Fake post

This is a fake post. Bye!

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.

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.

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.

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

Ooops

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

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.

Article in Missoulian

Today's article in the Missoulian focuses mostly on important things like subdivisions and the retirement of a long time councilman. However, at the end, it goes over some chicken news...

The early visit by Santa - looking suspiciously like Mike Jakupcak, who earlier came to a meeting in a chicken costume - cheered council members already peppy from the tribute to Reidy. Jakupcak wished council members a “Merry Chickenmas” in a variation of “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

“The chickens were all huddled outside the city limits in pens / Awaiting the decision to stay put or gather speed, put on mittens and en masse descend,” he read.

But they probably won't descend en masse. At least one council member said passage of the ordinance will probably not lead to a sudden influx of chickens in city limits.

Article in Missoulian, in full

To celebrate, today we are giving the hens some stale bread and delicious bird seed. Tasty!

Victory!!

The chicken ordinance passed the city council tonight, with a 7 to 5 vote. Yeee haw!

At the last possible second, one of the 5 dissenters changed his vote to "yes" (making it 8 to 4) and thus enabling him (by an odd procedural rule) to call for a recount within the next two city council meetings. This means that when the new council takes their seats in January, this council member can call a re-vote.

This is a mean spirited and ultimately pointless attempt to get the chicken ordinance repealed. The new council that will take its seats is actually more pro-chicken then the currently active council.

Take that, suckers! Chickens rule!

Also- I came to the meeting late so I missed this, but Matt informed me that a man in a full Santa suit with the beard and everything got up at the start of the council and read a "T'was the night before christmas" adaptation urging a pro-chicken vote. I am so, so sad I missed this spectacle but I am addicted to my prenatal water aerobics class which had a small time overlap with the start of the council meeting.

Rumor has it that the local media will be publishing the poem in full tomorrow. I will link to it ASAP if that happens.

One step closer to victory!

The chicken ordinance took a giant leap for chicken-kind today- we are almost there! Here is a reprint of the article in www.newwest.net about the exciting developments. To sum up if you don't want to read it; the deadlock was broken and next week we'll get a real vote.

Missoula City Council’s Public Safety and Health committee Wednesday morning approved the urban chicken ordinance, including an amendment to require annual $15 permits, sending the contentious proposal to the Council floor for a final vote Monday evening.

The vote went 5 to 4, with Dave Strohmaier, Stacy Rye, Bob Jaffe, Heidi Kendall and Jerry Ballas all in favor.

If passed by the Council Monday, the ordinance would allow Missoulians to keep as many as six female chickens on their property, subject to certain standards and conditions.

The proposal was approved after Councilman Jon Wilkins proposed adding another amendment to the ordinance requiring Missoulians who want to raise chickens to receive permission from all immediate neighbors first. “I think it’s important to keep good neighbors,” he said.

But that motion failed by the same 5 to 4 vote. “I appreciate John’s effort,” Kendall said, “but I would oppose the amendment because there is no similar requirement for dogs” and other pets, which pose the same allergy problems that opponents of the chicken ordinance claim of chickens.

(ME!!) of East Missoula, a proponent of urban chickens, stood and made the point that requiring the permission of neighbors and the associated paperwork and management would just create another headache. “You’re actually greatly increasing the financial obligations of the city.”

City Council will meet and vote Monday, Dec. 17 at the Council Chambers on Spruce Street at 7:00 p.m.

For the actual article with a lovely photo of a chicken (not ours), visit the article itself on newwest.net

How to get the chickens back into the yard

6 out of 7 chickens agree- being bribed with tasty seeds is great.

1 of 7 chickens requires a more energy intensive method.

(note: Matt claims there is nothing funnier in the world than watching a pregnant woman trying to catch a crazed chicken. After watching a video of myself, I agree.)

A rainbow of eggs

Here is the photo of the egg color variety we are currently harvesting. Pale sage is Pot Pie, white is Beldar, the pinky-flesh browns are Wyandottes, the darker brick tint browns are Rockettes, and Tweedy laid the pale brown big diameter egg in the closest egg nook on the right side- see how it fills the compartment? She's a "large caliber" layer.

Beldar becomes a hen

I had a crazy dream last night that Beldar was really a rooster, and that we had all these baby chicks running around with black and white afros. It was weird. I woke up confused, and then I had to pee so I forgot about the dream for a while. That was at 6am when the world was dark and asleep.

At around 8:30 before I left the house, I checked the nestbox to collect eggs. To my utter shock, there was a white egg in there. A perfectly shaped, petite, white egg. I picked it up and examined it. It is almost translucent and very delicate feeling. Our Beldar, our spastic funky weirdo polish trainwreck of a chicken, has become a real hen! I'm so proud.

The white egg is a perfect counterpart to the pale sage green, peachy tan, and pale brick colors of the other girls' eggs. I took a photo of their gorgeous palette of eggs and I'll get it up on the blog soon.

My hope is that now that Beldar lays eggs, the other hens will respect her just a little bit more. Maybe that is unrealistic, but it is worth it to hope.

Winter is for the birds

We have discovered that wet snow likes to stick to the anti-hawk netting. Thwacking the netting with a leaf rake helps, but nothing short of a thaw will cure the problem. This photo was taken at around 6am, pre-dawn, when the hens are still locked safely away in their henhouse.

The hens seemed baffled by our sudden snow storm. Do we go out into that white stuff? Should we eat it? Should we stand in the freezing cold water dish? OK, only Beldar seems to think that standing in the water dish when it is 20 degrees out is a good idea.

Biggie, being the dominant hen and the explorer of all things new, was the first to venture out of the warm and well lit henhouse into the cold, cruel, snow filled world. She immediately headed into the chickenport, where she could hang out in the dry hay and stare into the snowy world from comfort. The second photo was taken around 7:30am, when the light is still faint in our backyard but the chickens and dog are intent on being awake.

New chicken video!

We are in the news, again!

Another reporter decided to interview us for a story on the chicken controversy. Behold- a new chicken video for your watching pleasure... you can access it from this page.

http://www.newwest.net/missoula/

Incidentally- Tweedy's limp went away completely and she is back to normal. We never did figure out what caused it, which suggests that it really was a muscle or ligament strain.

Limping is getting better

Tweedy seems to be getting a little bit better. I've increased the amounts of treats the chickens get (more sunflower seeds, and more mixed grains) so that if she needs extra energy right now, she gets it. Her limp yesterday looked really bad, but today it seems less painful, more mobile, and she looks more fluffy. Unhappy hens are not a fluffed up, while happy hens are fluffy and perky looking. Yesterday her feathers were definitely downcast, which concerns me.

I really hope she feels better soon. Poor girl.

Also, it has been wet here for a week or two, so the hen yard is a muddy, filthy mess. I really hope that isn't making her recovery more difficult. Her nails are pretty sharp so I doubt she is slipping in the mud, but still. It can't be making it any easier!

Tweedy's limping!

Poor Mrs. Tweedy! We don't know how or why, but sometime in the last two days she has hurt her leg. Both Matt and I have inspected her for injuries and failed to figure anything out, which is puzzling. She is still her aggressive, large, fluffy self- except that she is limping when she walks. Also, today she has been sitting on the ground (probably because standing is uncomfortable) which made me very nervous.

I hope she is OK soon. Matt replaced all the shavings in the coop today to make it fluffier and softer for her, so maybe that will help. With a sore leg she probably can't jump up onto the night roost, so I think she's sleeping on the floor. I really hope she gets better soon. There is nothing sadder to watch than a limping hen slowly walking across the hen yard.

Of course, she is still laying huge eggs. It is in her genes- I hope at least she is proud to keep that hard work up under such strain.

Adventures of Carrotzilla and Timmy, part two

"Don't move! Stay calm!" yelped Carrotzilla as he desperately tried to think of a way to escape.

But the giant birds could smell the fear in the air, and it was too late. They moved in closer, and closer.



"AAAAAAhhhhh my eye! My arm!" shrieked Timmy.

The red bird had made her move. Pleased with her predation of Timmy's right eyeball, and she sauntered off into the grass to consume it in private.

As Carrotzilla saw Timmy's disfigured face and severed arm, he gave up all hope for survival. "I'M DOOOOMED!" he bellowed.


One of the black and white birds moved in for the kill. Once she was done brutally dismembering Timmy, she moved on to Carrotzilla.



In a few brief seconds of brutal pecking and clucking, Carrotzilla was reduced to an eyeless, legless wreck.

As the orange juices seeped out of his nearly lifeless body, he regretted letting Timmy convince him that walking in the garden would be a fun and safe pasttime.

-- THE END --

Adventures of Carrotzilla and Timmy, part one

This story is dedicated to my mother...

One day, Carrotzilla and Timmy decided to venture out of the house for a walk.


"Such a nice afternoon!" Timmy declared.


Carrotzilla agreed, "Oh yes, delightful!"


They walked along in the pleasantly dry grass and came upon an overgrown chard.

"What a horribly large chard plant! It sure makes a nice place to sit down for a moment."

"Well, we shouldn't stay too long." Carrotzilla was concerned- he had noticed a gang of monsterous birds milling ominously in the distance.

Then, the birds began to approach.

"I'm scared!" Timmy said.

"Don't be frightened, I'm sure they are harmless." Carrotzilla was trying to comfort Timmy, but he didn't like the look of the black and white striped ones. Too... thug-like. All of a sudden, the birds were upon them.



"Eeeeek!" screeched Timmy.


to be continued...

Giant egg report

I promised I'd write about the occasional giant eggs that the chickens lay. One of the chickens (we think maybe Tweedy) laid an absolute monster a few weeks ago. Because it takes months for eggs to go bad, we just kept it in the fridge until we got around to photographing, hardboiling, and dissecting it.

Recently I remembered that darn giant egg I was stockpiling. Here is the size comparison- on the right side is a normal sized egg. You can clearly see this egg is especially large!

After I took the photo, I hard boiled a bunch of eggs to make egg salad. Before I got too involved with the salad, I did remember to cut the giant egg in half and photo document the results. Results? Two yolks! This is pretty normal for free range chickens, especially in small flocks. One of our friends even found a triple yolker from one of her hens. That has to hurt coming out, I would think.

For the curious- A double yolk or a triple yolk is a mistake of the hen's reproductive tract. The yolk gets made first, then the white gets wrapped around it, and then the shell. It is kinda like an assembly line. In this case, two yolks get accidentally wrapped in one white, and then the shell just ends up encompassing the whole thing. Also, you would never get fraternal twin chicks tucked into the egg somehow- the egg is large, but it is not big enough to allow for two fully grown chicks at hatching age. The poor little twins would not survive.



I ate the whole thing, by the way. Delicious!