Pictures, pictures and more pictures

Yesterday was a fabulous day and I captured a few of the critters having fun!

Freeloader and her 1 week old chick - she is a very good mom....and a wee bit protective. I filled the feeder and waterer and then she decided she would whack me with all she had. Such a thankful chicken...

Wylie, Zeke and Tweed - just waiting for me to kick the ball

duckling 5 weeks grey mallard

Tweed 4 1/2 months

"did you say cookies?"

Look at me...I'm a sheepdog!

how long do I have to sit here?????

Spike 13 yrs - just after a bath

Zeke - 4 yrs - chillin' after a game ball

Yet another surprise at the Jackson Corral.

Saturday morning I stepped out onto my deck to do my chores and what do I hear right underneath me???? A very loud peep, peep, peep, peep. I thought oh dear, which one of my critters has made a nest under my deck. I was trying to recall which duck or chicken I hadn’t seen in awhile, approximately 28 days. I couldn’t think of any that had “gone missing”. I certainly had and still have some acting very broody, ‘tis the season I say. I quickly popped back into the house to find a bright flashlight to peek through the deck slats. A funny sight for sure, I am quite certain my husband got a laugh at me peering through the slats. Sure enough I could see a little fuzzy chick not much bigger than a golf ball peeping it’s little heart out. This will give me my opportunity to find out whom the momma is. There she was, all puffed up and was very chatty when anyone went close to the deck. Of all the chickens I have, I would not have guessed that Free Loader would have been the mom. She ran back under the deck to be with her baby. So I wait, and wait, and wait to see if she would come out. No deal. She waited until the next day to bring out her little fuzzy chick.

Making your nest under my deck is not safe from predators nor does it make me happy, not that Free Loader cares, as now I have to go fish out the eggs that didn’t hatch. I can tell you, it doesn’t smell great.

Intro to Free Loader
For the record this wasn’t a chicken I purchased. She just showed up and adopted us 5 years ago. She was hanging out with a band of feral turkeys that roam around Talbot. Apparently the Jackson Corral offered accommodations that better suited her, and so she stayed. She has only laid eggs in our yard a handful of times. Usually my neighbors have called and informed me they found her clutch of eggs in various spots, like the ducting to my neighbors wood shop, in behind the hedge or in my husband work bench. That was my favorite. She was sitting there on the second shelf of a tall work bench looking like she belonged there. Oh she is a silly bird. There is no containing her, she is crafty (for a chicken), very light bodied and can fly up and over my 5 foot fence that keeps the fowl in and the dogs out.

It will be another 3 weeks until my Blue Splash Maran hopefully hatches out her first brood. Fingers crossed!