The hens held hostage....day 5...

In order to thwart the hunting efforts of that sneaky coyote, I have been keeping the chickens penned up every day. I was out pretty early watering this morning and by 9 I was feeling hungry for breakfast.  I put down my hose and went inside, and popped an English muffin into the toaster. I heard goats snorting in alarm. I turned and saw that coyote creeping down the hill toward Little Crow, our bantam hen.

Now Little Crow and I have an understanding.  I leave her alone, and she will continue to live at FiddleSong Farm.  She heartily and VOCALLY disapproves of egg stealing, and she gets to pick where she roosts. She can fly like a quail, so she has the run of the farm, and she loves heirloom tomatoes, thank you so much.  There is no controlling Little Crow. But I LOVE that hen.

When I saw that coyote after her, the hair stood up on the back of my neck!  I ran out the front door and yelling for the dogs, ran full speed down the path and burst through the gate. Little Crow ran unharmed into the barn, right betwen the legs of highly alarmed goats. "GET THAT COYOTE!!!!" I yelled to the dogs. We all ran up the hill. "GET HIM, GET HIM, GET HIM!!!" Jack was slow, because he didn't want to leave me, but Sheila saw that varmint and streaked up the hill barking!  Tilly got into it too, although she looked like she was barking at Sheila. The coyote shot under the fence and took off, while Jack ran along and peed on all the fence posts. So helpful :) As I finally arrived at the crest of the hill, I was surrounded by three excited barking Aussies and.....a goat.  Bella, my favorite doe of the day, had left the security of the herd and followed me up that hill as fast as she could.  There she was, standing calmly at my side amid a pack of three jumping, snarling, barking dogs, looking across the road trying to catch a glimpse of the departing coyote.

I have given her an extra helping of grain and a well deserved new title....

...Bella the Brave

Warm winter days and chicken scratchings....

While snow storms blanket the Midwest and East Coast with harsh temperatures below freezing, FiddleSong Farm is enjoying some warm sunny days. We are at about 2700 feet in elevation, which lifts us above the valley fog. We do get snow, but it rarely lasts more than a few days. Kirkwood Resort is about 40 minutes up Hwy 88, if you are into skiing :)

Sunday, I spent the afternoon hours working in the garden in a t-shirt! I raked pine needles and transplanted a couple of shrubs. I weeded and cleaned up some veggie beds, and replanted (for the fifth time) a small cabbage transplant plant that Red Hen insists on scratching out of the ground. She loves to help in the garden, often staging herself under my left elbow, watching carefully for any unearthed edibles. She LOVES the fat nightcrawlers that are plentiful during the winter and spring. They grow fairly large, and it is really comical to watch her grasp one in her beak and then BAAAAACK up until she finally drags it out of it's hole! She chuckles and clucks to me the whole time we are working, making my time in the sunshine and fresh air so much more enjoyable. It's funny that she has become so special to me. I didn't raise her, she was given to me by a friend, but I take a LOT of extra time to make sure she is comfortable and safe. She loves to be handled and pampered, and has a wonderful personality :)

I have three young roosters, on the other hand, that are freezer bound. I have promised myself that I am going to "process" them as soon as I have room in the freezer. I raised these three birds from chicks, and they were hatched by one of my own hens last spring. This is a HUGE challenge for me to take that next (logical) step and begin actually "using" my extra roosters for meat. They have had a kind, abundant and peaceful life here on the farm. I have tried to think of that being their purpose from their beginning. They have never been named, or snuggled or rescued from danger. They are "just chickens".

WOW! I think I have made a breakthrough!