My munch

Oh we are so sad to report that my precious precious Munch is gone. We think he met the same fate as sweet Mungo. We have learned cats in this area disappear at night, and even though they were imprinted to the house, our kitties are still just as likely to meet a coyote as any other.

After a few months my heart should be all healed up and we'll likely get more kittens at christmas. Of course we are still hoping he'll come home, and if he does we'll be ready. We're building our cats with an outdoor night time house. 

Found this puppy on craigslist:

So the plan is to trick out the cage with kitty hammocks and ledges, then build some tunnels from the cage to the dog house so the kitties will be well protected in every season. 

So for the time being Toonces is in the house at night. She is a princess. She wants to be in all day - everyday. 

Poor normy, her love is smothering.

I had this crazy thought that if she loves norman so much, maybe she'd love a norman-flavored dog blanket. 

Worked like a charm!

Kitty in the hen house

Both girls have been laying an egg a day!!

But here's the thing - there's only one nest. Sister monica joan made it in the corner of the coop, and I thought daisy would make her own, but she didn't. They lay in the same nest! one right after the other. They only get in the nest to lay, and because its not separated from the rest of the coop in any way, I decided to get them nesting boxes. I thought it would be much easier for them to keep the nest clean if they were physical walls around it. And I got 2 boxes so each girl could lay her own egg in her own nest and not smack dab on top of another ladies egg. I mean, that just seems like it would be terribly nerve wracking.

The verdict? They love it! Moved right in....right into the same nest box.

And then yesterday, daisy didn't lay her egg. It might have been somewhat related to the fact that there was a visitor in her hen house.

Doesn't he know its ladies only?

He really liked peeping out of the door and slinking down the ladder...

Never a dull moment. 

So, today, as I walked out to the coop to collect the eggs, I wasn't sure what I would find. I was half expecting to find munchy asleep in the nest, because that just seems like something that would happen at my house. 

But, look what I found!

Ahhh! Separate nests!! Hip hip hooray! I know they are just chickens, but they ARE girls, and we all know how girls are when it comes to raging hormones and sharing. (Wink!)

Another big day!

TADA!!!!

13 days later, Daisy made her very first egg!!!

 

Lighter in color and smaller than her friends, but just as lovely.

I just LOVE getting eggs! Sister Monica Joan has graciously given us an egg surprise everyday since the 8th. Its christmas every day!!

Here how our girls stack up to the "professionals".

I wish I could really convey their personalities with pictures. They are so funny and make such humorous expressions...

You can see they have grown into their combs (red mohawk-ish hat thingy) and waddles (2 hangy down things under the beak) and are not small.

Daisy is very human friendly and loves the camera...

Sister Monica Joan has what we call a "bitchy resting face". She's not even a little amused. 

Wait a minute....i've seen that grumpy face before... 

Aw, sweet normy has a soul sister :)

So come on over friends! I'll fry you up a plate full of delicious eggs. 

Happy Fall!

Day 2

She's on a roll! 2 eggs in 2 days. What an honor.  :)

It happened

The chicken has laid the egg! 

I repeat! 

The chicken has laid the egg!

This is such an exciting day! We have been waiting and waiting and WAITING for this day to come. My chickens might be older than other chickens, might be a little more sassy, but they are special and the day of the egg is upon us.  

This beauty belongs to Sister Monica Joan.  She has been acting a little funny (insert: bitchy) lately, and I knew something was up when I went to hen house this morning.  Every morning I hear them crying and fussing to open the gate so they can go into the run and cluck around.  This morning, they were no where to be found. I peered into the hen house, and Sister Monica Joan was sitting on her newly fluffed hay nest, with Daisy standing near, looking a bit confused, and well,  bored.  I went about my morning business, came back in an hour, both were still in the hen house, but this time daisy was sitting right next to Sister Monica Joan. I know it sounds crazy, but she was tipping her head, looking in between SMJ's legs like she knew what was about to happen, and she wanted to be close by to support her friend.

On a side note - these sweet funny little chickens reminded me of the verse in Ruth.  "I will go where you go, and your people will be my people." Daisy was right with Sister Monica Joan, right to the end. I hope I am as kind to my friends in need as she was to her friend. 

Anyway, back to the story.  I came back again 30 minutes after that, and there they were, together in the run, strutting around like any other normal day.  I opened up the nest box, and bam! The little brown beauty was there.  My first reaction was to say "Mazel Tov, Sister" and thought BRIEFLY about what a chicken Bat Mitzvah would be like. 

I thought we had a couple of late bloomers, and turns out I was right. Better late than never, eh?

Summer

We have been having the most amazing weather this summer! We have had 2 big rain storms that filled up the pond, watered our hay, and gave us some GLORIOUS cold fronts. It was 68 this morning....in august. IN TEXAS. Crazyness!!

Speaking of Texas, here's some texas education for ya. Have you ever heard of the blackjack tree? We sure hadn't. Apparently this tree grows in sandy loam soil, and they are all over our ranch. (No wonder our road is called blackjack rd.)

The leaves are shaped like a ducks foot:

We also have tons hickory trees, with hickory nuts!  Well, I'm 98% sure its hickory. Hickory trees are cousins to pecans with large seed pods. 

The chickens live under a hickory tree...

I love all the nature around, and it reminds me of how uneducated I am about my surroundings. Hopefully time will help me to learn all of the trees and animals. And lately we've had a few new animals roaming around that I can identify...

Thanksgiving is right around the corner people....just sayin. :)

The kitties have been pretty funny lately. Munch finally stopped crying for Mungo, so that's good. I've put up a summer house for them, but no matter what I build, they want to hang out in the dog crate. 

Sheesh. They just love it!

And last but not least, the Chicken update: no eggs yet. Guess I have a couple of late bloomers. 

Happy Summer!

The goings on

Summer is in full swing and we're loving this warm weather. But not the abundant grasshoppers. Hate those things. I'm so happy when I see my kitties or chickens eating those little jerks.

Speaking of jerks - The larger run I built for the chickens was not only NOT keeping the kitties out, but it was also failing to keep the chickens in.  (Do you know what's harder than herding cats? Herding chickens. Cross my heart.)

I wove some sticks from around the ranch into the fencing, and as you can see, epic fail.

So, I added much more, and it seems to be working!  The chickens have been enjoying some free time out in the run for 5+ hours a day.

I also added a chicken swing so they would have a little excitement.  

So this free-ranging time has been going on for about 2 weeks.  No one got in, no one got out.

As I was walking out to the pond to call for our missing kitty Mungo (more on that in a bit) I saw a weird black spot on the top of the chicken run. 

Son of a gun.  Sister Monica Joan. What in the heck are you doing?  I got closer to see if she was trying to escape a kitty or other predator...

Nope, just hanging out over 5 feet in the air. 

What a funny girl! She was carefully balancing and happy as a chicken nun on a fence (this is a new saying I'm trying out).  I had to eventually pick her up and put her back into the run...at which time she ran over to the feed bucket and jumped up on top of it...and knocked it over.  I'm going to have trouble with this one.


Ok so, flying chicken crisis over, I ventured out into the field and came upon this little gem....

A HUGE BLACKBERRY BUSH!!!!

Oh my gosh, I am so excited, I can hardly stand it.  It was there all along, just hanging out, completely oblivious to us.

Another bit of excitement...the kitties are 1!! I can't believe it's been so long.   Remember when?? Such cute babies.

But, sadly, we are missing our sweet Mungo. He's been gone for over a week.  Oh, I am so sad. He has disappeared before, and whatahusband is convinced he's just out on an adventure, and I hope he's right. Mungo's favorite pastime was petting Norman's face with his body! (haha)  Good thing Normy has 2 other kitties chomping at the bit to love him.