Thursday, December 10, 2009

Fake post

This is a fake post. Bye!

Friday, March 7, 2008

My website goes big time

Oh yeah! www.mudproject.org/chickens is in the news... at the bottom of the local food and agriculture column

You can find it easily on google if you use search terms "chickens missoula" although using "missoula chickens" is not quite as effective.

Awesome.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Surprise snow storm

After a week of melting, I thought spring was here. Mud was everywhere, no snow in sight hardly anywhere in town, tulip sprouts around the house are about an inch tall.

And then we had a surprise winter storm blow in, and it dropped nearly a foot in just over 24 hours.

The hens are angry! They don't like deep snow. They have been pouting in the hen port and under the front overhang. It is hard to catch a good photo of them in the hen port because when I come out to take a photo, they rush over to see if I have a treat for them, thus ruining the shot.

They eat snow instead of going the extra 3 feet to the water dish. It isn't like they can't get there- I think they just don't like to walk in the deeper snow. Maybe it feels funny on their fluffy butts or something.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

New website! and a photo

I've been seriously slacking off with this blog. Inexcusable. Almost two months without a decent post!

I have excuses, but... whatever.

For one thing, Matt and I have now finished our fun project to create an informative website on keeping chickens in Missoula. I got the approval of a local sustainable non-profit, called MUD (Missoula Urban Demonstration) to use their website as a host for the chicken website. Thanks also to my friend Julie who helped me think of a few extra things to include.

To see the new website, now public, go to;
www.mudproject.org/chickens

Additionally, now that the snow is melting, the chickens are willing and permitted to terrorize our property. The melty slushy mess makes for good chicken tracks, so I took a photo late this afternoon. As you can see, as I took the shot the chickens came by to investigate. I think that is Biggie's chest in the corner, and I'm fairly sure that is one of Mrs. Tweedy's toes in the top of the photo.



Lastly, I just want to memorialize my friend's two chickens that got attacked and killed by their neighbor's cat. They were good chickens, friendly and fluffy. One was a good egg layer, and the other one had a fabulous personality and amazing feathers. We'll miss them dearly, and I was so sad to hear of their loss. RIP, two hens.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Photos from infamy

During the course of the great 2007 chicken controversy here in Missoula, many reporters visited our chicken facility to take photos and interview us. One of the best videos (in my opinion) was done by Anne Medley at NewWest.net

That video, if you missed it, is really funny. View at
http://www.newwest.net/city/article/missoulas_urban_chicken_squabble/C8/L8/

Anne was also kind enough to send me her favorite still shots so I could post them on this blog (she took a long time, but hey, we are all busy people!). I think she caught some really nice chickens-in-autumn photos, many of which have a sort of comical bent to them. Here are my favorites. These are all by Anne Medley, not me, and were taken in early November if I recall correctly.

1) Beldar is soooo regal
2) Biggie would like to know if the camera is edible, please
3) Tweedy, Rosie and Biggie bunch up for a group shot
4) Rosie considers her nesting box with care
5) Littles makes a quick getaway from the coop





Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ooops

Heee hee... this post was for the baby blog! Bye-bye!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Hens in the snow


The hens are holding up extremely well in the cold weather, ice and snow. They seem to relish eating snow, kicking at it, and they generally are undaunted by sub-freezing temperatures. We have noticed that when it is really, really cold (like below 10 degrees) the hens often stand on one foot like a flamingo to keep the other foot tucked up into their warm feathers. But that doesn't keep them from strutting about happily- it just seems to be a sensible habit for the cold ground when they want to stand still.