TUFlock: The Latestish

the flock is looking great lately, and despite the waning daylight hours we are getting eggs once again!  finally! we had had a bit of an egg drought, due to some changes and moltings.  also, i must pause to commemorate the sad passing of ninja, of  pearl and ninja, half of the Original Chickens.  there was no reason to believe she was ill, and no apparent drama--i went out to open the coop in the morning as usual, and she had passed on to the great free-range in the sky. she was a proud and lovely black silkie, and she will be missed.

the other ladies and gentleman have been fine for the most part.  sammo is only just coming off a molt, regaining her regular regal and bearded countenance.  she was the standing egg champion, but the energy expended for feather replacement takes priority over egg production, so we are eagerly awaiting her first post-molt green egg.

still a little scruffy lookin'.

scottie pippen, on the other hand, has stepped up to the (breakfast) plate.   she had a bout with the dreaded poultry pox, which saw her spend several nights on the porch in the chicken hospital, drinking antibiotic water, eating special treats and basking under the heat lamp.  she has fully recovered, and is now laying her first beautiful huge brown eggs!

that is a silkie egg on the left for comparison!

scottie is also the most friendly of all the chickens, and runs up to me or dan with great gusto every time we walk into the yard. she is also fascinated by the dogs, who luckily regard her as a strange and somewhat annoying yard creature not to be encouraged.  i'm glad we have this peaceful dog-chicken dynamic going, rather than the expected  predator-prey relationship.








pearl, the other Original Chicken, has taken the death of her companion in stride, and seems to be adjusting nicely.  she has always had a strong tendency to be broody, and so her egg laying is quite sporadic. but she is just SO photogenic!

bolo, having returned from her extra-coopular experience, had a  pause in egg laying for a couple months.   i suppose she was processing her experience and resolving her newly-deepend chickenness before getting back into the egg thing.  however, just in the past couple days she has seemed to resolve her chicken identity.

tony parker, the other relative newbie girl, should start laying any second.  she is filling out  nicely, has had no health issues, and is certainly the most athletic of all the avians.  she also adds a classic black n' white old fashioned hentacular touch to the flock.  i can't wait to meet her eggs!

and then, of course, there's tumblr the rooster. he has also just come off a recent molt, and his plumage is shinier than ever.  he seems to think so too, and his crow seems to get louder with his colors.

and that's the whole flock! it looks like we're going to have a good winter!  and of course there continues to be my own broodiness to contend with......:D

Poultry-markable

i find many things in the world to be miraculous, though most 'miracles' have some kind of logical explanation. for instance, the new human creature growing inside me right now is certainly miraculous, although it's also perfectly scientific...cells are dividing and differentiating along a predicable path, and reproduction is one of life's most fundamental properties.  the exquisite rainbow and sunset i saw last weekend were miraculous, but also completely logical--light was refracting through the atmosphere in measurable ways, and my brain was perceiving the colors and reacting to them...all very explicable.

it is rare, therefore, when one encounters a real life actual miracle with no scientific explanation, an event that is the least probable outcome of a given situation with no perceptible base in logic.  WELL FOLKS, THIS HAS HAPPENED ON THE TUF.

Bolo The Chicken Came Back!

a couple of weeks ago i wrote about how bolo had disappeared without a trace--no feathers, no kerfuffle, no nothing.  i looked for her to no avail, and hoped she would find her way home.  but after a few days, i was certain she was gone for good.  this neighborhood has confirmed sightings of nearly all possible chicken predators: stray cats (always), stray dogs (often), kids with bb guns, hawks, snakes, skunks, raccoons, possums, and other chicken keepers.  to comfort myself i had decided she had been bodily assumed, or even that some other chicken fancier had seen a huge black chicken with feather pants walking down the street and had thus captured her for their own purposes.  her disappearance from the run happened tuesday, september 18th.  by that weekend, i was sadly sure she was gone forever.

fully TWO AND A HALF WEEKS later, on thursday, oct. 4th, i went outside to check on the flock and there she was. back in the run.  a little bedraggled and dirty, but eating and scratching and clucking like nothing had happened.  how is this possible?  i have no logical explanation.  it is the least probable outcome of the vanishing chicken incident. a real, actual, unscientific miracle.

the day of her return

she got the right-wing clippage that i have visited upon the other birds to reduce the chances of further chicken vanishments.  of course, wing clipping doesn't prevent worm holes, or alien abduction, or trans-dimensional quantum jumping, or random space time fluctuations, or any other theoretical event that might result in a chicken disappearing from and reappearing to the exact same east-austin chicken run over a 2.5 week period.  at any rate, i'm just glad she's back!

Gains, Loss, The Future

ah, the beginning of fall.  when the temperatures drift down into the balmy mid-nineties, and there is a chance of rain sometimes.  actually, all facetiousness aside, the mornings and evenings have been beautiful!  and enough rain has fallen that the back yard is full of chickweed and egg production is ramping up again. i'm excited about the change of seasons, and fall air is some of the best air.

sadly, we have lost another chicken.  this time there was no disease or predation involved...earlier this week bolo vanished without a trace! there she is to the left, the big black one, having a roll in the dust with pearl last sunday.  by tuesday, however, she was gone. just gone!  no feathers, no yard kerfuffle, everyone had been in the run all day.  all other fowl were fine and normal. but when i went out to the yard after work to give the ladies and gentleman their yard time, she simply was nowhere to be found.

i keep hoping she might come back, but i think it's been long enough that such hope is lost.  my best thought is that she's been bodily assumed into heaven, rapture-style.  at least that's my favorite theory...several others make perhaps more sense but are far more depressing.  she was a non-flyer, but had accidentally hopped out of the run once a long time ago--she was never one for adventure.  

needless to say, all remaining chickens now have flight feathers 1-8 clipped on their right wing, like i did sammo a couple months ago, to prevent further chicken raptures.

i wonder if she accidentally hopped out again, went for a mosey, got lost....and then was bodily assumed.  at any rate, wherever she is, i hope she enjoyed her life here and is enjoying her next life.  if not, i'd like it if she would come back.

in other, better news, we recently acquired two new girls to bump up egg production and add some new feathers to the flock.  introducing tony parker and scotty pippen!

tony parker

tony parker is a lovely young barred rock hen, a classic breed. true to her name, she is especially quick and agile, and does not seem to like to get picked up yet.  however, once caught, she will happily sit on the available lap for pets and chicken talk.  she should start laying big brown eggs any minute!

scotty pippen

scotty pippen is a beautiful red star chicken who, unlike her new sister thus far, is quite friendly. she seems to enjoy being picked up and cuddled, and even hangs around waiting for such attention.  her breed is also an egg-laying machine, and so we are much anticipating her egg scene debut.  in fact, she was destined to go to an _actual_ egg laying machine--a big production chicken house--which explains why her beak was cut.  but here on the TUF, her beak can grow back in all its glory and she can party in the run and yard all day.  i look forward to seeing her beak back!

all chickens have made the adjustment seamlessly, both to the new additions and the loss of dear old bolo.  the flock numbers six once again--tumblr (the rooster), sammo (easter egger), pearl and ninja (original silkies), scotty pippen and tony parker.  we pause to remember the TUFlock chickens who have gone on to the great free-range in the sky: soft grey twitter, baby lil' bitz (we barely new ye!), and big black ol' bolo.  thanks for all the eggs and fun.

milk snail enjoying a fall morning

and finally, a bit about the future: dan and i are pleased to be expecting a new HUMAN addition to the TUF to join us in early march 2013!  all is well so far, and of course we will appreciate another TUF hand around to help care for all these crazy creatures. that's why people originally starting having kids anyway, right? more help around the farm?  maybe we can actually start that garden i've been screaming about since the beginning of this whole experiment!

speaking of experiment, and as a final note, here is a picture of the fantastic carrot soup i concocted the other day.  i had also (true to TUF philosophy) used a bunch of farmer's market vegetable odds and ends, and the frozen carcasses of a roasted local duck and chicken, to make a killer-awesome no-waste stock as the base for this soup.  i basically used this recipe, with lemon juice but no zest, a zillion cloves of garlic, and only 1/4 cup of cream, and it came out pretty dang delightful.  and healthy! mostly!

anyway, there is much coming up to discuss, what with the changing seasons, new girls, new food, new future prospects and all.  thank you for reading, Dear Reader, and though i'm clearly not the best at it, i'll renew my efforts to keep y'all posted and document the process!

The Saga of Sammo

here is sammo, the free-rangiest of all our chickens. she is a beautiful easter-egger, laying lovely light-green eggs nearly every day.  she has a delightful beard. she generally seems to be in charge of the flock, holding sway even over tumblr, the incorrigible rooster.

i say she's the free-rangiest--she is the most capable of flying, and has generally been able to go where she wants, even if the rest of the flock is in the run.  captivity isn't for her, and she enjoys moseying about the neighbor's yard, exploring the immediate behind-the-fence area, and checking out points inaccessible to less savvy, ground-bound chickens.  when we let the rest of the flock wander around the yard, she will come back from her ranging to hang out with them--but if they're in the run, she'd prefer to be on her own, thank you.
i knew her ranging posed an inherent risk, but for months she hadn't run into any problems, and seemed well-equipped to handle herself in any number of chickenrisky situations.  when she came to us last summer, her wings were clipped, probably to discourage her wandering tendencies and keep her safe, but i just couldn't quite bring myself to re-clip once the flight feathers grew back....she seemed like such a self-actualized chicken!

HOWEVER. the other day she ran into some trouble.  it looked like a cat, perhaps--i think the nearby potential dog perps would have done more damage, but who knows.  at any rate, on friday she didn't come flopping into the yard when i let the other birds out, and i saw her standing forlornly on the neighbor's bird bath, tail drooping, eyes nearly closed. i had to pick her up and bring her back over.

there was no blood that i could see, nor any broken bones, but it seemed that her legs just didn't quite work, and i could see broken and torn feathers on her wings and back. (below right is how she looked today, way better, but you can still see some broken feather stumps!) i figured she'd had some trauma, and hoped dearly that a couple days rest and extra attention would get her walking again.  so, much to her annoyance, she took up temporary residence on the back porch in our chick-cage-turned-hospital room.

poor sammo!  she hates being cooped up in any form, so this was really the ultimate bummer for her.  i felt terrible--i was trying to let her be this free-rangy self-actualized chicken, but that which i hoped wouldn't happen turned out to be the inevitable after all.  lesson learned--chicken injured, but not dead, and i had hope that she was fighter enough to get her leg use back!

she got some excellent foot, leg and back massages, and got to eat some tasty strawberries, yogurt, cheese and mangos.  she dutifully sat and rested, and soon seemed more able to get on her feet.  today marked 3 days since her injury and admission to the back porch hospital, and she was able to stand without wobbling and walk about a bit.  i thought i would try putting her in the yard, separate from the other ladies and gentleman, to get some exercise and practice walking again.  i knew she wanted to be back with her flock friends, but i also didn't want mr. tumblr to take advantage of her weakened state.

i also decided, with some sadness, that i would clip the flight feathers on one of her wings.  i knew that as soon as she was walking she would try flying again, and i would like to avoid any further injury.  since i had no previous experience with wing clipping, i visited the indispensible Back Yard Chicken Site's How-To on clipping chicken wings.  i only clipped the right wing (political implications notwithstanding) to throw off the balance needed for flight.  i hope she forgives me.

unclipped left

clipped right

Graphic courtesy of "A Guide to Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow and BYC.  I love when things look just like the diagram! 

at any rate, she seems much better today--tail up, walking around, the occasional wobble, but sturdier every minute!  i'll let her sleep in the coop tonight with the others, and depending on how strong she seems, i might let her re-integrate with the flock tomorrow.  (though tumblr was unable to get to her through the fence, she was "assuming the position" as soon as she saw him!)

(from bottom left) pearl, bolo, ninja and tumblr are confused without sammo bossing everyone around!

everyone will be back to normal soon!

RIP Twitter :(

she was a pretty, blue-gray soft girl. she passed on to the great free-range in the sky today, not sure why.  she was a fine chicken. 
this is the most recent picture of her i have, from about a week ago.

she was an odd girl, always separate from all the other ladies. i saw tumblr take her on dates a few times, but she kept to herself most of the time. 
the flock did not dictate her actions!

she was always just a little off, somehow. it's weird, she was almost exactly a year old, 
practically to the day. a full-fledged hen. (she was about 6 months in this pic.)

she hadn't even gotten her comb yet here!

this one is from about a week ago as well. she was normal most of the time, and then sometimes acted really strangely. i half expected her to die at any moment.  but she never seemed to be in pain or depressed...

she took our bout with fowl pox hard, worse than any of the other ladies. but she got through it.

she was a cute and fuzzy baby. also very suspicious.

she laid beautiful chocolate brown eggs, for which her breed (french marans) is known. she will be missed.

thanks for all the eggs, Twitter! you were a very good chicken.  i hope you had a good life with us, and have gone on to something even better!


dan buried her in our place for honored pets passed on. we then spent the day improving the back yard and filling one of the garden boxes with cameroneil compost. her memory will be honored with continued dedication to enthusiastic chicken keeping and garden having.

Compost Kerfuffle

now that the nasty business of the total bummer is over, i will blog-bury it with a happy photo essay of funny chickens being cute! i give you:

The Compost Kerfuffle

sammo has completely buried herself in the compost pile.

intrigued, bolo checks out her literal new digs.

unimpressed, bolo scales the heap to its peak.

sammo emerges...

...

...and attempts to usurp bolo's position.

some awkward moments ensue.

finally they learn to share!

the end!