a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: About My Chickens

  • Personality

    ToraHime

    Tora-hime is one of my favorite hens. She has such piercing eyes and beautiful feathers. It’s always easy to spot her when she is on a nest.

    CurledBarkThe bark I stripped off the alder trunks when I made posts dried and curled into these beautiful shapes. These strips of bark were flat when I peeled them off the alder trunks. In the sun, they turned red and curled.

    A little sanding, trimming, and waxing could turn these into interesting dishes for appetizers, chopstick holders, or flower vases.
    StellarJayNest

    Everyday there are surprises waiting to be discovered. This is an abandoned Stellar Jay’s nest. And below are the flowers of a barberry bush.

    Barberry

  • Chickens in the Blueberry Patch

    On a sunny day when the peonies are blooming, it’s time to weed the blueberry patch.

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    20140507A-blueberryflowers

    This year, the blueberries are loaded with flowers. Weeding, hoeing, and digging quickly draws a gang of chickens eager to help. I didn’t even realize Lucky was trying to tell me something until I looked at the photos I had taken.

    20140507C-chickenstilling

    Billy stands guard, making sure the hens are safe.

    20140507D-chickenstilling

    The hens do a thorough job stirring up the dirt. They are after earthworms and bugs, but do a great job aerating the top few inches of soil. They will destroy anything you’ve planted, so they are of no help when you are trying to seed a vegetable bed.

    20140507B-chickenstilling

    It’s impossible to be bored when there are chickens and chicks around. Spending fifteen minutes with a hen and her chicks beats following Twitter feeds or looking at Facebook.

    20140507D-henwithchicks

  • Clouds Don’t Obscure Beauty

    Cloudy weather can’t obscure beauty. The ground is wet, very wet. Puddles are everywhere. And so is verdant green. The vine maples are in bloom, their red and yellow flowers flutter like butterflies.

    BurdockLeaves
    GarlicShoots
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    MossOnBranch
    MossOnBranch2
    NewFern
    VineMapleBlossoms2

  • How a Mother Hen Protects Her Chicks

    One of the way a mother hen protects her chicks is by fluffing up and making herself look much larger. It’s almost comical watching these fluff-balls protecting their little ones.

    FluffedHen1
    FluffedHen2

  • An Ignoble End – (not for the faint of heart)

    Chickens are hardly the peaceful vegetarians many think they are. They are cold-blooded killers with a taste for fresh meat and blood. Fortunately for us, we are too big to be on their menu. But pity the poor field mouse who are no match for these efficient killers.

    [wpvideo Wd7uCXa7]