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!