The lights are back on at Chicken Manor

Andrew figured out the extension cord situation in time for another cold, cold night. As an added bonus the extra light just might coax an egg out of these ladies.

Trouble in the coop

The freezing temperatures prompted us to hang a bulb in the coop over night. The ladies seem to like that, except then we blew out the extension cord. So now the electric water bowl is out of commission.
The snapshot is through the screen on the window 'cause it's too cold to go outside in pjs.

Lost their appetite?

The ladies seem to have lost their appetite. They've been eating about 1/5th of what had become their piggy norm. They're still all over the scraps we give them, but barely touch their food. What gives? Any chicken-folk out there that can set our minds at ease? Or do we have anorexic hens!?

Not so stinkin' cold today

It's a little warmer today, perfect for cleaning the coop & taking some overdue photos.

Notice Peggy in the back of the one up top: "What you talkin' about, Willis?"

And Betty here has mastered the disapproving glare.

SUCCESS!

A giant THANK YOU to the citizens of Bexley & our City Council for passing an excellent set of revised pet ordinances last night. Our chickens are now legislated.

Here's the rules (more details to come soon, when I have more time):

-No roosters

-No selling eggs

-Must have a coop that's shielded from the street in front of your house

-No more than 5 combined dogs, cats, chickens (with not more than 3 dogs) per household

-Must get a permit within 6o days

The permit process is TBA, but it'll be free and most likely low key. Basically, if you have the good sense to figure out how to keep your chickens healthy and happy, you'll be fine.

HOORAY!

This was not the most important issue that Council discussed yesterday, so it was dealt with pretty quickly and matter-of-factly.

This new pair of ordinances makes Bexley one of the most chicken-friendly suburbs around.

Snow Chickens

Did Disney ever make Snow Chickens? They should've. It turns out the girls love the snow. I'm pretty sure they think the flakes are falling bugs - regardless, they're into it.

So far winter hasn't fazed them. Their water is often frozen by morning, but a gravity-waterer full of tap-hot water in the morning seems to stay liquid through the day.

Yesterday I stopped by the feed store and bought the last chick-feed these ladies will need. Next up: layer mash! I also got 50 lbs of scratch (~$15) & a heated dog bowl (~$25) in case it gets really cold. I'm not sure how the dog bowl will work, exactly. I'd envisioned setting the chicken waterer into the bowl, but the bowl is too small. And just setting water out in the dog bowl would result in fouled (fowled?) water in about 20 seconds flat. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.