And then there were three!

I'm like a proud Mama Bear...three of the four chickens are now laying!  I tried to snap a picture tonight of the three different eggs, but my camera battery died & I'm simply too lazy at the moment to charge it.  We'll have plenty more eggs...more opportunities to snap a picture.  

The pictures below are of the first two girls & their eggs...  The brown egg we believe is from Fenway, our Plymouth Rock White.  The green is most likely from our Ameraucana (or Auraucana or Easter Egger - each type of chicken is hard to define so we're not sure exactly what type of chicken she is, but she does have the blue egg gene).  These eggs can, depending on the type of bird, range in any color of blue, green, pink, yellow, or khaki.  The newest egg is more similar to the green egg in size & shape, but it is a pinkish tan.

And to follow, a few pictures I snapped of blackbirds splashing around in a puddle across the street.  They're not the most endearing bird - loud, raucous, & they run off the cuter birds - but it was fun to watch them in a moment of play...

What's this? A blog?

It's been awhile since posting...and for that, I apologize.  It's been a busy summer - to say the least.  Here's a quick recap:

We got married....

I love that our first dance picture so closely resembles our cake topper

We've continued to work on the yard...

This area of the yard does not grow grass very well (so abundantly obvious in this picture), so we're working on maintenance free landscaping (note the rock path, the mulch, & addition of native, drought-tolerant plants).  The V-section between the slate path & the sidewalk will probably slowly become grass-free.  Our plans include semi-permanent "hot boxes" (small moveable "greenhouses" that we'll make using old windows from the house) & continuing to add the maintenance free landscaping.  A work in progress...

We've continued raising our four chickens...

The coop (with hops sitting on top of the weather proofing tarp)

The girl(s) have made us proud & begun laying eggs...  

(At this point we don't know who is laying the eggs, but we're almost positive it's Fenway, the Plymouth Rock White.  The pattern tends to be one egg every other day, although we had two days in a row of eggs.  They're small, closer to the size of a medium egg in the store, but delicious!)

We've been canning...

Apple sauce (with apples from a wild apple tree on one of Steve's project sites) & strawberry apple sauce

Canned peaches & peach salsa (not pictured)...

And chokecherry jelly from the abundantly wild chokecherry bushes around town...

And of course, we've participated in numerous races, both around town & outside the area.  (Sadly, no pictures of those at the moment)

That's our life in a nutshell for the past few months.  Regular blog posting shall now resume!  :)

Chicks!

I've been wanting chickens for some time, especially after watching the eye-opening movie "Food, Inc."  Fresh eggs & (some day) fresh chicken meat (after they've lived long, productive lives & no longer produce eggs) enticed us enough to make the leap.  Knowing how the chickens lived (free-range with plenty of exercise & fresh air), what they ate (bugs, grass, all-natural feed), & how they were treated (as spoiled as our pups) makes the decision worthwhile.  Chickens are fairly easy to raise - and they cost approximately $3/chick & a 50 lb feed bag costs about $15.  Do a little research & anyone can raise chickens.

"Athena," an Araucana - she's the biggest of the group (long story, but in some races, they have special groups for "Athena" & "Clydesdale" - runners that are at a higher weight than typical runners).

"Grubby," a New Hampshire Red - she ate the first bug.

"Fenway," a Plymouth Rock White - think of Plymouth Rock, think of Boston, think of Boston, think of Fenway

"Fosters," an Australorp - Australorp...Australia...Fosters!  It's a stretch, but I'm fairly certain the chickens aren't worried about their names.  She's by far our favorite - much more docile & sweet than the others.  The other three are friendly enough, but we picked them up at an older age than typical & I don't think they bonded to us as younger chicks usually do.  Foster seems to be the youngest, so it seems she was more willing to consider us her "parent."

A very curious Brewer.  Guinness cannot be left alone with them (a true bird dog), Brewer is curious but kind of scared, & Gidget could care less.

They've since grown quite a bit, but we haven't had a chance to take pictures.  I'm sure we'll be posting updates, especially after we finish the coop & move them outside in a few weeks (if the weather ever clears...).