September 2, 2014: Wrangling Chickens for Over 2 years.

Just realized that we have had our girls, Mabel and Barbara for over 2 years.  Yes they have been cruising around our backyard, as a part of our family, and made our lives richer in the process.

What is a chicken?  There are a variety of answers to this question.   To Cal and I, our chickens are precious pets who chortle, make us laugh, lay eggs and come a running when we head out the door to the yard.

Each has her own distinct personality, and way of getting what she wants. 

Barbara is bossy, assertive and very focused.  She is a pretty girl, with plenty to say on almost any topic.  Last week I went out to move her out of the nest as she was keeping Mabel out and had already laid her egg.  She got so MAD at me, and cursed me out in chicken talk, at the top of her lungs for several minutes.  How dare I move her off her nest!!  She was indignant.

Mabel is our sweet, mellow little Amauricana who loves to be held and petted.  Her little chortles are just divine.  She is a gentle girl, who daintily takes the raisin from your finger tips, while Barbara will jump 2 feet off the ground to grab a raisin, nipping your finger with her beak in the process.

As different as they are, they are pals.  If they lose sight of each other as they wander around the yard, they will immediately start calling to the other" where are ya sissy?"  They both want attention and love being talked to and praised.  

They are funny girls who have brought so much joy into our lives, just by being themselves.  I simply cannot imagine not having them in our life.   Right now as I sit in the living room with my laptop, I can see them dashing by the sliding door, peeking in, wondering what I'm up to.  I'll go our in a few minutes, give them some cherry tomatoes, and have our nightly chat before their bedtime.

Love me some Mabel ad Barbara!  Get two chickens!  It will enrich your life, BUT, only if you love chickens,

August 4, 2014: I Kissed A Chicken And I Liked It.

I know we are supposed to love our children all the same, and that showing favoritism is a bad thing but dang it I really love Mabel.  She is the sweetest little hen I the world.  We had guests over for cocktails Saturday night and they wanted to see the chickens.  We went outside and Mable ran right up and let me pick her up.  Barbara meanwhile, ran out into the yard away from me. 

Mabel let Brenda and Pat pet her little head, and even stayed sweet when I brought her into the house to see our other guests.  I just love that little girl.

Mabel is the one who keeps track of where I am in the house.  I walk into the bedroom and she runs up to the sliding glass door.  I walk into the kitchen and she is at the dining room slider looking for Mommy.  We have a special bond.

This morning I just picked her up, petted her, talking to her the whole time, and she just settled against my chest making little cocococo's sounds.  She felt the love, and so did I, so I kissed her little head, and scratched her behind the ears.

We had a happy moment.  She gives me unconditional love.....and delicious eggs.

June 28, 2014: Chickens Can Be Spoiled Brats!

I know, I know, kids and chickens can both end up being brats when they are spoiled...usually by parents or grandparents.  I plead the 5th.  I do love my two little hens, and therefore are concerned about their welfare.

They have a lovely coop and chicken yard, but roam freely during the day around the backyard.  We feed them healthy chicken feed, scratch, with just the right amount of oyster shell mixed in.  SO....

I saw a post on Facebook about a summer treat you can make for chickens involving watermelon and yogurt where you kind of make a smoothy for them.  Well I did not have watermelon, but did have some farm fresh strawberries, and some strawberry Fat Free Yogurt.  So I made my own concoction in a glass bowl and took it out to them. 

They were very interested at first but then just wandered off from the bowl.  Ok, I thought, maybe it's just not there thing.  Then I took the spoon I was using to mash it all up, sat down with the spoon sort of hanging from my fingers.  Holy Hell!! They came running for the spoon like gangbusters, each trying to get a chance to peck the mixture off the spoon, totally ignoring the large bowl of the stuff at their feet. 

So being the good chicken wrangler/mommy that I am, I spent 15 minutes outside feeding them from the spoon, taking turns so they each got an equal amount.   Sad but true.

May 20, 2014: How to House Break Chickens

You can't.  Chicken diapers are the only answer and our friend Carl says he knows where to get them.

May 28, 2014: Typo leads to renaming Hens!

Just a short note about something that happened today that changed the way we refer to our hens.  I was posting on Facebook in response to some ones comment about loving chickens.  I finished my response and before posting looked up an noted that I had typed "shickens", instead of chickens.

I think this was not an accident or an error, but a subconscious expression of what I really feel.  I love them girls something awful, but they really do poop a lot.

Cal's son Kevin was visiting from London this past weekend, and Cal and I worked our butts off to get the patio pristine.  I mean it was beautiful.  Could have been featured in Sunset Magazine or House Beautiful.

On Sunday morning we were having coffee out on the loggia when a sneaky hen came up and crapped right next to Cal just as he stood up to get more coffee.  How delightful it was to see  him step in it barefooted and smear it across the patio floor.  Our idyllic morning suddenly became real "real".  Sophisticated lounging ala loggia went out the window, replace by shicken reality.

Ahh Shickens!  They never disappoint.

May 7th, 2014: Chickens Make Great Party Hostesses

 

Had 14 ladies for lunch Saturday. Cal and I worked our butts off getting the patio clean and spruced up.  Those of you who have chickens know they tend to poop at will...anywhere they want.  So of course I was worried.  If I kept them in their chicken yard, they would complain loudly and disturb our meeting.  Yet they seem to be drawn  to a freshly washed and swept  patios like moths to a flame.

We made the decision to let the girls stay out in the yard.   After all, the ladies know we have chickens and some of them really like them.

Well I could not be prouder of Barbara and Mable.  No pooping, no squawking, no coming onto the patio at all.

They were little feathered angels, chatting quietly in the background as we held our book club meeting and had lunch.

Love these girls.

 

April 11, 2014: Chickens Celebrate Birthdays

 

I know this is a picture at Christmas, but the hens also like any kind of celebration.  Tomorrow is Cal's birthday.  I told the girls Daddy was having a birthday and they.....well they just looked at me.  But I could tell they were excited!  Barbara even pooped right then, so excited.

Cal and I talked yesterday about how much the chickens, our dog, and the 5 neighborhood cats we feed add to our lives. 

Annie gives us love, kisses, and cuddles.  The kittens are so sweet.  They won't let us touch them, but do stay on the porch versus running away like they did at first.  Very sweet to watch them come to the porch to eat.

But....our chickens give us something else!  That's why they call them pets with benefits.  EGGSEGGSEGGS!

April 4, 2014: Barbara Is A Star!

Cal brought Barbara into the house today to say Hello.  Decided to take a video of her as she was talking a blue streak and letting me pet her really sweetly. 

It turned out so cute that I posted it on FB.  Got numerous positive reactions.  Tried to copy it and paste it to this blog.  NO go.  So you'll just have to go my FB page to see her in action.

Meanwhile Today was a good day for the Chicken Wrangler.  The girls enjoyed the day, and we enjoyed watching them play in the yard.

Chickens make the day a better place.

April 3, 2014: Spring Chickens!

In the midst of some rains storms, we've  had some lovely sunny days.  While we all enjoy the beauty of budding flowers, our chickens have gone completely nuts. 

Today we let them out as usual and they ran as fast as they could, as usual, out into the yard BUT....
they continued to race around the yard jumping and squawking like crazy.  I thought maybe a cat was prowling around and they were chasing it.  Turns out they were just filled with the joy of Spring!

Shortly after that the gardener came, and we had to put the girls in the chicken yard.  OMG the racket they put up.  The whole time they screeched and screamed.  Bet the neighbors liked that.  I mean, they have Spring Fever bad.  OR... it was the ripe tomato I gave them day before yesterday.

Love my feathered little girls.

March 12, 2014: Happy Hens in the Sun

 

We had a terribly windy day yesterday with strong gusts.  I was worried about the girls being blown down the block, or across the river to Marysville.  They stayed close to the house hunkered down, under the patio cover out of the wind most of the day. 

BUT today it is sunny with no wind and they are delighted to be out running around as usual.  I walked out to our loggia to see them together just enjoying the sun.  They always greet me with their sweet little voices. 

March 4, 2014: 1.5 years of Chicken Wrangling and Still Love My Girls

Hi All,
It's been a while since I posted.  Still working on my children's books about Mabel and Barbara.  Been procrastinating about the publishing part. Reading how to self publish etc. I need a big kick in the butt. 

The girls made it through a pretty cold December, but so far the weather has been milder  and they are doing great.  During the day, when it rains, they gather under the patio cover and sleep on the door mat when not scouring the yard for tasty tidbits.  When we move to the bedroom they follows us so they can be a part of the family, standing outside that sliding door.  I never knew they were so social.  No chicken coop for them, they want to see Mom and Dad and their sister Annie.

I love that about them.  This afternoon I went out and sat on the patio chaises.  Of course they immediately ran around the hedge from the west side of the yard to see me.  We chatted and they expressed an interest in some raisins.  We shared a few stories and they ate raisins.  It was so peaceful to just sit with the girls.  Sometimes I think that hens are natures Zanax.

BTW:  A few weeks ago I noticed a wet looking spot under Mabel's chin.  Brought her in the house and sure enough she looked like she had a weeping sore area.  Cal cradled her while I washed it with soap and water then applied Neosporin.  She was calm an let us pet her and talk to her during the process.  What a trooper.  She has always been so sweet.  Anyway it worked like a charm and completely healed in a few days.