Around the Place

My mums are in bloom. 

It seems a little early, but I'm not complaining. 

They are beautiful.

 The Girls are looking more matronly all the time. 

Peony is the prettiest, in my opinion. 

More importantly, we appreciate their diligent egg production.

The sunflowers are beginning to fade. 

It will be interesting to see how many make seeds that we can roast. 

We have several varieties, and they don't all make edible seeds.

The leaves on the Japanese Maple tree in our front yard are getting darker. 

They'll soon begin to fall.

It's definitely September!

Here a Chick... There a Chick...

 My goodness! It's been nearly 3 months since I posted a Chicken Update. I'm sure you'd love to see how they've grown and catch up on all the hen-house gossip, wouldn't you?

You'll be glad to know the Girls continue to be happy and healthy. They are close to full grown now, and are pretty and friendly birds. Becky lets them out to forage in the backyard at least once a day. They are curious critters and will fly up on the roof of the hen-house to see what they can see.

 Cookie takes her job as Head of Ranch Security very seriously and watches them intently. Every now and then she'll try to herd them, but for the most part she leaves them alone.

 It's funny to watch them come down off the hen-house, because when one does, they all decide they need to. They do fly, but they aren't very graceful on the wing. Not that they are all that graceful on foot. Chickens just aren't.

 Much to our surprise, they started laying a couple weeks ago. I had read somewhere that it was usually about 6 months before they started laying, but I guess my information was wrong. Or maybe it said it could take "up to 6 months." Anyway, we weren't really watching for eggs yet.

Becky loves to go out a check for eggs several times a day now. We've been getting 1-3 a day. Once we get 4 in one day we'll know all four Girls are laying. For now we're not sure, because we can't quite tell which eggs belong to who. The white ones are obviously Daisy's (the White Leghorn), but the other three Girls are brown-egg layers. I expect Becky will figure it out before long.

 And then they pull stunts like this... while I'm trying to have my devotions on the deck. Silly Girls!

And here's the Head Chicken Keeper posing with Marigold (who was the one who happened to be the most cooperative at the moment).

...everywhere a chick-chick... E-I-E-I-O!

My backyard...

...does not offer as much "scope for the imagination" as the open road does... but I like it anyway. I've been enjoying just being at home for the past couple of weeks. It's been rainy and cool, which is not that unusual for June in these parts.

 Laura's strawberry plants are thriving. I think they like the wet, cool days. Laura planted them last year, so this is the first real harvest we've had from these plants. I do love fresh berries.

 I've put in a tiny garden, with just 6 or 8 plants. And, of course, the weeds appreciate the rain as much as the veggie plants do. I think it's time to get out the hoe.

 Over in the chicken coop Becky's pullets are happy and healthy. They bawk loudly every time they see her step outside, and when she lets them out of the pen they trail along behind her like she's the Mother Hen. They are definitely entertaining. And finally, they are beginning to look like real chickens. We're hoping for eggs sometime in September.

 I had actually gone out back to take a picture of this year's graduation afghan that I recently completed for my nephew. (Last year's picture is here... and the one for 2010 is here.) Notice who is lurking just to the right of the chair?

 It's Tabitha the Cat, who doesn't care that she's quite fat.

Nor does she care that she's also very undignified as she rolls around on her back waving her paws in the air.

I guess my own backyard is not so boring after all!

Chicken Update #5: Two Months Old

The Girls are two months old today. I guess it's more accurate to say that today is their two-month "Gotcha Day" rather than their birthday, because we don't know exactly how old they were when we brought them home. Just a day or two, probably.

Becky tenderly cares for them each day, talking to them, petting and stroking them, until they are quite tame. They always come running when she approaches their pen. They don't that for anyone else in the family, so it's clear who the Mama Hen is!

She told me a few days ago that it was time for a bigger feeder. She was having to refill their baby feeder too many times a day. So we stopped at the farm store to get a new feeder yesterday. They still had baby chicks.

"Oh, Mom! They're so cuuuute! Ours weren't this small when we got them!"

I assured her they were. She didn't believe me until I showed her this picture.

Gathered around the baby feeder 2 months ago.

Checking out the new feeder.

The Girls are definitely looking more and more like hens, but their combs aren't very big yet, so they are in a kind of funny-looking stage.

They continue to be a source of great entertainment, which is the whole idea.

Becky has started her own blog to post more frequent pictures of the girls, as she learns how to do it.

Chicken Update #4

I'm told it's past time for an update on The Girls. Looking back at the previous update, I have to agree. These little biddies are growing and changing practically before our very eyes!

 They moved from their brooder to their coop last weekend. This morning when I went out to check on them, they were cuddled together in one of the nesting boxes.

 As soon as they saw me they decided it was time for breakfast. So they headed out the door and down the ramp to the feeding trough.

They are curious little things. So much fun to watch and talk to. They move around so fast that it's hard to get a good picture of all four of them at once.

Springtime Fragments

Today seems like a good day for a Friday Fragments post, especially since that's how my schedule has been lately-- fragmented.

However, it's spring! And the weather in these parts has been cooperating nicely. Still no flower sightings, but we are having sunshine regularly. That's always a good thing!

Sunday afternoon drives are one of our favorite ways to relax on the Day of Rest. Lately we've been watching for signs of spring. There is still snow on the mountains and the trees are still bare... but it's shirt-sleeve weather when the sun is out!

 The chickies are happy and thriving in their little brooder box in the garage, but they are growing fast. It will soon be time to move them into their coop in the backyard.

Becky and her daddy got it all set up for them, and she takes them out daily for a play time to get used to their new home. Lots of "chicken spectating" going on in our backyard these days!

Lyle's been working long hours again. The print shop recently got some new equipment that requires construction of a "clean room"-- whatever that is. The equipment came with 3 computers. I was amused at his makeshift "computer lab" as he got the computers up and running, ready to put into place when the room is completed. He said each one had a different version of Windows on it.

In other news, the neighbors are building a new garage, to replace the one that burned down a few weeks ago. We've been watching the progress with interest. (Laura calls me a "stalker" for taking pictures!)

I've also been:

• working
• homeschooling
• preparing for my upcoming homeschool conventions
• studying for the class I'll be teaching for the spring trimester at co-op
• helping out at the print shop when there's something I can do
• thinking about writing (but not getting much done)
• poking around in my genealogy and family history at odd moments
• crocheting and reading in my spare time, as always

And that pretty much wraps it up for this week's Friday Fragments post.

Have a Blessed Easter!

Chicken Update #3

 This weekly livestock report is brought to you by Becky who has been asking me for the past 2 or 3 days, "Mom, when are you going to blog about the chickens again?"

Each day the chickens require training, don't you know? Because, these aren't just laying-hens-in-waiting. Oh, no. And heaven forbid you even think of the possibility of them being meat birds. {shudder} "The Girls" are meant to be pets, if not members of the family. Their egg-laying potential is just a bonus.

Two or three times a day Becky goes out into the garage and carefully gathers her four Girls out of their brooder into a box to bring them into the house for their regular training session and photo shoot. It's too cold for them to be outside much yet. So she spreads an old towel on the floor and watches them carefully to make sure they stay on it during their training.

So far Becky has taught the Girls to roost and to fly. When they get a little older, I'm sure she'll teach them to lay eggs.

I don't think they're quite ready yet. After all, they are only 2 weeks old.

It has been fascinating to see how much they change every day. They aren't as cute and fuzzy as they were at first, but the feathers that are growing in and developing are beautiful. I'm glad we got four different breeds so we could notice the variety between each kind

Tail Feathers

The chickies are growing and changing so fast, it's almost necessary to take pictures of them every day! Good thing we don't have to pay for film developing, huh?

Becky noticed that the Girls' combs are beginning to develop on their faces...

...their wing feathers are coming in...

...and they are beginning to get tail feathers as well!

We think Violet (the black one) might be a day or two younger than the others because her feather development is not as advanced.

They seem to be happy and healthy. It's fun to see them gather around the front of the brooder when they see us coming into the garage. They are curious little biddies!

Little Peeps

For at least a year, Becky has been lobbying for chickens. Even though we live in town, she was convinced that a small backyard flock of laying hens would be the very thing. Over many months she has carefully done her research and never once gave up on the idea. I've always enjoyed watching chickens and I'm definitely in favor of fresh eggs, so eventually I jumped on the bandwagon with her. Finally, last night we decided the time had come.

Off to the farm store we went. While Lyle folded down the seats in the car to make room for the chicken coop kit, I went on in the store to see what breeds of baby chicks they had in stock. Sadness! All they had were turkey chicks... (or wait, what do you call baby turkeys? Had to stop and google it... apparently they are technically calls poults!) They were very cute, but I sure didn't want to end up with turkeys gobbling in my backyard. Then we discovered that the box the chicken coop came in wouldn't fit in the car.

Time for Plan B? What was Plan B anyway?

We decided that Lyle could come back another day to get the coop. It will be on sale until the 17th. We called the farm store in Spokane to see if they had actual chicken chicks in stock. They did. So we took off over there. Becky had given me a list of breeds she thought would be the best. We decided that four would be a good number. Our city allows up to 10 hens in a backyard (no roosters!), but I knew we didn't want that many. The coop we are looking at is roomy enough for up to four, so four it is.

And here they are...

The yellow chicken in back is a White Leghorn. Her name is Daisy. I'm taking it on faith that she will be white as an adult. In the middle is the sweet little Rhode Island Red. We've named her Marigold. The gray-and-black striped one is a Silver-Laced Wyandotte. Her name is Peony. And the black one... Wait! Where's the black one?

Oh, yes... here she is. She's a Black Sex Link named Violet.

So far we have found them to be endlessly fascinating to watch. For example, their feeder has 8 holes. Plenty of room for four little chicken heads to go foraging. But no, they think they all need to be in the same hole.

Now, then. That's better. That's the idea.

But then, Peony decides it would be a good idea to climb on top of the feeder.

(That's probably how that splat of chickie droppings ended up there! They do poop all over everything. Still, I've heard it's great garden fertilizer. So it's all good.)

It's also funny to watch them fall asleep. They doze off before they lie down. First their eyes close and then their head starts bobbing.

And pretty soon they are plopped down snoozing away. Daisy was tucked back in that corner for the longest time last night. It didn't seem like a natural position for a chicken, so I was a little concerned that she might be sick, though she seemed to be breathing normally.

But this morning she's alert and cheeping around with the other girls, so I guess that's just how the chickies sleep. Eventually I guess they'll learn to roost.

Cookie is enchanted and would dearly love a chance to mother them... but in fear that she might inadvertently love them too much, we have been very careful to keep them out of her reach.

And so the adventure begins. Have no doubt that I'll keep you posted.

What fun!