Murphy's Lawless Chickens

16/03/2024

Decorated for spring. It's going to snow in the next couple of days :o

02/02/2024

02/02/2024

Picking out a spot to sleep. :)

02/02/2024

What do you think, do I need a new "barn" jacket? :)

28/01/2024

Today's weather. :o

24/01/2024

From May of last year. But who doesn't need to see some bebe chickens. :)

20/01/2024

20/01/2024

I read so much advice about chicken care that makes me shake my head. "But I read it on the internet." Yeahhhh, well... I just saw, yet again, that chickens need 14 hours of daylight to lay eggs. Well, then, I'd NEVER get any eggs here. LOL! Chickens don't tend to lay in the winter because they are using their energy to keep warm. One of my large hens was laying just a few weeks ago, but one of the other hens eats it when she's not laying. Hide the evidence I guess, lol! And, no, putting heat in the coop is not an option. They other thing I read is all the ways to prevent frostbite on combs; from slathering the comb in vaseline, to increasing ventilation in the coop. I had single comb roosters, the Marans, and they all lost the points on their combs from frostbite. And yes, when I first had them, I tried the Vaseline, and I added more ventilation. More ventilation means less retained heat. Cold is cold. People get frostbite on extremities. Chicken combs are extremities. The only way to prevent frostbite is to keep them in a heated environment. This is Pearl, on a warmer day several years ago. She's probably dreaming of this right now. :)

15/01/2024

I had to remind myself, lol! More snow coming, but right now it's just really cold, in the teens. How are you all doing?

14/01/2024

The Belgian Bearded D'Anvers were all hanging out in their dust bath. :)

13/01/2024

More high winds predicted. We got 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow last evening. It was hard to shovel, but I persevered. Because the driveway isn't frozen, the tractor would have made a terrible mess. So besides shoveling, I cleaned all the coops. Pearl said she'll stay inside thank you. :)

13/01/2024

Chickens are very intelligent, and they do get bored. You've heard the term cooped up? When Bowen discovered a weasel under the coop a couple of years ago, I moved the big chickens into the smaller coop, since weasels could probably get in under the roofing. I only have 5 of them now, and the small coop was more than enough room. I never finished putting hardware cloth under the roof on the old/big coop, since it wasn't imperative. They say that weasels can get through a hole the size of a quarter, so 1/2 inch hardware cloth keeps them out. Now the old coop has become their loafing shed. They like to hang out in there when the weather is bad. It's draft free, which is very important for chickens. I open their coop everyday, so they have the option to go out. I think it's really important to give them the option, and it gives them much needed fresh air even in the cold.

11/01/2024

We're getting more snow. It's so quiet when it snows heavily. The power was off 25 hours; Tuesday night at 7 it went off. No damage from the wind luckily. All the chickens are tucked in safe for the night. Bowen says hello, and we hope everyone is safe and warm.

07/01/2024

Can I have more snow instead? :(

07/01/2024

We'll have our breakfast inside today, thank you. Julitta said that's a big nope on going outside.

07/01/2024

Driveway shoveled for the 3rd time. Shoveling is good exercise if you don't have any medical conditions. Hi Bowen:p

07/01/2024

As predicted, we got snow; 5.5 to 6 inches. A fox came through the end of the driveway during the night. They are always around. One woke me up with its scream a few weeks ago, and Bowen will bark when he hears them too, so that wakes me up. I'm a terrible sleeper anyway. How's the weather in your neck of the woods? :)

25/12/2023

Haan So Low got in on the Christmas cheer. Merry Christmas day everyone. ❤

24/12/2023

Bowen wants to wish everyone a merry Christmas.

24/12/2023

Merry Christmas from Julitta and the rest of the Lawless chickens.

21/12/2023

I haven't really been feeling the Christmas thing this year. I've watched a few shows that helped put me more in the mood. These are a few of my favorites- Love Actually (movie), the Christmas episodes of the new All Creatures Great and Small. You can find them on PBS, and they'll be the last episodes of each season. Ted Lasso's Christmas episode (season 2, episode 4 I think it was.) If you've not watched Ted Lasso on Apple TV, I highly recommend it. It's a really feel good show. And, lastly, Hannah Waddingham's Christmas special, also on Apple TV. If you have watched Ted Lasso, you'll definitely love this special, because many of the characters were in it. :) So, what are your favorite Christmas movies and shows?

16/12/2023

I made a covered dust bath. I just made it up as I went along, and it ended up looking like something mid century modern. :p it has glass on the sides, too.

16/12/2023

Dora, you're supposed to eat the sprouts, not wear them! :p

15/12/2023

Here's a rather crude, really unattractive solitary bee nest that I made from cedar, and hung up fall of 22. I see that some bees did use it. :)

15/12/2023

The sound of success. :)

15/12/2023

For once in my life I decided to be prepared. I decided I'd better make sure the generator runs, before the power goes out at midnight and it's zero degrees. It wouldn't start. Some kind of solitary bees decided the gas inlet, as well as the receptacles would be a great place to make a nest. I have to disagree, bees. Got it cleaned out and running. Sorry baby bees.

14/12/2023

My small flock. Haan So Low, the Porcelain (color) rooster, Delphine, a blue mille fleur (color), Autumn, a mille fleur, and Willow, a porcelain. The are Belgian Bearded D'Anvers, one of the true bantam breeds (there is no standard size.) That's Pearl, outside the pen, and she's a Silver Grey Dorking, a heritage breed. They lay a white egg. Pearl's over 8 years old, so she's getting "long in the tooth" (if chickens had teeth. ;) ) I've been sprouting wheat berries for them, which is wheatgrass, so they'd have grass, but I think they mostly eat the "berries" and maybe the green tips.

14/12/2023

Beautiful Mille Fleur, and one porcelain, Belgian Bearded D'Anvers. Mille fleur means a thousand flowers. Perfect name for the color, don't you think? :)