First Egg From the New Hens

The first egg from my Buff Orpington hens was laid today. I didn't expect any eggs from the new ladies for a month or a few weeks at the earliest. But, today was the day, there was a sweet little brown egg lying in one of the nesting boxes next to a few of the green eggs laid by my older gals. Such a sweet little gift! It could have been laid by any of my nine new ladies, I have no way of knowing which. In the next few weeks there will be many more first eggs laid!

Pecking Order and Chicken Distractions

I've been concerned about how my old hens were going to accept my new chicks as I began to integrate the two flocks over the last week...there has been a bit of pecking going on, it's hard to watch the big hens pick on and bully the new chicks. I realize that it will probably all be fine in the end, but to help smooth things out, I've been trying to provide a few distractions for the four older hens. Things that will take their focus off of their new "roommates". The husband has helped with the efforts, he had the idea of giving them a pile of sand to play in - a good idea - they've all been scratching and rolling around in it. But I've wanted to keep the big hens busy to give the little chicks a chance to adjust to being in the new area and learning how to get along with the hens. So I decided to try something out... I cut a cabbage into two halves and used a fondue skewer to string each half with twine.

Then I hung each half with a length of twin from the netting that covers the fenced in area where my chickens live.

Why would I do such a thing? What was my plan for these cabbage pinatas?

They were an idea I'd gleened from a blog written by some folks at Sunset Magazine...basically, they were a distraction, a new toy if you will, for my chickens. The idea is for them to peck at and eat the cabbage. It's a bit of a challenge since the cabbage is hanging, so it is supposed to give them something to work at and stay busy. When I first hung these cabbage halves, the chickens pretty much ignored them.

But after a little while, a little curiousity was shown. Unfortunately, I couldn't hang out in the coop area all day to find out if my idea was going to go over.

But I did check back a couple of times. A few hours after I'd hung the cabbages, the inside of both had been pecked at a bit.

By the end of the day, the damage was much more extensive. It was kind of cool to see that the idea worked. I also noticed that the big hens seemed to be more lax about the little chicks being there. I didn't see as much chasing and pecking as I had in the couple of days prior.

I think the cabbages helped, it's also helped to have all of the chickens sleeping in the same area. The first evening that the little chicks joined the big hens in their hen house, I had to actually go out and physically put each of the little chicks into the hen house and then close the door so they couldn't get out. The second night I went out at dusk to check on things and only 1 of the 10 little chicks hadn't made her way into the henhouse. She seemed upset and confused that she was all by herself as it was getting dark. I put her inside and again closed the door so no one could get out. It seems that being in the same place and getting used to the sounds and smells of each other is smoothing the process out.Another distraction I've been using is giving all of the chickens "treats" - piles of collard greens and wild bird seed in several locations in the coop. Having a few areas where there are treat piles keeps the competition for said treats from getting out of control. I don't really know if all of this really is the "right" stuff to do, but it seems to be working so far.

Though I have to admit that in this season of adjustment, I am going to have to expect that a few odd things may happen. Like this egg being laid under the ramp that goes up to the hen house instead of inside the nesting boxes. It's been a long time since one of my hens laid an egg in a weird spot, the last time it happened in fact, was when we were in the midst of having hawk and coyote problems. It seems like stress and change causes the chickens to do odd things. I can only hope that it is going to continue to all work out as the next few weeks pass.

A Year Ago Today...

It was a year ago today that our 44th President took office. I remember turning the television in my then-classroom to CNN to watch the innagural ceremony. I also remember all of the uncertainty I was feeling, on a personal level there was uncertainty about my future employment and the survival of the husband's business in a dead economy. On a broader level, I remember feeling like I was living in a society that had been altered by war and poverty. In the days that have made up the last year, I have been able to get closer to having a balance that I was missing in my life a year ago. I thought I'd reflect just a bit...it's a beautiful and sunny (but cold!) January day outside, the kind of day that gives you hope for spring. I recently saw the first of my tulips beginning to peak out of the ground. In the next few weeks/months, the husband's business related work will be amping up again. Changes seem to be on life's horizon right now, so I suppose I'm in the mood to process all that's gone in in the last year.

My marriage has gained strength in the struggles the husband and I have had in the last year. We have both seen the other hit lows and still be able to reach deep to find strength. We have found ourselves going through things that have made us vulnerable to each other at a new level. It has been a good year for us to learn together to live on less and to find joy in what we already have. The pressures that we have at times been under have transformed into an ingenuity that probably would not have blossomed otherwise. I can clearly see how this whole "marriage thing" is dynamic, the relationship changes as time passes, maybe that's something I didn't fully realize before.

I have been able to take several steps to being content and happy in my professional life. This is an ongoing process, but I am happier in my job situation than I have been since I moved up to WA two and a half year ago. 2010 is a year for me to continue to seek out balance between my professional life and my personal life. It is the year for me to go to the next level.

There are numerous outlets for my creative side. I don't feel as "pent up" as I used to. I have made space in my home and in my schedule to be able to put into physical shape the ideas I have in my head.

Physically, I am in better shape than I was a year ago. Though I will forever be on that journey, I have been much more active since the end of the summer. Since the beginning of December, I have been sticking to my goal of exercising 5-6 times a week. Zumba classes and the ellyptical we have here at home are my current modes, but as the weather improves I want to get back to my outdoor walks and jogs, Bambino will be happy about that, he likes to come along.

As far as food, the husband and I have come close to elliminating from our diets any meats that come from feel lots that could be contaminated. There is a wonderful meat store minutes from where we live that sells only organic, grass-fed beef and pork, and organic free-range chicken. People literally drive from hours away to buy their meat at this store which is so convenient for us. Though we've been through some difficulties with our chickens (a story for another day), our hens are continuing to lay plenty of eggs to meet our needs. We had a successful harvest from our vegetable garden last summer and have plans to expand it further this coming season. We are also eating mostly foods made from whole ingredients, there are still some processed foods in our pantry and refrigerator, but because of the husband's migraines, we haven't bought foods containing preservatives or nitrates since we were married.

I can't imagine having the challenges and responsibilities that President Obama faces each day, and even though he is not without his flaws, I am still proud to call him my leader. I also fully support the efforts of the First Lady to improve the physical and nutritional health of our nation's children, it's a huge undertaking, but I think that her leadership by example is fantastic.

I think it will be interesting to see what the next 365 days hold, for the society around us as well as personally. I have to finish this post with the true but cheesy *Yes, We Can!*

Weekending

The weekend was full of many great moments.

The first snow of the season began to fall on Sunday morning.A family dinner party to renew friendships with the lost and found.

Their little chicken feet prints in the snow made me smile.

The hens continue to lay, though four eggs a day is now more typical than six, I blame the cold.
Snow makes pretty things prettier and ugly things a bit mroe attractive.
Feels so good to get packages taped up and off to the post office.

Delicious wood fire oven pizza on an afternoon date with the husband.

Zumba on Saturday morning, making for my 6th day of working out in a row!

Cozy, romantic, accomplished, contemplative, accomplished, grateful, relaxed, tired, intrigued...yep, it was a good December weekend!

Goal: Creme Brulee

One of my goals for 2009 was to learn to make my favorite desert at home.

Last year I'd asked for (and received) a creme brulee torch for Christmas.

It stayed in it's box until just recently. I don't know why it took me so long, forgetfulness, intimidation, low priority?

It's a great thing that I finally got around to trying it all out.

It turned out pretty good.
I have a few ideas for how to tweak what I did next time to make it even better.I used the yolks of eggs that had been laid the same day by my hens in the custard mixture, it doesn't get more fresh than that, it made me proud to do that.
It was easy to separate the yolks from the whites because
the yolks from my hens eggs are firm and they don't break easily.

Next time I have a yearly goal like this set, I hope I don't wait so long to reach it!

The Chicken Definitely Came Before the Egg!

I'm completely on a roll today - two posts in less than 24 hours! I just had to check in though with a fantastic chicken update...I thought about waiting, but this is just exciting news in my world, so I don't want to hold on it. Last night the husband brought in an egg that looked nothing like the others that I've been collecting, it is small and has a greenish tone, but with brown freckle-like flecks all over it...it had a crack in it which makes me think that someone's beak got to it, but the membrane wasn't broken so I put it right into the refrigerator. Definately a gift from a new chicken, our second lady to lay. In the picture above, last night's egg is the one on the right.

Then this morning when I went to open up the chicken coop, there was a new egg in one of the nesting boxes. It is a deeper green than any other egg has been and it too is smaller than the eggs I've been recently getting, the gift of our third chicken to lay. In the picture it is the egg on the left.

Since our first egg came on 9/9, it has clearly been just the one chicken laying...it was about every 36 hours initially, and has increased to about every 24 hours. She was typically laying in the late morning or early afternoon. I've never checked and had two eggs at once - I'm still waiting for that to happen. But to have two more hens start to lay within 12 hours of each other is very exciting. By the way, the egg in the center is the same color as the previous 14 eggs I've collected, all from my original layer. From this picture you can't appreciate that it is about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch longer than the two new eggs, again confirming that those eggs are the first eggs of other birds.

So our stats now are: 8 birds, 1 confirmed rooster, 3 hens that have laid at least once, and 4 birds that are presumed to be hens but have yet to lay.

Soon the light bulb that we installed in the coop will be turned on regularly with a timer. I've heard from my neighbor and a few other sources that this should help keep my ladies laying through some of the cold months.

It's very fun to have all of the work start to really pay off, and really, nothing beats the eggs, they are that good! One might say they are egg-cellent! Sorry I had to!

Fall Pastels

The shades I typically think of for fall are warm - reds, oranges, yellows - but interestingly though the colors I'm being drawn to right now along with the expected fall shades are these blue and green pastels. The squash above is a hubbard squash that I found at the farmer's market in Yakima. I am going to make a point of preparing it with dinner sometime this week, but right now it's beautiful to look at in my kitchen. The eggs are adding up now...one more since I took this picture. It is still just the one chicken laying, I'm sure the other six are going to begin in the next couple of weeks...I can't wait until I get two eggs (or more!) when I check!

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner! Well not dinner...

...unless you want an omlette for dinner! That's right folks, the waiting is over! Last night I received my first bundle of joy. The husband and I had gone out for a little pre-dinner stroll around our property. We heard some loud chicken squacking out in the garden and went to check it out. I think it was Berkeley having his way with one of the ladies, but I am not completely sure. While out there I checked the nesting boxes as has become my habit to see if there were any deliveries...I honestly didn't expect to see anything. I have never been more happy to not have my expectations met! This is what I saw...I literally jumped for joy and whooped my heart out! The husband and Bambino were with me when I made this fantastic discovery...Bam jumped around with me, always one to enjoy joining in on someone else's happiness, and the husband grinned, gave me a high five and congratulated me on my chickens not being duds. I have checked those nesting boxes so many times without any success, I guess I was beginning to believe that I'd never see an egg. Well, I can proudly say that I have at least one chicken that is neither a dud when it comes to laying nor a rooster that stayed in disguise for nearly 5 months. Actually shortly after I discovered the egg, after I'd snapped a few pictures, and after I'd calmed down a bit, Berkeley started crowing...I think he wants to remind us that his presence there will help to keep those eggs a'comin'. This first egg is a pastel green, a beautiful shade if I do say so...this picture was taken outside at dusk, so it really doesn't do the color of the egg justice. Below is a picture of our egg-cellent little treasure next to a store-bought egg. Our egg is much cuter and prettier don't you think? I am told that in about two weeks or so the eggs will be a more normal size, these first ones are going to be little.

What a fantastic end to my waiting and beginning to my days of collecting eggs! I honestly couldn't be prouder if I'd laid the egg myself! Actually, if I'd laid the egg myself I probably wouldn't be this proud. I'm just sayin'!

On that note I'm proud to announce that the winner of the contest is none other than my lovely friend, Tami...her guess of September 8th and blue was in fact the closest guess. It will be my pleasure to award the prize to you, Tami!