Current count: 66 eggs
I walked in from the garage this afternoon when I got home and stepped out into the sun room to see if the chickens were in the coop roosting or still out back. As soon as I slid open the door to the sun room the dog leaped off the futon and raced for the door, where he stood with his tail between his legs. The two cats jumped off the file cabinet and ran under the bed. Neither of these is usually a good sign. I was trying to figure out what they had done wrong when my eyes fell on what were clearly two different eggs that had been crunched up and licked clean...on the floor of the only room left where we have carpet. Grrrrr...
The problem, of course, is that I have no idea which of them are responsible. On top of that, neither T. nor I can figure out where the eggs came from. There was a green one and a brown one, so that's what we usually get, but all the eggs this week are accounted for on the calendar, and those numbers match what we have in the carton in the fridge. The whole thing is one big conundrum.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Soupy Coop
Current count: 63 eggs
So after an extended period of rain here in NorCal, it appears our french drain in the backyard is not really working at peak capacity....or maybe not at all. At any rate, our yard has converted into a marshland and the water is keeping the area in the chicken coop completely wet. This is a development I am not pleased with. At a bare minimum, it creates an olfactory problem. On the plus side (and I'm stretching here), I don't have to worry about them kicking over the food dishes. Why? Because they are now cemented down to the earth with a combination of mud and chicken poo. It seems inevitable that I am going to need a hazmat suit and a chisel to rectify the situation.
The chickens, meanwhile, spend a lot of time hanging out up in their henhouse, watching the damp floor to see if it's going to do anything scary. Usually it doesn't, so they lay eggs and hang out some more.
So after an extended period of rain here in NorCal, it appears our french drain in the backyard is not really working at peak capacity....or maybe not at all. At any rate, our yard has converted into a marshland and the water is keeping the area in the chicken coop completely wet. This is a development I am not pleased with. At a bare minimum, it creates an olfactory problem. On the plus side (and I'm stretching here), I don't have to worry about them kicking over the food dishes. Why? Because they are now cemented down to the earth with a combination of mud and chicken poo. It seems inevitable that I am going to need a hazmat suit and a chisel to rectify the situation.
The chickens, meanwhile, spend a lot of time hanging out up in their henhouse, watching the damp floor to see if it's going to do anything scary. Usually it doesn't, so they lay eggs and hang out some more.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Blustery Day
Current Count: 58 eggs
We've got rain, high winds, and cloudy skies in Northern California today. It's a great day to stay inside with a fire if you got a fireplace. If you don't have a fireplace, then a fire is a lot riskier proposition...not really recommended.
The chickens thought they wanted to come out today, squawking and throwing a big old fit until we opened the door. Then they came out, took a quick spin around the yard and headed back into the coop because they didn't appear to like the wind or the rain. I have to say I feel the same way.
We picked up a new 50 lb. bag of feed and a new feeder with a bigger reservoir. The whole transaction was about $20.00, which is close to ten dozen eggs. The chickens started laying halfway through this bag of feed, so I don't really know how long they go on one bag. At the rate they are laying now, this bag would have to last until halfway through April and that would also cover the new feeder. I wonder if it will work out that way.
We've got rain, high winds, and cloudy skies in Northern California today. It's a great day to stay inside with a fire if you got a fireplace. If you don't have a fireplace, then a fire is a lot riskier proposition...not really recommended.
The chickens thought they wanted to come out today, squawking and throwing a big old fit until we opened the door. Then they came out, took a quick spin around the yard and headed back into the coop because they didn't appear to like the wind or the rain. I have to say I feel the same way.
We picked up a new 50 lb. bag of feed and a new feeder with a bigger reservoir. The whole transaction was about $20.00, which is close to ten dozen eggs. The chickens started laying halfway through this bag of feed, so I don't really know how long they go on one bag. At the rate they are laying now, this bag would have to last until halfway through April and that would also cover the new feeder. I wonder if it will work out that way.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Kids and Chickens
Current Count: 55 eggs
So this one is about chickens, but it's also about kids. Several of our students know that I took home chickens from the batch hatched by second grade last year. One of our first grade teachers also mentioned this, and apparently it sparked some deep thought about chickens on the part of one 6-year old boy. Check it out:
For those in need of translation, this say, "Sometimes chickens be alive." Notice the four legs and the smiling beak. The image in the upper left hand corner is a little bit of foreshadowing because this is what he wrote on the next page of his journal.
The translation for this one is, "Sometimes chickens be dead and i like chickens!" Notice how all four of the chicken legs have now converted to drumsticks and there is a smiling stick person on the right with what appear to be a drumstick in the right hand and a chicken nugget in the left. Mmm, mmm, good!
So this one is about chickens, but it's also about kids. Several of our students know that I took home chickens from the batch hatched by second grade last year. One of our first grade teachers also mentioned this, and apparently it sparked some deep thought about chickens on the part of one 6-year old boy. Check it out:
For those in need of translation, this say, "Sometimes chickens be alive." Notice the four legs and the smiling beak. The image in the upper left hand corner is a little bit of foreshadowing because this is what he wrote on the next page of his journal.
The translation for this one is, "Sometimes chickens be dead and i like chickens!" Notice how all four of the chicken legs have now converted to drumsticks and there is a smiling stick person on the right with what appear to be a drumstick in the right hand and a chicken nugget in the left. Mmm, mmm, good!
BoomBoom Beer
Current Count: 55 eggs
OK...so this entry isn't really about the chickens today, but as I mentioned before, I work at an elementary school. We are currently sponsoring a T-Shirt design contest for our western-themed carnival. This design came in from a third grader. Although it's completely inappropriate for general consumption, it is a funny one, and pretty revealing about the kid's perception of the wild west. Make sure to take note of the ultra-phallic guns on either shoulder. Yikes!
I'm a big lover of aliases and nicknames, so from here on out, I will be referring to this year's carnival as the "BoomBoom Beer" event. May a good time be had by all!
OK...so this entry isn't really about the chickens today, but as I mentioned before, I work at an elementary school. We are currently sponsoring a T-Shirt design contest for our western-themed carnival. This design came in from a third grader. Although it's completely inappropriate for general consumption, it is a funny one, and pretty revealing about the kid's perception of the wild west. Make sure to take note of the ultra-phallic guns on either shoulder. Yikes!
I'm a big lover of aliases and nicknames, so from here on out, I will be referring to this year's carnival as the "BoomBoom Beer" event. May a good time be had by all!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A Couple Egg-ccidents
Current count: 48 eggs
So we had a couple egg-ccidents worth reporting this week, if only because they were sort of funny.
#1 - T. was coming in with a newly laid egg and gave the sun room door a good solid yank to make sure it was closed tightly. In the process of doing this, he crunched the egg a little bit in his other hand and it started leaking so he threw it in the sink. He went to wash his hands in the bathroom and comes back to discover that one of the hairless cats has grabbed the leaking egg and dragged it all over the kitchen. After a Starsky and Hutch chase through the house, he recovered the egg (now mostly dry shell) and threw it away. Now, I have roots in The South, and I've heard of egg-sucking dogs, but never egg-sucking cats. In that vein, check this out: Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog
#2 - I have a new dietary habit now, thanks to the chickens. Every morning, I have two cups of coffee, then rinse the cup, put two eggs in it, scramble them with a fork, and pop them in the microwave for a couple minutes to cook. Some day in the middle of the week I neglected to scramble the eggs with a fork and I heard them start popping in the microwave. That popping sound always mean there's going to be egg all over the inside of the microwave when I open door. This time, however, I opened the door in time because the egg was still confined to the cup. Not only that, the eggs also looked cooked and ready to eat. I stuck my fork into them and POP! Egg exploded out all over my face, in my hair, on the ceiling fan, and on the ceiling. It was in my eyebrows and all over my shirt and tie. I really should have taken a picture, but I didn't really have the presence of mind at the time. Talk about egg on your face.
So we had a couple egg-ccidents worth reporting this week, if only because they were sort of funny.
#1 - T. was coming in with a newly laid egg and gave the sun room door a good solid yank to make sure it was closed tightly. In the process of doing this, he crunched the egg a little bit in his other hand and it started leaking so he threw it in the sink. He went to wash his hands in the bathroom and comes back to discover that one of the hairless cats has grabbed the leaking egg and dragged it all over the kitchen. After a Starsky and Hutch chase through the house, he recovered the egg (now mostly dry shell) and threw it away. Now, I have roots in The South, and I've heard of egg-sucking dogs, but never egg-sucking cats. In that vein, check this out: Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog
#2 - I have a new dietary habit now, thanks to the chickens. Every morning, I have two cups of coffee, then rinse the cup, put two eggs in it, scramble them with a fork, and pop them in the microwave for a couple minutes to cook. Some day in the middle of the week I neglected to scramble the eggs with a fork and I heard them start popping in the microwave. That popping sound always mean there's going to be egg all over the inside of the microwave when I open door. This time, however, I opened the door in time because the egg was still confined to the cup. Not only that, the eggs also looked cooked and ready to eat. I stuck my fork into them and POP! Egg exploded out all over my face, in my hair, on the ceiling fan, and on the ceiling. It was in my eyebrows and all over my shirt and tie. I really should have taken a picture, but I didn't really have the presence of mind at the time. Talk about egg on your face.
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