every day is a good day
Billy is happy to see me bring out a basket of potatoes to plant. Chickens love potatoes. You can plant rows and rows of potatoes, but if you let chickens into your potato beds, you will be lucky to see a handful of potatoes at the end of the season. Last year they had a steady feast in July and August. This year it’s my turn to have some potatoes.
These are All Blue potatoes. Later I’ll be planting Mountain Rose, Nicola, Satina, and Yukon Gold. The chickens will get their fair share.
A tiny egg was a pleasant surprise this afternoon. The tiny egg means a young hen laid her first egg. These baby new eggs are always fun to find. It doesn’t take long before young hens lay full size eggs, which makes these tiny eggs special.
The wonderful thing about having fruit trees is that you get to enjoy the apples, cherries, pears, and plums months before they are ripe. You first get to enjoy their fragrant flowers when they bloom, and then their fruit when it’s ripe. It’s odd when you think about it, that humans and bees, two creatures as different as possible, are both attracted to the same thing – flowers. Bees are after pollen, but do they find the flowers beautiful as well?
The sun is out this morning and many of the chickens are gathered in their favorite morning hangout, discussing the dreams they had during the night, and fluffing their feathers in the warm sunshine. Out on the pond, a pair of Canada geese are nibbling away at the duckweed. This is the first year we’ve seen Canada geese on the pond.
On a rainy day, the covered chicken yard is a dry place to be. It’s a chance for the hens to gossip and get caught up with what is happening. Though I think that Midge on the right has had enough of Coulette’s tales. Buttercup below is incubating eggs. See how fluffed up she is? When hens incubate eggs, they spread their bodies out. It’s a clear sign that they have gone broody and are not just laying an egg.
Chickens are so full of personality. They have the brightest eyes and are curious about everything. They all deserve to live carefree lives, enjoying the outdoors, eating grass, gorging on cherry blossom petals, scratching for worms, running about, chasing field mice, and having affairs.
Gold is a popular color. You can get watches, iPads, iPhones, rings, necklaces, and many other trinkets in gold. But I’ve got them all topped. I’ve got a golden chicken. None of those devices lay eggs. This is dazzling Hazel with her golden feathers. On a sunny day she shines. If you’re flying to Asia from Seattle and are seated on the right side of the jet on a sunny day, look down and when you see something sparkling between Sammish Island and the Cascade foothills, it’s Hazel out enjoying the sunshine.
