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Bunny architecture – HenBlog – Wednesday, January 21, 2009

You’ve probably been watching Candy napping in the coop, or sunbathing in her hutch. Perhaps you think that she sleeps as much as a cat! However, she’s been very busy in a part of the run that is just out of the camera’s view. Candy has made this snow nest: And she has made this tunnel: Right now it’s the “road to nowhere.” It doesn’t lead to food. It doesn’t lead to a protective shelter. These constructions are how she plays in the snow; just like children build snow forts, Candy makes tunnels and nests. I imagine she’d like to...

Egg Laying in Winter – HenBlog – Monday, January 19, 2009

Early in the Fall the hens begin to molt. Like leaves falling, it’s not all at once, but little by little. Some start in August, some in October. The girls look scraggly. Then they grow in aptly-named “pin feathers” (which look like short porcupine quills). Finally, they fluff out, hopefully in time to have a nice feather coat for the winter cold. During the molt they stop laying; their energy goes into feather-making. With winter, the daylight hours shorten and the temperatures drop. All of this triggers the “don’t lay!” button on the hens. Before there was heat and electricity,...

BRRR! – HenBlog – Friday, January 16, 2009

It was -10 degrees Fahrenheit this morning (thats -23 Celsius!) The girls in the big barn are fine. The bunny isn’t fazed. But the party girls (the little white leghorns) looked cold. My husband hung a heat lamp. It’s causing quite a bit of consternation in the coop. Lulu, the adventuress, has no qualms about warming her head. It’s blocking their favorite nesting box, so Marge is looking into other accommodations, and is checking out the lower boxes. She’s fussing around in them as if they are totally new to the coop. Placid Buffy is taking a nap. Very little...

Tillie at the Bookstore – HenBlog – Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Despite the snowstorm, about two dozen people came to the Concord Bookshop to meet Tillie on Sunday. There was champagne and cookies. I made these: I found these adorable gummy “fried eggs” at a store. Who could resist? I read Tillie Lays an Egg to a rapt audience. And then “Tillie” (you know her as Eggers on Hencam) greeted everyone. Eggers was absolutely fine away from her flock mates. The store was warm and interesting and she ate a lot of corn. She likes being a star. Isn’t my skirt just the best? “Tillie” and I will be visiting more...

Good Reading – HenBlog – Monday, January 12, 2009

I love a book with chickens in it, but I’m very fussy. I want the chickens to have their innate chickeness intact. I don’t want a human character dressed up in feathers. And I don’t want the chicken to stray too far from what a chicken would really do. I’ve a carefully edited selection on my chickenkeeping.com site. Yesterday, Sonja Bolle, writing in her column in The LA Times, had her own opinionated take on good chicken books. I was thrilled that she included Tillie! Her list was somewhat different than mine, though we agreed on a number of books....

Ice and Snow – HenBlog – Thursday, January 8, 2009

This is what my vegetable garden looks like. I never did get around to harvesting the rutabagas. Alma looks outside but that’s as far as she goes. It looks like snow, but after yesterday’s rains and today’s freezing temperatures, that white stuff is a block of ice. Scooter doesn’t break through, but it’s hard on Lily’s paws. So, in the midst of all of this cold white stuff, that makes it almost impossible to be outside, what appears in my mailbox? Boy, do those marketers know what they’re doing....

Year End Accounting – HenBlog – Monday, January 5, 2009

Over the last year my backyard flock varied in numbers from 12 to 16. Some hens were older, some were too young to lay. Some laid eggs everyday in the summer, others went broody. A few were sick. Sadly, some died. Still, the girls managed to produce 1,874 eggs! Around here, eggs from pastured hens sell for about $4.00 per dozen. Minus some eggs that were cracked, or dirty, or just plain weird, I figure that the hens laid almost $600 worth of eggs in 2008. I suppose that they paid their own way, but I refuse to add up...

What I Did Over My Vacation – HenBlog – Saturday, January 3, 2009

Happy New Year! I’ve had quite the break from the goings on here at Little Pond Farm. My two sons, my husband and I went to Rome for a week! I drank a lot of very good cappuccino. In between the eating (my sons are now addicted to gelato,) we also walked and walked. Rome is so OLD. Here in New England, a house is considered historic if it was constructed 250 years ago. In Rome, that’s nothing. At the Roman Forum, the cobblestones have ruts made by wagon wheels from 2000 years ago. The highlight of the trip was...

Truth in Blogging – HenBlog – Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Like writing in a diary, blogging is an edited keyhole into a larger life. I don’t ever lie in this blog, but I confess that I’ve omitted some things. Sometimes, looking back, like at yesterday’s blog, I think that I’ve painted too narrow, too didactic, a picture. Notice how I even did that nostalgic photoshop effect around the photo of Main Street? It is absolutely true that I love shopping in this little town, but I do shop elsewhere. Yesterday, my teenager bought clothes at Kohl’s. I buy sheets at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I’ve bought dog food at Petco,...

Say No to Malls – HenBlog – Tuesday, December 23, 2008

I am lucky enough to live 6 miles from this small town. Looks like a picture-postcard New England tourist town, doesn’t it? But, there are still useful stores – a hardware store, a cheese shop, a bookstore, a shoe shop. There’s also a gallery that sells the most gorgeous jewelry (useful in its own way!) We get our share of out-of-towners (Walden Pond is nearby), but a town like this survives only because the locals support it. My husband and son are there picking up last minute gifts. I just came back. No, the sweater I got my husband wasn’t...

Snow! – HenBlog – Monday, December 22, 2008

Santa will certainly have easy sleighing in my neighborhood. Nineteen inches of new snow is on the ground, and on rooftops, and in the chicken’s yards….. Candy is delighted. The chickens are not. We’ve shoveled an area for them in the run, but they refuse to go outside. Smart birds. It’s 15 degrees F. out today, and very windy. Several of the hens are at the end of their molt and are a tad naked, poor things. But, it’s cozy and draft-free in the coop. The waterer is on a heating pad (specially made for chicken barns), so it never...

Joy and Zoomies – HenBlog – Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Scooter took one look at the snow and zipped around the yard in gleeful circles. That little dog is fast! Lily ran big loops around the coops and behind the vegetable garden. Candy hopped patterns into the snow and then planted herself in it, satisfied. They were each expressing JOY in their own ways. Am I reading into their behavior emotions that only humans know? Am I guilty of anthropomorphism? I don’t think so. A growing body of research shows that animals have emotions – you can document it in their brain chemistry. It is wrong, though, to apply human...

Wild Weather – HenBlog – Tuesday, December 16, 2008

New England weather is known for its changeability, but recently we’ve outdone ourselves. Last week was bitter cold. A touch of snow. Then warmth and mud. Then torrential rain. Then ice storms. Now it’s dreary gray and chilly. My little piece of land has been spared the devastation just ten miles north of here, where snapping, crashing tree limbs brought power lines down. The hens are fine in freezing weather, and their coops are snug against chilling breezes. But, I worry about them getting wet and muddy. If the ground doesn’t freeze up soon, I’ll put down a some hay...

Hencam Explained – HenBlog – Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Have you tried to explain what it is about Hencam that has you checking in on the girls numerous times during the day? Do you have friends who just don’t get it? This article was posted on the L.A. Examiner web site yesterday. It perfectly captures the spirit of what Hencam is all about....

Who Likes Snow? – HenBlog – Monday, December 8, 2008

Have you noticed the dusting of snow on the ground here at Little Pond Farm? The party girls – Eggers, Coco and Betsy have. These little bantams have a harder time keeping warm than the larger hens (I think it has to do with body mass in proportion to skin area – sort of like toy dogs.) They go outside for the cracked corn in the morning, but spend most of their time in the coop on the roosts. The big girls stay inside while the snow is coming down – no chicken likes to get wet/cold – but otherwise...

NYC – HenBlog – Thursday, December 4, 2008

I’ve been a tad busy and unable to blog. First was the pie party. What delicious fun! Tonight my family consumed the last of the leftovers (and there’s still pie in the freezer!) A favorite was the Pear and Cranberry Tart (seasoned with a splash of good brandy) in an Almond Shortbread Crust. Guests with a serious sweet tooth loved the Peanut Butter Chiffon. Those with a savory bent ate up the Russian Onion Pie. As always, each person ate about a half pie per person. They all denied that they’d eaten so much – but the empty pie tins...

Winter Chores – HenBlog – Monday, November 24, 2008

I used to take care of a barn full of horses. I’ve worked in stables that were swept, mucked out and tidied. Tack gleamed. It was a full-time job. My chickens don’t need any of that, but old habits die hard. I use a fine-tined pitch fork to scoop out droppings. I take a broom to the cobwebs. I scrub the waterers clean. Since the coop is near my back door and right next to my neighbor’s driveway, these are good habits. Still, even an over-the-top caretaker like me puts only minutes a day into chicken care. It feels like...

Pie Party Menu – HenBlog – Tuesday, November 18, 2008

We had snow showers yesterday and this morning there is a hard frost on the ground. This is classic Thanksgiving weather here in New England. I love Thanksgiving – the crowd of people in the house, the smells of so many different food being cooked and that moment of thankfulness for all of it. But I don’t have a large family to have Thanksgiving with and so it is a small affair here at Little Pond Farm. I missed the abundance and craziness. I miss the cooking! So, several years ago I started my own Thanksgiving tradition- my Pie Party....

Coco Joins the Flock – HenBlog – Tuesday, November 11, 2008

It’s always a challenge introducing a pullet to an established flock. Because my chickens are different sizes, ages and breeds (and currently in different phases of molt), there’s a lot of jostling establishing pecking order. It’s not as easy as introducing the new hen and saying, “play nice girls.” I have two flocks that live separately, except for when they roam the lawn together, and even then they don’t mingle much. The hens in the big barn are more assertive. In my experience, Barred Rocks and Wyandottes do not tolerate bantams, and that observation rang true this week. I let...

Bunny ZZZs – HenBlog – Thursday, November 6, 2008

Yesterday was warm and sunny. I decided to give Candy a treat of rutabaga tops, pulled fresh from my garden. Candy was in her hutch, where she likes to sun-bathe. Usually, even if Candy is relaxing, she looks up when I come near. Rabbits are prey animals. Even a confident and safe bunny like Candy stays on the alert. I stepped into the run and the hens all got excited and noisy. (Out? they said. Corn? Leftover spaghetti?) Candy didn’t move. Now I was concerned. She was lying on her side, all four feet and part of her belly showing....

Meet Coco – HenBlog – Monday, November 3, 2008

I have a new Bantam White Leghorn! She has been named Coco – short for Coconut. Right now she is as white as freshly flaked coconut, but soon, in with the backyard birds, she’ll bathe in the dirt and be brown like the outside of a coconut. I’ve been looking for another hen that not only had the same physical exterior, but also that same look in the eye as my beloved Snowball. There were more than a dozen little white pullets at the poultry show yesterday: See the pullet in the first cage? That’s Coco. She won a blue...

Molt – HenBlog – Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Yesterday was the first day since last January that I didn’t collect a single egg. There’s a number of reasons for this lack of production – the primary one being that the hens are molting (or moulting as it is spelled in Great Britain). Once a year, usually in the Autumn (though there’s always one hen to prove this rule wrong) hens lose their feathers, look terribly scraggly and bare, and then grow a new coat. These new feathers, are appropriately called pins or quills, because that’s just what they look like! Never fear, they will unfurl into a lovely...

But Does She Lay Eggs? – HenBlog – Tuesday, October 21, 2008

A Hencam viewer sent me this pic this morning. Speaking of characters… people tend to select the breed of chicken they want by looks and egg color. But, if you have backyard chickens you quickly learn that beauty goes beyond skin deep! Just like there’s more to the difference between a Great Dane and a Rat Terrier than size, there’s more to the difference between, say, an Orpington and a bantam White Leghorn than feather color. Breeds vary, among other things, by activity level, boldness, broodiness. Then there are the individual animals in a class by themselves. I have 13...

Pies – HenBlog – Thursday, October 16, 2008

Fallen maple leaves blanket my front lawn. The farmers’ market season is almost over, but it seems as if all of the vendors have bushels of apples, and that means it’s PIE SEASON. Around here, we have a number of apple varieties that are perfect for baking, including Cortlands and Baldwins. But, really, any apple will do. All year, I collect recipes from magazines and cookbooks and then I don’t use them. I can’t help myself; there’s really only one way that I like to make an apple pie and I will share it with you here: I make my...

Odd Eggs – HenBlog – Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Here’s a short synopsis of how an egg is made: a yolk is released from the hen’s oviduct. As it winds its way down various tubes, the yolk is surrounded by white, then membranes, then the shell and then the protective cuticle. The hen, now ready to lay, sits in her nesting box and pushes out the egg. She chuckles in a proud way, and then usually (unless she is broody) goes back outside to enjoy her day. This entire process takes about 25 hours and hens under two years old tend to do it day after day (older hens...

I Fell in Love… – HenBlog – Wednesday, October 8, 2008

…with these goats at the Fryeburg Fair last weekend: They are Nigerian Dwarf Goats; the breed is a mini-version of a dairy goat. About 50 years ago dwarf goats were imported to the States from Africa. Two lines have developed from that original stock. One is barrel-chested and stocky and used widely in petting zoos. I hear that they are escape artists, bossy, mischievous. Fun, but too much trouble. The other line is used on small homesteads that want to have just enough milk for a family. These goats, though still with that humorous goat-nature, are more docile. They’re also,...

The Chickens' Good Day – HenBlog – Thursday, October 2, 2008

The weather forecast for the next several days is cloudy but NO rain. We are giddy here. It’s blustery, chilly and windy, yet we’re all smiling and saying, “isn’t it lovely?” I am hoping that the green tomatoes still clinging to the plants will ripen. To help them along, I decided to cut off all the excess foliage and clear away the rotting pieces. Let the sun in to dry out those plants! Most of my garden is done for the winter though, I’ve got a good patch of rutabagas and I’m slowly harvesting carrots – none of which will...

Too Wet – HenBlog – Wednesday, October 1, 2008

My lawn is usually parched and bare because it is in full sun and I don’t water. But what’s growing there this year? These: Yes, it’s been so wet (and dreary and soggy… and, okay… I’ll stop whining) that mushrooms are growing in my lawn. We justifiably brag about Fall color in New England. Depending on the weather (and the species you’re looking at) the leaves change to reds, oranges and yellow. One year, due to perfect conditions, the wetlands in my neighborhood were purple! This year I see this in the maple tree outside my office window: and this...

Moving Day – HenBlog – Sunday, September 28, 2008

Candy’s hutch has been around the corner of the barn, in the shade. This keeps her cool in the summer. But in the winter, she likes to sunbathe in the morning, so we move the hutch about six feet so that it gets the first warm rays of the day. You’ll see more of Candy now. You’ll also see more of the hens – in wet weather they stay sheltered under the hutch. They’d rather be there than indoors (except for the smart and more delicate bantam leghorns who know better and stay inside.) Since the weather forecast for the...

What Chickens Don't Eat – HenBlog – Wednesday, September 24, 2008

One of the joys of keeping chickens is that they make a big happy fuss about things that you hate – like grubs and Japanese Beetles. And they eat kitchen scraps, like leftover pasta and carrot tops and apple cores. So, when they don’t eat something, it’s a big letdown. My hens refuse to eat my worst garden pest – sawfly larvae. These nasty caterpillars decimate my favorite birch tree that graces the front walk. Not only do the larvae scream a warning with their yellow and black coloring, but they do a backwards curl and wiggle their nasty feet...

Laying Eggs in the Winter – HenBlog – Monday, September 22, 2008

It’s chilly, sweater-weather today. We’re not getting many eggs, only four to five a day from our thirteen hens. Some are molting, losing their old feathers and growing a thick feather coat for the winter. Others are simply older, less productive hens. I didn’t sell any eggs this week at the town’s farmers’ market. I’m keeping them all for myself. Hens need about fourteen hours of light to lay. We’ll be several hours shy of that in a month or two. I’ve heard that they don’t need much light – a small 15 watt bulb will do. Put it on...

Rabbit Jokes – HenBlog – Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Here’s the latest in bunny humor: At dusk when the chickens are milling in and out of the coop, settling down, then deciding to come out for one last scratch, then going back in, then fussing over who roosts where, Candy, with studied nonchalance, hops up the ramp to the coop and parks herself sideways in the little doorway. No chickens can come in. No chickens can come back out. The girls are flustered. What to do? They cluck, they complain, they peer at the obstacle. Candy doesn’t move but her twitching nose gives her away. She is enjoying herself...

Sure Sign of Fall – HenBlog – Friday, September 12, 2008

This, is of course, a classic harbinger of Autumn: Sunflowers, too, speak of the end of summer: But, here at Little Pond Farm, the surest sign of Fall is a scruffy, shedding, messy bunny. Candy is losing her summer coat and growing in her warm winter one. Doesn’t she look awful? She teases the chickens so that they’ll peck her and help her shed. But, after one mouthful of fur, they won’t do it again! By the way, don’t her ears look better? The lotion from my vet really worked....

When Packaging is Everything – HenBlog – Monday, September 8, 2008

I love going into fancy gourmet shops, where there are a world of cheeses. I have a weakness for jars of fruit preserves, especially for ones filled with combinations, like nectarines and apricots, or anything with rhubarb. Many of these shops are tiny and the best have edited their selections to the most unique and beautiful products. I get the best ideas! Next year I will grow brussel sprouts and kale to use in floral arrangements! But sometimes the goods are too precious and too expensive. Silly, really. Look what I saw today: Six eggs, mostly from bantams, in a...

How I Saved Eleanor – HenBlog – Monday, September 1, 2008

Not quite two weeks ago, I noticed that Eleanor, the Barred Rock, was limping. Sometimes hens sprain a muscle jumping off roosts. I didn’t worry about her. But the next day she was moving even more stiffly, so I picked her up and examined her. This is what I saw: Her bottom was red, swollen, hot and had feather loss. I immediately put her in an isolation stall to keep the other hens from pecking at the red skin, and so that I could treat her. Also, a chicken’s droppings are the best way to diagnose what is wrong. Keeping...

The Art of Seeing – HenBlog – Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I’ve been using my garden to teach me the art of observation. If I didn’t, there wouldn’t be much garden left! Yesterday I noticed that the rutabaga leaves were chomped. I looked, but didn’t see anything other than caterpillar poop. I looked again. Turned the leaves over. Swatted a mosquito. Looked again. Finally, my eyes focused. Rather like those 3-D pictures that you have to look cross-eyed at to see the image hidden in the squiggles or the drawings in Highlights Magazine for Children that have things like toothbrushes hidden in tree bark. Once I saw, really saw the leaves,...

Quote – HenBlog – Friday, August 22, 2008

I’ve been reading, “Hit By A Farm” about an urban couple who decide to buy land in the country and farm. Here is my favorite line: I should have realized what the future held the day I looked up and caught her giving me a dreamy look from across the kitchen table. Touched, I reached over and took her hand in mine. She squeezed it gently, and said, “God, I love chickens.”...

Tillie! – HenBlog – Thursday, August 21, 2008

I’m quite exited to show you the cover of my picture book, Tillie Lays an Egg. Yes, that’s Snowball. Her name was changed to Tillie for the book. It was a marketing decision, and I’m fine with that. Rather like how Lassie wasn’t really “Lassie.” In fact, Lassie was a boy (well, several boys.) At least Tillie/Snowball is a hen! The book has already been reviewed on-line. One reviewer said that the book was “hilarious” and “a hoot” and another said that I’m “very slightly chicken-mad.” Slightly???? Tillie Lays an Egg will be available in January. You can check it...

Harvest Time – HenBlog – Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A cold front moved through this afternoon and all of a sudden it is goose-bump chilly, breezy, sunny harvest weather. I picked over a hundred peaches from this little tree. My fenced vegetable garden is behind the tree. Good-sized but not huge. I have raised beds, and pathways that take up a lot of what could be growing space. But it is a comfortable garden to work in and gives me plenty of produce. This time of year it seems like too much! You can’t set it aside. It’s ripe. It’s ready to be eaten or cooked or preserved in...

Weather Whine – HenBlog – Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I haven’t posted in the last few days because if I had, all that I would have written would have been a rant about the daily downpours, the window rattling from thunder, the soggy mess, the clouds of mosquitoes, the tomatoes bursting not with flavor, but swollen from water, the miserable basil complaining that they’re Mediterranean plants and not meant to have muddy roots. There. Boring, isn’t it? But, today it is SUNNY and I hope that by evening I’ll have a ripe tomato. The one plant that has exuberantly greeted the daily deluges is the Golden Hubbard Squash. This...

Maggot Misperceptions – HenBlog – Friday, August 8, 2008

(If you haven’t already, read the August 1 blog first.) Several people have written to tell me that they’ve also had a hen literally burst from maggots. We’ve all shared that same sense of guilt. How could one of our doted-on hens harbor such horrors without us knowing? I still can’t find anything written about hens with maggots in their vents. However, myiasis (the techincial term for maggot infestation) or “fly strike” as it is called in England, is well-known by sheepherders and other farmers. Here’s why it seems to come on so suddenly – once the fly lays her...

The Broody Hen and the Bunny – HenBlog – Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Broody hens looks so content and motherly, fluffed up on their nests. Just DO NOT disturb them. That puts them in a BAD mood. A broody hen in a bad mood wants to take it out on someone. But not on someone that might peck back. They still respect the pecking order. A broody hen in a bad mood is likely to do something that that very same hen, if not broody and if not in a bad mood would never do – like attack the innocent rabbit. Eggers has been broody for weeks. She sits on everyone else’s eggs...

Friendly or Lazy? – HenBlog – Monday, August 4, 2008

Here is a photo of me weeding the rocks around the little pond. Note my companions. Marge is clucking loudly. Lulu is skittering around. Ginger is looking intently at what I’m doing. Looks like a friendly bunch of, what Celia calls under-gardeners, doesn’t it? However, I’m not sure if they’re not simply lazy. They let me do the digging and then they snap up the bugs. This plot of earth yielded little for them to eat, so soon they were on their way, finding yummier things in the grass near the house. As Marge left, she complained loudly that I...

Perrie – HenBlog – Friday, August 1, 2008

We had to put Perrie down today. Knowing when you can’t fix things isn’t always obvious. For example, Buffy is a miracle; I was sure she’d be dead by now. But, it was worth trying to see if TLC could help. Now, she’s standing and eating and a full member of the flock! I’m willing to feed hens that aren’t producing. Isolate them. Care for them. But sometimes, the right thing to do is to do them in. That was the case with Perrie. Perrie hadn’t laid one of her beautiful blue eggs for about a month. I thought that...

Caution with Beetles! – HenBlog – Tuesday, July 29, 2008

I haven’t blogged in six days because for a good chunk of that I’ve been sleeping off medication. Any drug that cautions, “don’t drive, may cause drowsiness” puts me out for hours, so I don’t take even the mildest medication unless I really have to. Last week, not long after posting the July 21 blog about Japanese Beetles, I picked one of them off my peach tree to feed to Edwina (who was watching and waiting). The beetle shoved it’s hind leg barb into my thumb. Quite the effective defensive move. Much to Edwina’s chagrin, I tossed the beetle in...

Velvet Ears – HenBlog – Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Candy’s ears are healed and are now as soft as velvet. A cliche, I know, but there are reasons why we use cliches – there are times when they are perfectly descriptive. A fine fur coat is growing where for months there had been dry, scaly, reddened skin. Her ears really do feel like expensive velvet ribbon. I think that Candy must be much more comfortable. Her eye isn’t teary anymore either. All better! For the last week while having the medication applied, Candy was kept in a stall in the big barn. She had plenty of room to hop,...

Feeding Beetles – HenBlog – Monday, July 21, 2008

Before I had kids, I’d watch parents finish off melting, half-eaten ice cream cones that their toddlers handed them, and I’d think, ewww, I’ll never do that. Of course, I have. Before I had chickens, I’d never have willingly picked up a Japanese Beetle. Some bugs are pretty. These aren’t. Some bugs are nicely tickly, like inchworms. These have scratchy, prickly feet. But, my hens love to eat them, and I want to feed them to the girls. Organic pest control AND a free source of protein (have you seen the cost of chicken feed lately?) The Japanese Beetles like...

Bunny in a Sock – HenBlog – Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Candy’s left eye has been teary and I haven’t been able to solve the dry, irritated ear-skin problem, so I took her to the vet last night. Luckily, Dr. Mead has evening hours when it’s cooler and less stressful to transport a rabbit. I have a small dog crate that I fill with her favorite fragrant timothy hay and she travels quite nicely in it. Although Candy likes to be pet, it is all on her terms. When she wants a head scratch, she’ll sit at the edge of her hutch near the door. If she doesn’t want to be...

Chicken Feet – HenBlog – Monday, July 14, 2008

My chickens spend a lot of time scratching in dirt, which gives their feet a natural pedicure. I’ve never thought about it much, until my husband noticed how long Buffy’s toenails were. So long that they were starting to curl. Buffy, as many of you know, has a mystery ailment that has weakened her legs so that she isn’t strong enough to scratch. The hard-packed sandy, gritty dirt of the yard has not been her emory board. So, yesterday, I got out the clippers that I use on my dogs (specially made for long round nails) and I trimmed Buffy’s...

The Great Strawberry Mystery – HenBlog – Thursday, July 10, 2008

I have a good-sized strawberry patch in front of my raspberry bushes. A native blueberry bush shades the corner of it. For more than a week there have been white fruits. I wait for them to ripen. Every morning I go out and am disappointed. What I find are empty caps. No fruits, red, white, pink or otherwise. There are no teeth marks from nibbling rabbits and no chewed leaves implicating bugs. But the berries are gone. What/who is taking my berries? Any ideas? Perhaps I have to set up a berrycam to discover the culprit?...