Winter Weather
It finally happened.
The forecast stuck and Indianapolis experienced its first winter weather complete with freezing rain and snow. As if the lack of free ranging time in the evenings wasn’t already an adjustment for the girls after the time change, the sudden drop in temps causing their marigold fortress to wilt away and cold cold frozen ground? It’s just too much.
Miss Gerty hasn’t laid an egg in nearly two weeks and the last one laid was found in the dust bath a peace offering to Mother Nature to bring back the sun to her favorite place to spend the sunny afternoons, melting into a boneless chicken puddle. On these frosty mornings Gerty is the last one up and the first one to lead the parade back up to the hut in the evening for bedtime. Recently she’s been offered bedtime treats while on the roost just because her Chickie Momma feels her suffering with the weather change. I mean, who doesn’t want to eat an amazing meal and then hibernate until spring? Sign. Me. Up.
The others ladies have been a tad more flexible with the weather change; food is a great motivator for these girls! Their oatmeal is often laced with fennel seeds and parsley, both thought to promote egg production. With few exceptions they’ve been sending in 2 eggs daily which is not nearly as fun to track through the video feed at work, but we’ve been able to keep eggs off the grocery list for now.
The great light debate is picking up some momentum between the Chickie Parents…the things do you don’t discuss prior to raising chickens together will re-surface, but I’m happy to report we’ll be able to find a compromise since I’m a sucker for sparkly twinkly lights that will also nicely tie in with their Christmas decor and store bought eggs are bleh.
The other noticeable change in the Ladies is their feisty factor which most likely is the boredom factor. Somehow they’ve already reached the coop fever stage of the season and are tired of being trapped in their coop with not as much space as they would choose for themselves. They often take time sitting in the nesting box to nap in the warmth even if they don’t deposit an egg as a usage fee. When the box is occupied on the desired side to lay an egg, the one ready to lay has been caught on camera shooing her sister out using typical sibling methods like head pecks or squashing the sitting hen.
When they do get time out of the coop they are nit picking each other- Amelia chases Mae, Nettie flaps across the yard after Vera, Vera squawks for Chickie Parent intervention, Gerty tries to find quiet until Ada sprints after her…on and on until 15 minutes later when it’s dark enough to trigger their desire to head back to the coop.
I guess that is the silver lining with this time of the year…they’re a breeze to get back into the coop at night. Another silver lining? Chicken poop doesn’t stink when it’s cold.
