How Do You Make a Chicken Diaper?

  

Moshe with the blue coffee container and some of the Peeps

      Up here in the North Georgia Mountains we have experienced a brief reprieve from the weather the past few days.  It has been a blessing, a time to enjoy the outdoors, a break from the constant vigilance of tending the wood stove.  Moshe has been letting the chickens out of the arks every afternoon so that they can forage for seeds, greens, and any bugs that are still in the ground.  They are so funny!  This afternoon when I came home from town, they all ran to meet the Jeep.  They might be "dumb animals", but they sure do know who we are, what our routine is, etc..... They recognize the sound of our voices.  If I stand in the dining room and look out at the Peeps' coop, they look at me and - literally - jump straight up and down! And the older chickens come a' runnin' when either of us is carrying the  blue coffee can that we tote their chicken pellets or cracked corn in.
  

they will eat out of our hands

      So, Sunday morning I had this idea... The "Peeps" are growing up, and it bothered me that they stay cooped up (no pun intended) all the time, while the older chickens wander by.  I suggested to Moshe that we let them out to graze the yards as well.  After a brief discussion of the pros and cons, we decided we would try it, and, if need be, physically put them back in their coop at dusk.  It has been hilarious watching their antics the past few days.  The roosters are definitely  displaying competitive rooster behaviors;  Cogburn was even silly enough to challenge Brewster - our big old rooster who is more than double Cogburns' size.  Some of the peeps couldn't quite figure out how to get out of the coop the first couple days,  but today they had no problem.
  

Chicken Little is in the far left of this photo

      All of them - with the exception of Chicken Little - knew right away how to get back into the coop for the night.  Every evening Chicken Little roosts in the boxwoods next to the back porch, and, every evening I get her out of the boxwoods, cuddle her for a few moments, then place her in the coop with Pretty Face and all the Peeps.
     A couple months ago I wrote about the strange way that we got Chicken Little.  At the time, we assumed that she was a "Peep", about the same age as all our other Peeps... Now I'm not so sure... All the other Peeps have grown, but she is still just the same.  The other chicks are two to three times her size.  It's so ironic that I named her "Chicken Little"!  I named her that because she seemed to fall out of the sky and into our yard.  But now her name is even more appropriate.  She is the cutest little bird I've ever met!!!  I'm wondering if she might not be a year or two old... not a Peep at all...
     I told Moshe I'd like to figure out a way to make diapers for her and keep her inside as a pet.  That didn't go over real big for some reason...
      SHALOM  Y'ALL - TWYLA

The Sky Is Falling

left to right - Blondie and Chicken Little

    Okay. What a strange day.  The oddest thing happened this afternoon.  I was in the kitchen and had just put the lasagna noodles into the pot of boiling water when Moshe came in the back door.  He had the funniest look on his face; somewhere between incredulity and being in on a private joke...
     He said, "Come outside."  I hesitated.  He said it again.  A bunch of thoughts raced through my mind... Did we have unexpected company?  Maybe someone I hadn't seen in a long time?  Or, was there a new puppy or kitten out there?  He said, "Turn to your right."  I did so.  He then instructed me to walk down the side of the house and toward the chicken arks.  By the time I got to the steps leading down to the yard, I spotted her;  a pretty little white chicken.  Almost identical in size to our peeps.
     Moshe got some corn and pellets to throw to her and we approached her from opposite sides.  She was REALLY easy to catch - obviously not wild like some we've tried to catch.  I picked her up and held her, carried her to the coop and put her in with the peeps.  She got up on one of the roosts, and seemed pretty happy there.  The other peeps tolerated her presence without many ruffled feathers.  "Blondie" made a point of letting her know that he IS the boss of her,  but moments later they were side by side eating. 

"May I have this dance?"

 
 I've decided to call her "Chicken Little".  She looked so tiny when I first lay eyes on her... AND, the sky must be falling, 'cause it seemed as if she fell out of it!  A week or so ago, I wrote in my blog titled, "Reigning Cats and Dogs", about windstsorms carrying animals and depositing them in odd places.  But, there wasn't any wind today.  We suspect that someone who knows we have chickens needed to get rid of this little chickie for some reason, and they just dropped her off, much like people drop off unwanted puppies, kittens, and - sadly - babies. 
     And so we have one more peep to add to our menagerie.  Next time somebody wants to drop off "spare animals", how 'bout a pygmy goat or two???
               Shalom Y'all - Twyla