Gabby and Spice -- Sisters??

I have sock popping good news!  At long last I happened upon the name of a chicken vet who is only  20 minutes away.  Previous to this, the closest I had heard of was about 90 minutes.  The good news comes from a  chicken group on FB I newly joined,  designed for our particular county in Michigan (I also belong to a Michigan chicken group).  Knock on wood I haven't needed a vet's expertise in months, but I badly wanted a number for that emergency situation.

Speaking of helpful hints, for those readers who physically care for chickens, I have found Fresh Eggs Daily to be a good source of information.  About a month ago she provided us with an easy electrolyte recipe for those patches of scorching hot days. Today's email focuses on basil.  Good stuff.

Now on to the hooligans.

Everyone has mostly shed out but Luigi so both Spice and Gabs are sexy sleek.  A couple of days ago everyone was lined up in a row in front of me with quivering lips to accept carrot treats.  Spice and Gabs next to each other.  Wowzer, they look strikingly similar.  Coloring matches.  I have to look twice now to see who I'm talking to.

Spice

Gabs

See what I mean?  Right now Spice has a little tuft of hair on her forehead, while Gabby has a bit of longer hair on her flanks.  They're the markers I need right now to tell them apart.  Well, except for their behavior.  That sets them distinctly apart.

Spice of late has taken to sidling up next to me and putting her whole body weight into a lean.  We're talking 300 lbs giving me a little snuggle.  No matter what I'm doing.  The other day I was crouched down putting fly socks on Luigi's back legs and Spice slowly backed up until her derriere was in my face -- literally.  I was not laughing.  

Oh, and as a postscript.  Since my last blog post, I have not been able to find my donkey socks at the dollar stores in the area.  This is not good news.

Kooky Kooky Clucks

I actually think no narrative is necessary.
You can come to your own conclusions about these girls.  But the word that comes to my mind is knuckleheads.

Donkey Socks

We're trying all possible means to keep donkeys and chickens comfortable in this horrible heat wave.
Fans are a'whirling in the donkey barn and the coop.
I've put ice cubes in the water trough and the chicken water.
But, it's darn darn hard to relieve the donks of flies.

Their little legs get bitten raw.  I spray legs every day with the least chemically repellents, but still they get bitten.  Then it's time to  pull out the socks.

These little gems, found at the dollar store, are just the ticket.  Cut off the toes and you get the perfect  cover-up for little donkey legs. 

Luigi shows off his spanking new pair of dazzling white leg wear

Not to be outdone, Spice models with elegant sophistication her pair.  Between you and me, she felt she really outshone Luigi in all ways possible and expects a modelling contract soon.

Notice how sleek and sexy she looks.
She's the only donk who has completely shed out -- and it's July!! 









Often it becomes a game of hide and seek when you see a naked leg and start the hunt for a now dirt-colored sock.  See it?

 
But they can be tossed in the washing machine and used again and again.  Until the holes are bigger than a fly.

Broody Hen

A few evenings ago, when I went out to lock up the coop, Fluffy would not leave the nesting box.  Nope, not gonna. 
So, I let her be.

Rick went out to feed the next morning and I asked him to take a good look at her.  I, of course, jumped to the conclusion she was sick and I immediately started refreshing what to do for a bound egg.  Rick immediately leapt to the conclusion she was being broody.  We've only had one other girl get broody so we don't have a lot of experience with that chicky behavior.

Turns out Rick had the better guess.  Nuts!

For two days we gently, but forcefully, removed her and told her she had to go get a drink and eat a bit.  She did a little back-talking but obliged.  And we'd find a nice pile of eggs under her. 

Often, everyone likes to use the same nesting box so she could brood over a bunch of "babies".  (We have 12 boxes, but hens are fickle.)  I tried to explain the facts of life to her about the boy roosters and the girl hens, but she shut her eyes, closed her ears and that was the end of the discussion.

Each time we went out, back she appeared in the nesting box.  Until yesterday.  She gave up trying to be a mom and scooted out with the rest of the girls in the morning.  Whew!  Short-lived crisis.

Speaking of moms, look what I just discovered today.  Next door.

And finally, speaking of cows, for those who are looking to ditch dairy, my new favorite non-dairy yogurt is da bomb (as my vegan cousin proclaimed).

   
Easily available at Kroger grocery stores in my neck of the woods in Michigan and, I've been told, also at Costco.  It is totally deelish.  And no calves were deprived of milk to make it.  Yes!

Mice Mice Go Away

I thought we were living together amicably.  Mice would skitter out of sight in the chicken coop and I didn't think much about it.  We have the philosophy live and let live.  I'm even trying to find a humane way to keep the flies at bay (without much luck), but those sneaky mice crossed the line.

We knew they were helping themselves to chicken feed, but we finally put our feet down and said enough!

Instead of setting the feeder on wood blocks as we normally have done, (to keep it out of the shavings), Rick hung it.  Thinking it would be too high for the mice to sneak into.

 
Since we took away one food supply, the mice turned to chewing their way through plastic containers in which we keep/kept the wild bird seed (treats for the girls) .  Sneaky little devils.

  

So we've switched to glass containers, but the feeder has to be repositioned... again.  they can still get into it.  I don't mind giving the mice a little handout, but not when I'm feeding the girls organic feed, plus some pricey higher protein feed.  No.

And I know you've all be waiting anxiously for another donkey video.
Here you'll find Luigi attesting to the fact Equine Senior is lip-smacking good.  This is after he snuck into the barn and confiscated some of Spice's portion.  The others congregated around absolutely gob-smacking certain I had treats hidden in my phone.

 

Yes, I Have a Favorite

Sweet Pea is my favorite chicken.  There I've said it.
Yea, yea I know you're not supposed to have a favorite child.  But I do.

Long time readers will know she's the only hen left of the original four from 2015.  My first foray into the world of clucks.  And longevity makes the heart grow fonder.

from 2015

Sweet Pea is on the right

what a little girl

Taken yesterday:

A sweet girl

And a good helper

And here we have a failed selfie

We were both quite disappointed

Facts about Sweet Pea you really need to know --

She knows her name and will come from the furthest corner of the pasture when I call

She has a distinctive voice -- I know immediately it's her without looking

She loves to help clean up donkey manure -- really

She let's me pick her up, but only because I want to -- it's not her favorite thing to do

I love her.

Peaceful Chonkey Mornings

Some mornings are just about perfect.  Mild temps, a slight wind, the donkeys cooperate, the chickens come when called.  The problem is not all the elements gel every morning; bits and pieces are perfection and then there is the rest.

Here you have those bits and pieces.

When I enter the donkey yard, the girls are always chatting up a storm.  I've come to the conclusion they have early morning team meetings knowing I won't be there.  And no, I have never received an email with the agenda.  Coincidence?

volume up!

Donkeys much contentedly.  No bickering, to each other or to me.  Ahhh...

 

And the final lazy summer morning moment.

Now to get all these peaceful moments in one package.  That would be heaven.