Great Spangled Fritillary on Eastern Painted Coneflower
Coneflower
Stokesia Purple Parasol
Blue Clips Bellflower
Hydrangea
Endless Summer Hydrangea
Butterfly Bush
In Bloom Now
Yearly Archives: 2012
Koi Stink Eye
The Beast sees me. She expects food. Who knew a fish could glower from underwater?
Chicken Tote Giveaway!
Feeding chickens is so easy. You go to the local feed store and purchase a 50 pound bag of laying hen feed. You put the pellets into a hanging galvanized container which the chickens peck at throughout the day. It’s good for your hens to get greens, too, but they’ll stay quite healthy when the bulk of their diet is from those tidy pellets.
It hasn’t always been like this. In the 19th century you couldn’t purchase bags of complete rations. My favorite chicken manual is a charming little book titled The Biggle Book of Poultry. It first came out in 1895 and has this to say about chicken feed: “On every egg farm there should be a large boiler or steam cooker for cooking vegetables and making compounds of meat, ground grain and vegetables.” That makes me appreciate being able to buy a bag of pellets at the Agway!
By the 1920s grain mills were marketing bags of chicken feed.
It wasn’t hard to convince the small flock owner of the convenience of this product. By the Depression, competition for customers was fierce and money was tight. Cloth sacks were printed with patterns that the frugal homemaker turned into aprons, dresses and curtains.
But, today’s feed bags are made out of either paper, which gets thrown out, or plastic which can not go into the recycling bin (at least not here, it’s a type of plastic that my center doesn’t take.) But, the graphics on the bags are vivid, and the material is sturdy and waterproof and yet flexible. I loathe to throw them out. So, I turn the feed bags into tote bags. Some I sell at the local farmers market. One I am giving away here!
Note the grommets to strengthen the straps.
To enter, simply tell me here what you would put in the bag. You can enter a second time on FaceBook – simply click “like” on this post in FB. You can enter a THIRD time by forwarding the post to your FB friends. If you’re not a FaceBook friend, do become one! I post photos there that you don’t see at HenCam. I’ve got a busy week – it’s Brimfield again, and I’ll be looking for more finds to post on The Vintage Hen – so I’ll let this contest run through Friday, July 13. The contest will close at 9 PM EDT. I value my international friends, so, yes, I’ll ship this to anywhere in the world! Good-luck!
Up-date- this contest is closed and was won by Stephanie in AZ.
The Workshop
On Saturday, the weather prediction was for a stifling hot day, but although it was humid, it was cloudy and the temperature didn’t rise above 90 degrees F. Perhaps it was this moderate weather that put all of the Backyard Chicken Keeping Workshop participants in a good mood. Or maybe it was the relaxing meandering around the gardens before we got started.
In any event, they seemed a content group while on the porch, listening to what I had to say about chicken keeping. Then again, maybe it was the iced tea and cookies. 
After the lecture, I took the group out to the barns to see firsthand how I feed, water and care for the hens. The goats don’t understand why they’re not part of the class, and do their best to distract everyone, even head-butting to get attention.
The hens were let out to free-range so everyone could see how destructive helpful they are in the gardens. Next comes the favorite part of the class – I call the hens back. They come running. And then whoever wants to, can hold a chicken.
The next workshop here is on Saturday, August 4 at 1 pm. Sign-up here (scroll down for the listing.)
Good Broody / Bad Broody
Pearl and Beryl are both broody.
Both are fluffed up and hot. Both think that they have to hunker down in a nesting box in order to incubate (non-existent) eggs. But that’s where the similarity ends.
Beryl is in an angry, bad mood.
Pearl sits placidly on the nest.
Beryl can’t bear to be moved. When I let the hens out to free-range, I disentangle the two broodies from their boxes and toss them outside, too. Beryl chrrrrs in frustration and runs back inside. Pearl goes for a stroll and takes a half-hour to scratch and eat.
Broody Pearl on an outing.
Then Pearl takes a dust bath.
Eventually Pearl returns to her nesting box and gently settles her fluff and heft back down. Meanwhile, Beryl, in her crazed state, has shoved Ruby out of a box and has smashed an egg before settling in.
And that is why, although Pearl is not laying, that I will leave her be. She is the perfect broody. If my coops weren’t full, I’d get her some chicks to raise. Beryl is the bad broody. She is now in the anti-broody coop.
She’s eating with gusto, rattling her feathers and chuck-chucking the entire time. It’s been two days and I’ve noticed a slight change. I’m hoping that she’ll be back on the roost with the others tonight. Or tomorrow.
If you want to know more about this condition, I’ve posted a new FAQ about broody hens. Who’s broody in your coop?
