September 8, 2012 Blondie Update

Here's a photo of Blondie 6 weeks after the gate accident, which cracked her beak.  You can see there is still a nick in both parts of the beak, but she is scratching and eating fine. The biggest news in her recovery is that she is able to peck corn on the cob again and sheer off pieces of green leaves; neither of which she could do for the first 3-4 weeks!

And she has become sweeter since her injury; always the first at the coop door in the morning and the first to run out into the playground ready to plunder worms.  Now I can even pick her up more often than before.

Here are the Girls in their newly grown pasture, which is attached to the chicken coop and protected from overhead predators with plastic chicken fencing. While this side gets destroyed and eaten, I have re-seeded the other side and it will be open for grazing at the end of October. I keep the rotation going, as well as letting them out into the bigger open aired playground - but I saw a coyote yesterday morning on the outside of the big main fence: scared him off with some clapping and I hope he/she stays away! Kind of worried about that but I guess I have to let that go and let them get outside and be 'chickens'.

I used some old leftover seeds: broccoli, corn, bok choy, sunflowers, and spinach as well as new alfalfa, oats and wheat. They seem to appreciate the variety!

Curious is STILL broody - it's been 28 days! Last time she was broody for 30 days and took another 16 until she started laying again. What a good mommy she would have made if she had been sitting on fertilized eggs.