Urban Chickens

What do you imagine when you think of urban chickens?  A beautiful coop with chickens happily feasting on all of your backyard pests to protect your bounty of strawberries and tomatoes while you sit in your Adirondack chair barefoot sipping a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc?  That used be my image and it was fact when the hens were still young, but I'm telling a different story now that my girls are getting a little hefty.

You can forget running barefoot in your yard ever again since their poop is everywhere, in fact, we are only allowing one pair of shoes per White House Rancher in the back yard which are left at the door when the dinner bell is rung.  And for the Adirondack chairs?  You'll occasionally see a hen roosting on the back perhaps dropping a special load right onto the seat or concrete patio.  And those Strawberries?  They LOVE them more than the slugs that once infested them.  I finally raised one of the pots of strawberries up so they couldn't reach them.  And my first 3 large tomatoes that went ripe were nibbled by the little pea-brained chickadees. 

It seems like this would all be fine if I were getting eggs, but they haven't started laying yet.  I'm estimating another month.  They are looking quite mature and their combs and waddles are turning red, which I've heard is a sign that they are getting ready to lay. 

Don't think that I don't love the girls, because I do.  And I'm not ready to lock them up in their pen 24/7 either.  I just can't do it.  They're still fun to watch, provide great manure for my compost bin, are super low cost to raise, and have become so friendly.  Following all of us around the yard hoping for chicken scratch, which we've nick-named "chicken crack", a mix of cracked corn and seeds that they are completely crazy for.

I wouldn't give any of this up and we'll definitely have to make some changes to our yard if we want to keep it looking presentable...for now. 

What's growing in our garden?

Every year I say that I'm going to write down and keep track of all the veggies I've grown that year and I've never actually done it.  I want to do it so that the next year, I can remember which tomatoes I've grown and how well each varietal did.  Well, no more excuses!  I did it! 

I planted a few things that I've never planted before: yellow crookneck squash, shallots, eggplant, and a few of the tomatoes. 

The most important part about documenting my plantings is to know where I planted each type of veggie and later to track what produced well where and what I would not want to plant again.

As in my work, I use evidence-based design to plant my garden.  A few years ago I grew my cucumbers next to my corn by chance.  The result was a symbiotic relationship between the two veggies.  The corn provided nice shade and stalks on which the cucumbers could grow.  I made the best pickles that year!  I am attempting to recreate that fate this summer.  As you can see the corn field seems to attract all the pets.  Soledad, the cat is in heaven with all of these birds around her.

 My zucchini is off to a good start although it has been a steady 10-15 degrees below normal so far this spring.  I'm hoping to harvest my first squash sometime this week. 

THIS is tonight's dinner!

I planted this artichoke about 3 years ago and it has since multiplied and is producing about 15 artichokes or more per season. This winter I will dig it up, divide it and replant some in another location and give a plant to a lucky friend.  But for now, dinner needs to get on the stove.

On a completely different note, my girls are truly looking like hens!  While I was working in the garden this weekend, they hung out on the patio and I grabbed this photo of them.  My beauties!

The mothering of hens

Mother's Day is supposed to be a day that we celebrate being a mother, but the truth is, being a mom is so difficult.  We go about our business as professionals, wives, homemakers, party planners, and friends, all while trying to keep our children safe and happy.

From the beginning of this journey with the chickens I have felt a sense of responsibility to these girls in a way similar to the instinct that kicks in when your first baby is born.  What if a cat were to get them?  Or a hawk were to pluck them up? 

We patched holes in the fence and gave them a safe coop.  We watched them carefully as they roamed the yard with their beaks in the grass. 

Today Rosie went missing as the flock was together on the patio.  I heard the squawking from the other hens and she was nowhere in site.  After looking everywhere for her, and thinking about what I could have done to keep her safer, I started this post.  Midway through a knock came to the door from one of the neighbor kids telling me that she was in their front yard.  OH HAPPY DAY!  I cuddled her and carried her home to her flock who accepted her as if she had just run to the store for some snails. 

Being a mom is full of ups and downs, happiness and hurt, love and acceptance, and most of all taking care of our flock.  Becoming a mother teaches you to always have one eye on the task at hand and one watching out for the little ones. 

Sometimes it might feel like I have no time for me.  But in reality, I wouldn't trade any minute of any day.  Being a mother, whether to my child or my hens is perfect. 

Go plant some veggies!

Ever since we started raising chickens I've been thinking more about the food that we produce, consume, and the energy we put back into it.  I used to just believe that we grew fruit and veggies, consumed them and put the energy from that food back into the garden by tending to it.  A few years back we added a compost bin which added another element to the cycle of energy. 

Now that we have chickens I decided to put the energy cycle into a graphic diagram.  I sketched this the other night while watching Ratatouille with Brookie.  I had a hard time deciding which element to put at the center of the diagram, but finally settled on the vegetable garden.  The only portion I found difficult to represent graphically was the energy that the food gives to us and the chickens and how we put it back into the garden. 

I hope that this is food for thought for everyone and maybe it will inspire more chicken raising, composting and gardening especially now at garden planting time. 

They're out!

Friday morning, it was obvious that the girls were ready; ready to be out on their own.  I took the day off to do some work in the yard and get ready for Easter and this is what it looked like when I opened the brooder box to clean it. 

Rosie is such a ham.  She's front and center in every photo.  They were eyeing the outdoors right away.

They spent the whole day in the back yard with us and it became apparent that they were doing a fine job of foraging for food on their own, staying warm, staying safe, and staying together.  We had the preschoolers from next door over to show them the growth of the chicks and to educate them a little on composting and growing your own food.  Wish we had photos of the field trip.  It was a nice experience.  When I opened the bottom of the compost bin they gobbled up the grubs, worms, ants, slugs, and even black widows as quick as you could say "ewww."  It became apparent quickly who were the dominant chickens in the group.  They each played their own part in snatching up the bugs. 

They found their favorite spot behind the shed near the wood pile and stayed there much of the day.  They also liked the cleaned out garden awaiting the new vegetables and under the artichoke plant where I unburied my tarragon plant from last summer (the highlight of my weekend!). 

This is Rosie and Cleo in the wood pile area of the yard chasing each other.

 They attacked the area under my oregano from last summer!

I'm so happy to have the girls out of the house at night, but it does bring a new level of anxiety about their nights outdoors.  Is their coop secure?  Can a raccoon burrow under the run?  When was the last time I saw a raccoon in the neighborhood? 

For now I must just enjoy the time with them and not worry about what could happen.  I'll continue to revel in the fact that they're devouring my snails and slugs.

Free Ranging!

The beautiful sunny weather allowed us to head outside for a walk with the chickens in the backyard on Saturday.  It was the first time they all got to go out and see the big wide world.

They had their beaks in the grass most of the time.

It amazed me how at home they looked.  They knew what they were supposed to be doing.  These girls have spent their entire 3-4 week lives in a box under a heat lamp in the house, yet I saw Rosie snap her beak at fly as it passed her line of site.

Soledad the cat had her eyes on them the whole time.  She played tiger-in-the-grass and at one point pounced toward the chicks.  I yelled "NO!" and she backed off.  Once the chickens are big enough, the cats will no longer be a threat, but for now, I'm keeping a close eye on their interations.

My favorite part about watching them outdoors was that they stuck together in a flock the whole time. 

Ameraucana's Big Name

At long last David chose a name.  It had a little to do with a recent fallen icon and a lot to do with a certain lovely makeup feature.  Can you guess "No Name's" new name???

Her name is Cleo.  Do you see the resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra?  Liz's headpiece and bodice even have feather-like qualities!  It's meant to be.  Thank you Liz for the inspiration, and Cleo, welcome to stardom; you have a quiet simplicity that will be interesting to watch!