strut yo’ stuf. or meet the hens. part 1.
meet feyoncé. the lady of the foreground. she struts with one leg in front of the other.. her feet of slate grey. she’s a model, strut strut cluck. she’s the “easter egger” hen. some kind of blend of ameracauna. she will hopefully lay greenish blue eggs. she’s developing a beard. i like to call it her muff beard. i think it will keep her warm in winter and fashionable in the fall. it will be nothing but a burden during the 6 months of summer here in the central part of texas. feyoncé is a little skittish but will come sit on your lap if you give her time to warm up to you. she’s super soft. and i find her quite hilarious.
this is part 1 of a 4 part series. more hen bios soon.
ps. feyoncé will be the bearded lady at local circus events in town. it’s her part time gig, along with future egg layin’ and modeling.
amanda by Q.
my friend amanda (Q) came over today. she takes fabulous photos. i heart her. thank you amanda for inspiring a blog post after a slight moment of blog-block. (writer’s block).
this is why i’m hott.
I want to be a farmer. The end.
go on an’ shake ya tail out.
The lady birds eat carrot tops. They jump for carrot tops. They fly to humans because they love you for feeding them carrot tops. They are chick chick chickadoo happy.
PS-I had a horrible dream that one of my chicks ended up being a rooster… So far, I think we have all hens.. but you never know what could sprout up in development.
bird sitting.
As I’m headed off to bed, wanted to leave you with this magical moment of chicken birds.
freshman move in day.
5 days ago, the ladies moved out. They went from living in a box on our kitchen table to the coop like fabulous lady bird professionals. We moved them in late in the evening, just as the sun was going down. We didn’t want the heat to stress them out all day, so we waited until it was cooler. I checked on them twice, they slept in a pile and made it through the night.
The hot Austin days worry me. It’s hot outside. No one is outside unless you are by a body of water. The public indoor spaces are full of people that normally live outdoors. (The library for example.) I did some research in order to make sure the chicks survived the brutal 106° F days. I found out that chicks love frozen water bottles and berries. So that’s what they got. Perspiring, frozen water bottles melt fast, but they are better than nothing. The girls perch up on the bottles and cool themselves down. I also sprayed the ground with a water bottle, made sure the coop was in the shade and they had plenty of fresh water.
I think they are taking well to being outside. I let them out in the mornings and evenings to play. For now they are cooped up, but we are getting them a run so they can play during the day. I don’t trust the neighborhood cats and raccoons enough to let them be out and about during the day. Maybe when they are big.. but for now, they are my babies. My protective mother instinct is in overdrive.
Enjoy the video of freshman move in day at the dorms!
i feel the earth move under my feet.
the ladies are almost 4 weeks old! they went outside today and explored!
check out carole king singing exactly how the lady birds were feeling.
chicken little?
They grow so fast. I’m off to work.. just wanted to post some recent photos of the ladies and one old photo.. Deborah loves hanging out on top of the feeder. <3
this is how we do it.
I’m sitting here. It’s 2am. I spent the last 3 hours at 2 different bars on the eastside of town. Did I have an enjoyable time? Yes. Do I do that often? No.
What’s my idea of a good night? Something comfortable. A sofa or a bed. A book or a movie. A really nice wooden bench, listening to bluegrass, drinking beers out of jelly jars. That kind of thing.
I don’t know why the bar scene isn’t my scene, I just know that it’s not. I sat there tonight, drinking a Shiner, and was asking my friends, “So this is what you do? You sit around and drink beer and talk?” The answer was yes. Apparently, the more you drink the better the conversation.
I’m a natural conversationalist. I don’t need beer to talk, EVER! Baby, I was born a talker. I bet I could get Morgan to pay me $5.00 not to talk for 5 minutes.. Yes, she’s done something like that before.
This blog is not a judgement blog. I am not judging the party animals. It’s just not my thing. I’m 27 going on 80, apparently. I like it how I like it. That’s the end of the story.
So if anyone in Austin wants to sit around on my sofa, shoot the shit, drink sparkling water, listen to pandora radio, write letters, draw doodles, play boardgames, look at my lady chicken birds, watch my dogs wrestle around, etc. Let me know. This Messy Nest is your crew.
<3 <3 <3
blame it on beyonce.
Here’s a video of the chicken ladies. There really is no need for an explanation. For the record, I don’t like talking in videos, but for the birds sake, I decided to give them a spoken introduction.
Enjoy!
ps. OG (the english bulldog) is panting in the background. Can you dig it?