Every day when I trek up to the chicken coop to collect eggs, I chuckle and remind myself that it's singular. Egg. My Olive Egger, Gigi, provides a green egg almost every day. But Loretta, our Black Copper Marans, hasn't laid an egg since last summer. And truthfully, it's been almost two years that I've …
More chicks? Yes, please
Chicken math is a funny thing. The punch line is that we always want more, right? Where I live, I am constrained by an ordinance that limits my chicken numbers to four. Oh how I wish I could have six. Or seven. But I must be strong. I already have two, but four is the …
Difficult decision
Nellie was my favorite chick from day one. I loved cradling her in my palm, and as she grew, she seemed to enjoy snuggling in my lap. Right around the time she started to lay eggs, all of that changed. She started attacking my, my legs, then she would fly up and go at my …
Week 16: Crazy chickens!
Editor's note: This is a blog from last year that I never published. It was just the beginning of what became very aggressive and destructive behavior. Tonight for the first time I felt something other than absolute adoring love for my chickens. I experienced fear. I often joke that my house was built upon a junk …
Snow birds
We had our first snowstorm of the year, bringing with it about 4 inches of snow, and temperatures that dipped into single digits overnight. One morning I walked out to find my prized heated water fountain had frozen over. In the 13-degree weather, I quickly scooped out the ice from the water trough, and worried …
Catching up
My family takes a break to look at the birds.A lot has gone down in the last few months. During the summer, I fell ill. Then when my brother came to visit me during my recuperation, he had a heart attack. Suddenly our house was filled with concerned house guests. And the chickens? They were …
Hooked up for power
After a couple grueling weeks digging a trench, and having friends come over to do the handiwork, the electrical line running to the chicken coop has passed inspection!The Ferndale city inspector came out bright and early at the beginning of the week. We started out in the yard, where the electric line came out of the …
In the trenches
With the last bit of summer running past us, I decided to embark on a large pre-winter project: running an electrical line out to the chicken coop.Why do chickens need electricity, you ask? Mostly so I can plug in a heated water jug. I just don't have it in me to run fresh water out …
A green egg!
Exactly two days after we received our first eggs from the girls, today we were greeted with another gift.A green egg.I knew Gigi was holding out. With eggs from Nellie and Loretta, it was easy to do the math. Two brown eggs meant we were waiting on Gigi's coveted green egg.In her showgirl style, Gigi bypassed …
Week 19: We have eggs!!!
Two eggs in one day? That's how our first special delivery arrived this evening. As soon and Matt and I got home from work, I went out back for my daily egg check. I wasn't really expecting anything; the last two weeks had come up empty every time. And then I saw it. Nellie's light …
