When I ordered my last flock of chickens, I planned on 19 pullets (girls) and 1 boy. The hatchery sent 21 birds, and I ended up with two roosters. They got along ok, so I kept both. The only problem was that there was a lot of loving going on. When chickens mate, the rooster hops onto the hens back, and he grabs her head or neck with his beak. This makes for some feather loss on the favorite hens due to the claws and bills. As winter bears down upon us, the bare spots on the hens makes me fret. I decided that one rooster had to go to cut down on all the romance. I was happy to find a good home for one boy, and last night after the birds went to bed, I scooped Randy II off his cozy roost and brought him in to await his ride.
He was uncomplaining, and went off to a new flock sitting in the lap of his new human. On the bird front there is this story. We have three ducks. They live in a hutch next to the chicken coop. In the past few weeks they've been putting themselves to bed in the coop at night instead of their own hutch.. This is actually a good thing. The coop is much more snug, and if they move there not only will they be warmer, but it will reduce the number of houses I need to clean on a regular basis. Last night two ducks went into the coop, and the third put herself to bed UNDER the coop. This is not safe, and we tried to cajole her into joining her family. She refused. We tried three times, hours apart. No go.
About an hour after we went to bed, when I was in a deep, deep sleep, I heard loud, LOUD quacking. right outside my window. So loud it woke me, so loud it made the dogs go berserk. Groggy, I got up, put on clothes, and went to investigate. I didn't really want to lace up my boots, so jammed my feet into Crocs instead. Crocs are comfy rubber shoes, but decidedly dangerous on slippery surfaces. It was snowing. Crocs were a poor choice. Out I went, dogs in tow, to check on the loud duck. She, meanwhile, had put herself into her hutch. I shut her in and called it a night. She was alone but safe. Walking back inside, fully awake now, I realized how dumb it was that I was outside, in the cold and dark, in my pajamas and slippery shoes. If I fell and hurt myself I'd be stuck there until Chris missed me in the morning. Bravo would probably lie on top of me to keep me warm, but Flirt would have burrowed under my clothes to save herself! This weekend I will buy real boots for night time forays into the icy world.
Topic change: I posted previously that I used to knit, but never very well. I only made very basic, simple things. Then I quit knitting 25 or so years ago. Our houseguest last summer made some super cute booties, and I itched to make some, too. Rachel kindly, patiently, sweetly helped me and today I finished these adorable little things:
For real knitters, these are ridiculously simple, but for me they are kind of a big deal. Made from Maine wool, and super soft, they will keep some sweet baby feet warm soon.
Tonight there is only one rooster in the coop, but all three ducks are safely tucked. I will NOT venture out in slippery shoes, but I will start a new knitting project soon. And get new boots.
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