We quack ourselves up.

These little gals are our new addition to the farm and will be living in our garden. We have a little duck truck for them. They don't have names just yet, but I'm sure something will come to me soon. The one not standing in the food dish is the off spring of my friend Meredithe's duck Penelope and Scurbles. Scurbles disappeared one day and a day later Penelope went broody. Since she was broody we took a few on my chicken eggs and put them under her. She successfully hatched one of the chicken eggs and we now refer to the little peeper as Chuck. After a few days she gave up on her clutch and decided Chuck was all she needed. Meredith took the remaining duck eggs and one hatched. So he is going to keep Chuck and I'm taking the duck. I went to the local feed store and got her a friend so she's not lonely. They are getting along great and growing so fast. I'm looking forward to offering Duck eggs to my customers and also learning about another animal. So much to learn and enjoy in life. We are so lucky...or are we now Ducky?

Spread the word, spread the love, Be A Good Egg.

It's been toooooo long

This spring has been ridiculously wet. The chickens are not very happy, but I'm sure they are happy that it's not snowing. Lots of new things have been happening around the farm. We've installed chicken proof fencing around the veggie garden and a new gate for the driveway, which also keeps our curious girls from roaming and ending up on Thompson's Farm. Our Barn Owls had four owlets this year and they have fledged and are in training mode. The screeching at night is amazing...beautiful, but so creepy. The chickens and owls live in harmony. The owls look down from their perch high in the barn and the chickens go about their business not actually knowing there is a raptor watching over them. It's when the owl gets spooked and flies to a new location that the chickens freak out. It's all OK in the end and they have been living together for 4 years now without a problem.

I recently found a great new website for chicken lovers, The City Chicken. I was also introduced to a wonderful zen experience available on the net, Chicken Cams. A fellow artist and lover of chickens told me when she is having a bad day she goes to the chicken cam and watches. There is nothing like the carefree simple life of a chicken to make all things right in the world.

Remember to Spread the word. Spread the Love and Be A Good Egg.

A good year it was

So 2010 is here, but 2009 was a good one. My goal for my little egg selling project was to raise $150 for 2009. The girls came through and we ended up donating $165 to Heifer International. I went with 5 donations of chickens and the rest to where ever it is needed most.

I'm planning on adding a few new layers this year to keep production going. The winter months are very slim on eggs, but they are stilling running around enjoying life on the farm.

A huge Thank you to all my loyal customers. My girls work for you.

Remember to do for others when you can, it feels good even when it is something small and a lot of times the small things you do for others are the most important.

Spread the word, spread the love and BE A GOOD EGG!

P.S. the picture is of Meadow and William. Meadow loves to guard eggs so sometimes we just put a few in the grass and leave her in charge. She won't let the other dogs or chickens near them.

I thought I was clever

I thought I was being cute and clever by calling my blog Be A Good Egg, but there is a charity in the UK that goes by that name. Originally I just wanted to call my blog Good Egg, but someone else had that and wasn't doing anything with it. So now I find out that there is a nice group in the UK that raises money to buy chickens and they are called Be A Good Egg. Of course I am not actually upset because we are both doing really great things for those who have much less then we do. My operation is a much smaller scale, but helping just one family is still help. Also, I wanted to use this blog as a way to point out different charities or ways you can get involved in your community and make a difference to others. So check out Be A Good Egg and other charities on this blog and try to find the one that works best for you. Of course let me know about it so I can post it for others to learn about.

Remember...Spread the word, spread the love and Be A Good Egg!

But summer went on

Our experiment was not successful. My broody Australorp decided she had enough for being cooped up, pardon the pun, and went for a walk about. She abandoned the eggs, including the duck egg, she had under her for about 20 days. It just was not meant to be. She is back to laying delicious eggs and sales are doing great. The last time I counted our fund we already met my goal of $150 and we still have lots of year left. Way to go girls!

Speaking of good causes...have you heard of Empty Bowls? Wikipedia has it defined as “Empty Bowls” is an international project to fight hunger, personalized by artists and art organizations on a community level". If you Google it you will find lots of local Empty Bowls events. This is a great way to do something small and make a big difference. The Oregon Potters Association is a good example of a group of artists raising money for the hungry. Their event happens in conjunction with the Waterfront Blues Festival every year. Take a look around for these events in your area.

Spread the word, spread the love and Be A Good Egg!!!

-The showcased chicken today is Stacey. She is an '05 Araucana that likes to make a lot of noise, but is a consistant layer, even after all these years.

Crossing our fingers

Yesterday I got the sad news that a good friends Khaki Campbell duck, Stonkelbonk, was killed by a raccoon. Her mate Goober is devastated. She laid an egg the morning of the attack and last night we placed it under my Australorp, Teri, who is broody and we'll hope for the best. It's a long shot, but maybe Stonkelbonk and Goober's love will live on. I've read that the incubation period is 28 days. This puts us around the 16th of July. Cross your fingers and let's hope Mother Nature works her magic and gives us a lovly Khaki.

Remember to Be A Good Egg!!!

Chasing bugs

The summer season is moving right along and we are having fun on the farm. Sadly we have lost two chickens this year to either a hawk or coyote. Not a lot of evidence to support a theory of either one so we just move on and hope we don't lose any others. We are working hard chicken proofing the deck and garden. I love my girls and want them to have lots and lots of outdoor time, but they sure do a lot of damage to a garden in a short period of time. So it's a constant chore to revise chicken proofing. One of my Australorps has been trying to go broody, but it just doesn't seem to be taking. Maybe June will be a good month for her.

Another big deal on the farm this month is the discovery of three baby barn owls. Their fuzzy little white heads have been peaking out the owl box, curious to what the world has to offer them. Our mason bees are hard at work, but the squirrels have discovered how tasty they are and have been cracking open the bamboo tubes and eating the larvae. We figured we have lost several hundred eggs. So squirrel proofing the mason bee nests became a priority.

Be A Good Egg!

Mason Bees

What a beautiful couple of days we have been having. The swallows are back, the fruit trees are blooming, the daffodils are smiling at the world. Everything is waking up from a long winter nap and ready to do what they do best. What I'm most excited about are the Mason Bees. My little friends are emerging from their tubes and wondering around looking for things to pollinate. Gosh, I love those little bees. This is the third year now that I have been making an effort to make the Mason bee happy. There is some nice information on my little friends on Wikipedia. You can buy these bees from seed catalogs, but I'd like to tell you how I got mine. The research I did said you needed special sized tubes and houses etc...well one day I was cutting up bamboo and noticed what a nice cylinder bamboo was. It seemed to me that if I was a Mason bee I would love to make a home there. So I cut the bamboo in 6 inch lengths and stuck a group of them in an old ceramic pot I had and stuck it under the roof of the barn. The next day my little friends were in and out and mudding up the tubes of bamboo. The next spring I added more bamboo and when they hatched they got to work on the new tubes and also reused the old ones.

Have you ever noticed small holes in lawn furniture or on the porch or odd places that are full of mud. Don't rush to clean it out because it is probably a Mason Bee nest and a little egg is in there waiting for spring. I do not like bugs, but the Mason Bee has helped me with my fears.

So read up on these hard working bees. They are so important to our food supply and don't swat them, they are gentle and just want to put a hard days work in.

Egg in the Nest

This is a little meal I grew up on. My mom would make this for us and we loved it. I still make it often and especially when we have company. Basically, you end up with toast and egg all at once. I haven't used my toaster in a long time. I've heard it called several different things, must be regional, we called it Egg in the Nest.

What you'll need:
-Eggs
-slices of your favorite bread (I like using rustic homemade breads, but wonderbread would work)
-butter or olive oil
-a nice pan

I start with spreading butter or the olive oil on one side of the bread and then cutting a hole about an inch in diameter or square in the center. While I'm doing that I get the pan hot and drizzle some olive oil in it (you could use butter here too). Next place the slice, buttered side up, in the pan and crack an egg in the hole. Flip the slice with egg when it's ready, depending on how you like your eggs. Don't forget to also pan fry the little chunk of bread that you cut out. Serve hot!!! YUM!

Back in Business

Although I haven't really noticed the days getting much longer, my girls sure have. They are back to work putting out the best tasting eggs around. With our $130 donation in mind my goal is $150. Of course I'll let the girls know since they are the ones that have to up their game. It was a rough winter for them, we usually don't get much snow, but they got through it and seem to be back on the egg making track. So I'll try to start posting more often, maybe some of my favorite egg recipes and more amazing chicken stories. There are lots of stories I haven't had time to tell yet. So keep coming back and remember Spread the Word, spread the LOVE and Be A Good Egg!

Randy the Random Rooster

This Silver laced Wyandotte was brought out to the country and dropped off, abandoned, with another one just like him. We started noticing them hanging around our mailboxes and roosting in the neighbors trees at night. Then one was gone and the other was alone and many times hanging out in our yard or our neighbors. We found out one of the other neighbor's dog killed the other one after we saw their dog chasing this one and having a conversation with them. Then we disappeared for a week. We figured the dog got this one too and then feared that the dog would be coming over to our yard for some of my chickens. After a little push from the neighboring farmer they have agreed to keep the dog tied up or on a leach and not roaming unsupervised. They admit it likes to kill things....Anyway, one day Random Rooster appears in the yard again and after a few days starts hanging out with my Australorps. I checked in the coop and sure enough, he was roosting with everyone else and our rooster Ruben didn't seem to care. So he has been dubbed Randy the Random Rooster and is now part of the family. So far so good. The other picture is me, with about four layers of clothes, taking a thawed watering can down to the coop. All the snow is gone and the chickens and I are very happy about it!!!

Spread the word, spread the love, Be a Good Egg.

Not Chicken weather

My spoiled chickens are really upset by this weather. They have been in the coop for a week now even though the door is open. I bring thawed water and food to them, but they are used to lots of grass and exercise. The local birds are doing the best they can and loving the frozen apples on the tree. There is about 1/2 of ice crust on the snow that I had to break through to get down to the coop this morning. It's beautiful, but I like green grass.

Be A Good Egg!

Happy Helping Hens 2008 Donation!!!!

What a great first year of the Be A Good Egg project. The donation was just made to Heifer International of $130.00. My girls want to send a big THANK YOU to all their customers for buying their eggs and making this donation possible. The $130 went to buy 6 flocks of chicks and an additional $10 donation. There are lots of gifts to choose from and with $130 I had lots of choices at that level, but I finally went with my original intention of putting the money toward chicks. As I've said before, my girls bring me joy, entertainment, nourishing eggs and are zen like so buying chicks for families in need and not just giving them nourishing eggs to eat and sell, but the entertainment and joy the chickens bring too...well, I had to go with this choice.

Here is the description in the Heifer online catalog for chicks:
Chicks: A Good Choice

A flock of chicks can help families from Cameroon to the Caribbean add nourishing, life-sustaining eggs to their inadequate diets.

The protein in just one egg is a nutritious gift for a hungry child. Protein-packed eggs from even a single chicken can make a life-saving difference.

Heifer helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks. A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year - plenty to eat, share or sell.

Because chickens require little space and can thrive on readily available food scraps, families can make money from the birds without spending much. And chickens help control insects and fertilize gardens.

This is the message from Heifer after making the donation: Thank you for making a gift through Heifer International's online gift catalog. Because of your donation, we can continue doing our work across the globe — offering livestock, training and other resources to struggling families can become self-reliant. And because of the commitment each recipient makes to "Pass on the Gift", one purchase from you can create a ripple effect that soon empowers entire communities to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty once and for all.

A BIG Thank You again to our customers. Our girls should be laying again soon, but we have a little snow right now and they are not very happy about it. I encourage other small flock owners that just give eggs away to do the same. Our friends are very willing to pay for our eggs and especially knowing the money is helping others. It's a win win.

Don't know what to get for the person that has everything or wants nothing this holiday season? Heifer International is a great way to give in someones name or consider your favorite charity.

Spread the word. Spread the Love. Be A Good Egg!

Trivia to feed the world

I was tipped off to another great organization to check out. Freerice.com . I just went there and they have a trivia or vocabulary game that you play to earn rice donations. It's fun, educational and you are helping feed the world.

Remember...spread the word, spread the love and BE A GOOD EGG!

Susan B. Anthony

136 years ago this month, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting in the 1872 presidential election. Thanks in a large part to her tireless activism, women enjoy the right to vote today. Sadly, Susan died 14 years before the 19th amendment was passed. Let's all honor her memory by voting in this historic election. Pictured left, Susan B. Anthony stands with her sister in activism, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. For more information about the lives of these women, we strongly recommend Ken Burns' amazing documentary film Not For Ourselves Alone.

I received this email from Glad Rags Newsletter and felt is was worth posting. Spread the word, spread the love, Be A Good Egg!!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is almost over, but the awareness of Breast Cancer needs to be available all year, everyday. Let's all take time to learn more or spread the word to our sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins and ourselves. Lot's of information is available online...here is one spot nbcam.org. Be a Good Egg and remind the women in your life to take care of themselves and have regular exams.

Spread the word, spread the love, Be A Good Egg!

Good Eggs for the Holiday Season

Supporting our troops means more then putting a sticker on you bumper, but how can you really help? Here is a good organization that makes it easy, Soldiers Angles. You can get involved in many different ways, writing letters, making blankets, sending packages or making a donation to defer the cost of postage. These are Good Eggs really helping our troops and making it easy for us to do so too. www.soldiersangles.org
Spread the word, spread the love, Be A Good Egg!

Community Supported Agriculture

Today I just want to put a little attention on CSA's or Community Supported Agriculture farms. We are members of the closest to our home. We belong to Dancing Roots in Troutdale, OR. These farms are popping up all over the country and they offer more then just great food. Our experience this year has been one of education, camaraderie and commitment. We go every Monday to pick up our share of the produce. We don't really know what we will get from week to week so it's sort of like Christmas. We also get some vegetables that I may not normally have looked into and it forced me to try some new recipes. If you are not familiar with CSA's there are lots of resources on the Internet and the links above are good starts. Just another way to Be A Good Egg.

Chicken Pic: On this post you will see Ruben, aka Ruben T. "Rooster" Cogburn. When he was a little chick I named him Mrs. Cogburn. Then he crowed one morning when he was about 4 months. He has his days when I think he should be on our table, but he is a good guy for his ladies. He always shares his food with them and keeps them "happy" if you know what I mean.

Gallus Domesticus facts

That's Latin for chicken. It's molting season and egg production is way down. The girls look terrible. Most are practically naked and new feathers are not attractive when they are coming in. Apparently molting is triggered by lower light levels and after molting young chickens eggs will get bigger.

-Chickens were domesticated about 8000 years ago.
I thought this one was pretty interesting, 8000 years, wow.
-A hen lives an average of 5-7 years, but can live up to 20 years. She'll lay eggs her entire life, with production decreasing every year from year one.
I get asked a lot how long a chicken lives. Until now I didn't know. I get asked this because I have no intentions of eating my chickens. My girls are here to lay eggs and have a peaceful, lovely life eating bugs and being cute. So far my oldest chickens are 3.

Remember, spread the word, spread the love, be a Good Egg.

Dog Gone GOOD EGGS

We adopted our chihuahua Meadow from a group called Chihuahua Rescue and Retirement when we lived in Florida. This is a family organization started by a sister and brother that was seeing good dogs put down at a shelter because they needed a little recovery time from an injury or health problem. They started taking the dogs home and getting them healthy and bringing them back to the shelter for adoption. What they discovered is they did not have any say in who adopted them at that point. So they created their own rescue and found good homes themselves. We had a fantastic experience adopting from this group, which has grown. They really work with you to find a perfect match and check you out to make sure you are a responsible animal owner. One of their rules is that you can not alter the dog in any way. Every once in a while Meadow asks for her ears to be pierced or a tattoo, but we have to say no, we signed a contract, all alterations are out.

So if you are looking for a new companion, there are lots of good pets that need good homes and turn to a local rescue like CRAR or check out Petfinder.com or the Humane Society. Remember...Spread the word, spread the love, Be A GOOD EGG!

Egg Info: The stringy piece of material in the egg is not an embryo but rather a special protein called chalazae which acts as a shock absorber for the yolk so it doesn't break.