30 days of beautiful: day 5 / Update #11

~poor Bella~

Why a chicken, you may ask. Even more so, why a bad picture of a chicken? To answer the last question, the camera was running out of batteries, so I had to do it quick. The first question will take little longer.

Li'l Bella has sour crop crossed with impacted crop. Or something like that. It's a little gross, so be warned. I isolated her (on our front porch) for two weeks, giving her only water with apple cider vinegar, yogurt, and olive oil. I also massaged her bulbous crop everyday. I was trying to make her throw up, but it only worked twice. She seemed to get better at one point, but in the end we were right back where we started. I let her rejoin the flock (where she was pecked almost incessantly) to see what would happen. Yesterday, I successfully made her throw up four times, and this morning she looked so much better. 

As the day wore on, her crop filled up with food (like it should), but it got bloated again (like it shouldn't). I think earlier in the spring (it's been like this for at least a month and a half) she ate really long grass and then ate straw in her little cage, which created a hard ball in her crop. It can't pass on, so she still looks big.

After lots of hard work, it's wonderful to see her doing even the tiniest bit better. I hope and, yes, pray that she will continue to be all right. Update later.

Links: some shameless advertising

click to enlarge--source

If anyone lives in Lancaster, do come see my choir's production of Anne of Green Gables. It will be held at Leola Elementary School on March 20th and 21th. Tickets at the door are $15, but if you pre-order on the website they are $12. Hurry up, sales close on March 12th! 

This is a very interesting one man show about C. S. Lewis that my family and I watched last night. 

I think we can all agree that these are a really good idea.

Squeeeee.

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It is now official: Anne has departed. Two or three Saturdays ago, Dad saw her being eaten by a hawk across the road. Since the chickens are brown her body was camouflaged among the leaves, so we hadn't seen her before. 

It's good that we know where and how it happened. We've had a near miss since than, but no losses. The hawk hasn't shown its face in the past couple days. I'm hoping the warmer weather has given it some other prey to hunt.

A side for dinner and some news

source

Dressed-up Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower
1-2 T. oil, butter, or bacon fat
2 T. dried chives
1/2 t. turmeric
1 t. salt
a pinch mace OR nutmeg*
4 cloves garlic, minced

Wash cauliflower and cut into florets. Place in food processor and process until it is the size of rice or a little smaller. Melt oil in frying pan and add processed cauliflower. Stir occasionally and add the rest of the ingredients. Continue to saute until soft and serve hot.

*Mace has a stronger flavor than nutmeg, so if using nutmeg adjust accordingly.

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Some sad news. :( One of the chickens (Anne) is missing. She was one of the four that jumps the fence every evening before I let the others out, so I'm guessing an animal got her. It is sad, but--unfortunately--it's part of "homestead" life. 

Update #10: In which we have a photo shoot

Another very late update.

My brother and his wife were visiting for Christmas and since he had his camera with him (surprise!), the chickens had a paparazzi tailing them as the free-ranged. :)

chicken butt!

They've been doing very well since then, though a few had a touch of frostbite. However, coconut oil came to the rescue. I rubbed it on their combs and they healed up amazingly quickly. Also, I accidentally discovered that they love eating coconut oil as well as wearing it! Since it was cold out the coconut oil froze, so I scraped it out of the bowl. Quite a frenzy ensued as the girls ran about trying to snatch up each piece. They also enjoy mealworms and oats while they're out in the yard. Yup, they're spoiled.

Update #9

Greetings from the North Pole! Today it was absolutely freezing and windy, and I felt like Laura Ingalls going out all bundled up to open the coop. At first I didn't wear gloves and my hands became quite numb. No frostbite though! :)

We've been getting ten eggs a day on average, though today it was only eight. I think that's probably what it'll be like in the winter. We have had several humongous eggs (all double yolkers), which are so big the carton can't be shut!

The pictures below are from last week, when there was a surprise dusting of snow. When I let the girls out they were very quiet and peered about curiously.

See that one in the very front, with the teeny comb? That's Winnifred.

Update #8: The Egg

Now, ladies and gentleman, what we've all been waiting for. I present to you...the first egg!

I opened up the nesting boxes, not knowing what exactly to expect. After all, they'd only just started squatting yesterday. Yet there, lo and behold, was a little brown egg.

And when I say little, I mean little. It's not quite two inches long and about one and a half wide. 

Here it is on the camera cap.

And then compared to a paperclip.

Sizzling with some kale.

Finished product! Sorry for the poor picture quality.

Now I shall carry a basket down when I let them out and shut them in. It's pretty exciting, folks.

Update #7

The chickens are almost nineteen weeks. Most of them have bright red combs and wattles, but a few still have dull, smaller ones. I've named a few, actually. Angela (she's noisy), Florence (she has a smaller comb and wattle), and Amy (she has a longer tail than the others). I have several names in my head, but I can't tell the rest apart...yet.

No eggs yet, but I have very good reason to expect one in the next few days, since at least two of them are starting to squat. This means that they will start laying very, very soon. I'm hoping maybe Sunday, or tomorrow. :)

Several of them have also started to escape. They fly up onto the fence and then jump down. We've shooed them off the fence a couple times, but now I'll look out the window and there will be a hen, innocently pecking at the grass. Just today I had to put four back in the run! It's all right with me, though, as long as they stay near the coop (which they have).

And now...pictures! These are from a week or two ago when they were free ranging.

And these are from my sister's birthday party.

Update #6

(As this happened a week ago tomorrow, I guess I'm not exactly on top of the chicken updates, am I?)

The Free-Range Adventure, Which Is Not As Terribly Exciting As It Sounds:

On Sunday evening we were dining al fresco (steak and green beans and chimichurri and chicken and cheesecake and berries and I'll shut up) with my sister's family, when Dad suggested opening the "free-range portal" and letting the chickens roam. I wasn't very excited at the prospect, and it seemed kind of silly in view of all the grass they had in the run still. I relented, however, and opened The Portal.

Only six came out in the end. These brave souls explored the hydrangea beds in back of the coop (hydrangea is toxic to chickens, but the girls didn't touch it), hung around the compost, and made a mess of their straw (it's in a box underneath the coop. We blocked up after that).

Not the best picture, but there you are.

Since then we've let them out twice. Not a big favorite, but they've been spending more time outside in their run, even if it is hot. Yay!

Update #5

So it's been a while. I've been rather busy with various thing (and maybe a leetle lazy). Sometimes I feel like a chicken with its head cut off, running around and forgetting what I should be doing. Maybe this summer isn't going to be as relaxing as I thought.....

Anyway, here is an extremely late update on the girls. They went out for the first time about four or five days after we moved them. We were going to wait a week, but then I needed to clean the coop. I couldn't do that with eleven curious chicks crowding around me!

 

      

What's all this!

We had to forcibly remove some. It took them a few days to figure out the ladder, and it was just yesterday that they started to come out all at once. Usually there were two left in the coop.

As Dad said, "Hey, where's Betty going? I'm coming too!"

At half time during the Argentina-Bosnia and Herzegovina game (we are such wild soccer fans, don't ya know*) I thinned the kale and let the girls have a go at the seedlings. They loved it!

Sorry about the silence. I'm trying (note the word "trying") not to put too much pressure on myself to write a post. I have an idea for one, but don't expect anything till after this week. I'll be busy practicing for Honk!jr, which you should all come and see. Find details here.

Also, happy Father's Day to my wonderful Daddy! Thanks for letting me get chickens and for building the coop!

*not really. Mom just grew up in Argentina, so we had to cheer them on. Gooooo Messi!

Update #4: the Big Move!

The girls are out! We moved them on Saturday and they've settled in nicely. They were all pretty calm during the move, just hunching down in the cardboard box and cheeping quietly from time to time.

Not quite sure what to make of it.

Can you spot the smiley face?

They have to stay in there for a week (so they know it's home) before we can let them out into their fancy-pancy run. We'll see how long it takes for the grass to turn into dirt....

Up next: Adventures in beautiful Winterthur.

Random tidbits

This is basically pictures and me trying to keep up with posting. Enjoy!

I made sourdough bread twice--once last week and once this week--using this recipe (with a few alterations because the dough was too dry). The first batch wasn't very airy, but still tasty! And it looked so old fashioned, I couldn't help myself....

Ahh, I love baking. I could spend half the day in the kitchen.

In chicken-news, we're almost ready for the big move. Hopefully tomorrow we can relocate the girls to their palace. It's about time, you can really smell, um, tell that they're here.

Now I can say I helped build the coop. :)

My sister, niece, and hardworking Daddy.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I
       seek you;
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you.
  as in a dry and weary land where 
      there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the
      sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory.
Because you steadfast love is better than
      life,
   my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
   in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and
       rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with 
       joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches
       of the night;
for you have been my help,
    and in the shadows of you wings I
       will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
     your right hand upholds me.

-Psalm 63:1-8

Update #3.

Here is the chicks' soon-to-be coop. Quite the little palace. (still not named, but I'm leaning toward Featherfield. Sorry Matthew!)

Below is a view from the chicken door.

On to the next step!

Actually, I had an interruption while writing this post. I heard a flapping and got up to check on the chicks. One of them was sitting, quite innocently, on one of the brooder's walls. I put her back in and quickly told Dad what was amiss. When I came downstairs, I was just in time to see another near escapee (I think it was the same chick, who, when I can tell her apart, is called Anne). Even now, whenever I hear some excited chirping or flapping, I rush over to take a look. So far they've all been false alarms. :)