First Cold

It was cool this morning. Actually it was probably our first really cold morning. The older chickens ran out of the hen house. The teenagers and the babies remained huddled in a corner inside the house. I did not think they were going to venture out. Finally they did. I realized this was the first cold day of their lives.

I am suffering the Big Blackie Blues. She is a rebel chicken and will not stay on our property when I let the chickens out in the evening. I open the pen and all the chickens run toward the front of the house. I take a shortcut behind the house and get to the front first and shoo them back toward our property. They all turn except for Big Blackie. She has even taken to tricking me in order to get into the neighbor's yard. The other evening she mingled with the Australorps and as they neared the property line, Big Blackie made a sudden break for the forbidden land. What's the problem with this? The neighbor's rotweiller is the problem. Now all the chickens have to stay in the pen until we figure out a cure for BB.

Plus, we have a new dilemma with our neighbors. They have moved a boarder in with them. It turns out to be a young man who stole some items from us a few years ago and created all kinds of disturbances in the community. He stands in the middle of the street with the rotweiller and glares at us. Not a good feeling.