The Chickens Know

Spring is coming.  The chickens say so.

 

Since early December or before, my girls have been slacking in the egg production department.  All they were giving was one egg a day.  Not a lot, but we were catching up in the supply.

But this week?  We had two on Saturday, and two more Sunday.  Yesterday and today, three eggs each day.  Not bad.  The entire flock is shown above.  (That is Lacey flapping and showing off, trying to hide Rita by the tire)

At their peak, last fall we were getting around four or five eggs per day, so that is quite a bounce back. If this keeps up, I may be cooking egg rich dishes again.

Eggs anyone?

Birds of a Feather

While it is disgustingly warm around here the last few days, we do have some residents of the farm that seem to be enjoying the broken winter.

Although I have left the door open to the coop several times, Montgomery and the girls have been staying in the run area of the coop and barely poking their heads outside.

 

Just enough bare grass to hold their interest.  They have been enjoying these last couple days out in the open again.

Chilling With The Critters

Just a typical Sunday afternoon: knitting, NASCAR, and a few animals.

Lewie on the footstool and Lizzie on the floor, feeling a bit subdued after her thwarted attempt to play with a chicken, and both managing to sit quietly for a while. The only reason Lewie is here, is because Leo had already claimed my shoulder.

(Non race fans, feel free to skip this paragraph.). The race was a rain delay from last night, but went quickly. Lots of the Chasers (championship finalists) had trouble so it is still anyone's to win. Of course, Talledega is in this tier, and that is usually a wreck fest.

Montgomery has been taking good care of the girls.

I went looking for them earlier. They had wandered to the front lawn. When I called, they all came running. Unfortunately they do not understand Lizzie's exuberant need to play. Monty started chasing Lizzy the second time she tried. I think she will avoid them now.

Didn't seem to bother the girls much at all. But they do stick close to Montgomery.

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Free Range

In the past week or so I started letting my girls and Montgomery out to the coop. At least to a limited period each day. In the later afternoon, after they should be done laying, I open the coop and let them run. The garden is done except for some squash at the far end and potatoes needing to be dug, so we don't need to worry about that.

The girls seem to enjoy it.

 

And Montgomery keeps an eye on his girls. I have discovered they love apple cores, as well as ears of tough sweet corn.

And I am trying to keep up with the eggs. I wish it were cooler to be able to bake more.

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Back in the Groove

Funny how even though I haven't been in school for years (decades even), life still revolves around the school year. With the start of the school year, Community Bible Study also started today. It was great to see the excited faces gathering and to see several familiar faces in my group. This is my fourth year and I have gained so much each time.

This year we are studying Matthew--less than a chapter a week! It will be a change from the sometimes confusing but always intense and interesting books of Daniel and Revelations last year. It is going to be a great year, as always.

On the home front, the girls are laying plenty of eggs, and they are getting larger.

Good thing I got some lemons to try another pie this weekend. The weather has got to break soon.

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Yummies

As the weather was on the verge of heating up Monday, I decided to try a pie, to help use a few eggs.

Mmmm. From scratch butterscotch,

With meringue. And eggs from the girls.

Of course the pie was not without some angst. The girls are laying larger eggs now, but still smaller than standard. So I had to figure out how many of my eggs to use. Then separate them. One double yolker gave me some trouble, but I managed quite nicely on the whole.

When it came to the meringue, I didn't have any cream of tartar that most of the recipes, but it even turned out ok.

It may have set better, if I had room in the fridge, but it was still tasty. And it didn't separate or get little beads on it.

Of course, it didn't last past Tuesday morning.

Next, I need to get some lemons. And cream of tartar.

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Chicken News

My flock continues to come through with about three eggs a day. Still small, but I think we have a new contributor to the egg production.

My first green egg. (And darn, we are out of ham.) Pencil included for scale. And to prevent rolling off table.

On a sadder note, Dovie died today. She was a grayish Aurancana with twisted toes on one foot . When Hubby mentioned we lost one, I figured it was either Rita or Dovie. When we first started getting eggs, Rita had a bad case of pasty butt. I think it's better, but her fluffy butt is rather flatter and white than usual.

Dovie on the other hand hadn't appeared out in the chicken run much since back when Rocky was terrorizing the flock. Montgomery (formerly known as Mumps) is a much calmer rooster, but Dovie still stayed in the coop, only venturing out rarely, apparently, for food and water. She was the first of the flock to be named. She will be missed.

For those keeping track, besides Montgomery I still have the girls: Lacey, Goldy, Coppertop, Cinder Ella, Rita, Lucy and Measles. Since I renamed Mumps, I may rename Measles too. How does Maisie sound? I think I like that.

 

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Hey!

Look what I found!

I had to take a second glance before realizing it wasn't one of the ping pong balls I hid in the nests to give the girls the hint that was the place to do their laying.

Those slackers may be ready to earn their feed. I knew at least one was a few weeks older than most of the others.

Yum! Yes, it is truly a pullet size, but that will improve with age.

Omlettes and pound cakes, and custard...oh my!

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Knitting Mojo, With Chickens

It is amazing what much cooler temperatures will do to my knitting enthusiasm. Not to mention laying aside the large warm wool Baby Hap for a lightweight wool baby dress.

Seed stitch on size four needles grows slowly but I have merely a quarter inch before I switch to stockinette for another five inches. That should go much faster. Hopefully I can finish before my Little Peanut gets here.

This morning I had to coax the girls out of the coop. Okay, I bribed them with some scratch. But they spent more time outside today than they have in a long time, instead of sweltering in the coop.

The reason, of course, is that Rocky is sleeping in the freezer now instead of the coop.

Not much left after the feathers are gone, is there?

In the meantime, we wait to see if Mumps .......

......should be renamed Montgomery, if indeed "he" is a rooster.

He sure is pretty though.

And on the bright size, the flock is down to nine, which is the recommended maximum for the coop. The remainder of the flock looks much more calm today too.

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Cock a Doodle....Arck!

I keep thinking about the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin?"

Why, you ask? Because my resident dominate rooster, Rocky, has been getting just a bit cocky. I don't mind the crowing, but he chases and fights the rest of the flock. And he has been blocking the others from coming out of the coop. I finally have resorted to taking some time and shutting the others in the coop and leaving him in the run. Not ideal, but at least then they can eat and drink from the alternate food and water I have set in the coop, without his interference.

And while he may not be full sized, I have decided that the end is near for bossy obnoxious Rocky. I really don't want an aggressive bird. Hopefully If Mumps is indeed a rooster, he will learn from Rocky's demise. Tomorrow, Hubby and I are going to corral and catch Rocky.

I think there is a soup pot in his future this weekend. Hmmm. Rocky and rice, with veggies anyone?

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The Jig is Up

This morning, at feeding time, Rocky slipped up.

He, yes I said he, opened his mouth and crowed. And then, later in the day, so did Mumps. Rocky is the black and white Barred Rock shown in back right above in this picture taken about a month ago.

Mumps is the dark one shown above again on the right. Cinder Ella is photo bombing him in the lower right, see his eye ball?

In case you were wondering about the name Mumps, remember the ear poufs I mentioned before? Below is a better picture of Cinder's. They don't show up well in photos. About half the chickens have them, but Mumps and Measles both have them and both needed names. Since Measles has spots, the dark one became Mumps.

So far, Rita is not crowing at all. And she better not.

 

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Keeping Busy

Hubby was busy yesterday, gathering up all the bales from the farthest field, ready for pickup.

Notice this is a green and white tractor.

Oldest Son and his Best Bud have since loaded the bales out. Now we wait for a possible spray of "brown gold" and then second cutting.

Like a crazy person, after Mass yesterday, I cleaned out the girls coop. It must have been that the heat weakened my senses. I should have waited a day, because the humidity is way down today and it is almost pleasant out. At times yesterday I could hardly see, with the sweat running in my eyes.

But today, while watching the race at the Michigan speedway, I managed some knitting.

Since the picture was taken, I have rounded the next corner. I like that I can easily see if I forgot to slip a stitch and go back to correct it. A very fun pattern too, The Ten Stitch Blanket.

In my off times I have also gotten back to my Baby Hap Shawl, started for the Purple Princess last October. I would like to finish it by her birthday.

The hardest thing was picking up the stitches AND getting the correct stitch count. But that has been done and I have started the 50 rows of colored Old Shale lace. I will be using purple, a rose pink, gray, and a pop of yellow. It will finish up with a sideways lace border, probably in white. The lace is easily memorized but I do still have the Tapestry Shawl for brainless knitting when needed.

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Fun on the Farm

First cutting is finished and Hubby has been busily moving bales.

Even though the tractor was the "wrong" color, it still made quick work of baling all the fields. And yes, I know our tractor (an Oliver) is green, but it is green and white, not green and yellow. This year Hubby let Oldest Son and his Best Bud handle the crop. They arranged the cutting, raking, and baling and will be able to get another cutting off yet this summer.

The girls were interested in the commotion.

I say "girls" with reservations, as there has been some definite crowing going on.

Lacey says it isn't her. Actually I suspect Rocky and Rita. And possibly Measels. Rita is the dark red one shown above and on the right below.

I am going by their combs mostly, and attitude. But when I am in sight, they are keeping mum.

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