ICED SILKIE

Oh the cute little Silkie chicken!  An eternal ball of fluff.

The feathers of a Silkie stay like downy fluff, soft and fuzzy because they don't have the barbs of regular chicken feathers.  Their feathers are more of a "silk-like" fur; they are not waterproof!  

Contrary to what you'll read of Silkies, my little girl, Daizee, loves being outside in all kinds of weather and she's a feisty little critter.  She'll stand out in a soft rain for hours, pecking at the ground, pulling up worms, getting soaked to the bone.  She'll venture out, and all about in the snow.  But, this year she has experienced a new and unwelcome surprise: a frozen hairdo!

The past couple days have been in the single digits with windchills below zero.  She absolutely doesn't care.  She's one of the first out of the coop and the last to go in.  I think it's because she's not a confined chicken - she's used to being outside and roaming wherever she chooses.  She's smart enough to stay out of the wind though, under the coop.

Today has been sunshiny with zero wind - yay!  However, it's been in the single digits for most of the day.  Daizee must have been a little overzealous while drinking and got her face too far into her water trough.  I went outside this afternoon to see how everyone was enjoying the day, and found Daizee shaking her head.  I finally caught her and found the tips of her head feathers iced over and hanging heavy.  LOL ~ poor little funny girl.

She's doing just fine.  The ice wasn't even all the way to her head - just the first bit of her feathers, enough to make it annoying.  So, I brought her in the house to thaw out and dry off before she goes back outside.  

This should be the last of the super crappy weather.  We're looking ahead to 50°F on Friday!

FANCY CHICKENS II

Oh my new birdies are soooo beautiful!  When you raise chickens up from babies you just kinda get used to them being beautiful as they grow.  But to be given full grown chickens, the beauty is shocking!  I love these girls :) <3 :)  Their names are: Laela (Silver Laced Polish), Gherdie (Appenzeller Spitzhauben), and Daizee (Buff Silkie).

When Angelo and I got them home they were snuggled down in their box, very docile.  I gently picked each of them up and they were calm as I put them into their new coop.  I think they like the coop - it's a small one, big enough for about four standard chickens but these little ladies have tons of room!  No one went out into the run yesterday though - Gherdie poked her head out the door several times and even went halfway down the ladder, but right back in she went.

At bedtime they were all snuggled up into a nesting box.  They had been on their roost earlier but I guess they must sleep on the floor?  I'm going to get more bedding today, if they're going to sleep on the floor I want to be sure it's extra deep and warm.

That's all for now :) .

FANCY CHICKENS

Tomorrow begins a new adventure in chickendom.  I'll be bringing home three grown chickens; a Polish, an Appenzeller Spitzhauben, and a Silkie.  These are not the type of chickens I would have normally purchased; not because I don't think they're pretty, but because I'm afraid of them - LOL.  But I really wanted them.  Actually, I'm just afraid of the Polish and the Silkie - I can't see their eyes and I'm scared they're too fragile.  I've read that I can trim their feathers, I hate to do that but I also hate that, maybe, they can't see well enough.  Since I normally let my chickens roam free (within very large fenced areas) I think I'll definitely have to have those two penned in all the time. I might integrate the Spitzhauben with Tubby's crew though - I thought she'd look nice with the Cream Legbars.  Excited for tomorrow!