Back in the saddle
Jun 11th, 2009 by Amy
I’m back from a month’s hiatus from blog posting and lots to report. Thank goodness Matt posted occasionally so you weren’t totally in the dark.
Getting chickens was perhaps one of the best decisions we have made - we get so much enjoyment out of watching them and petting them, not to mention eating their eggs. The only downside so far is that two of them (the two white cochins) have begun making excessive noise at sunrise to announce that they are awake and everyone else should be too. It usually stops after about 10 minutes, but I typically run out to quiet them down to keep peace with our neighbors. They do seem to quiet down if I show up and let them out.
We think our chickens are going through a teenage, picky-eater stage. Talking with friends, their chickens eat most anything. Ours are partial to grass, broadleaf weeds (still in the ground), cracked corn, slugs, and bugs. I sometimes throw a random slug eated strawberry, fava bean, or other treat in and they peck at it once and then ignore it. You would think a strawberry or fava bean would be more interesting than a blade of grass.
The neighbor cat disappeared for a few days last week, so Matt let them free range for a couple hours each evening. They could not have been more happy. I was a little worried about how we were going to corral them back into their coop, but it was really easy. They all stick together and are easily coaxed in one direction.
Our garden has really taken off in the last few weeks. We are eating fava beans several times a week and giving away bags to friends on a regular basis. The strawberries are just starting to ripen, the peas are getting close to done, and the tomatoes are going crazy. We have had green fruit on the vines for about 3 weeks now. It looks like we will have a huge raspberry crop this year, probably because we learned how to prune them correctly!
Matt has been an absolute trooper, completing project after project over the last couple of months. The latest one is a patio consisting of decomposed granite that contains our firepit. He was out until 11pm earlier this week working on it.
That is the very abridged version of getting caught up. Thanks for bearing with us the last month or so! I hope to post some photos of the above referenced projects in the next few days.
So glad you’re enjoying the chickens. Our one Cochin is pretty loud in the mornings too. Some breeds do not like to be confined. The books say Cochins don’t mind confinement, but that’s not our experience. It’s especially bothersome on the weekends, isn’t it? (-:
You’ve been busy! This is a great time in the garden - favas, strawberries, everything just keeps growing and producing the first real harvest. Funny about the fussy chickens! But maybe its a good thing - they won’t bother with your garden, ha ha.
Robin - So it is the confinement issue? I thought it probably was, plus they really seem to like the other chickens to get off the roost and join them. They are always the first ones down. I would prefer that they didn’t have a 5:20 wakeup time, but I just run out and open their door and they quiet down pretty quickly. Looking forward to the coop tour!
Mangochild - When we let them loose, they didn’t really bother with the plants too much. We wouldn’t leave them unsupervised, but it is kind of encouraging.
The red coop looks great…matches the chickens faces! I wish I was closer to come grab some fava beans. How are the figs doing? I can’t wait to harvest from ours in future years.
Hi Laura… the figs are in great shape, about the circumference of a half dollar now. It’s a fascinating plant to me. Favas… wish I would have thought to drop some off, I was in your town last week for work. They might last another couple weeks… if you happen to in the neighborhood, come by and get some!
Mmm, fava beans! All we’ve been eating is lettuce, spinach and greens. Trade you some lettuce for some fava beans???
Great work on the patio, you two. Such talent! Did anyone get a bottle of Patron for all that work? 
We would be glad to trade favas for greens. I planted lettuce at it is some random, sour, bitter tasting yucky stuff. It looks pretty though. No Patron required for motivation - don’t give Matt any ideas!