Knock, knock!

May we come in please?

Egg count

25 eggs this week.

Shiny new engine

Our rototiller is 38 years old.  It's a beast, and a new one just like it is about $2500, so it's important to keep ours running.  For starters, it was given to us by Dan's parents, so we can't argue with the purchase price.  Dan had to do some initial maintenance when we first got it, but fairly minimal.  This year, Dan pulled it out of the garage and it started on the first pull.  Woohoo!  However, he would get half way down a garden row and it would start spitting and sputtering.  He tinkered with it and determined the engine was shot.  Sigh!  After much Internet searching, Dan found the engine he wanted and installed it in a matter of minutes.  It looks slightly 'modern' compared to the rest of the tiller though...

Egg count

21 Eggs this week.

Down to 5

We had a stray dog come up to the house and chase the chickens into the garage.  We heard the noise and ran outside.  Dan chased the dog out of the garage and down the driveway.  All of the ladies went fleeing into the woods.  Before long 4 of the 6 resurfaced.  We were still missing Pollo and Nugget though.  After a couple of hours, Pollo came out of the woods.  We searched the woods high and low looking for Nugget, but to no avail.  There are no signs of blood or feathers, so we're not sure what happened to her.  We can only hope that it was quick and painless.  :(

Introducing Jet

We have a stray kitty that is coming by more and more often.  She mostly likes to just lay around, but she also does some hunting now and then.  She has the prettiest, shiniest black coat I've ever seen.  I don't know that she's a she... I've just designated her as such.  I've named her Jet since her coat is jet black.  The ladies have taken a liking to Jet.  They all mingle together while looking for food and sometimes I think the chickens are trying to play with her.

Egg count

26 eggs this week.

Seeing more of Spring

Red buds are another sign that spring has sprung.  I wish they would stay pretty purple all summer long though...

Poor birdy

Windows on one side of our house have a wicked reflection of nearby trees.  This, I think, causes birds to fly into the window because they think they're flying into trees.  They are in fact flying at least 100mph into my dining room windows.  Needless to say, they are a little stunned after doing so.  They say cats have 9 lives... I think birds do too!  This little guy laid on the ground for a good 15 minutes before his daze wore off and he flew away.

OH BOY!

We've seperated the chicken run and built a new ramp for the little chicks.  They need to get a little bit bigger before they can go out and free-range with the ladies.  Today is their first day outside.  The first outside are of course the Barred Rocks... they fear nothing....

And after quite a while, an Americana finally came out...

And finally, the most skitterish of all, a Buff Orphington came out...

Egg count

27 eggs this week.

Making progress

Today Dan and Brian worked on the front of the house... we're getting there.

1st Quarter, 2010 Egg Count

From Jan 1 - March 31, the ladies laid a total of 358 eggs!