He's been home for three months but tomorrow morning Ian is packing up his truck and heading for Boone and his sophomore year at App State. I envy him as he goes on the mountain because I suspect it will be cooler there than here. This has been a long, hot summer. The girls have done well with the heat- except for the decreased egg production and the ugly molt that Elinor, Fanny and Kitty are experiencing now.
I feel I have been short-changing them. This is a blog about them and I am resolved that I'll be a better blogger on their behalf. Tomorrow, after Ian makes his chicken run......
Friday, August 17, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
At least the chickens are all good....
I started the blog to write about my girls in the hen house, but it quickly became clear that I was using it to let out some emotion that I felt more comfortable writing about than talking about. The girls celebrated their 2nd birthdays (hatched-days?) a few weeks ago and just like the year they were born it has been a late winter and spring of loss.
My grandmother, Ruth, died on March 1 after a brief period of being in the hospital and a nursing home (and back again in both). She was a month short of her 92nd birthday and all of us in her family are left a little bewildered at her passing. We never really thought she'd leave so suddenly (or at all, she seemed indestructible). She outlived her husband by 38 years and her daughter by 23 months.....she never got over mama dying.
Yesterday I walked through her home and in her yard for the last time. I said goodbye to a huge chunk of my life. She lived on a street that when I was a child was home to her aunt, her sister and her brother. Those houses were places to play and hide, they were what I thought of as home when we moved away to join my dad when he was stationed on a base rather than a ship. And now they are all gone....I'm beginning to get an idea of what it must have been like for her, outliving all 11 of her siblings and their spouses, her husband and child, a good many of her nieces and nephews and almost all her friends. I hope that when she died she did indeed go to sleep so she could be with her family, just like she wanted.
Grandma went with us to check out the guys we ended up buying the girls from. She always asked about them, how many eggs they were laying...when she came to our house she'd go out and see them. I supplied eggs to her and she took great pride in showing folks her green and brown eggs. She'd call me when I was coming to her house and ask me to bring eggs for some of her nieces to say thank you for all the help they were to her. She told everyone about my chickens and would want me to tell them their names. She also tried to convince me and the girls that if they'd let me put their heads under a wing and rock them they'd go to sleep (never happened, but she tried a few times).
If there is any justice in the universe she woke up surrounded by all her family but knows how much she is still loved and remembered.
My grandmother, Ruth, died on March 1 after a brief period of being in the hospital and a nursing home (and back again in both). She was a month short of her 92nd birthday and all of us in her family are left a little bewildered at her passing. We never really thought she'd leave so suddenly (or at all, she seemed indestructible). She outlived her husband by 38 years and her daughter by 23 months.....she never got over mama dying.
Yesterday I walked through her home and in her yard for the last time. I said goodbye to a huge chunk of my life. She lived on a street that when I was a child was home to her aunt, her sister and her brother. Those houses were places to play and hide, they were what I thought of as home when we moved away to join my dad when he was stationed on a base rather than a ship. And now they are all gone....I'm beginning to get an idea of what it must have been like for her, outliving all 11 of her siblings and their spouses, her husband and child, a good many of her nieces and nephews and almost all her friends. I hope that when she died she did indeed go to sleep so she could be with her family, just like she wanted.
Grandma went with us to check out the guys we ended up buying the girls from. She always asked about them, how many eggs they were laying...when she came to our house she'd go out and see them. I supplied eggs to her and she took great pride in showing folks her green and brown eggs. She'd call me when I was coming to her house and ask me to bring eggs for some of her nieces to say thank you for all the help they were to her. She told everyone about my chickens and would want me to tell them their names. She also tried to convince me and the girls that if they'd let me put their heads under a wing and rock them they'd go to sleep (never happened, but she tried a few times).
If there is any justice in the universe she woke up surrounded by all her family but knows how much she is still loved and remembered.
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| My son Ian with his great-grandmother Ruth. |
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Chicken eye candy....will it help the egg count?
Back in October my friend Amy went to the state fair and checked out the poultry exhibit. She took photos of roosters and for Christmas this year she gave the girls a photo collage of some of the handsome fellas and I put it up in their run today. It's on the door of the house, so they get to walk under them every time they go in or out.
I may have hedged my photo opp bets by baiting the bottom of the collage (which is laminated) with peanut butter. May have.....
Wonder how many will be laid next week?
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| Notice the caption: PLAYHEN Entertainment for Chicks |
I may have hedged my photo opp bets by baiting the bottom of the collage (which is laminated) with peanut butter. May have.....
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| Kitty, Elinor and Harriet checking out the studs |
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| Elinor seems to be enchanted |
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| Peanut butter is gone, other girls have moved on, but Elinor is still checking them out! |
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| Thanks Amy!
EGG COUNT FOR THE WEEK:
13 BROWN
10 GREEN
|
Sunday, January 8, 2012
EGG COUNT, WEEK 1
Since it's my only resolution for 2012 I intend to keep up with the egg count! Jan. 1-7: 22 eggs were laid, 13 brown, 9 green. Keep up the good work!
Today was the first day we got 3 green eggs since back in late August/early September. I was so excited you'd have thought I won the lottery! It's gotten rainy and cooler as the day has gone on but the girls are not bothered by a little rain and they enjoyed the left over biscuits for snack.
The boy is heading back to college on Friday, so our time with him is growing short. My 91 year old grandmother spend a few days in hospital for an infection and I brought her home to stay with us for a few days. She's going home tomorrow but today we made blueberry muffins for the boy to take back to school.
I just need a few uneventful days to catch my breath and I really enjoyed my poultry therapy this morning, reading and chilling with the girls.
Today was the first day we got 3 green eggs since back in late August/early September. I was so excited you'd have thought I won the lottery! It's gotten rainy and cooler as the day has gone on but the girls are not bothered by a little rain and they enjoyed the left over biscuits for snack.
The boy is heading back to college on Friday, so our time with him is growing short. My 91 year old grandmother spend a few days in hospital for an infection and I brought her home to stay with us for a few days. She's going home tomorrow but today we made blueberry muffins for the boy to take back to school.
I just need a few uneventful days to catch my breath and I really enjoyed my poultry therapy this morning, reading and chilling with the girls.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The girls and I hope 2012 is indeed a happy new year. They would like more treats- scratch grains, greens, pasta, corn, oatmeal.....and an expansion of their run please. Harriet would appreciate it if the mean girl, Fanny, would leave her the heck alone.
Kitty and Elinor have backed off picking on her but Fanny hasn't seen the light...not sure why poor Harriet is the target of choice but I run interference when I can and make sure I give her extra treats. She knows I'm a safe place because when I'm outside she's always close by so I can block any aggressor.
I'm making my one resolution: to keep a daily log of their egg production. In the last two weeks Emma/Harriet/Lydia (only two of them but I'm not sure which one other than Emma) have started laying after an almost three month break, so I'll have more than brown eggs to record. It's nice to have green in amongst the brown in the egg bowl. Now I can start supplying granny again- first delivery today.
It's not a resolution, but I'm gonna try to post weekly. If I can just stay off pinterest.......
The girls and I hope 2012 is indeed a happy new year. They would like more treats- scratch grains, greens, pasta, corn, oatmeal.....and an expansion of their run please. Harriet would appreciate it if the mean girl, Fanny, would leave her the heck alone.
Kitty and Elinor have backed off picking on her but Fanny hasn't seen the light...not sure why poor Harriet is the target of choice but I run interference when I can and make sure I give her extra treats. She knows I'm a safe place because when I'm outside she's always close by so I can block any aggressor.
I'm making my one resolution: to keep a daily log of their egg production. In the last two weeks Emma/Harriet/Lydia (only two of them but I'm not sure which one other than Emma) have started laying after an almost three month break, so I'll have more than brown eggs to record. It's nice to have green in amongst the brown in the egg bowl. Now I can start supplying granny again- first delivery today.
It's not a resolution, but I'm gonna try to post weekly. If I can just stay off pinterest.......
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| Hard to get all 6 in a shot- Fanny is off stage-right |
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
We wish you a Merry Christmas
I've had two tall glass vases filled with eggs, green and brown, blown out and waiting for me to do something with them for over a year now. Tonight I sat down and turned many of them into ornaments for the tree.
All I needed was twine, scrapbook paper, a snowflake punch, glue dots and eggs:
I cut the twine, tied the ends together, used the glue dot to hold the twine in place on the end of the egg and put the snowflake on top of that:
They look very festive and just knowing they came from my girls make me smile. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......
I cut the twine, tied the ends together, used the glue dot to hold the twine in place on the end of the egg and put the snowflake on top of that:
They look very festive and just knowing they came from my girls make me smile. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Molting hens, no green eggs and no longer being productive
Over the past few months the girls have been molting. Emma went first (and seems to have taken the longest)- she dropped 3/4 of her feathers, her beard and muff......it was pitiful. She quit laying when the big ugly molt set in and while she's all feathered over and fluffy now she hasn't resumed laying.
Harriet started losing her beard and muff weeks before anything else. It was almost as though she decided to hang onto her feathers, but one day we went out and there were feathers everywhere- except on Harriet. Once Harriet quit laying, in a show of solidarity, Lydia quit too. Lydia's molting started quick and she's feathered back over faster than Emma and Harriet. BUT THEY STILL AREN'T LAYING!
Now we see signs of the comets slacking off: 3 eggs, 1 egg, 2 eggs, 0 eggs.....repeat. So far other than their tail feathers looking ragged Elinor, Fanny and Kitty don't appear to be molting but the cooler weather and decreased hours of sunlight don't help. I even bought eggs (cage free, vegetarian fed) in case I ran out with the holiday baking (and supplying 7 dozen cookies for the boy to take back to school with him today).
I've been making sure they get lots of treats and keeping them entertained with hanging cauliflower, celery and the like. Every day I go out thinking this will be the day the green eggs reappear. One day I'll be right. It's made me think about the day when they get too old to produce eggs and how accustomed we've become to having fresh eggs from hens that are loved and cared for. I feel guilty eating eggs from hens I don't know. I worry about how they are treated (regardless of what the carton indicates). I also know we don't need to have a flock of hens who don't lay and a flock of hens who do- that's how you end up with 30 chickens and only 5 egg layers. Guess we'll deal with that when we must.
Ian has been home since Tuesday evening on Thanksgiving break. It's been so nice to have him around, even if it's just knowing that at some point he'll be coming in. My grandma has been with us since Friday and it breaks my heart to see her so old and feeble. She's been old for a while now but her body is tired and hurts, she can't hear and gets easily confused. And cold- she is always cold. I think she's burnt out my little space heater I keep for her.
My grandmother was only 39 when I was born and she has always loved me fiercely, as well as my brother and my mom (her only child). And her siblings, their children, spouses.....you get the picture. Eva Ruth was the youngest of 12. Her oldest sibling was 22 when she was born so many of her nieces and nephews were older. At 91 she has outlived all her siblings, their spouses and many of their children. Outliving her daughter was grandma's biggest fear and when that happened I really thought she'd just curl up and die herself (I'm pretty sure that's what she wanted, but she's too stubborn). The past 20 months have been hard on us all and there are times when I feel overwhelmed with all the stuff that has fallen to me with my mama not being here.
I've said several times that my mom owes me for leaving me with all this stuff that she should be taking care of.....my brother's health scares, trying to mediate between him and grandma, listening to them tell on each other, the relatives who hear only Ruth's side of the story and call me with their concerns. If my mom were alive I'd there helping her out, but she'd be the one dealing with everything on a day-to-day basis. Of course I don't really think she owes me, I just wish she was still here. If she was I'd be doing what ever she needed me to. But she would be here.....
It is hard watching my grandmother become someone who has to depend on others- it doesn't matter that she has people lined up to take her places, spend time with her, what ever she needs she is surrounded by family and friends. We are not who she wants and no matter how hard we try we never will be.
Not to compare my grandmother to a hen who no longer lays (and yet, here I go), but in her mind she has to be able to do for others to still be productive and valuable. So she cooks and pays for gas and lunches out- it makes her feel like she's doing her part. For all of us who have benefited from being loved by her she's done enough, been enough, is enough.....as frustrating as it can be sometimes (and dear Lord it can be and often is).
She fell asleep yesterday mid-sentence, head thrown back and mouth wide open. Scared the hell out of me and I had to check and make sure she was breathing. I know she won't live forever but at times like that I realize that I'm not ready for there to be a world without her. You never know, those
Strouds are mighty stubborn......
Harriet started losing her beard and muff weeks before anything else. It was almost as though she decided to hang onto her feathers, but one day we went out and there were feathers everywhere- except on Harriet. Once Harriet quit laying, in a show of solidarity, Lydia quit too. Lydia's molting started quick and she's feathered back over faster than Emma and Harriet. BUT THEY STILL AREN'T LAYING!
Now we see signs of the comets slacking off: 3 eggs, 1 egg, 2 eggs, 0 eggs.....repeat. So far other than their tail feathers looking ragged Elinor, Fanny and Kitty don't appear to be molting but the cooler weather and decreased hours of sunlight don't help. I even bought eggs (cage free, vegetarian fed) in case I ran out with the holiday baking (and supplying 7 dozen cookies for the boy to take back to school with him today).
I've been making sure they get lots of treats and keeping them entertained with hanging cauliflower, celery and the like. Every day I go out thinking this will be the day the green eggs reappear. One day I'll be right. It's made me think about the day when they get too old to produce eggs and how accustomed we've become to having fresh eggs from hens that are loved and cared for. I feel guilty eating eggs from hens I don't know. I worry about how they are treated (regardless of what the carton indicates). I also know we don't need to have a flock of hens who don't lay and a flock of hens who do- that's how you end up with 30 chickens and only 5 egg layers. Guess we'll deal with that when we must.
Ian has been home since Tuesday evening on Thanksgiving break. It's been so nice to have him around, even if it's just knowing that at some point he'll be coming in. My grandma has been with us since Friday and it breaks my heart to see her so old and feeble. She's been old for a while now but her body is tired and hurts, she can't hear and gets easily confused. And cold- she is always cold. I think she's burnt out my little space heater I keep for her.
My grandmother was only 39 when I was born and she has always loved me fiercely, as well as my brother and my mom (her only child). And her siblings, their children, spouses.....you get the picture. Eva Ruth was the youngest of 12. Her oldest sibling was 22 when she was born so many of her nieces and nephews were older. At 91 she has outlived all her siblings, their spouses and many of their children. Outliving her daughter was grandma's biggest fear and when that happened I really thought she'd just curl up and die herself (I'm pretty sure that's what she wanted, but she's too stubborn). The past 20 months have been hard on us all and there are times when I feel overwhelmed with all the stuff that has fallen to me with my mama not being here.
I've said several times that my mom owes me for leaving me with all this stuff that she should be taking care of.....my brother's health scares, trying to mediate between him and grandma, listening to them tell on each other, the relatives who hear only Ruth's side of the story and call me with their concerns. If my mom were alive I'd there helping her out, but she'd be the one dealing with everything on a day-to-day basis. Of course I don't really think she owes me, I just wish she was still here. If she was I'd be doing what ever she needed me to. But she would be here.....
It is hard watching my grandmother become someone who has to depend on others- it doesn't matter that she has people lined up to take her places, spend time with her, what ever she needs she is surrounded by family and friends. We are not who she wants and no matter how hard we try we never will be.
Not to compare my grandmother to a hen who no longer lays (and yet, here I go), but in her mind she has to be able to do for others to still be productive and valuable. So she cooks and pays for gas and lunches out- it makes her feel like she's doing her part. For all of us who have benefited from being loved by her she's done enough, been enough, is enough.....as frustrating as it can be sometimes (and dear Lord it can be and often is).
She fell asleep yesterday mid-sentence, head thrown back and mouth wide open. Scared the hell out of me and I had to check and make sure she was breathing. I know she won't live forever but at times like that I realize that I'm not ready for there to be a world without her. You never know, those
Strouds are mighty stubborn......
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| Ian and his granny, Easter 2011 |
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