Red Door Coop on a Winter Afternoon

Holidays

We had a fun and festive christmas with our family in town.  The weather was chilly, the moon was full, and the laughter was plentiful.

The chickens had sunny coop days and enjoyed all the treats that were offered from the meals cooked in the big house.

The nights were cold, very cold.  The chickens spent them nestled in the garage coop.

In the mornings they were greeted with warm chicken mash treats.  The old girls enjoyed cuddling under the roost in the late morning.

The cold nights continue but the days are sunny.  We will visit with friends for the new year.  Hooray.

Mama Hen's Mama

She pulled on the chicken coop boots and coat and joined the chickens in Red Door Coop for a visit.

Jim

During chicken chores this morning I happened to catch Jim heading into the nesting box to lay her egg.

She's going.

Going.

Gone.  (Almost)

Christmas Vacation Begins

...with a rest in the coop.  Bill and BB took a break from the chicken run yesterday afternoon.  They lounged in the coop.

Mama Hen's Mama and Papa arrived from afar with a bag of popcorn in hand.  The chickens enjoyed popcorn leftovers!

Big Egg

Papa Hen found this in the nesting box today.

It is a big egg.  Tipping the scale.  We haven't had an egg this big since Fitz was in her prime.

Before The Snow

Over the weekend, the chickens did all their normal stuff.  We got some new organic chicken feed from a local shop called Lewis & Bark.  The store specializes in all the goods and gear needed for cats and dogs, and is now branching out to have supplies for other creatures.  The chickens loved this new feed.  It's a good treat to have on a cold week like this one!

Jim and Murphy.

Bill.

Molting Weezy.

BB.

Snow Day

Mama Hen has a snow day today.  Papa Hen has to drive s-l-o-w-l-y to the office.  Here's what it looks like out back.  The chickens won't be out of the coop for awhile.  They'll get plenty of chicken vittles today!

Not On Vacation!

No, we have not been on a LONG vacation.  We have had computer troubles.  Luckily, the techno-woe is on its way out and we are getting back on track with all things technology in our home, including the Red Door Coop blog. 

Here are the birds.

We've been battling a night time issue for several weeks.  The new girls, Jim and Murphy, have been bullied off the roost at night and bedded down in the nesting boxes.  This is a habit that can bring out some very bad habits in the hens.  All the things we'd been trying to remedy the bad habit failed.  Big Time.  We did a lot more research and found a (so far) successful solution: slatted curtains over the nesting box doors.  Keep your fingers crossed that it will continue working.  

Here is Papa Hen replacing thew white rope lights with red rope lights.  This is not to be festive for the season.  We discovered that red lights will allow us to check on the chickens at night, but does not keep the birds up.  We are hoping this will minimize bullying when we have the lights on in the early evening. 

Here is our front yard!