Happy Peeps

March 26, 2012

Blogger's Dream


When I started this blog, I had envisioned a "Julie/Julia" kind of thing (if Julia Child had been a hen keeper and Julie the recipe blogger were me writing about raising, not macerating, chickens). But that would also mean I'd have nothing other to do than come home (early, one would presume) from my day job (the sun rarely sets in this vision), and spend my evenings playing with, taking photos of, doting on and caring for "the girls" which means feeding and watering them, occasionally raking out the run, collecting and washing the eggs and mucking their little coop wearing my rubber boots from LL Bean and pearls around my neck, then writing about it all in a romantic light, well into the wee hours of the night while I lounge on the bed wearing only sheepskin slippers to warm my feet and my doting boyfriend’s flannel shirt, while he looks on, lovingly, encouragingly even, and continues with his crossword puzzle.
Right.
 You see, my "day" job consists of 10-12 hour days, much of which is behind a computer screen up to 7 days a week, juggling (and missing) e-mails and dodging as many phone calls as I dare, running from meeting to meeting at which I am required to take notes, losing said notes a thousand times over but pretending to get them out to the appropriate groups in a timely manner, managing a brood of 40+ women who more or less are expected to run their own show but who I have to monitor to make sure they are completing required paperwork and meeting deadlines, ordering food and (believe it or not) picking up after others, cleaning the bathroom, making coffee, all the while being PECKED TO DEATH by the reminder notices that pop up in Outlook, letting me know how many days past due I am on every item....yes, I did just make the analogy of an unruly flock of chickens that I must take care of/feed/water (coffee) listen to and serve, at work.  Needless to say, I'm not usually in the best of moods when I arrive home, nor do I have the energy, to wax poetic about the girls, who surely do deserve a little more attention at this point, as does said boyfriend who by this time, is getting a little grouchy.

Yet somehow I think the home crew, who I would much prefer being able to take care of (except for the fact that $2.50 for a dozen eggs is pretty slim pickings and there're no medical benefits) understands that I like and need their company (boyfriend included). The "girls" run up to me excitedly squawking about their day, giving me quizzical looks and hunkering down in front of me for the obligatory pat, ruffling their feathers and showing off in front of one another, pecking at my shoes and waiting for the corn scratch that they know I’ll throw to them. So easy to please. If only they didn’t crap everywhere. Wait a minute… I get that at work too.  

March 13, 2012

Oh Brother Winter, Where Art Thou?

What a mild winter this has been! Our cold-hardy girls have been out wandering the yard in January, February and now March, and egg production never waned, averaging 9 eggs per day for 13 hens, (and that primarily because Beatrice & Eugenie, the banty silkies, had gone a bit "broody").  I absolutely loved walking out to their coop this past weekend, with my LL Bean 'barn' coat unbuttoned and no gloves, to gather the eggs and give them a little Eggo Waffle treat. On March 9!  Let me say that again - my coat unbuttoned. No gloves.  No hat.  No scarf.  Not yet the middle of March. Ahh....the simple pleasures of life, pleasant weather during months when we are used to extreme cold, a warm egg in the hand (worth two in the bush?)  Other treats this past week were a head of iceberg lettuce, apples which had over-ripened indoors, and applesauce. You should have seen them with the applesauce, they cleaned the dish until it was bare. Now that the weather is warming though, we're looking at our yard differently....areas which have become bare need to be re-seeded, and we can't do that with the chickens having full range. So! We've purchased some new fencing, and the plan is to give them a wide spot at the back, southwest corner of the lot, with full access to the compost pile. I will miss seeing them wandering up by the house, but it's for the good of the lawn to move them around a bit and quarantine them when necessary. More to come and pictures too.