It’s weather like this that makes me happy I don’t have chickens with feathered feet.
Seriously, of all the wacky traits a chicken can have, I don’t know what people were thinking when they bred them for feathers on their legs. Anyone who is ever around chickens for more than a few visits knows chickens get dirty, and they LIKE getting dirty. Luckily, my girls all have nekkid legs, kind of like having built-in wellies.
Mad, wet hens (Pauline, Bonnie and Bloody Bea)
In spring we normally get a bit of flooding. It’s this nasty clay soil we have. What happens of course is the snow melts and then the ground gets saturated so there is nowhere to go but…nowhere. Big puddles everywhere, sitting on the ground.
One look at the calendar sez it ain’t spring, not by a long shot. It’s Tuesday morning and the windows are open because it’s 57* out…and the high yesterday was a record-breaking 64*. We had a rather gorgeous light show from thunderstorms that blew out from tornadoes in Missouri and Illinois, and it brought at least 2″ of rain. Combine that rain and the melted 6″ of snow that’d been on the ground on Saturday, and, well. I wish I had built-in wellies, too.
The warmer weather allowed me, on Sunday, to repair the batting cage. When the snow melted, magically, the batting cage netting, Lazarus-like, rose up off the ground. It did not rise up high enough for me to not garrote myself when I go let them in and out of their coop, though, so something needed to be done. I hate the half-assed nature of the whole chicken run netting, but I tell myself it is temporary, all to be put away in the spring.
And if this wacky weather continues, it’ll be spring a lot sooner than I think. The frogs are even out on the pond.
A casualty: one of 3 dead goldfish. (We’ve got plenty more, though.)
Glad you came to visit!
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fast grow the weeds 
Hmmm….wacky weather all round. I’ve got hellebores that are repeat flowering in summer. Some cooler weather and that seems to send them the message to look pretty again. Weird.
Don’t ever get the featherfooted variety. They look bad enough when it’s dry and high summer. In our mucky springs they just look soggy, disgustingly dirty and, well……pissed off. As if you’re responsible or something!! 🙂
Help. I can’t tell what the casualty is in the last picture. It looks like a pond with a piece of wood and a candy wrapper in it. I’m sure there is something there because of the caption – but can you point it out for me? Thanks!
Angie: it’s a goldfish washed up from the pond! That’s a flat rock on the edge, demonstrating how much the danged thing flooded. I’ll change the note…
Farm mom: Hah, the chickens. I love goofy looking ones, though I doubt I will ever own them. Polish varieties are just hilarious, but I don’t know how well they can see with all those feathers. Can they see enough to run from a hawk?
Nada: I’m telling you, things are really crazy all over. My azalea bloomed twice last year, too. I keep saying I am going to get hellebores, though; maybe this year…
My Mom relates that she is living on an island now. Back yard is a pond, front is a mud hole. We could use some rain down here! Please send it our way ok?
I wonder how I could get my dogs trained not to chase chickens. I’d love to have some. They’d (the dogs) have such a ball…”hey Mom…Did you know these things try to run/fly when you chase them?” His motto, If you run, I will chase you.
lol
I hear you on the chicken legs. Our birds get themselves absolutely filthy when it’s muddy out. Chickens rarely look graceful, but wet weather makes them look extra, extra bad. Yours look happy enough splashing around out there.
Wow… and here I thought the duck yard looked bad! If we didn’t have such a brutally cold December, this warm weather would be freaking me out a bit. Even so, I’m looking forward to cooler temps coming back.
Jules: I swear the weather gods are very unfair. We have plenty of moisture, thanks; wish I COULD send it south! And as far as dogs chasing chickens. I’ve had a German shepherd and an Australian cattle dog in the years I’ve been a chicken rancher. THese are herding breeds, prone to keeping anything in line (including small children). So I just let them both know that these chickens are their responsibility, and not a source of recreation and amusement. If the chickens get out, though, Penny is SO happy because she gets the opportunity to herd them back in. But no, neither one of them chased them once I put the hammer down.
Meg: They are happy, and they’re always so delighted to see me. I realize it is not personal, though, as it is that I am the source of food!
Liz: And the chicken run is on high ground! So it just proves how lousy this soil is once it gets saturated. Though today it’s looking pretty good out there…and there’s snow forecast for tonight, so, well, maybe the frogs will at least go back into hibernation.