December 30, 2012: Last Blog of the Year!



I cannot believe that what started as a suggestion from my friend Vickie turned into 90 pages of my musings and over 2433 readers.  I have learned many things while writing about the girls:

1.  I love to write about almost anything. ( or nothing like the Seinfeld show).
2.  Chickens are awesome and provide tons of fodder for my blog.
3.  I love my chickens.
4.  Chickens teach you about life.
5.  Thousands of people love chickens too.
6.  None of us know why.
7.  Sometimes I write about life instead of chickens, and stats show that people like to read those too.
8.  I love the comments back to me via FB or the blogspot.
9.  Chickens need lots of scratch in winter and a dry place to take their dust baths,

That's all I can think of now, and don;t want to bore you, so I'll just add HAPPY NEW YEAR DEAR READERS AND MAY NEXT YEAR BRING YOU MUCH HAPPINESS AND PEACE.
Love, The Chicken Wrangler ( Sharen).

 



December 28, 2012: Barbara Just Keeps Cranking Out Eggs

It's been a few days since I had time to post.  The Holidays you know.

Had a lovely Christmas, with family, both the human kind and the animal kind, though sometimes that line of demarcation gets a little blurry. 

The girls continue to entertain and have grown very fond of sitting on Cal's knees and eating raisins.  It is so cute.  Barbara remains the demanding one, and has trouble waiting her turn.

Since it has gotten colder, they are not as eager to get out of the coop early, and we get to sleep until 0800.  Correction..I get to sleep a bit later as I am the one who invariably hears them.  The trade off is I get up and let them out, Cal cleans the coop.  I believe I got the better deal on that one. 

Meanwhile, the yard remains a mess, but the rain has let up for the past few days. 
Plans for the extended chicken yard continue with all materials gathered.  Perhaps by next Spring we will have our lawn back. 

Found a neat idea for making a dust bath area as the chicken yard is concrete.  You get a big enough tub/container to hold at least 6 inches of diatomaecous earth and two live chickens.  It will be under the roof of the yard so will stay dry.   Those chicken websites are fantastic places to get ideas.

We're also going to install an automatic waterer.  We're going hi-tech here. 

We still spend time outside with them every day, and when they want us, they peck at the sliding glass door to see us.  When we go out, they both tell us about what has happened since we last were out there.  Very chatty little things. 

As per the title of this blog, Barbara continues to amaze us with her egg laying prowess.  One egg a day, every day.  Mabel, remains very cute and sweet.

Had a long day, heading for bed.  Me that is, not the chickens, they went to bed at 4:45pm.  Until we blog again, Adios.

December 22, 2012: Yard a muddy mess, Chickens are Thrilled!

You know the cartoons we used to watch when we were kids, I mean way back, where the early bird comes out and gets the worm?  Well no sooner did I open the coop this morning when Barbara came running full speed, ran to the  grass ( now mostly mud) and immediately grabbed up a worm right out of the ground.  How she saw that worm, still in the earth with maybe a tiny head poking up, I'll never know. 

We've had a few days of hard rain and wind.  The yard looks like a mud hole and any second I  expect pigs to come rounding the corner for a nice wallow.  The girls are unfazed.  They just want out of the coop.  We don't let them out if it is raining, so they get pretty pissed off, especially Barbara.
Even though we install their larger patio and cover it with a tarp to keep out the rain, they still want OUT!!

Here's our morning routine since the chickens came to live with us.  Wake up, listen for cocococoing, hearing none, hurry to feed Annie our dog.  Hear cocococoing, turn off alarm, open the sliding door, put on mud clogs, open the door and stand back!  Barbara runs out and immediately poops on the patio, Mabel prefers to poop on the lawn, bless her.  Feed them, give them some scratch with cracked corn mixed in, check their water, clean up poop on patio and any in the coop or nest.  By now Barbara has scrounged around looking for worms and what not, and comes running full speed up to me wanting raisins.  I forgot to get some on my way out so I re-enter the warm cozy house smelling delightfully of fresh coffee just barely edging out Barbara who is determined to get in, get the damn raisins from the frige.   Back out I go into the cold.  I pull out the patio chair, and by now Barbara is hopping up and down.  Mabel waits patiently.  I place a raisin on my knee and Barbara jumps up on my lap and I do the raisin distribution project.  That is I have to give Barbara her raisin, then surreptitiously feed one to Mabel who is next to me on the ground.  If I don't do that Barbara jumps down and almost always beats Mabel to the raisin.   Have I mentioned that Barbara is a pig? I do have to cut her some slack as she is the only one laying in the coop, but I still feel sorry for Mabel.

Went to a wonderful Breakfast at Tiffani's brunch yesterday morning.  Wore a faux mink stole, lots of sparkly jewelery and basic black of course.  Karen thought we looked like Holly Golightly's fat Grandmas while I opted for middle aged Hollys.  Anyway, my table mate Marian asked how Barbara and Mabel were?   That turned into a full on chicken conversation as the lovely gal next to me, Judy has four chickens.  What is it about these little feathered things?  I did note that either you are a chicken person, or you are only mildly interested for limited periods of time.  True chicken wranglers can talk chickens for hours.  Merry Christmas again my chicken loving friends.

December 20, 2012: Mabel the Christmas Chicken

Merry Christmas from Cal, Barbara, Mabel and me. 

May you be blessed with the the wonder of this season,and the Grace of

God be upon you.

God loves all living creatures, including our sweet chickens.

Happy New Year from the Chicken Wrangler. 

*Barbara refused to wear the Santa hat, but Mabel was delighted, especially to get into the house. 

December 14, 2012: My Chicken Family

As we draw nearer to Christmas (yes Christmas, not "the Holidays") thoughts turn towards family, memories, and what Christmas really means to me.

It is the birth of Christ celebrated every year to commemorate that blessed moment.  It is not "The Holidays", it is Christmas and I resent the efforts to impel me and my fellow Christians to  "de-Christ" this blessed day in favor of a more user friendly generic designation, designed to not only be more politically correct, but to get non-Christians to go out and spend!!  See my point.  If I were a non-Christian I would be insulted.  Nuff said.

Back to Christmas, and my 2 new family members.  Barbara and Mabel have become important members of our little family. They are our pets and like Annie we treat them as the little gifts from God we have agree to care for. 

We you look at You Tube you see thousands of videos people have posted of their pets ( and of course PSY).  We love our pets.  I have yet to post a video of the girls though my husband posted a video of me singing my Ode to Caffeine.  But I'm sure Iwill.  What is it about our pets that inspire us to talk about them, video tape them, dress them in outfits that match ours, etc? 

We all know the answer to that, don't we?  LOVE.  They love us unconditionally, without judgement.
It is easier to love a pet sometimes than to love our fellow human beings.  Do my chickens love me?
hard to say, but I think they know that I care for them, and look to me to do that.  Fact is I love them, even of they can't show me the way Annie does.  Are they helping me to learn to love unconditionally?  Hmmm

John Lennon was right you know, ultimately,  All You Need Is Love.  May the God of your Choosing Bless you today.

December 12, 2012: Barbara Learns Trick

Those of you who think chickens are dumb...you'll want to re-think that.  Over the last week or so, we have been giving the girls raisins.  They love them!  I mean Barbara is crazy for them.  So Cal decided to see if he could teach her a trick.  It took 1.5 seconds for her to jump onto his knee to get a raisin. 

Today she repeated that trick.  She has successfully trained Cal to sit in the lawn and feed her raisins.
She has already taught us to open the coop door and let her out ASAP in the morning, or she will cococo until she wakes the neighborhood.

She has taught us not to open up the coop upper door to air it out, until after she lays her morning egg. 

The first time I opened the door in the morning and went back into the house, she came to the door in the dining room and raised hell.  It only took me 1.5 seconds to see that she wanted me to close the door so she could go up into the nesting area and lay her egg in safety.  She promptly climbed up the ramp into the nest and laid her egg.  Now I never open the upper door of the coop until she has laid her egg. 

Who knows what she will teach us next.  She is one sharp cookie.  Now Mabel, well she just eats the raisins. 

December 10, 2010: Rethinking Chicken Clothes

 

When I first saw the websites for clothing for chickens, I thought "these people are nuts."  I am re-thinking this attitude as it gets colder outside.  I judged to quickly and now am thinking I'll start a project to make the girls each a Christmas sweater. 

Unfortunately I do not knit and have forgotten how to crochet.  I used to do a hellofa macrame'd plant holder back in my hippie days.  Does anyone remember macrame?  Anyway, perhaps I can buy a baby sweaters at Target or Walmart and adapt them to the girls. 

 If I do this, I will definitely take a picture so you can see how far I have gone down the chicken-crazy path.

Meanwhile I am laying on the couch by the fire with a blanket, and have just turned up the heater.  Woke up at 0430 this morning for no apparent reason.  Does this ever happen to you?  And I mean I am wide awake, not just sleepy awake.

I reminds me of my working days when I got up at 0430, walked the dog, showered, washed my hair, ate a quick breakfast and was out the door to drive 50 miles to be to work by 0730.

Sometime I had to catch a 0600 flight from the airport, also 50 miles away.  had to leave the house at 0330 to get there, check in etc.

How in God's name did I ever do that?

I'll keep you posted on the chicken sweaters.

 

December 7, 2012: Free the Chicken!

After several days of gloomy rainy, icky weather, today the sun rose in all it's glorious splendor..  Mabel and Barbara were up early and fairly dashed out of the coop when Cal let them out.  They could not get out of the coop fast enough and rush out onto what was the lawn.

They both had lots to say, chattering, cococoing, and occasional clucking.   It's s funny, only Mable clucks and when she does, it's a one note, loud and short. then she looks around to see "who did that".

They had visitors last night when David and Susan came over for dinner.  They were up  in their nesting area sleeping so cute all cozy together.  Then today when I my Mom came by for coffee and we went out to see them, they were in the back corner of the yard but came running, doing the poultry equivalent of the 50 yard dash.  Barbara was talking the whole time.  She loves to communicate.

So they got to spend all day out in the sun.  I think they wore themselves out, cause I went out at 4:30pm to check on them,  it was still very light out, but Mabel was climbing the ramp up to the nest already and Barbara, with the help of a yellow cherry tomato I coaxed her with, readily went into the coop.  I swear they must have played all day. 

We also picked them up and fuzzled them both today. One or both of us try to pick up , hold and pet and talk to the girls at least once a day.  Remember, Zahra calls this fuzzeling and that word fits perfectly.

When I was holding Mabel, I made the cocococo sound and her little ears perked up.  I have no idea what I was saying in chicken speak, but she clearly found it fascinating.  They probably get their little chicken heads together at night and talk about their crazy Mom.  Like the French, my pronunciation will never make the grade.  They laugh at my accent, I know it.  It's OK, they give me a lot of joy. Watching them and listening to them makes me laugh too.

December 4, 2012: Chicken Wrangler Whines

Today I'm gonna whine for a minute.  Why, cause I learned it from my Mom.  Mom is 85 years old and healthy as a horse.  She will probably outlive both twin sister and I.  We are stove up, as they say, from time to time. 

Last Thursday I twisted my back trying not to step on my dog who ran in front of me, and whammo, back killing me.  Tried to power through it, no go.  Gave in on Friday and went to bed with ice. Oh whaa whaa whaa.  In the greater scheme of things this was nothing.  So many are suffering real pain, sickness and trauma, my little back thing was nothing.

I complained a little bit, mostly laid quietly in bed, asked for help from time to time from Cal.  Prayed for healing for me and all those I know who are suffering. 

Two things come to mind:  As an RN, I learned that I was not really sick  unless I had a temp. over 101 degrees, or was bleeding from unexpected place.  I learned to ignore my own body. 

Second, I grew up with a Mom who complained a lot about every ache and pain, still does.  Unfortunately she complained so much and for so long, that it is hard to know when she really needs help. It's like the little boy who cried wolf.  At 85 she has the right to complain, but what for? 

I hope and pray that if and when I reach her age I have something other to talk about then what hurts, or what TV show I am watching. I love my Mom.  My sister and I are constantly trying to get her to get out of the house.  We have tried to make her feel better for 65 years.  Only she can accomplish that.

What a conundrum.  First, I learn to ignore my own bodies signals, and I hear my Mom complain about every ache and pain.  Think there's a psychological implication there?  Oh Yeah!

I think boredom leads to over concern with oneself.  It stunts conversation when one does not get out and interact with the universe.  But my Mom is living the life she wants.  She is healthy and strong, and locked into her habits like concrete.  So....whine whine whine.  And God bless her, and Karen and I.

Chickens never whine, they only complain when they want more scratch.  They are constantly busy and interested in their environment, and they know when to rest, when they need a dust bath and how to take care of themselves.   Chickens don't whine. 

December 3, 2012: HAPPY HENS!

The girls were so happy to see the sun today. ( me too)  Our yard is a muddy mess, but they still wanted out of the coop to slog around. After they got their scratch and cracked corn, they ran like the wind out onto what used to be the lawn, now mud.  Later they found a corner next to the house and have been nestling down, scratching around and dust bathing.  It is so funny to watch them jockeying for the best spot. Just like two little kids.  Mable has come into her own and doesn't take any crap from Barbara anymore.

Hurt my back a few days ago, and can't go out and play with them so...... they gather at the slider window in my bedroom waiting and watching for Mommy. 

My Mom came by today to check on me as Cal was volunteering at the Salvation Army.  He helps residents at The Depot, a residential treatment program for drug/alcohol abusers, every Monday, learn the computer, how to write resumes', etc.   She got to watch me throw grapes to the girls.  They are nuts about grapes.

I saw an interesting thing today while lying in bed.  Barbara and Mable have identified the plastic box where we keep their food.  First Barbara trotted up to it, looked long and hard ( you can see through it).  Then she stood on her tippy toes and examined more closely.  Mable came running over, as if summoned.  I am sure they were plotting how to get it down and open it up.  Their little chicken heads were together and it looked like they were hatching a plan. ( pardon the pun ).  They also kept watching over their shoulders to see if anyone was watching.  When I tapped on the window, they  scattered in different directions.  I'm telling ya, they are planning something.  I'm sure of it.

Looks like more rain coming, so Cal re -wrapped our charming little coop back in it's hillbilly wrapper,replaced the pumpkin, etc. to hold it down in case of big wind.  It looks awful, but does the trick.

I think tomorrow I'll be able to get up and about longer and finish the Christmas Decorating.  Cal did the front yard and porch today, under my watchful eye.  It looks so pretty. 



December 1, 2012: Christmas Gifts for Chicken Wranglers

Merry Christmas Everyone.  December 1st means several things to me:  1) get the decorations up and put up the tree; 2) start planning Christmas Brunch (my assignment for the family); 3) decide whether to send Christmas Cards; 4) try to stay calm. 

Christmas can be such a stressful time, but it does not have to be!  What's with all the gift giving mania.  My friends, there is no perfect gift.  Give that up.  Adopt a different plan.  Look for mediocre gifts, stuff you would like, or give money. 

Our family generally does not exchange gifts on Christmas, other than my sister who almost always breaks that agreement. We only have our grandchildren in London to buy gifts for and their Dad always asks us to send American children's books.  So that's easy enough. I don't need anything, but...... the Chicken Wrangler might. 

This year I am going to ask Santa for things for the chickens:  feed, scratch, cracked corn, etc.  Oh yeah and how about a bale of pine shavings?  Sexy, huh?

The girls tell me they want more grapes.  They go crazy over them.  So grapes it is for them.  They ask so little and give so much.  Example:  Yesterday my Sis and Brother in Law came over for  Cal's homemade biscuits and an omelet made from Barbara's eggs.  After breakfast, we sat in the living room in front of the fire.  The girls were at the dining room sliding glass door.  I watched John as he watched them, and he was smiling.  He calls them the girls too now and seems to like seeing them.
They are joyful little things.  Making their little joyful noises like cococococo, not coo coo, cocococo.  Or Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Chickens bring out the best is us.

Just now they were pecking at the dining room slider. It is still raining out so while free from the coop, they are staying under the patio roof, and are clearly bored.  Barbara is raising a fuss so she must have laid an egg.  She loves to announce her productions.  You Go Girl.  Here's Cal with her just laid egg.



I will turn on the dining room light so they can see in better.  Cal and I will do our version of  Reality TV:  walk around, read on the couch, watch TV, drink another cup of coffee.  They seem satisfied with watching us do that. 

Hey, you know what, I'm going to go hobble (hurt my back) into the dining room and sing Old MacDonald Had A Farm and see how they react.  Maybe a verse of I left My Heart In San Francisco.  I'll let you know later if they enjoy that.