The Kids

For someone that doesn't have children, I sure have a lot of kids! We have the 3 indoor cats, the 3 dogs, the 2 outdoor feral cats and the ** number of chickens! (and that number is growing!) The little kids of the household, the 3 chicks that were hatched by a neighbor while we were on vacation, (who then lived in the bathroom, and then the greenhouse) have finally been moved out to the main coop but are protected from the others by being contained in their cage.

It takes at least 1 week of caged/protected introduction before you can let the newcomers out into the general population. Because we are getting ready to leave for 5 days and my mother-in-law is going to be watching the fort, we are going to leave them in a little longer for a total of 9 days. If they are mixed into the flock too early, the bigger girls could cause harm and even kill the newcomers. Yes, pecking order is the rule of the roost!

As you can see, the other members of the flock are quite curious about these newcomers. The newcomers, for the most part, are talking up a storm and are a little nervous. This protected intro will ultimately save their lives.

What are the other kids up to?
Callebaut, our chocolate lab, aka "the Elder Statesman", "Brown", "Grandpa", "Cranky Butt", has received some preferential treatment for the last month. He just turned 10 years old and has been showered with gifts! As you can see above, he takes the original gift, in this case a stuffed faux sheep-skin goose, and transforms it into...um...more fluff!

In this next photo, you can see he is quite pleased to be on his brand new "big boy" bed...and India is SOL.

On the other hand, Tasso, our Hurricane Katrina survivor, has figured out how to make the best of a situation and instead of sulking over Callebaut's new bed, has found the perfect place! On Mom and Dad's bed right in the middle of the laundry and packing area. Nice!

Parents of human children practice the art of unconditional love and we do the same, as much as is possible when they tear up your favorite robe, pee on your leg (Tasso has issues) or steal your butter. After all, they are just animals!

My Day

Today was just beautiful. Not too hot, not too cold, just right. The dogs were playing outside in this nice weather. Callebaut found a water bottle to chew on and was having fun teasing the other dogs.


I did my normal Tuesday thing, that is, collected eggs for washing, packaging and delivery. Today was a record day for the whole process. Last week we ran out of our recycled/recyclable egg cartons so I couldn't package up all of the eggs. After sending out a call to my egg customers I was able to package up all that the girls could give me. I figured that this week was the most important egg week...and I had best get them out there. This is what 14 dozen eggs looks like.


Last spring Farmer Jeff and I made the decision to add more Ameraucanas to the flock. We love the green eggs they lay. Little did we know that we really ended up with Easter Egger hens until we started getting these delightful little blue eggs!!!


My little hen that I hand feed (scissor beak issue) is an Easter Egger Ameraucana. I have such a soft spot for her. More will be revealed...
Once I had all of the eggs packed, then I had to label and date them, then pack them up for delivery. Oh, and prepare the invoice. I am happy to do all of this in order to share our eggs. You will never get rich selling eggs. If lucky, you will make back your money...maybe...



After I did Egg Duty, I started on laundry. I was lucky to have an assistant. Well, maybe not an assistant, rather a supervisor. She decided that she needed to keep the already warm clothes in the basket. That is in her job description, or so she told me.




Everything before 4 pm was satisfying and made me happy and content. Since then...and I mean for the last 7 hours, I have been working on my laptop, trying to figure out why I could not send my emails. Yawn...Farmer Jeff brought me dinner, which I ate at the computer while "chatting" with 2 different folks. I would guess with names like Namrit and ...that they are in India. I made sure that I didn't use slang and even threw in a few of my "Englishisms"for fun. Both of the techs have been very nice and very thorough, but after 7 plus hours, I am ready for bed!!!

I have faith that this problem will all be worked out. If not...I won't rule out using it as a very expensive frisbee!!! (just kidding but so very tempted!!!)