Katy Did

She's got her groove back.  You saw Katy Perry Chicken when she first came to live on my urban farm.  Not long after, her looks began to slip as feathers forgot how to stay put and scattered themselves about the coop and hen pen.  Then one day, it was the worst.  All of Katy's head "hair" was gone.

Katy, freshly dressed for winter

Nothing stays the same, however.  If times are bad, they'll get better.  If things are good, they can get even better.  For Katy, feathers grow back after a molt.  It's not the end of the world.  Now Katy looks great: new hair do and sparkling new dress just in time for the real part of winter.






Of the Things I get to do today, I'm most intent on discovering which of my girls is/are laying eggs. So I've kept a vigil of sorts.  Through the family room windows it can be challenging to see who's actually missing (and presumably, therefore, on the nest) when two of the hens could pass for twins and the others are dark or grayish from a distance.

Katy's egg on the left: slender and not as pink

But today I paid "able-to-see-an-edible-bug-at-six-yards" (chickens' idea of "close") attention.  And Katy was the one not in the flock pecking grass.  Katy was the one not in the flock when it scratched under the tree.  Katy was flapping out of the cozy and nest box area a bit later. But nothing was in the nest box when it was checked between sky-falling rains.   An hour later,  Katy was not with the girls as they scratched under the marion-berries.  She was not with them as they checked a pile of weeds for slugs.  But shortly after, she flapped out of the nest for a second time.  This time for sure I knew the answer to which hen laid this egg:  Katy did.