Crazy Chickens!

(Trudy, our White Leghorn, checking out the camera while her friends drink their milk.)

My chickens love milk.  Really!  Milk!  I found that to be a surprise, but then again, thinking back to the "old fashioned" way of farming, it was quite typical for farmers to give the first bit of their cow's milk to the barnyard animals.  I guess I just always thought that it would go to the kittens, goats, or other large animals.  After reading in a book that milk was not only good for chickens (the calcium is needed for strong egg shells) but they enjoyed it as a treat, I just had to see for myself....and sure enough!  They love it!

Some other things they really enjoy are yogurt, cottage cheese, and meat. (Why did I have the conception that chickens only liked, bugs, grains and veggies?)

So what fun treats do your chickens enjoy?

Spring Chicks -The Flip Flop Girls!

Oh my, spring has sprung at The Chick Inn! Three out of my fourteen hens have gone broody. My blue Cochin, Cell, hatched out one baby last Friday. After sitting on her additional eggs for a few hours, she gave up and left her nest. Instead of letting them go, I scooped them up and gave them to my other broody hen, the cuckoo Maran. Today the cuckoo hatched out a baby -an Easter Egger! (My favorite!) After sitting on the other eggs the rest of the day, she abandoned them! So, I scooped them up (we heard peeping fom one!) and put them back under Cell. Oh yeah, and the cuckoo's baby is under Cell too. The cuckoo is back up in the nesting box. I guess she wants to sit on eggs, but not her newly hatched baby. She's a young hen (not quite a year old) so maybe that explains it. Anyway, we'll see if Cell can hatch out another by morning. On top of all of that, I have a black Cochin who is also broody. She's only on day three though, so who knows what we'll get fom her nest. :)

Hello Dolly!

Well, here is our newest edition, Dolly.  She is a three pound, two-year-old poodle shih-tzu mix that was recently rescued from a puppy mill.  We are fostering her – and possibly adopting her – depending on how the “old lady” of the house takes to her.  (The old lady of the house, is, of course, little Nan, my shih tzu, who will be 16 in May.)  So far, Nandy is ignoring the “problem” and quite frankly, probably hoping “it” will go away, but for now we press on in hopes of a blossoming friendship.

Dolly had never been out of a puppy mill cage until just a few days ago.  Everything is new to her and it’s so funny watching her figure out how life works on the “outside.” 

She was rescued and then had major surgery:  three dew claws removed (because they were long and infected), a complete hysterectomy due to all of the back-to-back litters of puppies, and dental work done.  She almost didn’t survive the surgery, but the vet was able to keep her going and now she is with me recovering.  She stays on my lap whenever I sit and if I can’t hold her she finds someone to take my place.

She has such a sweet spirit about her and I’m really hoping that Nandy warms up to her.  I would love to keep her, however I have a lot of folks volunteering to take her if it doesn’t work out.  :0)

Amigurumi Lion

I made this little guy for my little nephew, Caleb.  I followed the pattern in the Vanna White's Easy Crochet Critters amigurumi book.  I hope he likes it!

Brady’s Crocheted Football

This was quite an ambitious project for me.  I started a crocheted football for Brady just three days before Christmas.  I thought it was going to be small, like a nerf-sized ball, but it turned out to be full size.  You crochet it in rounds with single crochet, so it has to be worked pretty tight.  My poor hand was cramping up so bad!  But, it was worth it – as you can see, he really liked it!  :0) 

Kip’s Christmas Amigurumi Penguin

Here is Kip’s homemade Christmas present for this year.  We bought him a penguin Pillow Pet, so I crocheted a baby penguin for him.  :0)

Stay Warm Ice Scraper

Okay, so I didn’t have a homemade gift for my dad (aka Pawpaw) so I worked this up the night before Christmas Eve in about an hour.  I bought an ice scraper at our Dollar Tree and crocheted a tube to fit over it.  Now he can scrape ice off of his windshield and his hand will stay warm.  Okay….silly idea….but you don’t know my dad.  He loved it!  :0)