Since the Pandemic began, I've spent almost every minute at home. As the days drifted by, I found myself staring out the front window, looking for anything. A squirrel. A distraction. Or better yet, the mailman. I have decorated the front door with colorful drawings and a simple note thanking the front-line delivery people for …
Birdsong
Winding down
Brave lil’ fella
This afternoon I had a rare nap, followed by a crying fit ... and then this. For those who don't know Charlie, he's terrified of the chickens. But not today. Today he's a brave lil' fella. I've always leaned into the chickens for therapy. Just watching them run through the yard allows me to zone …
Preening
A new beginning
In many cultures around the world, eggs and — in particular — chicks are symbolic of new life and rebirth. So picking up two new chicks today couldn't have happened at a better time. In recent days, I have faced serious struggles. I walked into the heart of the storm, and somehow emerged on the …
Losing Loretta
I've been losing Loretta almost from the beginning. In her first year, she had a short but spectacular laying season. Her rich, deep brown eggs did not disappoint. But midway through the winter break I saw things had gone awry. The feathers on Loretta's bottom, her chest and eventually her legs disappeared. She had already …
Little Siouxsie Sioux
On the sixth day, I found little Siouxsie Sioux crumpled near the front of the brooder. Not knowing how long she had been out of the heater, I worried about her body temperature. I held her close to me, and saw that she was weak. The emergency box, which I had obsessively curated two years …
An egg???
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 …
Chicken Scratch Fever 