Busy January weekend

Gary, Cricket and I went to Birmingham for Grandma's (Evelyn Kiker) 75 birthday. Sherry, Gary's younger sister put together a nice surprise gathering of about thirty five family and friends! We had rigatoni and lasagna, a great salad, ( I only put it together ) and toasted garlic bread ( I only watched it cook ). There were familiar faces, the Opelika cousins, friends that we see at Christmas, and then there was Howard Butler. Mr. Butler took Gary's father in when he was a child after his family had given him up. He was a coal miner back in the days before respirators were used in the mines. As Gary put it, " as they came out of the mine the were "covered in black dust". Mr. Butler is now eighty nine and still wearing his signature "Liberty" blue jean overalls. He was in a wheelchair but was very alert and enjoyed the day. I just love getting together with the family and hearing their stories of survival. We spent several hours with little John Franklin who is now nine months old. He is teething and fussy at times, but still so precious. We had a great time visiting with Joey and Ashleigh.
Cricket traveled well but came home exhausted.

Chickens in the garden

Today it was in the 50's in Nashville and we let the chickens out in the garden. They will scratch and peck and start turning over the soil for our spring planting. I threw some cracked corn out to give them an added incentive. The corn also gives them added protein in their died to support the hens metabolism and help them stay warm in the colder temperatures expected this week. Our hens have continued to lay for us over the winter. We supplemented their length of day by putting a brooder light in the run area which also gave them a little supplemental heat. We have had no frozen combs or waddles so far and I feel the light has helped. Gary placed a radiant heater on the back wall of the roost box. I hope it keeps the coop warm without any problems. We will see!

Everyone gets along so well!

The days her in Nashville have been warm and wet and it has been a great opportunity to let the hens roam around in the yard and forage. Th dogs have acclimated so well to the girls that they move around them without bothering them at all. I was more worried about Molly bothering them than I was about Scout because Molly is a dachshund/beagle mix and she is routinely seen treeing a squirrel or charging a bird. When the hens " came home to roost" we had to tell the dogs no when they went to the fence at the run and barked at the girls. After a while I guess the got used to each other, and now I can let the girls run around freely when the dogs are out.