Surprise!

Just the other day I was telling someone that I expected our hens to start laying eggs in September. Plenty of time for us to build the dang nesting boxes that we've been putting off. Then when I went to fluff up the coop bedding yesterday evening, surprise!

Two tiny eggs and one slightly larger egg. I remember my mom mentioned once that her mom used to let her use those tiny eggs (also knows as "pullet eggs") to make mud pies with. Isn't that cute? I doubt Z-cakes would be on board with that because she's a little scared of cracking eggs. Yeah, you read right. There's no use discussing the logic behind being scared of cracking eggs, you're not going to change her mind.

Anyway, having chickens is pretty rad. Yay for eggs!

Farewell Rooster-Hen

Over the weekend we said goodbye to our rooster-hen. I'd like to say that the parting was bitter sweet but that would probably be sugar coating it. I was happy to see her go. I pretty much let N8tr0n load her into a crate and never looked back. Her crowing drove me up the wall and after she pecked me (like not hard enough to break the skin but hard enough to break my heart) ((except my heart wasn't broken so much as it was completely pissed off)) well, let's just say we weren't the best of friends having so much fun together.

Anyway, we loaded her up and sent her off to the ranch. And no, not the kind of ranch you're thinking of. An actual ranch where my cousins live. And speaking of cousins, mine were kind enough to trade us straight up for one of their hens! Isn't that great? Now I can still have four chickens AND not get woken up at 5:00 AM by rooster-hen!

Allow me to introduce you to Lilly II. She is an Australorp and as far as we can tell, very quiet. Very non-rooster-ish. We hope she likes it here.

{it totally cracks me up how not pretty chickens are when they are teenagers}

Lilly II is currently being quarantined on the other side of the yard. The experts recommend quarantining for at least 30 days but uhhh, we're not going to be doing that. In an effort to balance prudence and practicality we'll probably quarantine for a couple of days and then introduce her to the ladies. I'll let you know how that goes since introducing a new hen means they have to revamp the pecking order and all that jazz. Unless the results are gruesome. Which I'm sure they won't be. But, you know, if they are I won't tell you about it.

So, farewell Rooster-Hen. I would say that we'll miss you but right now I'm looking at the scab on my hand from when you bit me so...have a nice life.

Poultry Update

A couple of you asked for chicken updates and as I am always one to give the people what they want, here I am updating you.

Let's just start with this shall we?

Rooster Hen from Miranda Walker on Vimeo.

Do you know what that sound was my friends? Well I will tell you.

I'm not entirely sure.

I mean. Yes. It was a crowing sound. But was it a crowing sound coming from a rooster, or a crowing sound coming from a dominant hen pretending to be a rooster? Because that happens you know? I didn't know, in case you were wondering. But now I do. And don't know. Whether this is a rooster or a hen. I mean really, who can know these things?

Yes I know that there are people who can know these things but I am not one of them.

Anyway, the future of this rooster-hen is undetermined. If she is in fact a he, then he will have to be relocated. If she is still a she and she continues on with that blasted crowing then she will have to be relocated. Until we know for sure, I am taking solace in the fact that all of our neighbors are elderly and can barely hear me when I'm talking straight to them. Perhaps they cannot hear our rooster-hen crowing at 5:00 AM?

Also, I take it back. I do know what that sound was. It was the sound of betrayal.

Also also, the rooster-hen's name is Lily. Or Lyle.

Okay. On with the updates:

This is Winnie the Wyandotte. Remember how we almost lost Winnie? She is now my favorite chicken because I think she is gorgeous. Unfortunately I think she is one of the hardest ones to catch. Also you can see in the background how the chickens frequently knock over their food thingie. It is annoying.

This is Archie the Ameraucana. Z-cakes was in charge of naming most of the chickens and she was dead set on having a Tulip and an Archie (my mom dog-sits a couple of dogs named Tulip and Archie) which is why this little hen was given a boy's name. Amazingly, this did not make her dominant over the rest of the flock and allow her to develop masculine traits the way her fellow Ameraucana rooster-hen did. Archie went through a very ugly phase, but I think she's quite pretty now, if not a bit of a camera hog.

For some reason I do not have a picture of Tulip the Rhode Island Red. Perhaps the fact that she is on the bottom of the pecking order makes her a bit camera shy? Tulip is in the running for favorite chick because she is by far the easiest to catch and I anticipate her being very pretty when she gets a bit older. I've never pretended not to be fickle when it comes to this little brood.

And there you have it. Poultry: Updated. I'm happy to answer any questions you have in the comments, although I still really don't know what I'm doing. I mean...I have a hen that crows for crap's sake.

P.S. Here are a couple more pics of me and Z-cakes with our chickies. Thanks At Home!

Tis the Season

I bought an entire flat of strawberries on crazy sale last Saturday. They are beautiful. The majority of them will be turned into jam and the rest will be used for Z-cakes' snackies and possibly some fresh strawberry pie for Mother's Day?

By the way, I'll be making my jam sans commercial pectin which is a first for me. I'll be using this book for help. Do any of you have experience in this department?

Many thanks for the chicken coop love. Also, the names you suggested were hilarious. Keep them coming. Yesterday our coop was inspected and approved by the city. Huzzah! Now we can legally have the birds that we already own! In breaking chicken news: I just watched one of our chickens fly out of the Rubbermaid, onto a nearby hamper, and halfway up the stairs. No joke.

Coop-a-Loop

Check out the new addition to our backyard!

That's right. That is MY chicken coop in MY backyard. This is not an inspiration post. This is an actually happening in my backyard right now post. You're jealous, right?

On Thursday night my dad delivered the coop that he built from scratch. My dad happens to be the kind of guy who, upon realizing that his daughter needs a housing structure for her chickens, goes and builds one. Even if the fact that his daughter wants to keep chickens leaves him wondering where he went wrong as a parent.

As you can see this coop is a high quality item. The hinges and pin for the door were custom welded by Mr. My Dad and there is tons o' room for the ladies to roost and get their nesting on. This coop is also one heavy mother and took the strength of six men to haul it into our yard. Because, let's face it, there is no way any kid of my dad's is going to raise chickens in some trashy lean-to. The thought is simply unacceptable.

{inside coop}

Right now the chicks spend their days outside and their nights inside in their Rubbermaid palace. We are excited for the day when they get to go outside full time which will probably be in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed.

When Jen was here she informed me that my coop must have a name. And I was all, "what the what?" I didn't know it had to have a name! I'm currently accepting suggestions. That along with a few more touch ups (painting the frame, connecting a pulley to the chicken door, building the nest boxes) and those chicks are in business. Four very lucky ladies if you ask me.

So what do you think? Seriously, my dad will want to hear how awesome you think the coop is.

Have I got news for you

Should we get chickens?

Should we mail order them or just get them at Cal Ranch?

Maybe we shouldn't get chickens this year?

It can't be that hard, right? We should just get chickens.

Should we wait until we can get a permit?

Are we going to get chickens or WHAT?????

Umm....yes.

Please welcome: Archie (Wyandotte), Tulip (Rhode Island Red), Beulah (Ameraucana), and Leone (Ameraucana).

Holy crap you guys we have chickens!