AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT...

It is with sadness that I announce the time has come for Fern and Phoebe to be relocated... their malicious behavior can no longer be tolerated. Every course of action has been attempted and failed miserably... Iris remains their main target...Fern and Phoebe are a bonded pair and as such will go together to live on a dairy farm down the road. Their pampered life... as they know it is OVER... Since this fiasco began I have discovered what a special hen Iris is...during the day she cautiously roams the yard along side the other hens...life remains normal until one or both of the Wynadottes decide it's time to jump on her back...pull her feathers...with this type of behavior Iris has become reluctant to enter the coop...hence laying has become a problem...Iris realizes the odds of being chased out of the coop and nest box are great...but my girl will not be held back and has become quite resourceful...she has learned to come to the back door...knock with her beak...I inturn open the back door...Iris walks in and enters her cage...

I believe she realizes this is a safe and secure environment in which to lay... I open the cage door...

out she hops...
proudly leaving her treasure behind...

I have learned to never under estimate the intelligence of a hen...

Now...it is true my house is beginning to smell like a barn...not only is it time for Iris to move back to the coop with her sisters...it is time for my little "peeps" to move out too. My once tiny five "peeps" have grown into four rowdy teenagers. Yes...four...more on that tomorrow... The gardens are beginning to flourish...there are days of summer like weather and days of cold wet weather...the wood stove is still in use...taking the chill off in the evenings...

such is the weather in Maine...I do hope summer has come to your neck of the woods!!