Watch out, this is Henzilla, the attack hen, seriously this hen acts almost like a rooster and attacks me on occasion, she is just not quite as dangerous in her attacks, but nonetheless, this is annoying. This is one of my Golden Laced Wyandottes that I got on May 12 of this year, so they are almost 6 months old.
A rainbow of eggs, from left to right these eggs are from Jersey Giant, Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, mixed breed, California White and the two dark brown ones are from Whitney my Welsummer chick. the other Wellies aren't laying yet, so will see about their egg colors.
Hen in molt, they sure look pitiful
same hen from the front
2 Black Jersey Giants, the left one is in molt, the brownish colored feathers are old, the black green shiny ones are new
this one is starting to look more like a normal chicken again, but some of the feathers still have to grow completely out
Buffy hasn't really started much with molting yet
Chica's sister
Chica is my smaller Buff Orpington hen, I think her eyesight is getting worse, it seems like she can still see distant things okay, but has trouble with seeing things nearby like when she tries to eat. She has always had some problems with coordinating her beak and eating small items, but it seems to be getting worse. When I give her something to eat, she will act like eating about 2 inches away from the food then slowly lower her beak continuing that motion until she actually touches the food, once she knows how far away it is than she seems to have less trouble. When she was a tiny chick she already had trouble when I gave them some cooked spaghetti, she was the only one who kept missing the noodles when she pecked at it. Back then I figured she was just clumsy, but now I know this started very early. For now I bring her in overnight so she can eat in peace after running around all day and then in the morning before she goes outside.
This is Miss Daisy the mystery pullet from last fall. She is a rather flighty but smart bird, she lays a beautiful smooth green egg almost every single day, even while going through molt.
one of my Golden Laced Wyandottes, they are very pretty birds
size comparison, on the left is the Silver Spangled Hamburg pullet and to the right the same age a Wyandotte pullet
I have put up more shade cloth to protect the hens from our cold winter winds, unfortunately our winds do not always come from the same direction, sometimes it blows hard from the North, sometimes from the South, and sometimes it starts out from the South, then stops and 30 minutes later the wind blows from the North. I have gone to bed with wind blowing from the North and I closed and opened windows for the animals accordingly, then in the middle of the night I wake up and now the wind blows from the opposite site, so I have to go out, close the windows and open those that are on the other end.
my pretty little Silver Spangled Hamburg pullet, I haven't really given her a name, but she is definetely unique.
here is Sam, one of my Anatolian Shepherd Dogs, she loves the chickens and here she enjoyes laying in the soft straw near the chickens
the Hamburg pullet and a Welsummer pullet checking out the crate, they haven't started laying yet since the days are getting so short they may not start until the spring
here she is again
and again from the other side
Whitney or "Whitty" as I usually call her, is my 6 month old pullet that I had to hand raise because she had such trouble eating on her own. She has grown up around the dogs, so she likes to hang out near them. Since she has no buddies with the hens and sometimes they peck on her, she seems to have figured out if she sticks near the dogs, the other hens won't bother her, now that is smart.
here she is right next to Sam
sticking close to Sam, who doesn't mind, she is quite intrigued with Whitney
this is another one of the Welsummer pullets, she has a weird looking comb, so I have not trouble knowing which one she is. Their feathers are actually quite pretty, I didn't realize they are such pretty birds when I got them, I really was mostly interested in their dark eggs
one of the Welsummer pullets checking out the crushed egg shells
one of my Buckeye pullets
my two Buckeyes, they like to hang out together, they seem to be a much more sedate bird than most of my others
the two Buckeyes again
A Golden Laced Wyandotte
another picture of her
the new water station for the winter, in the summer it's imperative to keep water cool, so I have water bowls that keep water cool, now with the winter coming the concern is to keep the water from freezing overnight, so I brought out the cooler who insulates the water pretty good and I also have a heated bucket for them that also keeps the water from freezing. I plan on leaving the heated bucket out overnight so the hens can get a drink when they get up before I come out, then I will bring this blue cooler with me with some lukewarm water from the house. I do have another cooler that will replace the last of the big black bowls that I use in the summer.
feeding station protected form wind coming from the Southwest, I also covered many of my structures with plastic sheeting to make sure they provide protection from the rain
feeding station protected from Northerly winds, also covered with plastic
One of my California Whites, I am still waiting for them to get some black spots
This was really funny, I have pretty bad eye sight, so I saw this bug and think I can get a good shot of a chicken catching a bug, I was really disappointed that the chicken didn't seem to see the bug until I noticed why she wasn't interested, the bug has been dead and the smart chickie wasn't going to eat that dead old bug
Whitney out and about, she has integrated herself pretty well into the rest of the flock, she still sleeps inside our house in the foyer, I want to make sure she has an opportunity to eat as much as she wants in the mornings and evenings, she is the only one of my Welsummers who is laying at this time and she lays an egg now almost every day. It's amazing how much more she eats now that she lays eggs. And she knew when she needed extra calcium, never touched the crushed egg shells until after she laid her first egg.
here she is again, all 4 of my Welsummers look so much alike, I am learning to keep them apart by the way their comb is shaped. I paint some of Whitney's feathers with nail polish so she is easier to spot