Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Grilled Chickens
Thursday night was a little weird. I'm driving down the street to my house and notice that the Commander (my motorhome) was missing. I called the cops and they tell me it's been towed for 72 hour parking. Fuck, the cops are sneaky in this neighborhood. Over in North Park they would post a notice or mark my tires. I check every day and didn't see anything. Sigh. Expensive reminder that I need to move the Commander more often.
I'm all freaked out about that so, I decide to go relax and grill up some dinner. I go out back and let the chickens out of the pen and light up the grill. I brought out some meal worms for the chickens and they are fighting each other to get one. Sparky can tell there are treats, so he comes up to me too, like, hey! where are my treats? So I go in the house to get some kitty treats for him. He is still a little bent out of shape because the chickens are getting something special that he can't have.
It's duskish, that time when they begin to seek out high areas to roost on. My chicken breast is cooking away on the grill and all of a sudden the Marans hops up onto the side of the grill. Fuck. I yell at her and she jumps down, then Freerange Molly decides to see what's going on up there and hops up too. I quickly herded them back into the run. Stupid damn chickens. I touched the edge they sat on and it was pretty darn hot. I picked Molly up and took a look at her feet. They didn't look cooked, and neither of the chickens seemed to be limping, so I guess they are OK. Scared the shit out of me though. From now on, the chickens stay in the run when the grill is on.
Later that night, I look out my door and see an opossum nosing around the chicken run. The chickens are safely tucked away in the Eglu for the night, and the opossum looks more interested in the spilled chicken feed than the chickens, but still. Opossums, ew. I yelled at it and it took off along the fence into the neighbor's yard. The neighbor's yard where Sparky goes.
I got a little worried about him and called him to come home. Well, I get no answer, and he doesn't come back. I know, cat. They don't come when you call. But Sparky almost always comes home when I call him. My neighbor is out, so I can't go over and check for him. This has been a very stressful night of a stressful week, so I'm a little stressed out. I'm imagining the opossum has fucked up my little Sparkypants and he is over there bleeding to death or something and I can't get at him. I spend the next 45 mins or so calling him and trying to see him through the fence and just generally freaking out. eventually I go back in the house to try to calm down.
I look out the door a little later and see the lights on at my neighbor's house, so I go over and ask her if I can go look for him. He was just sitting there in the yard staring at this strange ginger tabby that I haven't seen before. He seemed very freaked out and was clingy for the rest of the evening. I'm not sure what went on over there, whether it was the opossum or the ginger cat, or some combo. I think we were both glad to be home together. Pets. I know he is just a dumb cat, but I don't know what I would do if something bad happened to him. Luckily I don't have to find out right now.
I'm all freaked out about that so, I decide to go relax and grill up some dinner. I go out back and let the chickens out of the pen and light up the grill. I brought out some meal worms for the chickens and they are fighting each other to get one. Sparky can tell there are treats, so he comes up to me too, like, hey! where are my treats? So I go in the house to get some kitty treats for him. He is still a little bent out of shape because the chickens are getting something special that he can't have.
It's duskish, that time when they begin to seek out high areas to roost on. My chicken breast is cooking away on the grill and all of a sudden the Marans hops up onto the side of the grill. Fuck. I yell at her and she jumps down, then Freerange Molly decides to see what's going on up there and hops up too. I quickly herded them back into the run. Stupid damn chickens. I touched the edge they sat on and it was pretty darn hot. I picked Molly up and took a look at her feet. They didn't look cooked, and neither of the chickens seemed to be limping, so I guess they are OK. Scared the shit out of me though. From now on, the chickens stay in the run when the grill is on.
Later that night, I look out my door and see an opossum nosing around the chicken run. The chickens are safely tucked away in the Eglu for the night, and the opossum looks more interested in the spilled chicken feed than the chickens, but still. Opossums, ew. I yelled at it and it took off along the fence into the neighbor's yard. The neighbor's yard where Sparky goes.
I got a little worried about him and called him to come home. Well, I get no answer, and he doesn't come back. I know, cat. They don't come when you call. But Sparky almost always comes home when I call him. My neighbor is out, so I can't go over and check for him. This has been a very stressful night of a stressful week, so I'm a little stressed out. I'm imagining the opossum has fucked up my little Sparkypants and he is over there bleeding to death or something and I can't get at him. I spend the next 45 mins or so calling him and trying to see him through the fence and just generally freaking out. eventually I go back in the house to try to calm down.
I look out the door a little later and see the lights on at my neighbor's house, so I go over and ask her if I can go look for him. He was just sitting there in the yard staring at this strange ginger tabby that I haven't seen before. He seemed very freaked out and was clingy for the rest of the evening. I'm not sure what went on over there, whether it was the opossum or the ginger cat, or some combo. I think we were both glad to be home together. Pets. I know he is just a dumb cat, but I don't know what I would do if something bad happened to him. Luckily I don't have to find out right now.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Manic Monday, and Chickens!
The weekend was pretty uneventful from both a personal and a chicken standpoint. I got some stuff done in the yard, and then the allergies got some stuff done in my head. Ouch.
Still no enclosure for the side yard. The brain is thinking but the hands aren't doing. New chicken discoveries: they don't particularly like apples or bananas.
We got some potentially bad news today. The owners are going to put the house we are living in up for sale. We can stay here til October, they can't kick us out. Still, dang. I like this place. I'm glad I didn't get the raised beds in the front yard up and running. Also glad I didn't redo the deck cover. feh. Also, the whole hidden chickens thing is true. We didn't tell the property mgmt about our chickens, and I don't know what they are going to say about it when they come to show the house.
Drag, srsly.
Kate's friend took some pretty hilarious pics of me and the chickens tonight. Freerange Molly Brown wants to be a hat. That hoodie is my anti-chicken-poop shirt. It works pretty well, except I think the stripes confuse the chickens.
Still no enclosure for the side yard. The brain is thinking but the hands aren't doing. New chicken discoveries: they don't particularly like apples or bananas.
We got some potentially bad news today. The owners are going to put the house we are living in up for sale. We can stay here til October, they can't kick us out. Still, dang. I like this place. I'm glad I didn't get the raised beds in the front yard up and running. Also glad I didn't redo the deck cover. feh. Also, the whole hidden chickens thing is true. We didn't tell the property mgmt about our chickens, and I don't know what they are going to say about it when they come to show the house.
Drag, srsly.
Kate's friend took some pretty hilarious pics of me and the chickens tonight. Freerange Molly Brown wants to be a hat. That hoodie is my anti-chicken-poop shirt. It works pretty well, except I think the stripes confuse the chickens.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Run is Done
I came home tonight after work and cleared out the jungle in the back yard so I could set up the Eglu and run. I borrowed a weed whacker from a co-worker, but it didn't help all that much. I did most of the cleaning up by hand.
The weed whacker did better in the side yard, where it was mostly grass. I had kind of forgotten how fucked up the side yard is. It's full of big pieces of broken concrete paving and other sorts of trash stacked up all willy-nilly. I'll go in this weekend and see if I can clean it up a bit. The neighbors of the apartment building next door sometimes throw things over the fence. The other day I found a ball, a spaceship toy, an empty gallon milk container and a plastic tablecloth. Today I found a can of redi-whip with no nozzle. Thanks, neighbors! Next time the ball is mine. Also, get off my lawn!
So as I was assembling the Eglu run, the Wyandotte jumped up on me again and rode around on my shoulder as I was working. She dug around in my hair a lot... and pooped on me. I've had pets for long enough that I take it in stride, but still, kinda gross. After I finished setting everything up, they perched on top of the run until I put them inside. I went in the house to eat dinner and by the time I came back out to check on them, they had figured out that the Eglu was the place to go at night, even though they hadn't ever been inside of it before.
Sleep tight, little chickens!
The weed whacker did better in the side yard, where it was mostly grass. I had kind of forgotten how fucked up the side yard is. It's full of big pieces of broken concrete paving and other sorts of trash stacked up all willy-nilly. I'll go in this weekend and see if I can clean it up a bit. The neighbors of the apartment building next door sometimes throw things over the fence. The other day I found a ball, a spaceship toy, an empty gallon milk container and a plastic tablecloth. Today I found a can of redi-whip with no nozzle. Thanks, neighbors! Next time the ball is mine. Also, get off my lawn!
So as I was assembling the Eglu run, the Wyandotte jumped up on me again and rode around on my shoulder as I was working. She dug around in my hair a lot... and pooped on me. I've had pets for long enough that I take it in stride, but still, kinda gross. After I finished setting everything up, they perched on top of the run until I put them inside. I went in the house to eat dinner and by the time I came back out to check on them, they had figured out that the Eglu was the place to go at night, even though they hadn't ever been inside of it before.
Sleep tight, little chickens!
Tuesday Chicken News
Anna, I think I fixed the comments so you can post.
I got home, grabbed a beer and started clearing some of the dandelions out of the yard so I could set up the chicken run that came with the Eglu. This will be a temporary solution until I can get the side yard run set up. The dandelions are waist high, which is amazing considering that the yard is rocks on top of a barrier cloth. The roots for the most part only go down an inch or so. A few have broken through the barrier cloth, but for the most part they have been making do quite well with almost nothing. I forgot to bring home the weed whacker that my co-worker loaned me so that I could clear the yard, so it will be another couple days until I can get them set up outside.
The Wyandotte literally took a flying leap at me this evening. I was standing on the porch with my hand on my hip and she fluttered up and sat where my arm met my hip. And then she did that little peck/nuzzle thing at my waist. I must look like a giant chicken roost to her.
The Marans continues to be fussy and a bit needy. They have pooped all over the back deck. We have decided that in addition to the chicken jumpsuit, we probably need some chicken shoes that we can leave outside. As soon as I get them in a run it won't be as much of a problem, but we will probably need them now and again for cleaning and such.
Sparky still eyes the chickens with suspicion. He is reluctant to go over to the deck when they are out. He will also be relieved when we get them into a run.
I got home, grabbed a beer and started clearing some of the dandelions out of the yard so I could set up the chicken run that came with the Eglu. This will be a temporary solution until I can get the side yard run set up. The dandelions are waist high, which is amazing considering that the yard is rocks on top of a barrier cloth. The roots for the most part only go down an inch or so. A few have broken through the barrier cloth, but for the most part they have been making do quite well with almost nothing. I forgot to bring home the weed whacker that my co-worker loaned me so that I could clear the yard, so it will be another couple days until I can get them set up outside.
The Wyandotte literally took a flying leap at me this evening. I was standing on the porch with my hand on my hip and she fluttered up and sat where my arm met my hip. And then she did that little peck/nuzzle thing at my waist. I must look like a giant chicken roost to her.
The Marans continues to be fussy and a bit needy. They have pooped all over the back deck. We have decided that in addition to the chicken jumpsuit, we probably need some chicken shoes that we can leave outside. As soon as I get them in a run it won't be as much of a problem, but we will probably need them now and again for cleaning and such.
Sparky still eyes the chickens with suspicion. He is reluctant to go over to the deck when they are out. He will also be relieved when we get them into a run.
Monday, March 15, 2010
My Little Dinosaurs
It's been a couple days now. For the most part the chickens seemed terrified of me. I have been keeping them in the area off the kitchen here in the house. Natalie warned me that a draft could kill them and it was pretty windy on Saturday when we brought them home.
Some of my first impressions are, chickens poop way more than I thought they would, both in frequency and quantity. Dang, those chickens can poop. Also, they are pretty fucking stupid. People warned me, but it's true. Not very bright.
The Wyandotte is definitely the adventurous one. Bambi suggested that I name her Freerange Molly, and the name is seeming more and more apt. The Marans is more fussy and skittish. She is bigger, but she really depends on the Wyandotte for support. They do this funny thing where if they are startled, one chicken will try to hide underneath the other one. At first it was the Wyandotte, but now it is almost always the Marans.
Sunday was nice, and I probably should have spent the day fixing up the chicken run in the side yard. However, we had to go to Ensenada to get some stuff, and a Sombrero. I am now the proud owner of the most amazing Sombrero ever! It is a vision of color and sparkliness, and really confused the border patrol lady on the way home. Luckily not enough that she felt a secondary search was in order. But this is a blog about chickens, not exotic headwear. I digress.
Another impression about chickens: their enclosure will get stinky fast! I had changed the bedding in their cage before I left, and by the time we got home it was ripe. Also, one of the chickens spilled the water everywhere. I took everything outside to clean out the cage and I had to coax the chickens out. They do not seem particularly excited to explore the great outdoors, especially after the sun goes down.
This morning I put the cage outside before I went to work. It's much warmer today, and I thought that the roomies could use a break from the stench. I want to get them used to being outdoors. At work I was able to find someone to loan me a weedwacker tomorrow so I can trim back the weeds and set up the chicken run. Then they can hang out in the Eglu until I can rig a run up in the side yard.
I just have to say that Daylight Fucking Savings time sucks ASS! I hate it. This morning I felt like I had jet lag but without the excitement of being somewhere foreign. Bleh. The good news about daylight fucking savings time is that I had an hour of daylight when I got home today to take stock, do some gardening and let the chickens run around a bit.
Jenny and Kate had already let them out earlier, which is great. I have been worried about them being too cooped up in the cage. When I took them outside and opened the door, they just hung out in the cage until I stuck my hand in and scooped them out. Then they went and quietly hung out in the planter box. They don't make what I consider to be chicken sounds. Bwak bwak bwak. They sort of whistle and sing, like other kinds of birds. The Marans won't shut up, but luckily, while she makes a lot of noise, she isn't very loud.
As the sun went down, I sat on my door stoop with a beer. Sparky was wandering around checking out the chickens. He seems more startled by them rather than predatory, but I'm definitely keeping an eye out. The Marans went inside the cage and the Wyandotte went after her, but the Marans kept trying to hide under her, so she came back out. The Wyandotte was walking around by my and she was looking at me like she wanted something. Then all of a sudden she jumped up on my arm. She sat there looking around and looking at me. For some reason I was a little worried that she might go for my eyes. Then she did this funny little peck/nuzzle thing around my torso. It tickled. I have no idea what she was doing but it was pretty funny, as long as she was staying away from my eyes. She snuggled in and settled down, and then she pooped on me. Bleh. I think I need a chicken-keeping jumpsuit that I can put on before I interact with them. Did I mention that they poop a lot? I eventually went in and got some broccoli because I thought maybe she was looking for treats. She really wasn't interested, just kept peck/nuzzling. Then she jumped onto my other arm and ended up climbing my shoulder and settling in on the back of my neck. Happily, she did not poop there. It was nice and soft and warm.
I have hopes that my chickens will learn to love me someday soon.
Some of my first impressions are, chickens poop way more than I thought they would, both in frequency and quantity. Dang, those chickens can poop. Also, they are pretty fucking stupid. People warned me, but it's true. Not very bright.
The Wyandotte is definitely the adventurous one. Bambi suggested that I name her Freerange Molly, and the name is seeming more and more apt. The Marans is more fussy and skittish. She is bigger, but she really depends on the Wyandotte for support. They do this funny thing where if they are startled, one chicken will try to hide underneath the other one. At first it was the Wyandotte, but now it is almost always the Marans.
Sunday was nice, and I probably should have spent the day fixing up the chicken run in the side yard. However, we had to go to Ensenada to get some stuff, and a Sombrero. I am now the proud owner of the most amazing Sombrero ever! It is a vision of color and sparkliness, and really confused the border patrol lady on the way home. Luckily not enough that she felt a secondary search was in order. But this is a blog about chickens, not exotic headwear. I digress.
Another impression about chickens: their enclosure will get stinky fast! I had changed the bedding in their cage before I left, and by the time we got home it was ripe. Also, one of the chickens spilled the water everywhere. I took everything outside to clean out the cage and I had to coax the chickens out. They do not seem particularly excited to explore the great outdoors, especially after the sun goes down.
This morning I put the cage outside before I went to work. It's much warmer today, and I thought that the roomies could use a break from the stench. I want to get them used to being outdoors. At work I was able to find someone to loan me a weedwacker tomorrow so I can trim back the weeds and set up the chicken run. Then they can hang out in the Eglu until I can rig a run up in the side yard.
I just have to say that Daylight Fucking Savings time sucks ASS! I hate it. This morning I felt like I had jet lag but without the excitement of being somewhere foreign. Bleh. The good news about daylight fucking savings time is that I had an hour of daylight when I got home today to take stock, do some gardening and let the chickens run around a bit.
Jenny and Kate had already let them out earlier, which is great. I have been worried about them being too cooped up in the cage. When I took them outside and opened the door, they just hung out in the cage until I stuck my hand in and scooped them out. Then they went and quietly hung out in the planter box. They don't make what I consider to be chicken sounds. Bwak bwak bwak. They sort of whistle and sing, like other kinds of birds. The Marans won't shut up, but luckily, while she makes a lot of noise, she isn't very loud.
As the sun went down, I sat on my door stoop with a beer. Sparky was wandering around checking out the chickens. He seems more startled by them rather than predatory, but I'm definitely keeping an eye out. The Marans went inside the cage and the Wyandotte went after her, but the Marans kept trying to hide under her, so she came back out. The Wyandotte was walking around by my and she was looking at me like she wanted something. Then all of a sudden she jumped up on my arm. She sat there looking around and looking at me. For some reason I was a little worried that she might go for my eyes. Then she did this funny little peck/nuzzle thing around my torso. It tickled. I have no idea what she was doing but it was pretty funny, as long as she was staying away from my eyes. She snuggled in and settled down, and then she pooped on me. Bleh. I think I need a chicken-keeping jumpsuit that I can put on before I interact with them. Did I mention that they poop a lot? I eventually went in and got some broccoli because I thought maybe she was looking for treats. She really wasn't interested, just kept peck/nuzzling. Then she jumped onto my other arm and ended up climbing my shoulder and settling in on the back of my neck. Happily, she did not poop there. It was nice and soft and warm.
I have hopes that my chickens will learn to love me someday soon.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Chicken Day!
We picked up our two chickens this morning. One is a Red Laced Blue Wyandotte, the other is a Copper Marans. They are both about 3 months old, and at that awkward teenage stage, lanky and unattractive. Also, they are not talking to us. I think they are sulking and ignoring us because we are adults, and therefore totally uncool.
We drove out to Temecula to get them from Natalie at Namaste Farms. She is living the dream. She raises goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, peacocks, bunnies, etc... She shears her own animals and then dyes the fleece and spins it into yarn that she sells for $$$$$$$ to fancy yarn stores. There was some kind of crazy playhouse that was an old truck with a shingled castle shack coming out of it. Lovely. She helped us pick out two chickens and showed us what we should look for in a healthy chicken. After we chose a likely couple of hens, we went into her house to pay.
I asked if I could see her yarn and she showed me what she had left since she had just sent most of her current stock out. I saw this lovely green skein of yarn and she was all, "you like that?" I can't stand it, I'll give it to you for $5. I ended up getting 3 skeins of yarn for $40. Beautiful colors. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but she had some interesting ideas for me. We packed the chickens into the car and made our way home.
Natalie's farm was an inspiration to me. I don't know if that is exactly the way I would like to go, but she is doing what she loves and making good money at it.
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