Surprised Again!

Remember Nugget?

We thought we had lost her, then she came back.
She would spend a few minutes here and there and then disappear again to who-knows-where.
Well, she showed up again...but not alone!

Nugget is a momma!
She appeared with 10 little chicks, but we were only able to catch 9 of them. We put her in the old hutch that Ugly Betty and her chicks were in, which meant we had to put Betty and her chicks somewhere else. We temporarily put them in with our new ducks...but then one of the chicks drowned in the ducks wading pool.
So, we built Betty and her two remaining babies their own little coop with a small house so they can have shade and get out of bad weather. Betty was so pleased, when my son had just finished attaching the gate to the pen, she walked her chicks up and marched right in!

So, our flock has almost doubled! Nugget is being a very good momma. She makes sure her  wee chicks eat plenty of the chick starter and the treats we give her, clucks to get them over to the waterer and fluffs out her feathers and snuggles them all down at night to keep them warm.

I guess that explains Nuggets prolonged absence!

Lets Get Ready To Rumble!

As you can see by the header picture, Red and Pendar are NOT getting along well these days!
I let the chickens out every morning to wander about the yard while I tend to the goats.
Pendar and his lady love Ugly Betty live in a coop with the peafowl.
Red, of course, has his harem in the bigger chicken coop.
Red and his ladies:

Forgive the bad quality of the pics...a little hazy!

Well, Pendar and Ugly Betty get out of their coop at the same time...and Red feels since he has the rest of the hens,he should have Betty as well! Pendar does not agree with Red on this point, and as is common among males of many species....this leads to chest beating, challenges and, finally, they come to blows.

No one has been hurt, as what they mostly do is fluff their ruffs out, flap their wings and then fly at each other while the hens scamper for cover.
As you can see, Red, our psycho rooster, is larger than Pendar. This does not matter to Pendar! He will defend Ugly Betty to his last breath!
I do find it funny that after a fight, Pendar runs over to Betty and checks her over as if making sure she is okay....and Betty clucks softly while preening herself. Pendar then crows his darnedest, proclaiming to the world that he has defended his lady successfully again.
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Speaking of chickens...we have a new one!
A friend had five chickens, but because they had a dog that wanted chicken dinners, they quickly ended up with one.
They didn't want the fifth one to end up like the rest, so they gave her to us!
We named her Bess and figured we would put her in with Pendar and Betty as we thought putting her in with the big flock might end up with her being pecked.
WRONG idea!
Betty, who is tiny, proceeded to go absolutely crazy on the new hen! Pecking her, flapping her wings at her, jumping on her and just generally harassing the crap out of her!
"Stay away from MY rooster! I KNOW you weren't looking at him like that! "
So, I tried putting her in with Reds flock.
It worked! The hens accepted her in, shared their food and water and even Red was calm about it.
We named her Bess.

I know...she looks like every other chicken we have here...except she has these black under-feathers, so I can pick her out of the crowd easily!

Pics!

Remember Ugly Betty?Well,Ugly no more! AND she is laying an egg EVERY day, sometimes TWO a day.

Isn't she lovely now?

Some shots of our new kid:

Yes, Cornelius has one ear up and one down ALL the time...he just came that way! Gives him sort of a rakish look, lol!  He is nursing well and often and his mama is taking very good care of him. The first night I was concerned because he was so tiny and actually considered bringing him inside to keep him warm...but decided in the end to just keep checking on him and only bring him in IF he was in some sort of distress. Well,his mama kept him warm, so I didn't have to bring him in. Which could have been funny...considering I probably would have tucked the wee cuddly Cornelius into bed with us. I think my Darlin' Man would have been a bit disconcerted to wake up with a goat in our bed, lol!

Nina...looking pretty!

I can barely wait until she kids! I just know her baby is going to have lovely markings!

Gabby and her twins,just hanging out! Gerte got tangled up in some baling twine that got left in the pen, so, after taking this pic, I spent about 5 minutes untangling her.

Wang left us yesterday....on his way to a new home about 5 miles down the road. So, this afternoon we will move Gabby and the twins into the pen with Molly and Paulis and the geese. We'll see how that goes!

Ugly Betty Update!

Remember Ugly Betty?

The remarkable hen that the Darlin' Man bought at the feed store?
Well,she has had a good diet,comfortable pen and friendly neighbors for the past couple of months...and voila!

Betty has feathers! Finally!
Also...

See the wee pale egg?
Ugly Betty finally laid her first egg!

Her roomie,Pericles,is also looking good these days...his tail is growing back in:

Lovely, isn't it?
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As for my leg...healing is progressing:

Still a bit swollen, and,as you can see...bruising is starting to show through. Yes, I need to shave my legs...but right now my leg is still too tender!
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So, while Pender has his breakfast in the back yard....

I think I'll relax with a hot cup of cocoa....
with a dab of whipped cream on top....