Tags
Beaker, chickens, duh vignettes, eggs, farming, holidays, music, seasons, snow, space-farm continuum
Ever since I was a little kid, whenever it really starts looking seasonal out, the following song goes through my head. As a kid it was just funny – walking ’round in women’s underwear? how silly! – but I love it now that I’m older because, essentially, it’s about proudly and unabashedly cross-dressing (with your co-workers, even!) to a favorite Christmas tune. What’s not to love, am I right?
What I’m trying to say, I guess, is that we woke up to a winter wonderland this morning (and I also happen to be walking ’round in women’s underwear, but that’s a different story).
Snow banks and chicken wagons – the wind was brutal last night and today, and I had to refresh the frozen chicken waterer four times today.
Notice there are no chickens out yet. Smart girls stayed inside and cozy for quite a while this morning.
This is our first cold weather with the chickens, and I was really glad I covered one side of their ventilated roof with a towel. It has been SO windy, the entire coop would have been snowed under!
I also keep hearing that chickens are supposed to slow down or stop producing as daylight hours wane. We assumed we wouldn’t see an egg until the spring thaw, our girls were so… REMEDIAL about the whole thing. Our first chicken laid her first egg one month ago today; Boo followed soon after, then Edgar waited until two days ago. Beaker apparently felt like a total loser for not having laid anything yet, so, on the shortest day of the year, she defied all wisdom and gave me her first little pink egg. I am pretty sure this is proof-positive that our chickens are weirdos. Lovely, endearing weirdos.
12/21/12 – the world didn’t end, and Beaker’s egg laying began.
Go, Beaker, go! They finally braved the cold to scratch around in the straw.
Finally, the latest in the ‘Duh Vignettes’ series relates to selling eggs. We bought a bunch of blank cardboard egg six-packs so we can start selling to friends on a small scale. Since they are blank, I want to spruce the cartons up a bit, and I was lamenting to Chris how ridiculously expensive it is to have your own stamp made via the place I bought the cartons from (really? $45 for my own stamp? that’s cray).
Cue “duh” moment: I Google “custom stamp making,” and come across the following Pinterest board in, like, one of the first links: http://pinterest.com/arteveryday/make-your-own-stamps/. HELLO! I took two block printing classes last year. I have block printing supplies, including corkboard. Block printing is basically creating a giant stamp, for goodness sakes!
Hell, WE TALKED ABOUT MAKING STAMPS IN THE DANG CLASS. What is wrong with me?! So tonight I plan on drawing out a nice little stamp of a chicken silhouette in a space helmet for the tops of our cartons (and maybe a few others). Lovely, right?
So finally, on this last day of work, this first day of winter, and this first blast of cold weather and beautiful snow, I think I’m in the Christmas spirit. Who’s with me?
Fun blog about having hens in the winter.
Thanks very much! Already today is better “chicken weather” – clear skies, no wind, and the girls are happily scratching through the fresh straw in their run. No frozen combs yet!
That song is so funny – I hadn’t heard of it before! LOL!
The pink egg is very sweet… our girls slow down when the days get shorter but I still get one egg most days.
I have no idea where I heard that song as a kid – they must have played it on WGN’s morning shows or something, which my mom listened to religiously (and probably still does).
I love our two Easter Eggers, and I love that they lay different colored eggs. It’s the whole mystery of it, not knowing what color they will lay until they get going.
I love that you guys have multi-colored egg layers. So great! This is the first time I have heard that song… how fuN! Wishing you and your urban farm all the best in the New Year!!! My fingers are crossed for bees. Shazam-Tarah
Chris really wants bees this spring! We shall see – he’s busted out the various beekeeping books we have collected over the last year, so it may be getting serious.
Merry Christmas, lovely!
Yay for Beaker! (What a pretty colour, too) Next time we add a new hen, I want to get a Maran. The guy we bought Ginger and Scruffy from also breeds Marans, and they lay dark chocolate brown coloured eggs.
Watched a documentary last night, Vegucated, and there is some hard-core footage of factory farmed chickens and eggs in there (I was in tears – I will NEVER buy a chicken from a grocery store ever again), so I think it’s fabulous that you’re able to sell some eggs to your friends. I wish we could do the same, but our girls are being jerks and not laying a damn thing. Hopefully now that the light is returning, our eggs will, too.
Happy holidays!
I have a really hard time watching documentaries like that – I could hardly stand Food, Inc., and that’s a fairly commonly watched one, I think. A friend posted a picture to Facebook the other day of leghorns in a factory farm setup – row upon row of caged leghorns – and all I could think of was our own little leghorn, Boo. Thousands of Boos, all crammed in, one on top of the other.
Gosh, this is a downer of a reply! HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you, too – I hope they have been excellent!