A Few Things

After my little escapades with the chickens yesterday I came inside to take a bit of a nap. Max was kind enough to join me. ( I hate pics with my hair this short because it makes me look like I have less hair than I do.) He often naps with me, but he's been a bit wierd lately. He used to sleep with Mike and I at night, but now he sleeps in the living room in that ugly green rocking chair that Minnie's pic is in. Of course, Minnie used to have a bed on the floor in the bedroom next to where Pierre used to sleep. But since he passed away, she has begun sleeping on the foot of the bed.

I suppose an introduction to Becky is passed due. I cannot, in good conscience, say that she is a sweetheart. On the contrary, she is a real devil. I do not feed her. I do not give her water. I do not clean her cage. She tries to bite me through her cage every time I even go near her. Mike does everything for her. She never tries to bite him. But he gets mad at her because of all the noise she makes. He got her in place of some money someone owed him. They offered the bird, and he obligingly accepted. But she begins making awful squawking early in the morning later in the evening when I get home. Of course, she's just being a bird (Quaker Parrot to be exact), but it's quite annoying. She does talk. "Pretty bird, cracker, She's my baby, wolf wistle, and a few more phrases." But my bird, she is not.

Finally, I was wondering if I may receive some assistance in discovering the breed of the chicken(This is Col. Sanders)? I know it's a rooster. He does not crow, or make any noise at all for that matter. But he has a rooster tail. And when I put a hen in with him he immediately topped her. His comb is rather small for a rooster. He has tufts of feathers near his ears. He also has rather long and skinny legs with long, skinny toes. He's colored like a Rhode Island Red. I was thinking that maybe he's part Aracuna? Any thoughts?

A Bit on the Gang

Well, I'm not where I can start posting pics yet, but I suppose I can at least give you some wordage about the gang. Mike and I live on a small plot. It's a little over a half acre, I believe. We have a nice neighbor on one side, Henry. He's divorced with kids that stay with him part time. He's a good guy. He's always offering to lend us things like a hoe for the garden, scratch when we run out before I can get to TSC or things like that. On the other side used to be Ron and Susanne, but they, too, are divorcing. They put their house on the market and moved away. Now the home is empty and up for sale. Don't know much about the folks across the street. Mr. Wade lives across the field behind the house. He owns the field. This Spring he plowed a few rows for Henry and us to plant. I have squash, canteloupes, watermelons, okra, tomatoes, beans, radishes, eggplants, corn and cucumbers growing. Sometimes I let the hens out and have to watch them. They try to get in the garden to scratch.

We have two dogs, Max and Minnie. Max is a Toy Poodle. He's smart and loyal. He's a good dog and very "motherly". Minnie is a Rat Terrier mix. She's over weight. She loves to eat and eats almost anything. I try to keep her on a diet, but she sneaks in bites of cat food and everything. We have two cats, Elvis and Priscilla. Elvis is about 6 years old and all black. He spends a lot of time outside. He's fixed and has no front claws because he was supposed to be an indoor cat. But he wouldn't let that happen. Prissy is a gray tabby. She had kittens in April, but there was no way we could keep them in our little place. I tried to find homes for them, but no one would take them. They went to the pound. I hope they were adopted out, but I'm not going to ask. Prissy stays inside a lot and is still young. She's not even a year old. She was way too young to have babies, anyway. We have a Quaker parrot. Her name is Becky. We got her as payment for a debt. She used to be so mean to me. She tried to bite me every time I walked by. She's changed lately, though. I can't pick her up, but she lets me change her food and water and pet her head. We also have a couple of fish tanks. One has a bunch of Fire Belly Mickey Mouse Platys in it. The other has two African Cichlids, two Opaline Gouramis, and an African Brown Knife.

Then there's the chickens. We have four roosters. Perogi is the first rooster we got. He's a Rhode Island Red. He is so mean. He will spur you in a New York minute. He even tries to spur or bite me through the fence when I feed him. He's by himself at the moment. Bojangles is our Dominique rooster. He's very young. He's in a round with a buff hen, but he's not messing with her. Bucky is our Bantam rooster. He's pretty fiesty, too. Mr. Wade brought us a bantam hen for him. Hopefully she will start sitting soon. She had nine eggs this morning. Henry's bantam started sitting at 13 eggs. Then we have Col. Sanders. I don't know what he is. I don't even know if it's a he or a she. I thought she layed an egg once, but someone suggested it was left from the white hen that had been in the round. Mr. Wade swears it's a rooster, but he don't crow. We have four Buff hens that don't have names (yet). We have 10 black Sex Link hens (also nameless) that are still a bit young for laying. And we have 13 White Leghorns that were rescued from Perdue that lay very large brown eggs. One leghorn has a gimp foot. She doesn't lay. Her name is Dana, after a high school friend also with a gimp foot (lol). We have two bantam chicks that we got from Henry, and should be getting one or two more from him. I think one is a rooster, but I would prefer if the others were hens. I have a small Red/Leghorn mix chick that we hatched in the incubator. His name is Little Chicken. He follows us everywhere and comes when we call. Yesterday her rode around on my shoulder. His sister died in an escape attempt their first night outside. And we have five bitties that just hatched this weekend.

That is our gang. Yeah, I've put a lot up here. But it's a necessary introduction. Hopefully I can start posting pics soon. Hope you like what you have read, and will stick around for a while!!