Yum. Kevin made subtle, crisp-tender zucchini cakes and served each of us two with fried eggs on top. With the girls and the garden giving us food, who needs a paycheck in August?

*shrug* She's able to go in and out now. The others seem to be leaving her alone.

The four oldest of our hens are White Leghorn and Araucana or Ameraucana. They're the layers of green eggs. One of them, Mona (whose friends call her Hatchet Face), has a crossed bill which has always made it more difficult for her to eat. She's getting old and has been seen weakly going in and out of the chicken house. Now she has been found with ( Read more... )

Vera was the Black Minorca with green eyes. She was the Eva Perón of our little flock, rising from nothing to be head bitch and dying young. Old age, though, for her, I guess, no apparent illness. She's fertilizing the fruit trees now.

Yesterday there were two eggs in one of the 4 nesting boxes, and one sitting hen. Today there were 5 eggs in the same box as yesterday, and 9 in the box where she sat yesterday.

( Read more... )

Two years ago I said I'd have to keep chickens if I wanted to make bread pudding and crème anglaise with any regularity.

A year ago we brought home nine young chickens.

Hm. Maybe I should make bread pudding!

One hen was sitting on the nest when I went into the henhouse to gather eggs. She got spooked and ran out the door. I chased her around the yard with six eggs in my hand, then set them down on the linden stump and managed to corner her against the parlor windows after about 5 minutes of running and jumping and waving my arms. Lesson learned.

Kevin was outside working on wheelbarrow repair. I was chopping shallots for a sauce. He called my name and said "come here." I said, "I don't have my shoes on; what am I coming toward?" He said, "the neighbors are coming with something as a gift ( Read more... )

I walked out and gave the chickens their little bucket of yum yums (aka kitchen scraps from Baldy's). Tomato and cucumber salad today, one of their favorites. I told them, "Today I would like the privilege of discovering an egg, ladies; so far, you've only laid for Kevin." Then I went in their house and found THREE green eggs, two still warm!

babysasquatch says he thought last night's wolf moon might have done it:


( Read more... )