Been busy and been to the Boro

Took a quick jaunt to the South Country on Saturday for a Christmas/birthday party for my little friend Maddie. Happy Birthday Maddie! I had an excellent turkey dinner with lots of goodies, and lots of good friends. The Husband had to stay home to care for the critters.

I also made a stop in the Boro to visit with Little Sis. Put the lights up on her tree, delivered some gifts, sat and chatted the day away, and then high-tailed it out of there to make my way back home on Monday. I did manage a stop in Lansdale to visit with The Boys (2 of my O'Brien uncles) and then jumped right back on the turnpike.

My missing Red Sweetie is still gone. There is a very slim chance that she went off to hatch her eggs somewhere, but I do not expect to see her again. She may be only a chicken, but I do miss her!

And, speaking of hatching eggs, now one of the black hens, I think it's Big Mama, is living up to her name and trying to hatch some of her eggs. Not good timing, Mama! We just started selling our eggs at Anna's store in Richfield Springs, and then we lose a hen, and a nesting box. With only one nest box remaining for the remaining 5 laying girls, egg production has slowed dramatically.

Mama is sitting on 4 eggs, but I don't know that she has figured out that she has to sit on them all day, every day, or they won't hatch. I would hate to see her sit on them for weeks and have no chicks to show for it. With cold weather getting colder, we will have to make arrangements to keep the chicks in the basement once they do hatch. Our coop is unheated, which is fine for the big girls and boy, but not healthy for the babies.

To solve the egg production issues, and to help me get over the loss of my Sweetie, we are picking up 3 more already-laying hens on Saturday. They are a New Hampshire/Blue Copper Maran cross. Two of them are in the photo above, one on the left, other on the right. The Husband haunts Craig's List and found these pretty girls on there last night.