Monday, January 28, 2019

Flood, Flock, and Fur


The floodwater isn't over the road, but it's getting close.  I know I'm not supposed to drive through water, especially in a low riding car, but once I did it anyway.  It only looked like a few inches of muddy water on the pavement, but by the time I hit the deep spot I was already committed and had to keep going.  I made it through just fine, but I promised myself not to do that anymore.  It was too much excitement for me.  Once, both roads to our house were flooded and I couldn't get home after work.  After spending more than an hour trying all the alternative routes only to find them flooded too, I drove back to town for dinner and waited for the water to recede.  


This picture is through the glass of the front door.  The whole flock of "baby" birds are anxiously awaiting their meal.  These bossy birds sometimes fly into the glass trying to get to me.  They think food magically falls from my fingers and they don't give me a chance to get to the food bin in the barn.  If only they had brains! 


I have to run the gauntlet of hungry birds on the way to my barn, where the food lives.  


I feel like the pied piper of chickens with all these birds running at my feet.  I feed them chicken pellets for breakfast and dinner, which I spread on the ground, but I don't let them have unlimited access to food.  I want them to find lunch on their own by foraging for a salad of grass and tasty bits they find on their own.  It's healthier for them to eat their salad, and if they are full of tasty grain pellets I don't think they eat as much greens.  Since I plan on eating the birds or their eggs, I want them to be as healthy as possible.  The eggs I get have dark orange yolks, and I think it's because they eat so much grass.  They graze like cows, traveling all over our property plucking at the vegetation.


It' really very annoying the way they crowd my feet and hamper my progress.  I try not to step on them, but sometimes they get their toes smashed by my big boots.  They also peck at my feet.  I start to feel claustrophobic from too many birds in my way.   


Remember the free bonus chick from the hatchery?  It's the black and white bird in the photo above.  I still can't decide if it's a rooster or a hen. 


I've been admiring Wendigo's fur coat.


She gets tangles around her elbows, tail, and ears, but the rest of her winter fur is long and soft. 


And so thick!  I think her hair could be spun and turned into a sweater.  How weird would it be to wear a dog hair sweater?  

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