Chicken Coop News

After two months of egg production, some of you may have noticed an occasional egg with the tiny and vaguely bloody beginnings of an embryo. There are two reasons for this as I see it. Number one, is Pete, who is behaving himself with the humans, so is still with us. He is a very busy rooster, although the cold weather has slowed him down a slight bit. But we can assume that a good number of these eggs are fertilized. The other thing is that a few of the hens think it is their job to keep the eggs warm and brood them until we lift them up and remove the clutch they are guarding. So some eggs may be getting incubated a bit. We try to get out there several times a day, but some days we only make it twice. Esmeralda's eggs are definitely not fertilized these days, as she is still in her private room in the garage. She makes up for it by putting an extra sprinkling of blue dust on her eggs.

We have earned enough money selling eggs this last month to be able to buy food and straw for the next month, and that is all taken care of now. Frank, Jennie, Keith Jr, Matt, and Wendy (and Boots) will be taking over all the daily care beginning Thursday, until Jeanne and Peg return from vacation in not so sunny Florida. Keith B. will help out when he returns from his vacation. There is lots of bread in the garage in front of the tractor to use as treats. We have managed to keep the pen shoveled out so we can get in there and the flock gets a bit of exercise. They don't seem to want to get out of the pen much these days, as there is really nothing fun to do right now. Even the compost bins are full of snow. They amuse themselves digging a tunnel under their ramp, and throwing the straw around whenever we try to clean up the coop.

Financial records are now being kept, under the production log sheet. these show how much we are putting in the jar and how much we are spending. There is also a place to record when you clean the coop, so the next person will know how much they need to do. The log sheet also now has an additional column, so we can sort out eggs going to members and eggs sold to friends. Please note also that there is now a sponge by the sink especially marked for use to clean up any really dirty eggs before putting away in fridge. Most do not need to be washed until right before use, and we are trying to remember to tell our customers this as well. It is fun to watch an egg come out of the runway all wet with that protective coating they put on. It dries almost immediately, so we don't get to see it often.

Wishing all our friends and fans a wonderful New Year. May the eggs continue to flow and the flock flourish, and the community continue on the road to resilience. Peggy