I had an interesting experience this weekend. I met someone who reads my blog, but whom I hadn't met until this weekend (Hi, Tracy!). And her first question was, "How are the chickens?" And I guess everyone has been wondering how they are, since I haven't mentioned them in a while. The answer is, They're great! If fact, they've been laying regularly for the past month or so, and we're getting plenty of extra eggs.
New Daddy put up shiny, new laying boxes for them, and we put in pine shavings and ping pong balls to give them the idea. So far, none of our 23 hens have decided to start laying in them. Do you think I should start putting real eggs in there? My only problem is that Rosie loves eggs. I just can't get to the spray collar consistently enough to make her leave them alone. And no amount of holding an egg in her face and declaring "MY egg" helps, either. Apparently, the temptation is too great. At least she's a lovely livestock guardian, and the chickens are slowly warming up to her more adult self.
What to do with extra eggs (besides donating them to Rosie)? We're getting about six dozen gorgeous, soy-free eggs a week. At first, I got out my ice trays, broke the eggs into the trays, let them freeze, and then separated the frozen eggs into zip lock bags. Right now, I probably have ten dozen eggs in my freezer. The other thing I've been doing is selling them at a "locally grown" market. Pastured, soy-free eggs go for a good price, so it's nice to have a little extra money to put into the feed fund.
In other news, Tater turned eight months old yesterday! It's still a little hard for me to believe. The other news is that I gave him his first haircut on Saturday. This was what I swept up; I guess this is what I get for not skimping on iodine during the pregnancy- what a crop!
Tater has also finally cut in some teeth. The first one appeared in the bottom of his mouth a month ago, just before seven months. The second bottom one broke through a week later. A week ago, he got his first top tooth, and the second one is about to break through. It's been a bit of a fussy month for him! I love Hyland's teething tablets; they seem to work really well to help babies relax. But we've also had a few doses of Ibuprofen for some especially difficult evenings.
Precious wanted some pictures of herself, too. This weekend, she cooked our Saturday's breakfast all by herself, and she got Tater dressed this morning before CC. For their birthdays, Precious and Cutie got some Ikea Trofast storage for their room. They have really enjoyed the extra storage and have been taking great care of their space. This is a complete turnaround from the post a few months ago when I was constantly ranting about not being sloppy. She has finally realized the joy of clean, uncluttered space, and she's striving to keep it that way. Go, Precious!
Today was crazy hair day at school. The hilarious thing is that Precious had already fixed her hair like this this night before, without prior knowledge that today was going to be crazy hair day. She thinks up the neatest things to do to her hair...
New Daddy put up shiny, new laying boxes for them, and we put in pine shavings and ping pong balls to give them the idea. So far, none of our 23 hens have decided to start laying in them. Do you think I should start putting real eggs in there? My only problem is that Rosie loves eggs. I just can't get to the spray collar consistently enough to make her leave them alone. And no amount of holding an egg in her face and declaring "MY egg" helps, either. Apparently, the temptation is too great. At least she's a lovely livestock guardian, and the chickens are slowly warming up to her more adult self.What to do with extra eggs (besides donating them to Rosie)? We're getting about six dozen gorgeous, soy-free eggs a week. At first, I got out my ice trays, broke the eggs into the trays, let them freeze, and then separated the frozen eggs into zip lock bags. Right now, I probably have ten dozen eggs in my freezer. The other thing I've been doing is selling them at a "locally grown" market. Pastured, soy-free eggs go for a good price, so it's nice to have a little extra money to put into the feed fund.
In other news, Tater turned eight months old yesterday! It's still a little hard for me to believe. The other news is that I gave him his first haircut on Saturday. This was what I swept up; I guess this is what I get for not skimping on iodine during the pregnancy- what a crop! Tater has also finally cut in some teeth. The first one appeared in the bottom of his mouth a month ago, just before seven months. The second bottom one broke through a week later. A week ago, he got his first top tooth, and the second one is about to break through. It's been a bit of a fussy month for him! I love Hyland's teething tablets; they seem to work really well to help babies relax. But we've also had a few doses of Ibuprofen for some especially difficult evenings.
Precious wanted some pictures of herself, too. This weekend, she cooked our Saturday's breakfast all by herself, and she got Tater dressed this morning before CC. For their birthdays, Precious and Cutie got some Ikea Trofast storage for their room. They have really enjoyed the extra storage and have been taking great care of their space. This is a complete turnaround from the post a few months ago when I was constantly ranting about not being sloppy. She has finally realized the joy of clean, uncluttered space, and she's striving to keep it that way. Go, Precious!
Today was crazy hair day at school. The hilarious thing is that Precious had already fixed her hair like this this night before, without prior knowledge that today was going to be crazy hair day. She thinks up the neatest things to do to her hair...
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