Happy Chickens

Southern California has seen a lot of rain in the last week and 1/2, everything from a dense gray drizzle to flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder.  I regret that I did not get a rain water catch system set up before this storm- I would be set for the whole winter season!  However, the rain always brings up bugs, worms and fresh green sprouts of grass, and my foraging chickens are very happy.

This is Ethel, who has recently gone through a very traumatic molt, but seems finally to be emerging from the experience.  Along with looking like a half-eaten carcass, she had a nasty attitude.  We are happy to have our feathered friend back.

These pictures show the growth of my youngest chickens, Sabine (who was originally Sebastian) and Grayson (who was originally Gracie).  Grayson has turned out to be quite the gentleman of a rooster.  He escorts Sabine around the yard and hardly crows at all.  I realize this may change still, but I am very happy with this fellow so far.

Look at those gorgeous feathers!  Just for fun, I am also adding a picture of our rabbit, Bunnicula.  She is participating in a little experiment with me.  Along with teaching my 6 year old responsibility, she is supplying our worms with copious amounts of rabbit poop.  My daughter had been asking for months to have a pet bunny, but it wasn't until  I read on the Urban Homestead website that you could drop those droppings directly into the wormbin that I was won over.  The trick, however, is eliminating as much of the urine as possible before giving it to the worms, as it is too strong for them to process.   TMI you say? I will let you know if this experiment is worth the aromatic qualities of the procedure.