Elsa

Having a 17-year-old kid doesn't mean you can escape the Disney names for pets. Elsa was a cute chick and now a noisy but beautiful Buff Orpington. You know what percolating sound chickens do, followed by a loud "bwak!"? That's her.

Winter-proofing the coop and run

We have learned a lot about keeping chickens over the winter. As I've mentioned a time or two (or three), the winters here are tough. Luckily, so are my hens.

We do wrap their run in plastic so they can get out most days.

We do put fall leaves in the run on soggy days.

We do have a heat lamp in their coop.

We have a heated water container in their coop.

Oh, and a they have a pull-out couch.

Full bar, too.

Just kidding. But everyone needs help getting through the winter.

Jim wrapping the run in plastic. The scarecrow was not my idea.
It was in the back seat of my car after I leant it to my Dad for a day. Dads.

2014 Chicks

This year's chicks are all grown up. I got them in March and it was a great day. After thinking for a few years that we would be sunsetting the Chicken Project, I just decided the opposite. I love getting the chicks, raising them, introducing them to the flock, naming them. So it's full on now. We're heading into winter and it will get harder but it is all worth it. So, for this post, just an abundance of photos that shows why it's all worth it! And I high-fiving frog I drew at Macaroni Grill!

Check out this egg

Can you believe the size of this egg?

Just kidding. It's a Condor egg - one we got to hold during a ranger talk at the Grand Canyon National Park.

Look what I got to see this morning!

I opened the door to check on eggs and found Peach Freeze there. She seemed to be in a trance, making tiny noises. Then this happened:

It was one of those "Isn't this an amazing world?" moments. Never gets old.

Sylvia Pogiolli

Two posts in a row about one of my hens dying. :-( This time, I found Sylvia Pogiolli, a beatiful laced-winged Wyandotte, dead inside the coop. It's always so unsettling. Couldn't see any cause of death and she was only about two years old. The rest of the flock, of course, went about their business like nothing had happened.

R.I.P. Sylvia Pogiolli :-(

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