What remains...

What remains?

What remains of the bees? This remains of the bees.

Soon the Bee Keeper will be(Bee?) Back to vacuum the few stragglers away and take them to the rest of the hive. Speaking of... The hive was much, MUCH larger than anyone realized. Jeff was thrilled to have received such a gift. The hive is very healthy and must have simply been hidden by the vines longer than we realized. Thankfully the vines are easily trimmed and the hive removed. If it had been in the trellis instead... :-( it would not have been as easy and the bees would have been very agitated.

What remains of a molting chicken? Solitary confinement. Not only that, but I don't really have the resources for solitary - so we have improv! I took a beat up old playhouse and made it into something that would do. At least for short term...

 

Do you normally have to put your hens into solitary confinement? NO! But, see I have mean red that like to pick on her and I came home to a BLOODY hen instead of a bald one. Poor baby. So into the pen she went. Good news is she's so darn concerned about pruning she couldn't care less that she's all alone. It's only been a week and she's already got 4 of her flight feathers back! What a mess she is.

My normally pristine WHITE bird is GREY, and dappled and....balding and....embarrassed!

 (here she has spotted me with the camera)

(now she is running away from the camera)

 

Below is her normal behavior. Running TOWARD the camera. LOL. What a difference. Look at that sparkling WHITE bird!

 

 It's hard to believe she is actually grey under all that white and hides it that well! Her face looks gargantuan without any feathers on it, and that tail? Oh, My! She looks like someone has already pre-plucked her for the frying pan. It's a good thing we love her. I can't wait until RED molts. There will be no solitary confinement for her. If she gets picked on, oh well. She deserves it! Mean old biddy! She needs to just be soup, but I can't seem to find the time to do it when the kids aren't around. When the chicks are in the feed stores in spring may just be the time for her to disappear. Then two brand new chicks can take her place. That may just do. LOL.

OH, Did I mention that Dusty is like- Super molter? She's only one week in - half bald (or more) and she LAID AND EGG this week! Yes, only one - but still. Would you? I sure as heck wouldn't! I'd be putting my feet up and telling my people to go lay their own dang eggs!

See you soon!

Barbie~