Gone With the Windy Chickens

We went to the chicken farm yesterday and picked out three new chickens. Now that the Guinea hens are gone (thank you, thank you) we thought that maybe Audrey needed some company in the coop. By the look on her face yesterday when we brought in her three new coopmates, maybe she did like having The Coopacabana all to herself.

But she wasn't giving us any eggs, which is the idea of having chickens in the coop in the first place, so she will just have to make friends with the new hens. I picked out another Rhode Island Red (like Dolly was) but this one is a darker, more richer shade of red. I named her Scarlett. Just like Dolly, when I talk to her, she will sit there and look at me and listen to my voice. Rhode Island Reds are very friendly, as everyone keeps telling us, and the chickens themselves have proven.

The other two new chickens are both black. One is all black with a bit of green iridescence, and she has one large white polka-dot on each side of her face.... I have named her Prissy. The other black one is an Araucana (same breed as Audrey) and her feathers are extra-fluffy (which makes her look bigger) with bits of tan and brown tips.... I named her Mammy. Do you get the "Gone With the Wind" theme going on here? I thought of the other names after I named the red one Scarlett, and somehow, it just seems to work. I can already see that Mammy is strutting around the coop as if she's in charge (but Audrey actually is Queen of that coop), and Prissy walks around with her head held up high, so that name just fits her.

We have to keep the new chickens in the coop for at least two days, so they get used to their new home, which means we have to keep Audrey in there as well. And, while they're in the coop, they will learn the "pecking order." (Translation: the new hens will learn that Audrey is the top chicken.) She's not happy about that, and I can hear her clucking out there from time to time. Let me out! Let me out! I already know my way around the yard!

One of the new chickens left us an egg in the nesting box this morning, so that was a nice surprise. The first egg from the new ladies of the coop. I have started a new listing/count of eggs. We had a total of 95 eggs from the first group of chickens, and I thought that was an impressive amount, since only Dolly and Henny Penny were laying eggs then.

The weather has cleared up and become very Texas-winter-like. (Thank you, thank you.) Yesterdays temperature was up in the 60s, today's will go into the 70s. Right back where it belongs.

Sweet Pea is settling in here..... I've been letting him go downstairs a little bit every day, and he has hissed at the other cats, and they have hissed at him in return, but I quickly scoop him up so he doesn't start something that his little murmur-ing heart can't finish. He'll get used to the other cats in his own good time... until then, I just have to keep an eye on everybody. It's like playing musical chairs, only this is musical cats. I let Sweet Pea downstairs when the others are in the TV room with the door closed. When Sweet Pea has explored a little bit, then I open the TV room door and stay close by him. Sometimes there are no hisses, just slow-motion walk-bys.

I'm guessing that within a week or two, the cats will be tolerant and friendly, and each of them will respect one another's space. And Gracie just sits back and watches all her cats..... she has been the best, best dog. Even with the chickens. She just seems to know they're our birds and she will watch them from a distance.

"From a distance......" Reminds me of that old Bette Midler song. I will have that song playing in my mind all day long now.