IMG_2202Wednesday night and most of Thursday, we had some fierce winter winds. They were blowing like crazy!  On the littles’ side of the coop, the wind was just barreling through the small chicken door – heedless of the wind shield Sue put up for just this reason. So, Sue went and picked up some straw bales from Gem’s, our local feed store, and arranged a wind break for them.  You can see Imen there, inspecting for bugs today.  This is really the first day they’ve been out with the bales, because it was so bitterly cold and windy yesterday – they allIMG_2203 hung around inside. Today it was warm and calm enough to have the door open for a few minutes when the sun was shining right inside. They love to hang out in the door way and sun themselves.  Anyway~ Sue also added three bales on the other side for the biggies as well.  Just so their food pallet would have a little protection as well. The biggies were out a bit more yesterday than the littles, but they are all still quite interested in the new hairy lumps that have been added to their run.  I was out there watching them this afternoon, and I goy the distinct feeling they think that the additions are for a Christmas Barn Dance.  I saw them making all kinds of little preparations….

IMG_2215Henny Penny was checking herself out in the looking glass – making sure that her feathers were all laying just so.

IMG_2207Mr. Bigg-Stuff, was struttin’ his stuff – showing off his Christmas feather finery for the girls, hoping to fill his entire dance card early. I’m not sure the girls truly appreciated all he was giving out – they had a tendency to run the other direction, as evidenced by the Sister in the top right of the photo!

IMG_2210Roma was sunning herself after bathing, making sure that her fancy dress is as white as can be for the festivities.  You can’t see them in the photo, but the water droplets looked just like crystals on her feathers this afternoon.  I’m sure she’ll be the belle of the ball!

IMG_2214And, finally, I caught Mandrake working on his curly tail feathers, curling them even tighter – because, you know, the girls go for that sort of thing. Oh, and the white neck tie too!  He’ll be ready when the music starts!

What they’ll all really enjoy are the hot grains mixed with cranberries! Everyone deserves a Christmas treat, right? I guess this will wrap it up for us until after Christmas. We hope everyone has a truly blessed time with friends and family.  We’ll catch up with you before the New Year. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!

Today’s Weather: COLD! This morning Sue said it was 28° when she got up!  All the water was frozen outside… she ended up carting around pitchers of hot water to melt through the top ice. When I went to water, the little white tub still had a layer of ice on it as well as one of the duck pools. The high today was 51°, overnight low is looking to be 27°. Sunset is 5:22 – already the days are getting longer!  Sunrise tomorrow, 7:16.

Egg Report: Yesterday we had a total of 11 Chicken eggs and 1 stalwart Duck. Today was the lowest we’ve had since last winter: 5 Chicken eggs and 1 good ol’ Duck.