The End of Spring Break

It's been a relaxing day at Red Door Coop.  Warm and windy.  A good day for walks outside and reading inside.  A good day for pictures of the hens.  And another visitor.

From the left: BB, Weezy, Jim, and Murphy.

The Matriarch: Bill.

 With their keen eyes the hens follow Mama Hen's jar of scratch.

Funky evening light.

Jim loves to peek down at the others and beg for treats from the loft.

The bird feeder and a bird!

Visitor

We had a visitor.  It invited itself over, really.  And it didn't stay long.

See it up there?

Hanging out with the Captain.

Celebration!

We woke to this.  Brrr.  Sixteen degrees.

And then later in the day, we celebrated with a walk about.  Fifty-two degrees.

The icing on the celebratory cake was new soil in the dirt bath.

Spring Break

Papa Hen and I just spent a few days in sunny and hot Tucson, Arizona.  We had a wonderful trip!  Now we are settling back into life in Littleton and feel so welcome because March brought what it always brings in Colorado: SNOW!

The five hens are perfectly comfortable and warm despite six inches of snow, more snow coming, and strong winds.  They just wanted their treats!

There Was A Big Rat in the Coop

We'd seen a good sized rodent around the yard and compost in the past several weeks.  By good sized I mean definitely not a mouse.  We had yet to identify this rodent until Saturday morning when Papa Hen opened a nesting box door to find a big brown and gray and black rat in the box.  Mama Hen saw its big black tail and turned away, not wanting to see the entirety of the invader.

Papa and Mama Hen worked together to move the chickens to Red Door Coop pen, remove all food and water from the coop, and close the rat in the coop until later in the day.  We needed to make a plan.

The coop was in disarray inside and out.

The chickens were a bit unhappy since the small wood nesting box and the homemade nesting box were not acceptable to chickens who have high standards since they live in the Ritz-Carlton of coops.  To that Mama and Papa Hen said "deal with it!"

We traveled North for an appointment, stopped at the ranch store for supplies (and to gaze at the adorable chicks for sale), and headed home for lunch.  And of course, The Rat Problem.  (No, there are no pictures of the rat.  No one wants to see that!)

Between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning we strategized and attempted to rid ourselves of the rat problem.  The chickens spent Saturday night in the garage.  On Sunday morning Papa Hen, the Great White Hunter, was victorious.  Mama Hen cleaned the coop with lots of elbow grease, and the chickens returned to their happy home.

How did this rat enter the coop?  We believe it trotted right in the front door.  When we are home we leave the coop door open so the chickens can wander the yard taking care of chicken business.  The open door must have looked very inviting, along with the fresh water, food, and soft bedding.

Sorry you couldn't stay, Mr. Rat.

Phew.  What a weekend.

Mama Hen's Favorite Horse

Mama Hen does not know many horses.  She loves one horse.  A nameless horse she calls Shiloh.  Shiloh is a couple years old and growing fast.

And the chickens at Red Door Coop are fine.  Squawk!