Today is the first day back to school for my eldest. It's less cold here in NS today, I'm thankful for this as we walk down the hill to the bus stop. We are greeted by a great big moon shining against the pale pinks of the morning sky.
Back up the hill to greet the chickens, the ice everywhere reminding me that even though I'm wearing two pairs of pants, I am still a bit cold.
A few hens come right down to the house with me and have a nice drink of hot water. I think they take after me, gotta have that morning Cuppa.
We are expecting a big storm tomorrow, snow and rain and 120 km per hour winds. We will probably lose power again, so I need to bring in a bunch of wood for the woodstove. I'm also going to try to clean up the huge pile of garbage from the bathroom renovation so that it doesn't get covered in snow and become more of a hassle. It's kind of tricky doing things with a two year old hanging off of me, but I have to try.
More chickens come out of the coop and down to where I'm working. The babies are venturing out on their own now without their mother who has started laying eggs again! I'm now up to 5 hens laying: Broody Dalle, Purple, Tiny, Goldie, and Leeloo. So thankful to have fresh eggs from my own hens again.
I just can't get over the Beards on these babies! Their egg mothers Goldie and Scully were sold to me as americana's but as they aren't purebred I refer to them as Easter Eggers. Goldie lays green eggs and Scully lays blue, and they both have the fluffy cheeks and beards of americana chickens, which I am happy to see they passed on to their offspring. Wilbur the young cockerel's coloring is gorgeous, he looks like his Uncle Angel who died protecting the flock last year.
Skully can't seem to hold on to her beard feathers, they always get pulled out when she's eating because she's so messy. I wasn't supposed to let one of her eggs hatch out because scissor beaks are inheritable. Hers is fairly mild, there are some chickens so impaired by their cross beak that they can't eat and they die from starvation. I risked it because of her amazing personality, and I'm happy to say her daughter Stripe has a perfectly aligned beak.
I do wish that Stripe had inherited Skully's coloring but she's still a cutie so whatevs.
With the sun shining it's just about time for me to go back outside and get back to cleaning up. Thank you for sharing a few minutes with me and my sweet chickens.
