tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801552495400581652024-03-13T20:31:11.770-07:00Urban chickenkbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-1168608247394372172010-06-08T12:43:00.001-07:002010-06-08T12:43:12.170-07:00Great tomatoes<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5B04k9xxVCmleFBU-FhwrxhyphenhyphenJkUPLHRodUaI5rJrAXEiQ7OVm2vYXd2Ne7amaSj9tVtDEh5CmSZJVU-TBs1L-LdLdvua7D1HsQrxbzFAUZh7Rjx1NYF24Dx07HoU00twiBTgxg-OT9j4/s1600/IMG00089-792171.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5B04k9xxVCmleFBU-FhwrxhyphenhyphenJkUPLHRodUaI5rJrAXEiQ7OVm2vYXd2Ne7amaSj9tVtDEh5CmSZJVU-TBs1L-LdLdvua7D1HsQrxbzFAUZh7Rjx1NYF24Dx07HoU00twiBTgxg-OT9j4/s320/IMG00089-792171.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480490764520608722" /></a></p>This is no great tomato year by any stretch, thanks to an unusually wet and cold spring. But my tomatoes spent a month under a toasty cloche, and now they look great.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-5350041773761406912010-06-03T07:02:00.001-07:002010-06-03T07:02:16.769-07:00Coddling moth protection<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBME_UZec69Cxs4N7mObJLTXKF72mT_Dut-CF1I02p3-shM0bPEJmbH1rx8kuBUXKPazF-x1EW7tMYL5n6kxM87Ub22T1fSbUbqsvNV7Hp3iyXGIC0E97yMRTCUAOkvAQeatzzLia_cM/s1600/IMG00088-736770.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBME_UZec69Cxs4N7mObJLTXKF72mT_Dut-CF1I02p3-shM0bPEJmbH1rx8kuBUXKPazF-x1EW7tMYL5n6kxM87Ub22T1fSbUbqsvNV7Hp3iyXGIC0E97yMRTCUAOkvAQeatzzLia_cM/s320/IMG00088-736770.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478547487306589506" /></a></p>This year I am determined to get some decent apples off our apple trees. These footies are supposed to protect from coddling moths and apple maggots.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-73543183669681236502009-02-28T09:02:00.001-08:002009-02-28T09:02:45.787-08:00Chicken grains<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-FhcyHVUv99Wfooj34A9kzwdCrUlfoXWSsJXQu-dXEgALI_uepffe01QrKIA4oQwNxPS9KDGAQ86Tc2479_t_RxjGEICBVG-pfwT64D1mhDJu4D487Ba8mR_nkrvew33gSaCPSfahpU/s1600-h/Photo-0018-765788.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-FhcyHVUv99Wfooj34A9kzwdCrUlfoXWSsJXQu-dXEgALI_uepffe01QrKIA4oQwNxPS9KDGAQ86Tc2479_t_RxjGEICBVG-pfwT64D1mhDJu4D487Ba8mR_nkrvew33gSaCPSfahpU/s320/Photo-0018-765788.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307894810052364898" /></a></p>I read an article yesterday in Sunset magazine about pasture-fed chickens. These are farm-raised chickens that get most of their food by foraging in an alfalfa pasture. Darn, i should have bought some alfalfa seed this year! I did buy oats and buckwheat and I already know they love buckwheat.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-27064984912466814242009-02-14T12:35:00.000-08:002009-02-14T12:44:13.298-08:00Free-range<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ga7CyPW1H7s8h6WPV64Eth8JssSA3st2eJ55DEoNcTv-IK6jRnHW73cY9RvRcoY23gF_8u7IVR2valwXFvHi2ugHQdFapPXbRpWQoOoV3LYjsp1TDuErXZZWbYIdgwZqQXlhyphenhyphenyuXABk/s1600-h/Photo-0017-753301.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ga7CyPW1H7s8h6WPV64Eth8JssSA3st2eJ55DEoNcTv-IK6jRnHW73cY9RvRcoY23gF_8u7IVR2valwXFvHi2ugHQdFapPXbRpWQoOoV3LYjsp1TDuErXZZWbYIdgwZqQXlhyphenhyphenyuXABk/s320/Photo-0017-753301.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302756691549573154" /></a></p>Greg has let the chickens out this morning. It's impressive to see how much they can dig with their powerful feet. Actually, they can do a lot of plant damage...kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-65958857040839395772009-02-08T13:10:00.001-08:002009-02-08T13:10:08.812-08:00Dirt bath<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHW2mTpbWRsM1WSYbvTJGLwLdSQf5sP8qkTuSp-ZUTNe1B6PWIvgMZ3AjJw27hN6nAHtvRmx93Y-mbOAxGG4qky032Rar9KlJs4dBLEBgd4dKgJgrPlNdeP0nDrvjGVdiLaGmhew7F0A/s1600-h/Photo-0014-708815.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHW2mTpbWRsM1WSYbvTJGLwLdSQf5sP8qkTuSp-ZUTNe1B6PWIvgMZ3AjJw27hN6nAHtvRmx93Y-mbOAxGG4qky032Rar9KlJs4dBLEBgd4dKgJgrPlNdeP0nDrvjGVdiLaGmhew7F0A/s320/Photo-0014-708815.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300536860677070514" /></a></p>Although colder weather is coming, we are having a nice, dry and sunny day today. And the chickens are doing what they love to do in the sun -- taking a dirt bath in a hole they dug.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-89312438192042055432009-02-03T14:04:00.000-08:002009-02-03T14:05:06.747-08:00Bock bock<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZK-YbcdEhlA1-UtAQYr3uaqmzk0aZ4ZP_trM5lF8I023JNplIrcpzasc4qM8MANKfavFfAo8ZixQetiaFKDb6xylM6zB5SworieZEnHpGuA8o0huAg31UWv_Gchbe1IH-BkdS3w09ioQ/s1600-h/Photo-0013-706749.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZK-YbcdEhlA1-UtAQYr3uaqmzk0aZ4ZP_trM5lF8I023JNplIrcpzasc4qM8MANKfavFfAo8ZixQetiaFKDb6xylM6zB5SworieZEnHpGuA8o0huAg31UWv_Gchbe1IH-BkdS3w09ioQ/s320/Photo-0013-706749.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298695603777367458" /></a></p>After they lay an egg, the chickens often make a lot of loud honking noises. If they were wild chickens, this would be the equivalent of saying, hey, predators, lunchtime. Why do they do this, I wonder?kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-28271656269000431372009-01-24T11:28:00.001-08:002009-01-24T11:28:54.131-08:00Rat problem solved<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnnSHLNLrlNL6b2D3ba5ksY5_iMx9LbGZo6wmPDuOUSaxMe5rFXFrCSP9-uonviVfznwad0T1E76TEfVz-CgFV4UrNkwQzm1VfpJDMswqggvM_LhilaLM4wr5zAWlAKsJE3Ier66Lxzs/s1600-h/Photo-0010-734133.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnnSHLNLrlNL6b2D3ba5ksY5_iMx9LbGZo6wmPDuOUSaxMe5rFXFrCSP9-uonviVfznwad0T1E76TEfVz-CgFV4UrNkwQzm1VfpJDMswqggvM_LhilaLM4wr5zAWlAKsJE3Ier66Lxzs/s320/Photo-0010-734133.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294944495361946402" /></a></p>I seem to have successfully blocked the neighborhood rats from raiding the chicken coop. A row of bricks at the entrance point seems to have blocked them, for now at least.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-26644101585310844332009-01-23T09:34:00.001-08:002009-01-23T09:34:39.662-08:00Cascade garden<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJPRvcVAX_pQgjhebUSJukSwqWaYIUdYdCE4jA1RHLqK0cYoFGO3tzmaE1BBiwM03dWbFZ3XZ-Oo6Fl4xaBdnDIrtQ034nBzgmFQ5BkrPmuqDYgcUj1VvCKThbEkc3td0bMUKcAdZ91A/s1600-h/Photo-0008-779664.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJPRvcVAX_pQgjhebUSJukSwqWaYIUdYdCE4jA1RHLqK0cYoFGO3tzmaE1BBiwM03dWbFZ3XZ-Oo6Fl4xaBdnDIrtQ034nBzgmFQ5BkrPmuqDYgcUj1VvCKThbEkc3td0bMUKcAdZ91A/s320/Photo-0008-779664.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294543966765273810" /></a></p>These obviously aren't chickens, but these scarecrow people can be found outside the Cascade P-patch, where I have a garden plot. This spring, when it is too cold to grow anything else, I'm going to grow some greens for the chickens here.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-46077342619560435722009-01-22T08:22:00.001-08:002009-01-22T08:22:39.660-08:00Morning, girls<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8zfF4BIv2hVfmlwZhRYqmpF5tMwZ9WftgeTO-L24Df62ng3BnG_k_Rl6bZgPrK60YPQXlrqEvsdk-_Cfkt5qtBLYAMMPf9PGZGmEbgeCxFvKPiF-xz4Dfl-nmvuzDrsdAlSVkcY0IDs/s1600-h/Photo-0007-759663.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8zfF4BIv2hVfmlwZhRYqmpF5tMwZ9WftgeTO-L24Df62ng3BnG_k_Rl6bZgPrK60YPQXlrqEvsdk-_Cfkt5qtBLYAMMPf9PGZGmEbgeCxFvKPiF-xz4Dfl-nmvuzDrsdAlSVkcY0IDs/s320/Photo-0007-759663.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294154325371069250" /></a></p>I must say this about chickens -- it's difficult to take a apicture of them because they move so fast.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-49652212447213507632009-01-19T17:32:00.000-08:002009-01-19T17:33:53.095-08:00Chicken video<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LALxILfbK7c&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LALxILfbK7c&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br />We let the chickens out of the pen this weekend so they could walk around the garden. Here's what free-range chickens do when they get the chance.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-5904588555485129382009-01-19T13:29:00.001-08:002009-01-19T13:31:55.083-08:00Chicken in sun 2<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyYzf4gGyejsM-AIMyN-oUJjJ4vrS9nbBvSNeNaHDW-7PcnOKj0xQ4bXYGB9yJpI0TfuMqVsf9hMIJulqWeOf-3uNE0ldnJpK1qQNKzz3vkFrgWNNN-WFuE3BdSOL0LIPZ3SJ6arD9Pc/s1600-h/Photo-0005-786240.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyYzf4gGyejsM-AIMyN-oUJjJ4vrS9nbBvSNeNaHDW-7PcnOKj0xQ4bXYGB9yJpI0TfuMqVsf9hMIJulqWeOf-3uNE0ldnJpK1qQNKzz3vkFrgWNNN-WFuE3BdSOL0LIPZ3SJ6arD9Pc/s320/Photo-0005-786240.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293120212474703762" /></a></p>I'm using my new cell phone (complete with keyboard!) to try some mobile blogging of the chickens, since I haven't been keeping up. Anything to avoid turning on the slow computer and getting it to run. I can't figure out how to turn the first picture, which is a shame because it's the better of the two.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-84263455804030751092009-01-19T13:13:00.001-08:002009-01-19T13:13:28.491-08:00Chicken in the sun<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91Tcl2qLSIxrhQ1K__9JoUvzDkrz5MHZdYS2gWFoLXaLFnKg7ao6aVI0s_Kh1DV1PbjQvTGWgXPE-_KLwnrueyEqosD5TniOMZtd5eUgJFz7H4pqtluLSPCBqUdD7HB-Bb-q6ty2E-KQ/s1600-h/Photo-0004-708493.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91Tcl2qLSIxrhQ1K__9JoUvzDkrz5MHZdYS2gWFoLXaLFnKg7ao6aVI0s_Kh1DV1PbjQvTGWgXPE-_KLwnrueyEqosD5TniOMZtd5eUgJFz7H4pqtluLSPCBqUdD7HB-Bb-q6ty2E-KQ/s320/Photo-0004-708493.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293116013219365010" /></a></p>kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-79426079393373640982008-12-29T21:58:00.000-08:002008-12-29T22:03:58.762-08:00Rats!Well, we have a rat problem.<br /><br />We should have known. It started a while ago, when rats got into our 50-pound bag of chicken food in the garage. We should have known that 50 pounds of poultry feed in a paper sack would be tempting for any varmits around. Still, we solved that one pretty quickly by putting the food in a plastic tub with a snap-on lid. End of story.<br /><br />Well, not quite. I went out on one of our snow days and discovered rat pellets in the chicken's food trough underneath the coop. Because of the snow, it was pretty easy to figure out where they were coming in -- there was a hole in the snowpack where they'd dug through it and into a gap in the coop's outer wall. I put a few bricks in place there, but the next night they repeated the trick by digging into a different area.<br /><br />Since then, I've started taking the food out of the coop and putting it in an airtight bin on the porch. Annoying, but I figured that would solve the problem. However, when I went out the other night at 5 p.m. to shut the chickens up for the evening, I found rat droppings in the food. They'd either gotten into it during daylight hours or right at dusk, in the hour of darkness before I removed the food.<br /><br />Greg bought the latest in rat-catching techniques, something that some people we met at a party told us all about. (It was a good party, really, even though we spent a lot of time talking about chickens and rats.) The trap is basically a piece of plastic coated with uber-sticky gel. The package even touts a "natural anesthetic" in the gel, presumably to calm the rat in its death throes as it discovers it is permanently adhered to a piece of plastic.<br /><br />We'll see what he finds in the trap tomorrow. Here's one thing I cannot do -- I can build a chicken coop with power tools, but I cannot deal with a rat.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-9454513705894336672008-12-26T08:34:00.001-08:002008-12-26T08:47:59.470-08:00Gertrude doesn't make itSadly, one of our chickens died on Christmas Eve.<br /><br />Gertrude, the little bantie, had been moving slowly and acting a little off ever since the cold weather hit -- perhaps longer than that, now that we think of it. Her comb had lost its bright red color and turned pink and gray. On Dec. 23, we found her lying on her side outside the coop in an awkward and ominous position. We took her into the house and tried to warm her up in the laundry room, but 24 hours later she died. We buried her under the dogwood tree.<br /><br />We'll never know why she died. We did have an epic stretch of cold and snowy weather, almost historic by Seattle standards, with five rounds of snow and temperatures into the teens. Still, the coop temperature always remained above 32, and Greg worked hard to clear the run of snow and give them extra food and treats, including warm oatmeal every morning.<br /><br />When we embarked on our little chicken project, one of the books I read said that when you begin keeping domestic farm animals, you're inevitably going to have to deal with life and death issues more directly than when you have pets living indoors with you. You're not likely to take a chicken to the vet and you may not know something is wrong until they drop over. They're exposed to the wind, rain and cold, and their environment can only be made just so clean and sterile.<br /><br />Gertrude was a sweet chicken, but she was the least productive layer of the flock, giving us only about a dozen eggs before she stopped laying for the season. We always noticed that she seemed less "social," if you will, and less aggressive about eating. Maybe the cold was not a factor, and she was just in poor health all around. I guess we'll never know.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-73255131470463072722008-12-14T14:16:00.001-08:002008-12-14T14:36:10.232-08:00Snow birds<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijuRh-_BKy3rHgMA7_NayMTZStxyHaco-ILjTprTET4b2qTSVaBwRXNihWSFsh7AAFdM3YVOue_fpivvjJZ_TW3cLeAzTBAsWserCLH95E1RUQyHxvfwtnMk2hyl2QuEGE39ymvqO5H_U/s1600-h/DSC_2995.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijuRh-_BKy3rHgMA7_NayMTZStxyHaco-ILjTprTET4b2qTSVaBwRXNihWSFsh7AAFdM3YVOue_fpivvjJZ_TW3cLeAzTBAsWserCLH95E1RUQyHxvfwtnMk2hyl2QuEGE39ymvqO5H_U/s320/DSC_2995.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279776597347914290" /></a><br />The henhouse now has heat. Greg rigged a light bulb in the chicken coop on Friday night. The coop has a cleverly-designed roof that lifts right off, so it's easy to get inside and make modifications.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCn1K_ivix8OGvUgIFg-QhTzaTzf56K7MAbr0w3QrK4m9HfsCsx5yo8zkSFZN9p0wWJIF6tEeC3EASGCQd_EZiYh9dr8vCmF_NVeEHe7T20Ue25542lnE4cN460KLrjll6E2zEpX2T8z8/s1600-h/DSC_2996.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCn1K_ivix8OGvUgIFg-QhTzaTzf56K7MAbr0w3QrK4m9HfsCsx5yo8zkSFZN9p0wWJIF6tEeC3EASGCQd_EZiYh9dr8vCmF_NVeEHe7T20Ue25542lnE4cN460KLrjll6E2zEpX2T8z8/s320/DSC_2996.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279775758297449426" /></a><br />On Friday night we used a 40-watt bulb, but on Saturday morning, with the paper predicting a stretch of sub-zero temperatures, we broke out the 60-watt bulb.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkV2w7YGqu3ehHq4M0Fu9I9Pd3sLd-Ny9cj_RSbdiWFC5JT9iDhDGZmGYFj3JeXIsKrHLtu7CL1jD9o9PdG51pPJ1jQ2W873ptRvZmydkF1rI0DrjBkSjRjX1vnN9fultuB_GTEFdeI-I/s1600-h/DSC_3000.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkV2w7YGqu3ehHq4M0Fu9I9Pd3sLd-Ny9cj_RSbdiWFC5JT9iDhDGZmGYFj3JeXIsKrHLtu7CL1jD9o9PdG51pPJ1jQ2W873ptRvZmydkF1rI0DrjBkSjRjX1vnN9fultuB_GTEFdeI-I/s320/DSC_3000.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279775007223552082" /></a><br />It was a kick to be able to see the chickens in their little glowing house in the evening. You could see see them settling in for the night, preening their feathers in front of the warmth of the light.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrTPPRgKTCM88Uhyphenhyphen_9r_gLhxU9hVLVetIhoyDG1BnqxTRiTU8mVcE_PDmngs6DkEixC7y4uJW3pduRJjGFDthn2R8K8rbDWjovU4hIP8cRYfPrqRJzQ4y0bpcWw-vhUgYR2Kn8PeMivk/s1600-h/DSC_3001.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrTPPRgKTCM88Uhyphenhyphen_9r_gLhxU9hVLVetIhoyDG1BnqxTRiTU8mVcE_PDmngs6DkEixC7y4uJW3pduRJjGFDthn2R8K8rbDWjovU4hIP8cRYfPrqRJzQ4y0bpcWw-vhUgYR2Kn8PeMivk/s320/DSC_3001.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279774325383909378" /></a><br />The lighted coop glowed in the dark.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4uUyKQChQSFHJc8XhBWsq8td88_czykAbnvvYK2aw58W68RuUiCRbCVM4CDfOGHqudFJLHl3IXZvKfJTnJO7vv7MsLHX18aD6tarTPmfHgx43rGQ91grvJ-DQBc1mmHylEHilVIpilQ/s1600-h/DSC_3003.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4uUyKQChQSFHJc8XhBWsq8td88_czykAbnvvYK2aw58W68RuUiCRbCVM4CDfOGHqudFJLHl3IXZvKfJTnJO7vv7MsLHX18aD6tarTPmfHgx43rGQ91grvJ-DQBc1mmHylEHilVIpilQ/s320/DSC_3003.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279773858299910354" /></a><br />On Saturday night we went to a party; as we were leaving it was starting to snow. When we got home around midnight, there was a magical layer of about an inch of of snow on the ground. The next morning, the henhouse was covered in snow, and there were icicles hanging off the roof. I gave them a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-9033643850213775222008-12-11T20:20:00.000-08:002008-12-11T20:31:33.393-08:00Explosive cyclogenesis comingWe've had an unusually mild fall so far, and even the rains haven't been so bad -- they've come in bursts, followed by days of relative dryness. But now the weather forecasters are warning that cold is on its way, and possibly snow as well.<br /><br />I've put off rigging up a system to keep the chickens warm 'til now. A 40-watt light bulb in one of those caged outdoor/shop fixtures is now sitting by the door. Greg is going to try to affix it to the roof of the chicken coop tomorrow, while I'm at work. I hope it's enough to keep the chickens warm.<br /><br />One of my coworkers with chickens is going to leave his birds as is -- he pointed me to a discussion on backyardchicken.com in which the author said he just let his birds adapt to cold weather and thought it made them hardier. <br /><br />I don't know enough about meteorology to completely understand what the National Weather Service is talking about in its <a href="http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/get.php?wfo=sew&pil=AFD&sid=SEW">forecast discussion</a>, but it sounds dramatic and interesting!<br /><br />MODELS ARE ALL CONVERGING ON EXPLOSIVE CYCLOGENESIS ALONG THIS OLD BOUNDARY AS NORTHERN STREAM ENERGY DROPS SE ONTO THIS BOUNDARY. ALL GLOBAL AND MESO MODELS DROP SURFACE PRESSURES WITH THIS DEVELOPING SYSTEM FROM AROUND 1024 MB AT THIS TIME...TO BETWEEN 978 AND 985 MB AS THE LOW MOVES INLAND ALONG THE CENTRAL WA COAST 00Z FRI. THAT IS NEARLY 40 MB IN ABOUT 30 HRS! <br /><br />But wait, there's more:<br /><br />THERE IS STILL A GREAT DEAL OF UNCERTAINTY IN THIS VERY DIFFICULT WEATHER FORECAST SITUATION. JUST A DEGREE OR TWO TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE...AND A SLIGHT TRACK SHIFT OF THE LOW CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE ON HIGH WIND OR NOT ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE STRAIT...AND IN THE POSSIBILITY OF LOWLAND SNOW LATE FRI AFTERNOON AND FRI NIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS.<br /><br />I love snow.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-64481656275815744842008-11-29T14:05:00.000-08:002008-11-29T14:09:55.353-08:00Asheville chickens<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gt6duax18e8FMAmd5u7znJfpUB_f06JkJVw_WKNllKXGXsXfJ-xGUfPvTjt84v8gRYkslLaXVhTGFYYK0Z-7CCk8O0vBwx2ileLU9Ggr0PvlZQq1so0b4-a1bLE02qelRlUWOEnfCM4/s1600-h/DSC_2803.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gt6duax18e8FMAmd5u7znJfpUB_f06JkJVw_WKNllKXGXsXfJ-xGUfPvTjt84v8gRYkslLaXVhTGFYYK0Z-7CCk8O0vBwx2ileLU9Ggr0PvlZQq1so0b4-a1bLE02qelRlUWOEnfCM4/s320/DSC_2803.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274205177026583378" /></a><br />My parents live in Asheville, N.C., and while they don't have room for chickens (they live in a condo), they report that the city is considering a chicken ordinance to allow people to raise chickens in their back yards. The current ordinance is apparently too restrictive.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-15355293457742608922008-11-24T12:21:00.001-08:002008-11-24T13:17:20.262-08:00The girls, all grown up<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb0sCXGasYMVy5VvxPPHHBHHo07FtxBfcDoTg4LFuaI4mmOtLRr396pY7JWy8sM2-uiPnLBClHOCEOxcKNDzSeGXg80xvF62DgXjSVqzrWgGtKvpN0I6K6D8DrpmJSgvQgItHZGi5Nvbo/s1600-h/DSC_2813.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb0sCXGasYMVy5VvxPPHHBHHo07FtxBfcDoTg4LFuaI4mmOtLRr396pY7JWy8sM2-uiPnLBClHOCEOxcKNDzSeGXg80xvF62DgXjSVqzrWgGtKvpN0I6K6D8DrpmJSgvQgItHZGi5Nvbo/s320/DSC_2813.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272336114924272354" /></a><br />Well, I think I can say that my chickens are all fully mature now, seven months after we brought home the little fluffballs from the Issaquah Grange. All three are producing at least an egg every other day, and the egg bin in the refrigerator is regularly full of a dozen eggs at all times.<br /><br />Here's a photo of the three. Gertrude the bantie is in front, with Wilma just behind her and blue-egg-laying Mathilda in the back. I must say, it's hard to take pictures of chickens -- their bodies move in a herky-jerky motion, and it's hard to get them to stand still.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-84780795722489265842008-11-22T16:02:00.000-08:002008-11-22T16:10:23.280-08:00Three egg-laying chickens<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenKI3sw9bQnIs6zIy-TYJeUwcalWxuyqwnQeOK8cdJGnaE-rfLv-TqkCAbsG54sQdpnhG6bZq6POJP_xBm9hHykfIo325hNXN5CaD2hKYj8N0su7TgTPDQlI2yyQ-4LvRjBrAbRDHqNk/s1600-h/DSC_2743.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenKI3sw9bQnIs6zIy-TYJeUwcalWxuyqwnQeOK8cdJGnaE-rfLv-TqkCAbsG54sQdpnhG6bZq6POJP_xBm9hHykfIo325hNXN5CaD2hKYj8N0su7TgTPDQlI2yyQ-4LvRjBrAbRDHqNk/s320/DSC_2743.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271637640999414018" /></a><br />Mathilda, our Americana (or is that Auracana?) has finally joined the egg-laying crowd, and, as promised, she lays blue-green eggs! They're very pretty, and just as good to eat. Here's the first egg, as we found it in the nest, alongside the golf ball and one of Gertrude's little eggs.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-44138357779733212232008-11-01T13:57:00.000-07:002008-11-01T14:01:35.923-07:00Elliott locks Lauren in the coopDarn kids!<br /><OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-f1a47019f52373 height=266 width=320 contentId="f1a47019f52373"></OBJECT>kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-83275816362118181802008-10-26T18:18:00.000-07:002008-10-26T18:23:36.205-07:00Gertrude lays an egg<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxVy8AiP9nKzK-1tgv7NCubNcAxDoAitWMrqRVrxOTEm1U-W0S4mxhzk0UO6ZQDxjd100dQGFkHdCpvw09CFtNaZqkdGnmzGkTRpXPJ82lG_UuRluFIdlBnRDaTDr-oBF03eVPmWkNQ8/s1600-h/DSC_2742.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxVy8AiP9nKzK-1tgv7NCubNcAxDoAitWMrqRVrxOTEm1U-W0S4mxhzk0UO6ZQDxjd100dQGFkHdCpvw09CFtNaZqkdGnmzGkTRpXPJ82lG_UuRluFIdlBnRDaTDr-oBF03eVPmWkNQ8/s320/DSC_2742.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261638172743846178" /></a><br />Gertrude the bantie laid her first egg on Friday, and followed it up with an egg Sunday. They're very cute eggs, if it's possible for an egg to be cute -- small, and with a hint of light beige in the shell. In this picture, the top egg is Wilma's and the bottom egg is Gertrude's.<br /><br />She has an entirely different nesting habit from Wilma. When she wants to lay an egg, she kicks ALL of the nesting material out of the box first. It's a bit messy.<br /><br />One chicken to go! Mathilda might not begin laying until the spring. She is the biggest bird of the three, and I wonder if her eggs will be larger, too.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-35427720418406575272008-10-20T19:46:00.000-07:002008-10-20T19:57:59.634-07:00Pumpkin pie with fresh eggs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPkLiwANCB_Lv8sn7lnwiVf5IvOc26i_zzL60NoOOq5NYfgcXeCa_-XClxS-aQswxX2pK-cF5-r6lD35by4GoZVXXtC4YXQKUAEiCBdPuDFMMpD9MDaIoAMmkSrJEuDn5mV4kHnJs_jk/s1600-h/DSC_2669.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPkLiwANCB_Lv8sn7lnwiVf5IvOc26i_zzL60NoOOq5NYfgcXeCa_-XClxS-aQswxX2pK-cF5-r6lD35by4GoZVXXtC4YXQKUAEiCBdPuDFMMpD9MDaIoAMmkSrJEuDn5mV4kHnJs_jk/s320/DSC_2669.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259435564749627666" /></a><br />A new experience: Skipping the egg rack at the grocery store as I gather the ingredients for a pumpkin pie. I know Wilma has laid four eggs in the last four days, so I don't need to stock up at the store!<br /><br />If you need an egg for a dish, just wait a few hours -- Wilma will produce.<br /><br />We think that Gertrude, the bantie, will be the next chicken to start laying -- indeed, I'm checking both nesting boxes every day now, in hopes that she'll lay an egg soon. Her comb and wattles have come in now, and they're different from Wilma's. The comb is much shorter and lies closer to her head, and a bit of it sticks up in the back -- it looks like the jaunty hat that Robin Hood wore.<br /><br />Since one chicken is named after my paternal grandmother, I probably should have named one of the others after my maternal grandmother, Helen. But Helen seemed too elegant and regal for a chicken, so I cast about and finally settled on Gertrude, who was one of my grandmother's best friends. It sounds like a good name for a chicken.<br /><br />Last weekend we went out to a pumpkin farm in Snohomish to pick pumpkins for Halloween. There was a lot of corn lying around in the field -- it looked like they had picked most of it and then run over it with a tractor to make a parking spot for all the cars -- but there was plenty of less-than-grocery-quality corn still lying around, clearly going to waste. We picked a bunch up and have been feeding the chickens an ear of fresh corn a day. Of course they love it.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-86390123970735784012008-09-28T10:01:00.000-07:002008-09-28T10:12:22.346-07:00Bad eggsI've been worried all along that we weren't giving Wilma enough calcium to create shells around her eggs. I knew we needed to switch over to layer food - that is, food formulated for chickens that are laying eggs - but our chicken-food-carrying pet store, Mud Bay Granary, was always out when I came calling. Anyway, sure enough, on Thursday evening Wilma laid a shell-less egg.<br /><br />It's probably not what you're thinking -- it was an egg, all right, same shape and everything, enclosed in the membrane that usually lines the shell. Except, no shell. It was weird, and also a bit dirty, and I threw it out.<br /><br />We were frantic to get layer food, so I sent Greg over to Mud Bay on Friday. They had gotten the food in but were already down to their last bag. Meanwhile, Wilma laid ANOTHER shell-less egg, and this one broke open in the coop and made quite a mess.<br /><br />When I finally got my hands on the layer food, I stood over her while she gobbled it down. Since the shell-less egg incident, I'd also been feeding her a lot of yogurt, which she loves.<br /><br />Finally, on Saturday afternoon, she was back to laying eggs with shells. Hopefully, that's the last shell-less egg we'll see.<br /><br />In the meantime, I've also been giving her ground oyster shells (yeah, they eat those, too) but I'm not sure she was eating those, or recognizing those as food. I started scattering them on the ground, finally, along with some cracked corn.<br /><br />All in all, those chickens eat pretty well. Among the foods we gave them this week: some over-ripe figs, a couple of slightly burned blueberry pancakes, a bowl of soggy corn flakes, split plums from our plum tree, an overgrown zucchini. Stuff that nobody wanted to eat, which would have gone down the disposal or in the compost pile otherwise.kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-12469221696902394812008-09-21T13:31:00.000-07:002008-09-21T13:40:46.117-07:00Six eggs in seven days<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeErf5KGywEgFgLJ6RBc_7x1YJs9JEN_anbyJVfF9gKTpuR0gyFrPGhUYDF2tK8Ja8Z2LXuR-GrH0mYR8JAM2VhpjCiOULEGyljt48uvECsorCqI7BZ4NQ8UJ1ekdwuoLqiUcyaNvyTk/s1600-h/DSC_2404.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeErf5KGywEgFgLJ6RBc_7x1YJs9JEN_anbyJVfF9gKTpuR0gyFrPGhUYDF2tK8Ja8Z2LXuR-GrH0mYR8JAM2VhpjCiOULEGyljt48uvECsorCqI7BZ4NQ8UJ1ekdwuoLqiUcyaNvyTk/s320/DSC_2404.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248577312512931554" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81c9XSyK3trfluLuh_zRx14vXFWkO5vdmplJqoFwe4cs2xlXk5Igv6SUaRkUeF01HH-EplUuisH_oBmdox0iQUuA22T8376_qMw78xKkxpmg1B9E7mzBADAUU65LNJJP2P-GhDE_zms8/s1600-h/DSC_2406.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81c9XSyK3trfluLuh_zRx14vXFWkO5vdmplJqoFwe4cs2xlXk5Igv6SUaRkUeF01HH-EplUuisH_oBmdox0iQUuA22T8376_qMw78xKkxpmg1B9E7mzBADAUU65LNJJP2P-GhDE_zms8/s320/DSC_2406.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248576910945027522" /></a><br />Wilma is rapidly turning into a very productive chicken. Since her first egg on Monday, she has laid five more, giving us one fresh egg almost every day.<br /><br />And how do they taste? Well, Elliott describes them as "saltier" than a normal egg and I call them "eggier." The yolk is a shade darker than a store-bought egg, and the white doesn't run in the pan when you crack the egg open -- it sort of stands up, and when you've cooked it sunny-side-up, it looks like it's been poached.<br /><br />So yes, they're delicious, and different from store-bought eggs. We love them!kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580155249540058165.post-58751157150360368432008-09-15T13:03:00.001-07:002008-09-15T13:11:57.573-07:00First egg<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXNFpwMwH4OZ2jvchuYnBNLis5ieNUHzCg87iGNIkUlSwP1mPhYl29Wkc0ahY-MIbDKOOTgWFuQfFm4fjJAQWuzv0gmrfVXwsZnP3erN_l6pHnctB_bWd50Dm4fb-vOZTEsqCHBCy9aU0/s1600-h/DSC_2332.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXNFpwMwH4OZ2jvchuYnBNLis5ieNUHzCg87iGNIkUlSwP1mPhYl29Wkc0ahY-MIbDKOOTgWFuQfFm4fjJAQWuzv0gmrfVXwsZnP3erN_l6pHnctB_bWd50Dm4fb-vOZTEsqCHBCy9aU0/s320/DSC_2332.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246343278414617778" /></a><br />I could tell something was up with Wilma this morning. She was making a low, unhappy noise and pacing frantically around the chicken run. Sometimes one chicken or another will become agitated for no known reason, but they usually stop after 10 or 15 minutes. But Wilma wouldn't quit. I wondered...<br /><br />Finally, she went into the coop and I saw that she was sitting in the nesting box, the one with the golf ball in it. Mathilda was keeping her company in the other nesting box, and Gertrude remained outside -- now she was the one doing the pacing.<br /><br />I had to make a run to the store, and when I got back, Wilma was outside, standing in one place and looking a little stunned. I opened up the back of the coop, and there it was: the first egg.<br /><br />It's a little smaller than a store-bought egg (my guru Janet says the first eggs are always smaller) and not as white. The shell is a luminescent, pearly color -- almost pink. It also feels very dense and heavy, and there are a few faint streaks of brownish blood on the sides.<br /><br />I put it in the refrigerator after taking many pictures of it. Perhaps tonight we will eat it!kbzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11787385978245469047noreply@blogger.com0