Berlin's Whimsy

Earning their keep.

Our aspen leaves are turning, our garden is slowly withering, and our chickens are finally laying! Yes!

Well, at least two of the three. Since they took their own sweet time in arriving at this very important (to us) stage, we had thought we would help them along a bit by adding a couple golf balls to the as yet empty nests---as an example.

Perhaps they were reading our minds because the day we went out to place the golf balls in the nest, we found a small white egg already there. Two days later, we found another small egg----this time, dark brown. Our third hen has yet to lay (late bloomer, I guess).

And now the mornings are becoming more than a little brisk and we must 'winterize' the hen house. Heat lamps and some patchwork for the exposed portions of the house are in the works. Pampered hens, indeed. At least they're now earning their keep!

all in its place

My daughter created this little map. Within, she illustrated a layout of her own personal village where those that are important to her live close-by. She enjoys doing this: creating lists of friends, understanding her heritage, asking about her ancestors. It all needs to be in its place. Perhaps it is a form of security in trying to understand her own little slice of this vast world. I can imagine with all the changes in her life over the last couple years, these little illustrations help to put it in some form of perspective.

Don't we all desire perspective, though? To understand where we've been and where we're going? I know I do. I thought about this and I thought about the way my daughter handled it, drawing her own little map. Perhaps she's onto something----illustrating our own personal dream village. A village encompassing all that you love and that loves you in return. What a wonderful vision!

And sometimes I think our chickens might even need a little of this perspective---- especially when they peer through our windows so longingly, waiting for us to come and tuck them in for another night in their little coop.

Maybe we all need to have a place for everything and everyone. All in its place.

Chicken Chronicles: Chicken Coop Builders Anonymous

Our charming little chicken coop is coming along nicely. A whole-hearted and huge round of appreciation must be paid to Pants for all he's been through with the coop.

 

'Oh, but isn't it just a simple chicken coop?' you might ask. Noooooooooo, my friends, never fool yourself into thinking the construction of a chicken coop is anything less than time consuming to the point of obsession.

At some point in the middle of the construction, you'll realize that you could have built a whole room onto your house for the amount of time and money spent. Forget about your children's college education---unless, of course, they want to start selling eggs now to save up for college later. Cross your fingers for that Golden Egg.

In fact, if you're building a chicken coop, you'll soon find yourself visiting the local lumber yard on an daily basis, forcing the employees to roll their eyes and smile that knowing, "Oh, you poor thing..." kind of smile.

 

No, I exaggerate... Just a little...

We decided there should be a support group for partners wrangled into building a chicken coop,

Chicken Coop Builders Anonymous.

The meetings would go something like this:

"She said it would be fun... that we could gather up some of the extra lumber we had lying about and nail it all together---that it would cost next to nothing. But after I used up the lumber I had, I still only had one wall completed. There was no turning back. We started hitting the lumber yard. Hard. It was like we couldn't stay away. I started dreaming about it at night and waking up in a cold sweat. And every time I returned home from the store, we had to go back for more, so intense was the need."

And another, "Yeah well, I wore a hole in my back pocket from removing my wallet so many times!"

"The coop diagrams were so simple but once I got started, I wanted---no needed---to improve the design. Next thing I knew I was installing heated nesting boxes and a coop cam..."

"I thought it would take one day of one weekend. Two months later, I was still out there in the blazing sun..."

And right about then, someone would do it, they would pull out a photo and start passing it around, proudly adding: "But for all the work and money I spent, didn't it turn out nice? I could have built that family room we always dreamed about, but who cares about a family room when you have beauty like this... Note the escalator leading into the coop."

And the one-upsmanship would continue, "Well, mine features solar panels and a composting toilet. Only the best for my girls."

Eventually, the participants would be so enamored with the support group, their spouses and partners would begin to miss them. That's when a new support group would band together:

Widows of Chicken Coop Builders.

It would go something like this:

"I thought it would be fun. But once he started constructing it, he was always gone... I never saw him again... I only started to worry when he began wearing his tool belt to work and placing photos of his chickens in his wallet. Should I be concerned?"

****

But in all seriousness, I hasten to say our chicken coop is the cutest darn thing you could ever imagine! Our chickens had their first visit to the coop recently and proclaimed it to be "just perfect!" No, it doesn't have heated nesting boxes nor a composting toilet, but for what it lacks in techno gadgetry it has two-fold in charm and precision. Thank you, Pants!

For more information about building coops, check out Backyard Chickens' coop section!

Chicken Chronicles: Remembering Macho the Rooster.

My Mom recently returned from a quick trip to the neighbor's house to find the chicken flock left alone. No Macho the Rooster in sight. She immediately knew something was wrong...

You remember Macho, right? He's the rooster that provided us with many belly laughs as he grew up into a beautiful and faithful rooster. He ate big, fat bugs to our disgusted delight and his everyday rooster antics were often hilarious.

He spent mornings peeking in the glass door, much to our cat's dismay... 

My kids loved him.

Sometimes, he put up a show, coming at one of our dogs----or even us---- with his wing lowered, as if he was a matador, all side steps and shuffles. Macho. He was also known to get into sparring matches with our dog, Sammie----often resulting in a hilarious show with Macho riding around on Sammie's back.

But once Macho was picked up, he turned passive and friendly in your arms. He equally liked my Mom, defending her from one of the other, more annoying roosters. He was personable.

Though he could chase off the best of intruders, he fell victim to a local coyote pack. The fact that he was the only chicken taken in the attack attests to his defense of the flock.

At first, it was odd for all of us-----our anguish and sadness over his loss. He was just a rooster after all. But as much as our logic dictated something different, our feelings of mourning were ever so real. He was our pet. We gathered up what was left of his glossy white feathers and buried them.

Alas, it's still not the same around the chicken coop without Macho the Rooster but memories of his silliness still brings a smile to our faces, as does his offspring. 

Chicken Chronicles: The Plucky City Chicken

Meet Pepe (aka Peepers), Lays, and Tootsie (aka Mohawk). Our little flock of backyard chickens, living in the city. 

Pepe hatched from two of our original chickens, Pirate the Hen, and Macho the Rooster. Pepe is joined by two Sex-Links purchased from the feedstore.

Apparently, Sex-Links can be sexed by their coloring at birth and unfortunately, Tootsie has a very suspicious dot on her head, possibly indicating the crowing variety. Therefore, don't get too attached to Tootsie, as roosters are not allowed in the city limits. If Tootsie turns out to be a Mohawk, he must pack up his wattles and tail feathers and go to live elsewhere... Pepe could be a rooster, as well, and we won't know for another few weeks. We are crossing our fingers and only feeding Pepe pink colored food (ha).

Our chicken coop is coming along nicely with many, many thanks to my urban homesteading partner. As quickly as our chicks are growing, they will be ready for their new digs just about the time their home is complete. Even now, they enjoy their little excursions out into the tall weeds of our backyard's wilds.  

We do have chicken rearing experience from last year but we still continue to learn. We are aided by many informative books and magazines available to the backyard chicken farmer. What a treasure trove of books there are out there on this subject!

Chicken Chronicles: A Baby Chick.

When we placed three eggs under our Phoenix hens, we only half believed anything would come of it. But this morning, a distinctive peeping sound was heard coming from their nest and underneath the mamas...

 ...we found a new baby chick!  

Chicken Chronicles: Springing Forth

 

These are our dedicated mamas. They are our two Phoenix chickens (Speckles & Phoebe) with the important task of hatching three chicks. Though their dedication is unquestionable, they have suffered many set-backs in the process.

We chose three eggs from our favorite layers: Rosetta, Pirate, and Brownie. For all the Phoenix's perseverance, they lack might, unfortunately. Jealousy runs rampant in some of our chicken's minds and since our two little mamas were occupying the most coveted of nests, they were frequently pecked, or pushed, off. One particular evening, they were dislodged from the nest by the thoroughly jealous, Brownie, who sat on the eggs for a bit and then lost interest, leaving the eggs out in the cold. 

We built a new nest, cordoned off from the rest of the flock. Now, Speckles & Phoebe sit stoically on the eggs. They are due to hatch in a little over a week (fingers crossed). The new chickens will be brought to our current home as a small backyard flock. It feels like a grand experiment ripe with potential!

Chicken Chronicles: Golden

 

Golden like the morning sun, our chickens' eggs awaken us with their rich hue. In this case, added to a large batch of sourdough waffles.

Mmmm.... Golden!

And then...

This is what we made with them...

And all that was left...

Chicken Chronicles: Research.

Eight of our chickens are now laying eggs. Each week a new egg appears. Unique to their source, our eggs seem to tell stories all their own. We always know which eggs are Rosetta's----they are the extra large beautiful ones. The queen layer. But what about the other brown eggs? Which chicken lays which egg. Each of their eggs look the same from day to day; they have varying shades of brown dependent upon the chicken who lays it.

Today my son sat down with a carton of fresh eggs and researched them. Who layed this one? Was it Browney or Brownin? Why does this other one have a hole in it? Did a chicken peck it?

Only one of our Leghorns is laying. They seem to have matured more slowly then our New Hampshires. Slowly, their combs are growing up and then flopping over giving them the look of some sort of cartoon character!

We're always happy to visit our chickens and my children still intend to have an egg selling business. Want some eggs?