Memories of a Wet Easter

 Easter was celebrated early this year from 25-28th March.

It started raining on Easter Saturday much to the delight of the 2 Happy Hens.

The 2 Happy Hens play in a puddle of rain water pooled

in a hole that Chilli originally dug a couple of years ago.

Chickadee and Nestle love drinking dirty water. 

Rain drops fall in the puddle of water.

 I love the 2 happy Hens' reflection in the water in this photo.

Chickadee watches Nestle drink muddy water.

Nestle has a wet back from running around in the rain!

 Nestle is wet on top half of her body and dry underneath.

Time for some preening.

 Look how flexible a chicken's neck is?!

Nestle reaches for her oil gland on her tail so

 she can waterproof her feathers whilst preening. 

Nestle looks like a soggy scruff!

Chickadee reaches for her oil gland near some new tail feather spikes. 

Nestle stands on top of the bricks as she's top of the pecking order

(the 'boss hen') and is naturally in a higher position than Chickadee.

Nestle may be smaller in size than Chickadee, but she's still the boss!

 The 2 Happy Hens spend lots of time preening during the Easter wet weather.

The 2 Happy Hens are low maintenance pets thanks to their preening ritual.

 Nestle preens the top of her wing.

Nestle takes a short break from preening. 

Two 'real' Easter eggs laid on Easter Sunday.

The rain stopped on Easter Monday.

Here's hoping everyone had a good Easter

long weekend this year, rain, hail or shine!

Broody Chickadee

17 month old Chickadee has gone broody a total of three times. 

She was broody in December 2015, January and March 2016.

 Broody Chickadee fluffed herself up and was upset

when we removed her from the nesting box in the coop.

BFC = Broody Fluffy Chickadee!

 

Chickadee gets flighty when she's broody.

Here she is standing on top of the coop.

 Chickadee looses her balance.

Broody chickadee jumped on top of the outdoor chair looking

for a new nesting place after being kicked out of the coop.

Nestle remains on the ground in the background and is not impressed!

Watch out Chickadee, if you stand on the table for too long,

you might end up as a chicken dinner?! lol! 

 More fluffy broody antics.

 Chickadee's turkey impersonation with her tail spread!

Nestle shows Chickadee's who's boss when

it comes to feeding time at Dine-a-chook.

Nestle eats the custom made seed mix from the feeding

station whilst Chickadee eats the left overs on the ground.

 Nestle takes a drink of water from Wet-a-Chook 

whilst Chickadee takes a feed of seed. 

The 2 Happy Hens and one young broody Chickadee!

Chickadee's First Adult Moult

 16 month old Chickadee started her first adult moult this month.

You can see a couple of loose feathers on her back.

Chickadee is still fat and fluffy whilst moulting!

 The 2 Happy Hens sit down for a rest.

Chickadee looks really big in this photo!

Nestle enjoys some sun in her dust bath near the fence.

Nestle drinks water from the pot plant saucer

whilst Chickadee strikes a pose for the camera.

Chickadee's breast feather coverage is a bit thin.

Chickadee stands in front of the A-frame coop with

the Dine-a-Chook feeding station in the background.

 Chickadee flew on top of the coop.

Nestle keeps on eye on her from ground level.

Moulting Chickadee with some frayed wing

feathers shows off on top of the coop.

The Christmas Holiday Season

Happy 2016 from the 2 Happy Hens!

Here's Nestle's profile picture for the holiday season.

Chickadee's latest profile picture was taken in front of the A-frame coop.

Chickadee laid an egg in the pet carrier on Christmas day.

Nestle had a day off egg laying on the 25th December 2015.

 Chickadee threw some straw on her back whilst she was nesting.

 A close up picture of 14 month old Chickadee on Christmas day.

Chickadee looks sleepy after egg laying.

The owl watches Nestle's back.

Nestle curiously stares at the owl statue's face.

 Nestle takes a nap with Chickadee close by.

Nestle is the sleepy 3.5 year old boss of the 2 Happy Hens.

Sleeping peacefully on the leafy ground.

Chickadee stands tall and is wide awake for a brief moment.

A sleepy start to the New Year for Chickadee.

Sleeping standing up!

Hen Pal

A trial involving residents at a nursing home on the east coast of Australia

has produced evidence that a hen can be a best friend.

https://www.facebook.com/7NewsMelbourne/videos/10153826006254301/?theater

Chickadee is a 'lap chicken' and would love being a

'hen pal' being patted by the 'hen-sioners', sorry pensioners!

Nestle would probably get jealous!

One Year With Chickadee

 One year ago today, on 7th December 2014, we said goodbye to

Chilli and welcomed baby Chickadee to the 2 Happy Hens.

 Chickadee was only a little 8 week old

Rhode Island Red hen this time last year.

Here she is drinking water from "Wet-a-Chook" feeding station. 

What a difference a year can make!

Chickadee is now a large adult hen who's pictured eating seed

from the custom made "Dine-a-Chook" feeding station next to Nestle.

Chickadee's gone broody after laying an egg a day, 21 days in a row!

Nestle is the hungry boss and kicks Chickadee out of the feeder.

Chickadee looks like a turkey fluffing herself up and bowing down.

Broody 14 month old Chickadee strikes a pose for the camera.

Nestle loves drinking water from Wet-a-Chook.

Nestle may be smaller in size, but she's still the boss of the 2 Happy Hens!

Hail on Hens

On 2nd November 2015, the 2 Happy Hens experienced a sudden

local hail storm. A large black cloud dumped a lot of rain and

hail stones in a freak storm that lasted approximately 10 minutes.

People who lived only 5 kilometres away did not experience hail.

The backyard got flooded.

The 2 Happy Hens refused to take shelter and got wet.

Soggy Chickadee does not look impressed.

Nestle cautiously strides through the water flooding the backyard.

The 2 Happy Hens preen water off their wet feathers after the storm passed.

The sun shone brightly after the storm.

 Rain, hail or shine, Nestle always loves a cuddle!

She was warm and dry under her wings.

Nestle's not sure of the white hail stones?

The hail almost looks like snow on the grass!

 Chicken on ice!

Chickadee walks over the hail stones that were
expelled from the downpipe during the storm.

It is Chickadee's first hail storm experience.

Nestle stands in the sun.

You can see a line of hail stones at the base of the

air conditioning compressor on the verandah.

 The hail stones were about 5mm diameter

and took over an hour to melt after the storm.
Nestle is not fond of wet weather.

Chickadee pecks the wet ground under a tree.
Chickadee is the same colour as the tree trunk!