eggs

Brown = Redstar (sexlink)

White = Brown Leghorn

Today, I am...

...feeling the first whisper of fall.

...dying dingy whites to give them new life.


...bleaching faded sheets.

...taking down New Chicken's pen (for good!).

...marveling at the first egg laid by New Chicken!

(yes, that is a golf ball in the background. We had read that it's one way to get a chicken to stop eating eggs, which the new girl did the first time Sally laid with her around. So far, it has worked!)

...finishing up last year's homemade hard cider.

...making homemade bug spray.


...reading this year's farm school student bios.

...blocking knitting projects.


...enjoying kitty enjoying shoebox.


....hoping for some good news.

Farm Crate

Aaron and I finished my bicycle crate this week! We took turns burning the farm logo into the wood. He used some kind of pine that was impossible to burn, so it took forever and we decided against the shading we had originally planned. Anyway, it turned out so awesome. And it's a perfect Matilda-sized box.


Someday, right? Dream it up and then make it happen.

We practiced on scrap wood several times before burning the actual box. Too bad our practice wood was different than the box wood, because the practice was a breeze. More pics to come once it's mounted on the bike.

Matilda got a haircut!

Today

Today, I am...

...Cleaning the house
...Reading Possession
...Watching Songcatcher
...Eating homemade food cooked for (not by) me
...Saying goodbye to my MIL who has been here since Thursday
...Thinking about Farm School
...Loving my little bald kitty
...Folding laundry
...Packaging the mint I dried for winter teas
...Knitting Christmas presents
...Basking in the fact that my semester is over

Chicken Trouble - a note about hybrid breeds

We recently got a hard blow: Henny Penny is dying. We suspected she wasn't laying eggs for a little while -- though not that long, because I would see her in the nestbox each day and just assumed the eggs were hers. She started getting heavy around her middle and became disinterested in anything other than the store-bought feed we give her. No kitchen scraps, no vegetation, no bugs. This is not the bug-eating Henny Penny we know and love! We started keeping a little bit of an eye on her, the noticed that she was laying down a lot. One day she started closing her eyes = not good in the chicken world. We started doing research. It turns out that after two years of age this breed (Red Stars) are particularly susceptible to something called "internal laying." Simply put, the egg remains in the chicken and fluid builds up (hence the heaviness) until they die. There is no cure. It is common among all hybrid breeds and hatchery-born chicks, which is a very serious reason to find a heritage breed from a local source.
We went to the feed store and got some medicine that helped her get a little more comfortable. We had to give her injections for 4 days. (Aaron said he couldn't give her a shot so I had to every time!) She is now walking and eating and trying to lay eggs, but it won't last. She will eventually end up back where she was and then she will die.
I am preparing myself for the fact that, come autumn, I will have to kill a chicken. I think about it for a little while every day so that, when the time comes, I will have thought out every angle and I will be able to find the peace within to come to terms with the task at hand. But I can't kill her. She doesn't deserve to live on in pain, but I can't do it. We've been trying to find a vet that will put her down for us, but we haven't had any luck so far.
My dear, sweet HP. She is just the nicest little chicken there ever was.

Morning

I found Matilda like this the other morning. Neither of us had covered her, which means she burrowed into and under the blankets on our bed on her own.

This is how Elf wakes us up almost every morning. Often, a wet nose will find its way under a sleeper's arm and gently nudge until breakfast is served.

4 Happinesses

1) Oregon

2) Donkey Baby

3) Nice Weather
4) Gardening

Elf-sized bed

Aaron's latest wood shop creation was the sweetest little bed for Elf:

The picture doesn't even do it justice. It's just too cute! He found a picture of a little sleigh bed for a doll and modified it to fit an Elf. And Elf just loves it. He lays on his bed with his little pillow and just has the happiest look on his face. He literally loved his other beds to pieces, so we hope this will last a bit longer.


And of course, Matilda had to give it a try.

Chicken Love

Large Marge is LOUD. She starts squawking at around 6:30am before she even comes downstairs for breakfast. She squawks when she expects a mid-afternoon snack and outing in the yard. She squawks loudest at around 7:30-8am when Henny-Penny is upstairs laying an egg. Not sure if she's coaching her, singing an egg-laying song, warding off egg-snatching predators, or what.
I am not up on my chicken-logic.

Both of them love to eat the tomatoes that burst in the garden. Besides cracked-corn and beetles, it's their favorite snack. Elf likes them, too, and it's really fun to watch him try to eat a cherry tomato. He gets a look of surprise when it bursts open in his mouth.



They love venturing out and catching the bugs that you rustle up when you walk. They follow us around the yard, eating whatever jumps in their line of sight.

They have really incredible vision. They are aware of what is below them and above them, and spot hawks and ravens in the sky before we do.

They are really expressive, if you can believe it. Obviously, vocally, but otherwise, too. You can tell when they're happy and sad and nervous and content.


I think that I'll always have chickens after this. Aside from the piercing, irritating 6:30 wake-ups, they're really easy and they're really a lot of fun. Plus, they totally pull their own weight. We're averaging 12-14 eggs a week. Elf and Matilda better start fetching slippers and morning coffee. Well, Matilda told us about a mouse in the house (!!!) a couple of weeks ago, so she's off the hook. Elf, I like my coffee with a splash of milk.

Two Eggs

I don't think I've mentioned yet that we got a replacement chicken. We found someone willing to give up a Rhode Island Red. She's quite a bit bigger than Henny-Penny. And meaner, uglier, bossier, and mouthier (she's taken to waking up the neighborhood at 7am). We decided to name her after someone who deserves to have my meanest chicken named after them. We decided to name her Large Marge.

I don't think I would get another Rhode Island Red if I continue to raise chickens in town. Way too loud and too big. Also, interestingly, even though Henny-Penny (a Red Star) is much smaller, she lays eggs that are way bigger. They won't even fit in the egg carton.

Yesterday we got two eggs in one day for the first time. Marge's morning whining actually paid off, because it happened that we fed them twice in the morning, and came home to find two eggs. We fed them twice before we left for work again today: two more eggs. We've got a system and we're in business.

Hey there lonely girl...

So, for those of you that haven't heard, we had a chicken incident and Lady Bird is no more. All that was left was a pile of feathers. Poor Lady Bird. Poor Henny-Penny. She was hurt, but she'll be okay (no eggs since this happened, though). Aaron found the only vet in town that would see a chicken. Sweet Aaron.

I think Henny-Penny is lonely. She won't go downstairs and just sits at her roost all day until we take her down to eat and drink. If we're outside, we put her outside, and she likes to dig around and make nests, eat bugs, and preen. But we need to get her a friend, I think.

Success!

Lady Bird laid her first egg!

Things I was Going to Blog About This Fall: In Photos

I had big blogging intentions for this fall, but couldn't quite get my act together. I've been so busy. So much is happening. Here are a few things I've been meaning to tell you about:



The praying mantis that came to visit us




The time Matilda dressed up like an Ewok




Our run-in with Jesco White




Yaffa's visit and the 400 dishes she made for us. The biggest and best being Kubba!
Aaron making kubba




Kubba balls




Amber trying




The finished product




Kitty hates posing for pictures




And a good dose of Elf never did anyone wrong