This post was originally published dating May 12, 2011. Due to Blogger’s problems and their 20 hour shut down, the post came back but with errors. I went in to edit the errors and reposted it. For some strange reason, it dated it for today. Today’s post is called, “Sound the Alarm”. You can find it below.
It is an entirely different feeling in the flock now that Chocolate is gone. Everyone is calm. No one seems to be living on edge, with a certain level of rooster paranoia. It seems, that’s how it was. There is a calm harmony in the flock. The mini-chickens have been completely accepted now. They spend their time foraging for treats in the run and socializing with new friends. They even enjoy taking mid-day snoozes, piling 4 of their bodies into one nesting box. Today, the mini-chickens tried mushrooms from my kitchen for the first time. It was so cute watching them try new things. Dottie Speckles especially enjoyed it! She was tearing off tiny strips. I think it will take her at least 20 minutes to eat one piece of sliced mushroom.
Dolly and Feathers are no longer broody. Finally. Can you believe it? I think the two mini-chickens have, at least for now, broken the spell that surrounded them. Do you think it could have something to do with Chocolate being gone as well? Maybe without the male present, they do not feel such an instinctual drive to have babies.
The mini-chickens are also on organic grower pellets now. At first, I found it hard to believe that their tiny beaks and mouths could process a pellet of that size. I was amazed when I watched them peck the larger pellets on the floor with their beaks and watched them swallow the smaller pieces whole. The larger girls have been on the layer pellets and have no problem. Personally, I like the pellets, as they leave very little waste. Sometimes, I see the large chickens eating the mini-chickens’ grower pellets. I have been trying to make even more calcium available to the large girls. I do not want to have any thin shelled malformed eggs.
Overall, life is good over here at Tilly’s Nest. Life is finding a new rooster free harmonious sense of normalcy.