Feeling SpRiNgY!!

Today I decided that I would  move the rams from the back pasture, to a small pasture closer to the ewes; that way they will all be in the same general vicinity when we shear tomorrow...in theory this should make things go more smoothly tomorrow...in theory. This maneuver meant that I had to move the horses from their dry lot, out onto their pasture so that I could usher the rams across the dry lot to their new destination without any 'help', a.k.a. interference, from my equine friends. Now, keep in mind that the horses have been on the small dry lot for the past month. They were allowed out on the pasture most of the winter since the 150 feet of snow (slight exaggeration)  protected the ground underneath from the wear and tear of heavy horse hooves, but since the snow disappeared a month or so ago the horses were banished to the smaller lot until the grass comes in. Let's just say they were getting a little bored in the dry lot.

So, this is what happens when horses have a lot of pent up energy and you release it.

 Even 18-year-old Jake was feeling frisky....Yes, I know they are filthy, they have been mud-bathing to pay me back for keeping them off the pasture.

 Morgan wins the Chorus-line contest!

After I got the rams and horses situated I started taking pictures of some of the roosters. I want to put an ad on Craigslist to find new homes for some of them....heeeey.......do any of YOU, my dear friends, need a rooster? These guys aren't show birds, by any means, but they are nice boys.

I have a gorgeous Golden-Laced Wyandotte.

A nice Black Copper Maran (Marans lay REALLY dark brown eggs).

A handsome Blue Orpington.

A Blue Laced Red Wyandotte (Black variant) with a tail that is waay too long, but, so pretty,

AAAaand this creepy little Rhode Island Red.

His name is Gonzo. And he's a little weird. He follows me around everywhere...in a stalker sort of way. Every time I turn around he is inches from me, expressionlessly staring at me with his battle-scarred little featherless face.

Then he follows me all the way to the house, stopping in his tracks every time I turn to look at him, sizing me up the whole time, and then waits quietly on the porch...seriously, I don't know if he wants to kill me, or date me....

Wouldn't you like your very own stalker? Let me know.

Good-bye Blue-ster Rooster : (

 Tuesday morning when I went out to feed the crew, I noticed that my best Blue-Laced Red Wyandotte roo was missing. He is...errr...he was..one of the three marauding roosters that I was keeping for breeding next spring. I don't know for sure what got him, the only clues that I found were a few of his beautiful, iridescent tail feathers on the ground in the horse's winter paddock. Very sad. I haven't had predator problems for quite some time and I have always been able to allow the three boys to free range, so this was very disheartening. Generally a fox or coyote will leave tell-tale signs of a struggle, but there was nothing. I have to assume that perhaps a very large bird of prey may have been at work here. I guess it doesn't matter now. I moved the remaining boys into one of the barns for their safety, but it will take some getting used to for Rooster Cogburn who has never been confined in the almost 5 years that I have had him. The irony of this situation is that I have several roos that I am trying to get rid of.....OK, so not necessarily in this way, but my point is that it's always the good ones that turn up missing  : (.

Good-bye handsome Blue-ster.

In happier chicken news, I was out collecting eggs and discovered that my French Black Copper Maran pullet has just start laying! You may remember the Maran chicks from an earlier post. Unfortunately, out of the four original chicks, only ONE turned out to be a pullet.

Look how pretty her dark eggs are compared to my other hens' eggs.

The rest of the hens have really been slacking on the job. We are down to about a dozen, or a dozen and a half eggs a day. You may think that sounds like a lot, but remember, I have 60 (ish) hens...I think...somewhere in that ballpark (ish)..Chicken Math, you know. That is OK though, they deserve a rest, they supplied plenty of eggs all season long for Farmers' Market.

For those of you that are wondering if there is a difference between farm eggs and store eggs-beside the pretty colored shells and lack of salmonella recalls- they are pretty on the inside too. 

 "Hey, Factory Farm Egg, you left your whites behind! How embarrassing."

Roosters in the wind

This afternoon it was sunny and warm with temperatures right around 70 degrees- absolutely lovely for late November-until a strong cold front decided to come through. Now the weather-guessers are predicting that by tomorrow morning reality will set in and daytime highs will only be in the mid 30's. The drastic change in temps ushered in a stiff wind late in the day which seemed to cause a bit of trouble for the marauding roosters. I should have video taped them as they tried to brace themselves against the wind, walking like drunken sailors.

I like to call these pictures, "Roosters in the Wind."

 "Anyone else feel a draft?"

 "Dude, seriously, I think your junk is showing."

OK, so maybe my "Roosters in the Wind" pictures are not nearly as beautiful....or classy.. as my friend Nancy's "Ewes in the Mist" photo that she has entered in a photo contest, so maybe you should skip on over to her blog and help her win the photo contest.