Screeching Squeaky Toys

Timber has a favorite toy. Out of a basket of dog toys (yep, that is right, a whole basket of toys just for the dogs) she has one that she will pick over the rest every time. It is also Tim's least favorite dog toy. He buries it at the very bottom of the basket every opportunity he gets. Tonight is one of the few nights that he actually pulled it out of the basket himself to hand over to Timber. Gretchen was happily playing with one of her favorites and Tim wanted Timber to have fun too. Then the screeching began.

Timber and the dreaded Monster Squeaker.

Gretchen and the toy basket. We keep it at doggy level so they can go over and pick a toy whenever they get the urge.

Gretchen's toy of choice for the evening. No squeaker inside this one, just some tough contents that are perfect for a teething pup.

Monster Squeaker. I swear one of his eyes is bigger than the other because the noise of his own squeaker even makes him crazy.

 Most dog toys contain what is fondly known as the squeaker. There is the soft little squeak that is almost not annoying at all until you have heard it for thirty minutes or so. Some dogs are content with this,but if they are trying to get your attention then it just won't do. Then there is the standard squeak that is tolerable for about ten minutes before you get up to play with the dog yourself and try to wear them out until they don't want to make things squeak anymore. Overall this is a win win situation. The dog gets to play with you and you get a little fun time with the dog along with a little exercise. Finally there is the dreaded screeching squeaker. This particular toy can be heard from any room in the house. It is the equivalent to those loud, noise making children's toys that drive parents crazy. You know, the kind that other people buy for you because you would certainly would never buy it for your own children unless it had a hidden volume button that you could turn down or even off. Somehow your children might find these hidden in the back of the closet and wonder how it got there.

So approximately ten minutes after giving the screeching toy to Timber, Tim went upstairs to fix dinner although secretly I think he really wanted to escape the noise. It didn't take long for good smells to make their way downstairs and soon toys were abandoned and somehow one found it way back home to the bottom of the basket.

Just for fun, here are a few pictures from earlier in the day. 

Love the wiggling eyebrows.

Sweet old gal tired from a walk in the snow at the park.

I love Gretchen's curly white chin whiskers.

And her blonde eyelashes.

Checking each other out.

Lou Lou the hen and Charcoal.

Meet the Ladies of the Neath Nest

 

These are the gals on the first night we brought them home. Some of them were pretty henpecked at the time. They were pretty nervous that first evening. 

 

It didn't take long for them to settle in and start enjoying themselves. They love to take dirt baths in the garden. They often like to hang out in pairs.

 Bertha.

Marge.

 Molly.

 Finishing off their breakfast of spinich, hot mash, and pepper tops.

Peggy Sue, our top layer.

Lou Lou standing tall. Sometimes she thinks she is a rooster.

 Peggy Sue when she is not all puffed up.

 Marge in the front and Molly in the back.

 Bertha again. Her neck is always redder than Betty's.

Betty.

 Regrowth of feathers on Betty's back and wings.

 Molly. I love when she puffs up and looks all goofy.

 Marge likes to have her back scratched and isn't nearly as shy as Molly.

 Lou Lou up close. She has a lot of personality and comes running every time she sees me or Tim.

 

 Betty shortly after we got her. The "porcupine" looking things on her neck is regrowth of feathers.

 

 Betty today. Her neck feathers are filling in nicely.

 

 The eggs. Peggy Sue lays the egg in the upper left corner. We think that Lou Lou also lays this color, but are still in the works of figuring it out. The upper right egg is called a blue (even though it looks more green to me) and those are given to us by Marge and Molly. The brown eggs on bottom are courtesy of Betty and Bertha.

Having the hens around has overall been an enjoyable experience so far, but I can tell it is not for everyone. Every day I get up, make them some hot mash (I won't do this when it gets warmer) and put a treat on top, usually greens. We collect the eggs and put the hens away each evening. Once to twice a week the coop gets cleaned. We use the poop in our compost pile and are excited to use it in the garden this year. There is PLENTY of poop and hens are messy creatures.The eggs are delicious and I love knowing they are the eggs of cage free, happy hens.

We are also glad to have our big Rooster, thanks to Grant and Teri, to watch over his ladies. We haven't settled on a name for him yet, but I am liking the name "Big Earl." We'll see if it sticks.