Caper lets me know that although there is plenty of edible stuff growing in the pasture, that right near his fence by the barn is luscious clover. He’d like some.

I put the boys on leashes and take them out. The clover is lovely, and there’s lots of it.

So why are they trailing leashes? Don’t they look like they’ll stay put and eat what’s right in front of them?

Nope. Given half a chance, they’d rather eat the Chinese Beech tree.

Back to the barn you go, boys.

Look at what I found in the nesting box. A two-toned egg. It would fit right into a mid-century modern decorating theme, wouldn’t it? I have the urge to go paint a piece of furniture to match it right now.

Someone snuck into the photo shoot. A lady bug! There are two hundred varieties of lady bugs in North America. I have no idea which this one is, but it sure is cute.

I don’t know which hen laid that fancy egg, but I think that I know why. Eggs go through something of an assembly line as they’re being formed. First the yolk is released from the ovary, then the whites and membranes are laid on, and lastly the shell. All the while the egg is moving through the reproductive tract. As the shell is forming, pigment is sprayed on. If the conveyor belt stops at the point where the egg gets it’s color, then that banded effect happens. This egg was laid the day after the chicken keeping workshop. I think that a hen that was about to lay an egg was distracted from her job while the flock had a runaround in the gardens, and were held by the participants. Sometimes when a hen’s schedule is disrupted, or she’s stressed, it will take an extra day to lay that egg. In this case the egg got a special paint job in the process. In all of my years of chicken keeping, I’ve never found such a perfectly two-toned egg. I’ll be blowing it out with this tool and saving it.

For more about pigmentation in eggs, see this post.

Have  you found any decorator eggs lately?

The Beast sees me. She expects food. Who knew a fish could glower from underwater?

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.)