a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: About My Chickens

Spread Your Wings

When Sven spreads his wings, his white feathers explode. Which is why he does it. Any hen who is anywhere will see him, even it is just out of the corner of her eye. Roosters are the drag queens of the chicken world. Anytime is showtime, any hen is an audience. There is only shame in not displaying your beauty.

Today’s sullen morning skies tugged with today’s blue afternoon skies. Each day now is a tug between winter and spring. Will it be winter today or spring?

The daylily and tulip shoots say it is spring. I’ll take their word for it.

The fuzzy camellia buds are a promise of better days to come. Why are they fuzzy? Do they need to stay warm? And today’s eggs, no two alike, from the one with the crinkled tip, to the tiny pullet egg, to Kuro-hime’s blue egg. May every one of your eggs be different.

February 21, 2017
Winter’s End

Blooming witch-hazel mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring. These beguiling flowers remind me of colorful spiders. A few days after they open, their spicy fragrance makes you close your eyes and have pleasant dreams.

The “witch” in witch-hazel has nothing to do with the spell these flowers cast. It comes from the Old English “wice” which means that the plants are pliable.

The young chicks are ever so curious. I’m watching them eat. They are watching me, wondering what I am. Humans and dogs often tilt their heads when they are trying to figure out something. Chickens turn their head, first looking at you with one eye, and then the other.

February 12, 2017
The Many Moods of Mount Blanchard

A benefit of living here is enjoying the many moods of Mount Blanchard. This is the only place where the Cascade Mountains touch the sea. Every time I bike to the post office or deliver eggs to tweets, Mount Blanchard gazes down on me.

Chickens have many moods too, from the curiosity of chicks, wanting to know what everything around them is.

To the piercing glare of a young rooster, and careful watch of hens, wondering if I have anything in my pockets they can eat.

January 22, 2017
It’s Been a Long Time

It’s been five years since the chickens have had so much snow to run around in. Most of them are new to this and would rather not. The snow fell from early morning through much of the day. Even if it is sunny this weekend as forecast, this is close enough to be a White Christmas.

December 23, 2016
Farewell Green?

Snowflakes danced in the air off and on today. Will the coming deep freeze mean the end of green? What will be left to pick for fresh salads by the end of the week? The kale and cabbage will survive. The fava beans probably. It takes a long, cold snap to zap them. The arugula and ruby streaks will sprout again as soon as the freeze ends. I’ve let them go to seed throughout the summer and their tiny seeds are in every inch of the garden. Arugula and ruby streaks sprout everywhere.

But I doubt the beautiful potato plants I found today will make it through the week. But even if they succumb this week, they will be back in the spring more beautiful than ever.

Takuma 拓真 is a steady companion when I am out tending the grounds. He and his sister are master rodent terminators, and because they will dig, and dig, and dig until they find their prey, I’ve banned them from the vegetable garden. It was looking like a moonscape with craters everywhere.

Even so, they are so useful, I wonder how people survived before dogs. Somehow we need to train them to bark at the hawks and eagles when they fly overhead. They see them and look up at them. “Don’t just stand there, bark!” we say, and go running around barking ourselves, hoping they will get the hint. So far that has not worked. Becky, Kuma-Hime 熊姫, and Hazel are counting on them.

December 4, 2016