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Recent Posts
- Red Sky at Dawn and Dusk January 20, 2021
- More Marvelous Than Fairy Tales January 18, 2021
- Red Dawn January 14, 2021
- Is It Still Winter? January 12, 2021
- Winter Skies January 4, 2021
- Happy New Year! January 1, 2021
- Stories Untold December 28, 2020
- Blink and You’ve Missed It December 22, 2020
- Chatty Mud Birds December 20, 2020
- Getting the Mail December 10, 2020
- Soothing is Good December 5, 2020
- When Life Returns to Normal, I’ll Miss Blue Skies December 1, 2020
- Blue Skies in November November 21, 2020
- Sunshine Is Just Beyond the Clouds November 17, 2020
- Winter Returns to the Hills November 14, 2020
- A Squirrel’s Fate November 8, 2020
- November at Last November 3, 2020
- November 1 and No Swans November 1, 2020
- First Frost October 23, 2020
- Too Wet to Burn October 18, 2020
- Eyes Wide Shut October 13, 2020
- The End of Flowers October 11, 2020
- 20201010 October 10, 2020
- Am I Growing the Wrong Grapes? October 6, 2020
- Fog and Less Fog October 5, 2020
- First Blush of Fall September 29, 2020
- A Perfect Fall Day September 27, 2020
- Blue Sky to Rain to Shaggy Parasol September 26, 2020
- Six Short Weeks September 24, 2020
- 317 Days for a Miracle September 23, 2020
- We Can Breathe Again September 22, 2020
- You Can’t Help But Be Sad September 13, 2020
- Duck Serenity September 6, 2020
- August is Coming to an End August 28, 2020
- It’s Easier with Another August 21, 2020
- Hottest Day of the Year August 16, 2020
- Morning Surprise August 12, 2020
- After the Rains August 8, 2020
- An August Morning August 2, 2020
- August Evening August 1, 2020
- When You Are Insane July 21, 2020
- Summer Is Here July 18, 2020
- It Blooms, It Dies July 15, 2020
- A Cool Start to Summer July 7, 2020
- Each Flower Has Its Own Strategy June 29, 2020
- Disaster Averted June 19, 2020
- Cool, Wet June June 10, 2020
- The End of May May 31, 2020
- Newer, Bigger, Better May 22, 2020
- Summer in May May 13, 2020
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Monthly Archives: April 2014
Old Love Birds
I’ve never seen two old love birds like Billy and Imelda. They’re not exclusive, mind you. Billy continues to cavort with plenty of other hens, but Imelda has a special place in his heart. They spend a lot of time … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Happiness
Tagged chicken love, old love birds, roosters and hen
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The Beauty of Growing Produce
Growing vegetables and fruits is like living in an art museum. Every time I step out into the vegetable patches to weed, thin, and pick vegetables, there is more beauty than I can possibly absorb. There are many artists who … Continue reading
Posted in How Things Grow, Reflections
Tagged apple blossoms, beauty of produce, fresh greens, growing salads, rosemary blossoms
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Teaching Them to Feed
Chicks will grow up without a mother hen to teach them how to feed. But when they do have one, they follow her around everywhere, watching what she is doing, what she eating, how she is digging it up, and … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged hens teaching their chicks, raising chicks
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Dandelions
Biking home from the post office this afternoon, I had to stop and take some photos of a field full of dandelions. Look closely at each dandelion, and you quickly realize that it would take hours and hours for a … Continue reading
The Continuing Evolution of Genes
Carl Zimmer writes today in the New York Times in The Continuing Evolution of Genes that scientists used to believe that the some 20,000 genes we all have, came from our parents, which came from their parents, and on backwards … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
2 Comments
They Are All Unique
How do you tell them apart? When they are this young, like these eight chicks hatched yesterday, there is one that pops out because it is a different color. The rest look the same, but if you look closely, you’ll … Continue reading
Places Chickens Love to Roam
Today is the type of day chickens dream about. The weather is nice, and there are plenty of good things to eat around the pond. On days like this, they wander far. It’s not unusual to find a hen, hidden … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged chickens around the pond, chickens in the grass, fence posts
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First Trillium
While clearing one of the forest trails, I saw two trilliums in bloom, the first of the year. It won’t be long before the forest floor is wall to wall trillium blossoms. It’s a luxury being able to leave the … Continue reading
Mothers making baby food – a pernicious trend?
Sometimes I wonder if some corporate executives ever stop to think what their words sound like. I was reading an article in the New York Times yesterday, As Parents Make Their Own Baby Food, Industry Tries to Adapt, by Stephanie … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
1 Comment
Blocking Traffic or Early-Onset Alzheimer’s?
I have yet to figure this one out. Cognac has taken to sitting in the doorway of the chicken yard. She likes to roost on the doorsill, facing the inside of the chicken yard, causing a chicken traffic jams. Is … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged blocking traffic, forced molting, marans eggs, wheaten marans chickens
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What Has Caught Her Eye?
The chickens spend a lot of time in the woods. I can follow them and watch where they go, but what is it that they see with their amazing eyes? (see Disordered Hyperuniformity) Do they care about the tulips blooming … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged chickens walking in the forest, healthy eggs, what chickens see
1 Comment
Soft on Their Feet? Imagine the Impossible
When a chicken walks over moss in the woods, does it notice how soft it is? Does it pause, close it’s eyes and wriggle it’s toes in the moss? The one month old chicks are quite independent now. Can you … Continue reading
Red Hands
This is what happens to your hands when you strip the bark off alder with your bare hands. It’s no wonder that alder bark is used to dye fabric. The type of alder that grows in this area is Alnus … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
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Battle Scarred
There is no denying that violence is an integral part of chicken society. Battles erupt between chickens primarily over space. Hens will make a fuss if another hen is using the nest she wants to use. Roosters will fight over … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged chicken aggression, genetic basis of human behavior, instincts, rooster, rooster fights
15 Comments
A Little Rain – A Morning Round
Even a steady rain doesn’t stop the chickens from being outdoors. A rain-soaked Sven, so wet his tail feathers drag on the ground, doesn’t seek shelter as he stands guard. I’m making one of my morning rounds, and here are … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged april flowers, april showers, chickens in the rain
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How Apple Pie Starts
This is how apple pie starts – as a small flower. It’s late April and the apple trees are blooming several weeks early. Soon, wild bees will pollinate these flowers, and all summer long the apples will soak in the … Continue reading
Transitions
The gang of 5 chicks born March 25 are nearly a month old and spending more time away from their mother. This afternoon I found them resting together, their mother happily feeding by herself. While these one day chicks, born … Continue reading
The Importance of Herbs
Herbs serve many useful purposes. Besides enhancing the flavors of dishes and providing vitamins and minerals, borders of perennial provide habitat for spiders and beneficial insects. When the flower, they attract hordes of bees which then pollinate flowering fruit trees … Continue reading
Posted in How Things Grow
Tagged Blooming Rosemary, controlling pests, Herb borders, Oregano
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