January 4, 2013 New Construction

After the death of Blondie, my Mr.Wonderful decided to build his 9th. chicken complex project: another covered pasture area.  We made it smaller than the uncovered playground and it is tucked in behind our concrete water tank; still large enough for all the Girls to scratch around and be protected from overhead.  All the old plastic green poultry fencing Steve was able to use as the top cover.

Steve pounding in giant staples to hold up the chain link

View into new pasture from east gate

It is now a very secure place: but if a predator wanted to dig under the wire, I suppose with effort it could get in. I don't leave the gates open overnight which helps deter any mean guys.

Amelia having a salad

I bought a 'suet holder' normally used for wild birds  and decided to use it as a 'greens holder' for the girls. Here is Amelia pecking away at the assorted gains from my dumpster diving. All the Girls enjoy having to peck at something that is up off the ground.

Amelia is still picked on by [mostly] Fearless who is trying to maintain her #3 status in the flock. But, Amelia is still Miss SassyPants and loves to jump up on my back or lap whenever she can and is learning how to avoid any nasty pecks whenever I'm around. Fearless is very vocal to me if I give a lot of special attention to Amelia: it's pretty comical to hear her scolding me, so I have to give equal attention to Fearless by holding out a tasty leaf for her to peck.

We are getting a new chicken from Mentor Barb: blog to follow as soon as I get her portrait! She is coming out of a molt and looking a little scruffy, but I will have her whole story in the next post.

.....stay tuned!