy!

I was glad that the ice fell while the girls were in the coop for the night so that it didn't fall on them.  It was really heavy!  I'll head over there later with some twist ties and "stitch" the netting back together.  Next time I will be sure to shovel the snow right away!