New Mexico Trip

Brian and I made a trip to New Mexico to see Jess, Elizabeth and Simon. (Simon is precious, by the way...unfortunately for him this blog is not about children, haha)  Anyway, they have chickens in their yard.  They are the real deal when it comes to being "free range."  Those guys get to roam all throughout their yard and surrounding land which is backed up to the Gila National Forest.  Needless to say I took a couple pictures.

Phylis

This treasure of eggs was found near the side of the house.  Jess couldn't find one of his ladies at night when it was time to go to bed.  It was because she had made her a hiding spot in the tall grass so she could hoard eggs.  She ended up hatching THIRTEEN babies. I think she must be a glutton for punishment.  Sadly, not all of them made it.  It's a rough world out there!  There are many more critters to watch out for when you're not protected by a fence.  I think only about 4 survived.  We may need to get her into some parenting classes, because that's a pretty high mortality rate.  Maybe call CPS (Chicken Protective Services!)

Cute...and the only one I could catch.

Since I made fun of Brian being attacked by Jessie it's only fair to include that I was attacked by Jess' rooster named Gossamer.  I swear he had his eye on Brian the whole visit.  But one afternoon I was following Brian and Gossamer was lurking in the bushes.  Actually, I think he was looking for bugs and Brian irritated him and then I came through which sent him over the edge...plus I hesitated.  Jess came to my rescue and kicked the chicken.  It took two kicks for Gossamer to get the point.  This was near the end of the trip so I didn't have to live in fear for too much longer.  I didn't yell obscenities like Brian did so often, but I did scream like a girl.