The days are becoming longer which means several of our hens that had stopped laying over the dark and dreary months of fall and winter are now back in the nest. Where most winter days we've been lucky to get a single egg, yesterday there were a whopping 4 eggs in one nest. The hens have a whole bunch of nests to choose from, but for whatever reason they prefer to wait and take turns in order to deposit every egg in just one nest. This does make it more convenient for me to gather the eggs.
Included in yesterday's haul was one of the prized Easter eggs, a delightful green-shelled egg laid by Angel, our puffy-cheeked white Ameraucana hen. We haven't been eating that many eggs lately and so I have now accumulated enough to fill this wire egg holder. I can't decide if the wire holder is a bunny or a chick. It depends on how you look at it - we can see both.
Angel and one of the Rhode Island Red hens that is appropriately named Little Red have been up to their old antics again, liberating themselves from their chicken run and foraging in the back yard. Several times each day we have to go out there and put them back into their chicken run. Capturing them means chasing them around for a while, dodging this way and that. Our neighbor, Brian, laughs at us when he sees it happening. We must look ridiculous.
Meanwhile, the bald eagles have returned and we've seen one soaring overhead, no doubt looking to take out the two rascals when they escape. We've tried clipping their wings, but Angel and Little Red are determined to find other ways besides flying to escape their confines. We zig-zagged a bunch of rope across the top of their chicken run to keep the bald eagles from trying to land inside there. So far so good, fingers crossed and knock on wood.
One other thing has started up again. Kombucha. We purchased another scoby online (this one came from Poseymom through Amazon). I brewed the tea yesterday and got it going with the scoby. It now rests in a dark place in our mudroom with a heating mat wrapped around it to keep it warm. In 7-10 days, we should have our first batch. I'm thinking about making a blueberry syrup that can ferment in it once the batch is done, as a second ferment upon bottling it.
Included in yesterday's haul was one of the prized Easter eggs, a delightful green-shelled egg laid by Angel, our puffy-cheeked white Ameraucana hen. We haven't been eating that many eggs lately and so I have now accumulated enough to fill this wire egg holder. I can't decide if the wire holder is a bunny or a chick. It depends on how you look at it - we can see both.
Angel and one of the Rhode Island Red hens that is appropriately named Little Red have been up to their old antics again, liberating themselves from their chicken run and foraging in the back yard. Several times each day we have to go out there and put them back into their chicken run. Capturing them means chasing them around for a while, dodging this way and that. Our neighbor, Brian, laughs at us when he sees it happening. We must look ridiculous.
Meanwhile, the bald eagles have returned and we've seen one soaring overhead, no doubt looking to take out the two rascals when they escape. We've tried clipping their wings, but Angel and Little Red are determined to find other ways besides flying to escape their confines. We zig-zagged a bunch of rope across the top of their chicken run to keep the bald eagles from trying to land inside there. So far so good, fingers crossed and knock on wood.
One other thing has started up again. Kombucha. We purchased another scoby online (this one came from Poseymom through Amazon). I brewed the tea yesterday and got it going with the scoby. It now rests in a dark place in our mudroom with a heating mat wrapped around it to keep it warm. In 7-10 days, we should have our first batch. I'm thinking about making a blueberry syrup that can ferment in it once the batch is done, as a second ferment upon bottling it.
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