October 12, 2010
Tuesday, 12:49pm
Goldie laid early this morning since she didn’t lay yesterday. I went out to check on them a little later than usual, around noon, and they all ran over and huddled at the door, obviously hungry. They have crumbles in there 24/7 but I don’t think they much like them and eat them only as a last resort. Either that or I have just spoiled them way too much, because they wait to see what I will bring them and as always, favoring grass and weeds above all else. Now I feel guilty if I don’t go dig some up for them each day. For now, hoeing it out of the overgrown garden suffices since the soil is loose and I can take a claw hoe and pull it out relatively easy, a great way to recycle the “weeds”. However, once I’ve gone through all the weeds in the garden, the task of providing fresh greens will become more difficult and Winter will limit what is available I think. I also gave them some raw walnuts and some steel cut oats.
I doubt Ellie will lay today since she laid after 2:30pm yesterday, but Raven might. Brian made scrambled eggs with feta cheese, toast and bacon yesterday for breakfast. Absolutely delicious. They are producing so regularly now that we don’t run out of eggs. Soon, I’ll set some aside to give to Mr. Haithcock.
Last night Brian and I both heard a noise out near the coop. I didn’t say anything at first and lay in bed listening to see if I would hear it again. He spoke up first and said, “Did you hear that?” I said, “Yes.” We were both wondering if something was trying to get into the coop and so I sat up and grabbed the flash light and shone it out there. Nice to know that he cares enough about them to worry too if something is out there trying to get at them. Maybe they are swaying him to their side after all?
Raven laid at 2:40pm. I was feeding the girls some dandelion greens and heard her start to make some noises so I looked over at her and she was squatting, heaving her chest forward and then out plopped an egg. It’s the first time I’ve seen Raven lay. I went to pet her and tell her she was a good girl and she opened her beak at me and gave a warning. Raven’s instincts are very strong when it comes to protecting her eggs. After she has laid she will squawk at any of the hens who jump up onto the nesting platform and get anywhere near the nesting boxes. She stayed in the box for awhile as if waiting for me to go away, so I went back to feeding the others. Goldie jumped up onto the platform and I was feeding her in front of Raven. Eventually Raven decided to come out and have some greens as well before jumping down to the ground. Today’s egg is less round than normal, more oblong and more cream than her usual white. I wonder why? It was still very warm when I picked it up. I remember the first time I held a warm egg over at John and Renee’s house, strangely, it seemed more “real” than once they turn cold. Perhaps it is that we are so used to buying products in the grocery store in packages and are now so far removed from where they actually come from, that it creates this strange sensation in us. Michael Pollan’s book; “Omnivore’s Dilemma” is a good way to discover how true this assertion is. I think too, we now take food for granted because not only do we not understand where it comes from or how it was produced, we have no hand in producing it ourselves and it becomes just one more commodity that we buy, having no appreciation for the actual sweat that went into it. Okay, off the soapbox. For now, it is enough to know that the greens, fruits, nuts, berries, and seeds that I give my chickens are magically transformed into eggs that are superior in quality to any I could buy at the grocery store. I am thankful that my girls produce this bounty and I try to repay it by providing them with safety, nutritious food and healthy surroundings - even though there is some guilt associated with “taking” their eggs. I don’t know if they would consider it a fair trade off. I would very much like them to be able to each raise a brood of their own at least once. I know Goldie and Raven would make excellent mothers. I wonder how my neighbors would take to me “borrowing” a rooster for two weeks or so??? If I had my way, I’d convince all of my neighbors to have small backyard flocks, with focus on the rare breeds. We could breed to each others chickens to ensure a diverse gene pool as well. Now there’s a thought....I’ll be anxious to see if it will rub off on any of my neighbors. Many of them had chickens when they were younger. If the economy keeps going the way it has been, many of them may yet have them again!
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