a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: About My Chickens

Compost Helpers

Gone for most of yesterday and all night, we returned this morning to find the compost bin was overheating. It was up to 150ºF (65.5ºC), and at temperatures above that, the beneficial organisms die off. Miasa-hime brought her chicks over to help when she saw I was turning over the compost pile. I’m pretty thorough when I do this, taking the pile apart and rebuilding it by putting the parts that were on the outside in the middle, and putting the hot parts on the outside, and fluffing it all up so that air gets into all parts of the pile. Plants are counting on me supplying them with billions and billions of aerobic bacteria and fungi when the compost is done.

It’s an opportunity for Miasa-hime and her chicks to find plenty of good things to eat. There are so many tiny creatures stirring about in the compost, the chicks have a feast. If they miss something, she’ll point it out to them.

May 18, 2015
Eggs for Slough Food

Gathering and putting together the eggs for Slough Food each week is never dull. Is Cognac going to lay one of her special dark eggs? What about Svenda and her lovely tan eggs?

I usually deliver two dozen eggs to Slough Food on Friday afternoons. If you visit Edison on Saturday, chances are good you can pick some up. You’ll always know how fresh they are. The date they are laid is on the cartons, and each egg is dated too.

May 16, 2015
Just Napping

King Richard looks like he’s dead. He’s found a shady spot to take a long nap. See, he’s raised his head to preen and check on what the nearby hens are doing.

May 11, 2015
Big Personalities

Miasa is slowly taking her one week old chicks in for the night. They’re still tiny but so full of personality. When their mother pauses to groom her feathers, the chicks pose for me. Even at just a week old, they bloom with distinct personalities.

May 9, 2015
So Much to Learn

A baby chick’s time with its mother is all about learning. Can I eat that? What about that wriggly thing? That part is pretty easy to teach. For a chicken, if it moves and can fit in your mouth, it’s food. The more important lessons to learn are how to watch for danger. A shadow in the sky, something moving in the brush, a rooster or hen sounding an alarm, a mother hen teaches her chicks how to hide and be perfectly still. These chicks were born five days ago.

Compared to birds whose chicks are helpless in their nests for a long time and who need food delivered to them constantly, chickens have it easy. Within one or two days of hatching, baby chickens are ready to follow their mother wherever she goes. She can go scratching for food, her chicks in tow, and she doesn’t have to take food back to the nest.

May 7, 2015