Fall Weather

This week, the weather turned cold with a chill wind from the north.  Sunday brought snow showers, with the same repeated on Monday.  The leaves have pretty much fallen to the ground, much to the delight of the chickens in the Big Coop.  They've been braving the wind and ice pellets to scrounge for beetles and worms, even though they are scarcely covered by feathers due to molt.

Poor Harriet Tubman looks absolutely miserable, down to her fluffy undergarments.  She hasn't ventured out of the coop for days, preferring to hunker down and brood on the roost in a warm corner.  You haven't seen miserable until you've seen a naked chicken.  Poor thing.

Meanwhile, in the Little Coop, the Little Ladies have all started laying, giving me four eggs daily.  Dickens is very proud of his girls.  I finally took a look on the internet and came up with a list of "new names" for the girls.  I wanted to name them after female characters in Dickens' novels.  So far, I've come up with these:  Caddy Jellyby, Dolly Varden, Rosa Bud, and Polly Toodle.  Don't you just love them?  Charles Dickens certainly had a way with creative names.

Now I've got the names, I've just have to observe the ladies in the Little Coop and figure out which one fits each one.

And, I've got a new rabbit in the Bunny Barn.  I have to think of a name for him, too.  He was a trade for one of my young bucks, which was great as I had four of them and was in need of a new buck to add to the bloodlines of my little herd.  He's quite the handsome fellow, large and white and very sweet mannered.  Now, if I can only keep my insane Labradoodle from licking him through the lattice...naughty dog!  Max the Wonderdoodle loves his rabbits; unfortunately, he generally just wants to eat them.  (Sigh.)

Sorry to not have photos of the critters, but it was too grey and dark to take good ones before sunset this evening.  From the weather forecast, it sounds like the theme for the week.  Good thing I've got some firewood to keep the wood stove fired up, or else I might just go into hibernation.  Brrr.