We’re still in a GG holding pattern. I’m told the end of the month is looking good. I’ve got plenty of material to go, so soon the floodgates will be open. Topics include: chicken mysteries, changes in the flock, winter molting, and chicken depression. How does that sound? Maybe we’ll even find out what the deal with the Garden Guys dead motherboard is.
Meanwhile, I got a call from our town today alerting me to the fact that the town bear is awake and prowling for bird feeders and trash cans. Be careful everyone!
So, you may have noticed that there was still no Garden Guys show on Friday. The motherboard issue at GG HQ is still ongoing. Meanwhile, I am sitting on a load of eggs like you wouldn’t believe. (I’m also sitting on a pile of chicken stories, but those aren’t as good for breakfast.) Egg production really slowed this winter, as it will. The cool thing was that everything totally stopped exactly one week before the solstice, and exactly one week after. Nature! In the last couple of weeks we’ve stopped having the ebb of an egg here and have moved into “Oh, we have three dozen eggs on the counter all of a sudden” territory. Tough problem to have.
So, it looks like there are still problems at Garden Guys headquarters. I’m told what we’re looking at is a motherboard problem. I’m not actually looking at it, but I can picture what that looks like.
We’ll try again next week. Should it fail, I’ll have some chicken news on deck for you. And not a picture if a chicken on a deck, unless that’s your thing. Everybody’s got a thing, man.
Due to some technical difficulties at Garden Guys HQ, today will NOT be the 2014 season premiere of Garden Guys Green Revolution Radio (featuring Too Many Chickens!). Give us another week or so, and everything will be up and running. Plus, we’re supposed to get another 9 feet of snow on Monday, so you’re not doing any gardening anytime soon anyway. I swear this is happening soon! I swear anyway, but I especially swear about the happening soon part.
Please stand by.
Don’t worry, soon enough you’ll feel like this. (My posts are the chickens, obviously.)
Next week is the start of the new Garden Guys season, so it’s also the start of the new Too Many Chickens! season. Next Friday, February 28th at 3, the magic begins anew. Look how excited they are to have their personal secrets told to the internet.
I’ve got a chicken who is molting for the second time, in the middle of winter. I thought this was a little strange, and so I asked over at backyardchickens.com about it. The feedback I got was that certain things could trigger a second molt, like, say, extreme weather. And I thought, “Oh, you mean like TWO POLAR VORTEXES?” So, I think we may have the answer.
Regardless, poor Suzy Creamcheese looks really rough, but is holding out o.k. in the cold. I was tempted to bring her inside, but I think she’s better off with the others, and people said their chickens that had this happen were fine in the cold. She lost her tailfeathers this week, and looks stubby.
Guess what?
And we just got 8 more inches of snow yesterday, with more on the way tomorrow and Monday night. The chickens won’t see bare ground until August at this rate.
But you’ll see new Too Many Chickens! full posts starting again on February 28th, when Garden Guys returns to the internet airwaves.
Got about another foot on Wednesday. Luckily I had finally gotten around to putting the new roof section over the run. Up until now, it was protected by an old tarp that got a little leaky when wet. Now it has a clear roof that should keep them dry while letting light through . . . unless it’s covered in snow.
Look at all that snow protection!
I still need to add one more support beam, but in the meantime, I just used a huge branch that came down in one of our earlier snowstorms.
Use what tools you have available.
Don’t forget, new Garden Guys episodes (featuring Too Many Chickens!) begin February 28th!
(While you think about it, take heart! Garden Guys is back on the interair February 28th. That means more Too Many Chickens! is just around the corner.)
