The Birds and The Bees

     Some news from over here at 6024 Chicken Lane:  As we head into fall, I am pleased to say that all the nurturing and care have finally paid off, and the girls have started to lay eggs!!!   The whole process has been a bit herky-jerky.
     To start, they sure took their sweet time.  Brandis and I have been searching high and low, wondering if they were accidentally laying out in the bamboo, or in some other spot.  To complicate matters, the Welsummers and the Easter Eggers (namely 4 out of the 5 new girls) are rather avid flyers, and fly up onto Brandis' roof almost daily, and go on walkabout daily as well.

From left to right:  Patty, Dottie, Peanut and Hazel

     So who knows?  Maybe they were doing their laying while on walkabout, being too dim to think of returning to the coop where a nice nesting box, nay 2 nesting boxes, lay waiting for their pleasure.  We started looking in the more expanded garden. 

     But it didn't make sense.  The rains had started, and the earth was pretty damp, not exactly good nesting areas to be found.  And then, voila!  A brown egg, in the coop, even if it wasn't in the box.  And then another, accidentally on the ground on the other side of the fence!  It has been a bit of a challenge to determine, but we are pretty sure that both Hazel and Dottie are laying, and at least Patty but probably also Peanut.  The goofy thing there is that the eggs of Patty and Peanut should be a bit different looking, and thus far the Easter Egger color seems identical.  And Calamity Jane, being 2 weeks younger, has not yet done the deed.  We have found them in both coops, in varying locales, so there is yet to be a steady habit.  But eggs we do have.  

     

   
     Not a moment too soon, as well.  I am ruined for life, and hope to never have to buy store bought eggs again, and just as these girls are starting in, the older ladies are all starting to molt.  This is a yearly event, and coincides with a complete hiatus from laying eggs.  So nothing happening there.  Indeed, only Juliet doesn't look silly in some way, and Emma is downright pathetic!

      On another front, I went to visit my friend Tim today, and see his bee hive.  This is another topic of urban homesteading that has interested me for a long time.  I haven't had the courage to dive in completely, but Tim has, and is in his 3rd year.  His bees produce quite the honey haul, and the whole process is fascinating.  I would need to educate myself quite a bit to undertake this project, and the logistics of building another item this winter is definitely out.  But then again, one never knows.....
I am sure there are more than a few of my friends who are wondering if I have gone off into a whole new realm of insanity here, but who cares?  It makes me happy.
     In the interim, the bigger question is whether to try harder to contain the flying chickens, who, while rather entertaining in their traveling habits, would be easier to track if they were not so adventurous.  For that matter, is it even possible?   We shall see.

 Something about mites, and hops

     Coming soon, I am working on multiple canning projects, and starting to bake:  pumpkin bread with chocolate chips today (needs tweaking), and a foray into gluten free items (a work in progress).