- Every chick deserves a mother: one man’s crazy dream for how chickens deserve to be raised.
Follow "A Man and His Hoe" via Email
Sections
- About My Chickens (547)
- Cooking-Roasting Tips (18)
- Happiness (127)
- How Things Grow (502)
- Purchasing Chickens (5)
- Raising Chicks (138)
- Recipes (19)
- Reflections (407)
-
Recent Posts
- What Sunshine and Warm Air Brings April 5, 2020
- Where Everyone Gathers March 29, 2020
- Enjoy Them Today March 21, 2020
- The Snow Geese Migration Is On March 18, 2020
- The World is Curvy March 7, 2020
- Little Known Connections – Japanese Curry and Vermont March 4, 2020
- Hello Again March 1, 2020
- Edison Chicken Parade 2020 February 24, 2020
- Apple Aged February 15, 2020
- Swan Heaven February 8, 2020
- Winter’s Last Day February 3, 2020
- Take a Shower for Six Months February 2, 2020
- How Does a Trumpeter Swan Wash Its Face? January 26, 2020
- Mystery Solved January 19, 2020
- One Last Wintery Dawn January 18, 2020
- Winter Interlude January 14, 2020
- Worries Away January 11, 2020
- A Mystery Rose January 3, 2020
- An Auspicious Start January 2, 2020
- December Blue and Green December 29, 2019
- Frosty December 28, 2019
- Too Wet for the Ducks December 22, 2019
- For Mid-December It May as Well Be a Sunny Day December 17, 2019
- OK, Boomer December 15, 2019
- Know Your Body – Know Your Feathers December 8, 2019
- Chaos Must Work December 1, 2019
- Not Ready to Grow Up November 26, 2019
- All Together Now November 16, 2019
- (no title) November 15, 2019
- All the Leaves are Gone November 5, 2019
- Indigo Fall October 29, 2019
- Snow Geese and the Last Dandelion October 23, 2019
- Autumn is Just as Colorful as Spring October 18, 2019
- First Frost October 9, 2019
- How Did I Get So Lucky? October 8, 2019
- Who Eats Apples? October 6, 2019
- October Sky October 1, 2019
- Still Alive September 27, 2019
- One of the Best! Or Not September 26, 2019
- What You Don’t Know May Kill You September 25, 2019
- Change Is Coming September 23, 2019
- Learning to Share September 21, 2019
- Barefoot Gardening September 15, 2019
- No Remorse September 9, 2019
- September or May? September 5, 2019
- Summer’s Waning Days August 29, 2019
- Life Without Rhubarb is No Life At All August 21, 2019
- All the Good There Is August 17, 2019
- Luxury of a Cool Summer August 10, 2019
- Home Sweet Home August 5, 2019
Recent Comments
Cindy Dowdell on Enjoy Them Today Ingrid Hinton on The Snow Geese Migration Is On amanandhishoe on Edison Chicken Parade 2020 Marcia Burns on Edison Chicken Parade 2020 Shirley Clift on How Does a Trumpeter Swan Wash… Archives
- April 2020 (1)
- March 2020 (6)
- February 2020 (5)
- January 2020 (7)
- December 2019 (7)
- November 2019 (4)
- October 2019 (7)
- September 2019 (8)
- August 2019 (6)
- July 2019 (6)
- June 2019 (7)
- May 2019 (5)
- April 2019 (9)
- March 2019 (8)
- February 2019 (13)
- January 2019 (15)
- December 2018 (10)
- November 2018 (9)
- October 2018 (13)
- September 2018 (8)
- August 2018 (9)
- July 2018 (8)
- June 2018 (8)
- May 2018 (8)
- April 2018 (10)
- March 2018 (9)
- February 2018 (8)
- January 2018 (9)
- December 2017 (10)
- November 2017 (10)
- October 2017 (17)
- September 2017 (12)
- August 2017 (11)
- July 2017 (8)
- June 2017 (11)
- May 2017 (10)
- April 2017 (12)
- March 2017 (11)
- February 2017 (11)
- January 2017 (15)
- December 2016 (20)
- November 2016 (15)
- October 2016 (14)
- September 2016 (17)
- August 2016 (20)
- July 2016 (20)
- June 2016 (23)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (19)
- March 2016 (24)
- February 2016 (22)
- January 2016 (24)
- December 2015 (19)
- November 2015 (19)
- October 2015 (24)
- September 2015 (22)
- August 2015 (26)
- July 2015 (26)
- June 2015 (23)
- May 2015 (30)
- April 2015 (35)
- March 2015 (36)
- February 2015 (31)
- January 2015 (35)
- December 2014 (31)
- November 2014 (34)
- October 2014 (37)
- September 2014 (35)
- August 2014 (52)
- July 2014 (54)
- June 2014 (50)
- May 2014 (67)
- April 2014 (55)
- March 2014 (34)
- February 2014 (23)
- January 2014 (33)
- December 2013 (20)
- November 2013 (3)
Category Archives: About My Chickens
The World is Curvy
The Komatsuna 小松菜 survived the winter rather well. So well they are on the verge of blooming. With no other brassicas in bloom, I can let these bloom and go to seed. The nettles are up, a sure sign that … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
Mystery Solved
I was gathering eggs at the right time this morning to discover who is laying the rose colored egg. And here she is below. She came squawking out of a nest just as I was about to reach inside, and … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
A Mystery Rose
The new year starts with a mystery. One of the hens is laying a rose colored egg, but which one? This is when it would come in handy to be able to talk with them and ask, “Which one of … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
1 Comment
For Mid-December It May as Well Be a Sunny Day
There is sunshine filling the horizon, pouring through an opening in the distant clouds. It’s not raining and for a mid December day in the Pacific Northwest, this counts as a sunny winter day. Mynah, like many of the other … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
Not Ready to Grow Up
The first snow of the season has adorned the surrounding foothills. I could see it yesterday through the clouds hiding the mountains. Today with the clouds gone, the snow covered hills glistened in the bright sun. Two nights ago, Buttercup … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Leave a comment
All Together Now
Not the clearest of pictures, but you get the idea how Buttercup and her brood bed down for the night, in a tight spot between a screen and the wall. Her chicks are two months old now and she still … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
After making a tofu delivery this morning, we ran into a flock of swans on the outskirts of Mount Vernon. Swans and snow geese have arrived in large numbers and are settling in for the winter. Both birds are very … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
2 Comments
Learning to Share
I love the blue of the sky this time of year. The billowing clouds make you think you’re driving through a Dutch Masterpiece from the 17th century. I went out to gather the last of the grapes only to discover … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Reflections
Leave a comment
Barefoot Gardening
The clouds and rain come nearly every day now. The rain held off for yesterday’s farmers market. When I checked the forecast for next week’s Saturday market, it showed rain all week except Wednesday, and rain on into the following … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, How Things Grow, Reflections
Leave a comment
Life Without Rhubarb is No Life At All
Hard to believe that last spring, the lush row or rhubarb didn’t exist, and were just small, round seeds I pushed into the soil. Life without rhubarb is no life at all. Sunday night when I went out to the … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, How Things Grow
Leave a comment
All the Good There Is
Watching tofu cooling in clear, cold water is so soothing. It’s an opportunity to reflect on all the good there is. The marjoram has gone to bloom, dainty pink flowers decorate the path out to the tofu cabin. The chickens … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Reflections
1 Comment
Too Far to Go
I found a bee sleeping on a daisy yesterday morning. It’s a common sight in the summer, to find a bee who decided to spend the night on a flower instead of returning to the hive. I suppose if you’ve … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, How Things Grow
Leave a comment
A Dewy Web
It’s a cool, July morning. During the night, a spider spun a dewy web in the grass. The Barred Rocks are fully grown. I haven’t spotted one on a nest yet, but I am finding pullet eggs so I’m sure … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
Lap of Luxury
An unexpected surprise were the falling flowers from this morning’s bouquet. Within minutes of bringing in fresh flowers for the table, some of the flowers rained down on my keyboard and the table. And this is the definition of luxury. … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
Babies Galore
There are four hens raising nearly 50 chicks. Three of the hens are raising chicks I purchased from a hatchery. A broody hen is a chance to rear a new variety of hen to increase the variety of eggs. I … Continue reading
Posted in Raising Chicks
Leave a comment
One More Day?
Happy and his consorts are always happy to devour any leftover tofu or okara when I am in the cabin making tofu. One more day? The cherry trees are full of cherries this year. The birds are leaving them alone … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, How Things Grow
2 Comments
When Potatoes Bloom
It’s a special time when pototoes bloom. I look forward to their gentle flowers every year. With flowers this lovely, it would be easy to deceive those who have no ideas potatoes develop in the ground, that potatoes are the … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, How Things Grow
Leave a comment
Essence of Summer
Grass flowers are underrated. Are they even rated at all? Waving in the summer breeze, they are the essence of summer. The Japanese name for Lupine is Nobori-Fuji 昇り藤 which means climbing wisteria. The word to climb, noboru, is an … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, How Things Grow
Leave a comment
Summer Days, Summer Colors
We are past the days of new green. The only tree that hasn’t leafed out and settle in for the summer is the mimosa. The chickens spend hours exploring the lush forest floor. Soon, bright red thimble berries will be … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, How Things Grow
Leave a comment
There Should Be a Name
One of our duck hens had made a nest, and for the past days, I’ve been collecting the eggs the ducks laid, and adding them in the nest. I think I counted eight yesterday in the nest. This morning, when … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
