Peepers

 Meet Peepers! Peeps is our newest addition to the pack. The lazy gals still are only producing 1 egg sometimes skipping a day, especially with the recent stress of an additional hen. I have been wanting to write about our new hen but I wanted to wait until she was safely integrated into the flock.

The condensed-long-story-short version is that we inherited a pet chick from the Aubins who wanted to have a chick but not raise the hen. Lily & Wynt took great care of Peeps but they grow fast, poop a lot, and stink! And, they were meant to roam not hang out in a cage. So here we are!

If you've had chickens before you know that pecking order is for real! After weeks of introducing/exposing Peeps to the other hens I can rest (mostly) assured that she is safe closed in the coop at night. That's not to say that she isn't the lowest in the order, nor that she doesn't get put into her place frequently, but she has tolerated the initiation pretty well.

She was staying in a separate coop apartment for about a month, separate water & separate food to maintain, plus she would try to escape/peck at me when I was feeding or watering her. I AM SO GLAD she is in with the others... she still escapes into the field almost every day, but when I walk down to the coop to lock it in the evening, Peepers comes sprinting to me. She is quite friendly although she does peck at my wedding ring & shoes.

The chickens love having a larger yard to enjoy, as we had a smaller yard for so long to protect them. I think along the way we decided that the risk of losing one is worth the daily enjoyment of them being free range. They get out all day, ~5 days per week. Dust baths, scrounging, and prancing around is what they do. Owen and I watched them for 20 minutes straight yesterday, it was such great entertainment.

Court took this silly pic of me moving Peeps from the field into the coop for the night.