You Gonna Eat That?

To make the Avian Americans feel better about an early winter - some places got 31" last weekend- I put out a bowl of what chickens would have wanted if they'd come to the door on Hallowe'en:  Peanuts, grapes, ciabatta and carrot shavings, served on a bed of lettuce, garnished with Purina.

Mostly in the morning Buck puts his beak near the open door, sees white on the ground and grumbles.  He won't come out unless it's above 35 degrees [F].  He doesn't encourage his ladies to either.




 The B's won't consider it as long as they
 have water and food in their shed,
 but after the night I put them in the main coop they were the first ones out hopping
through bootprints to get to the porch.
These girls are very easy to catch, and seem to like being held and scratched.

It took a couple of days of thawing out for Buck to feel as though it would be a good idea to get some sun.
I barely do any shoveling for myself.  If they think I'm going to shovel and elaborate run for them, well..... maybe what I'll do is figure out a way to do what was done 150 years ago, to squash the snow down evenly and not hurt my back clearing it away.
During the night, the girls are picking the feathers off Buck's neck, so that now as his tail feathers grow back, his neck feathers are vanishing. I"m feeling such a dread of winter, wondering if the chickens are too.  I know the breeds I have are supposed to deal well with cold, but they are out there with bare heads and feet.  Can they fluff their feathers up enough ?  Are their heartbeats fast enough?  These are things I don't know.  I wonder, do chickens get Seasonal Affective Disorder?  Do they yearn to be in Borrego Springs?