Two's Company, Three's a Crowd

This is a look inside the chicken coop. In the bottom left hand corner, there are two chickens, Mean Nelly, and Dharma, these ladies at the young age of 8 months, have decided they want nothing more than to lay on and "protect" all the eggs. There is another chicken roosting on the edge of the very same brooder box (notice she doesn't even dare to look at them) LOL let alone try to enter their territory. It was cold yesterday, but their coop needed to be cleaned in the worst way, I spent most of the day cleaning that out. For all you chicken owners out there, do you wear a mask of any kind when you clean your coops? I was just wondering, due to reading that bird poo carries a disease called histoplasmosis. Being rambunctious, I also made more brooder boxes, well, I divided the ones that were there by cutting pieces of plywood for dividers between them. Hopefully, this will give the hens an escape from the roosters!

Perfect shot, of a hen decending off the perch probably coming to peck on my snowy boots. I wonder, if I'll have to wear my carhart coveralls to the coop in the summer, these hens, mean business. Hubby was saying, while he collected the eggs a few days ago one of the hens grabbed the skin on his hand and held on. OUCH! I can picture going in this coop with my shorts on...

Just so ya know, I am "longing " for days like this, today we are at a high of 9* F . The three beauties are our old flock, they stay seperate from the new chickens. In the lead you will see Mr. Roo he is 5 years old (well, they all are) and behind him is Dottie, then behind her, is Shenae' nae (my daughter named that one) these three are as tame as can be. They live in the stable area of the barn, have the company of the horses. During stall cleanings they will follow me in the stall and scratch at the shavings on the floor. The black hen, actually, lays her eggs in one of the horses feeders amungst other areas within the barn. For example; in the way back corner of any stall, in a cat carrier, that is stored in there, sometimes, I will find one laying in the hay just below her roosting area. Must be the days she decides to sleep in! I don't know about you, however, if laying an egg is anything like giving birth, I'm not sure I could sleep while doing so!!!

Well, I better "try" to get some things done in our living quarters.