Dork and his backyard chickens

I took the Ls to a local feed store today to get some chicken food (Rupaul's eggs are VERY breakable and it looks like something is missing in his/her diet).

Rupi is the only egg laying chicken we have (the other two just live with us as pets) but Rupi is a pet with benefits :)

So we got some oyster shell fortified food, a new water feeder and a grain feeder.

I chatted with the nice LONG-BEARDED sales guy who knows quite a bit about chickens.

When I mentioned Rupi's aggression issues the guy said they might be bored and asked if they have enough room to roam around.

On my way home I thought "hmmmm ... it is kind of cramped in their quarters" maybe some "fresh air" would be good.

I came home and started cleaning their coop and purposely left the door open to see what they would do.

And after a little while of standing where the door usually is they stepped, very carefully!, outside and tip-toed into (temporary) freedom.

To my surprise Meow came and just layed right in front of them (like this is MY territory) and then Dork came along and looked at Meow like "Don't you mess with MY CHICKENS!".

They found the cat-nip :)

Dork checkin on his girlies :)

And off they go ... finding some yummy bugs and worms!

"Not too far girls!"
"It might be dangerous out there!"

"Let me guard you!"

Dork being a chicken-herding dog!

"Rupi; WHERE do you think you are going?"

"Ginormica aka Susan aka Lisa looking pretty as ever!"

Todd, you chicken-god-father, see what Rupi did to Chicken?

She plugged out all the feathers on the back.
BAD Rupi (but she lays eggs so we forgive her :)

Rupi in full beauty!

So our free backyard chickens had a blast and looked very happy out there.

They ate grass and whatever else they found, they dug and searched and looked like very happy chicks.

I am hopping that this "freedom therapy" helps with egg production. 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my chickens!!!!

I find hanging out, chatting and just watching them is VERY relaxing and calming.


I always knew I was a farm girl :)

Correction - Chicken lied!!!

She gooaacked so loud I was sure it was her egg but after further investigations (and one look from Mr. G) the judges confirmed that Chicken did NOT lay the egg. She lied!!!

Rupaul pooped it out and then watched Chicken get all the glory.
Poor Rupy!
Thats what you get for being so mean to Chicken ... she steals your show!

The "First Egg of the House" award is now being handed down to Rupaul.
Thanks for laying your FIST egg (hope it's not as angery as you are!)

She is one of the prettiest chickens I have ever seen.

Her feather-head reminds me of Elizabeth Taylor for some reason.

We LOVE Rupaul!

 The egg-laying-imposter!

Asoka / Susan / Ginormica

She LOVES the camera!

Probably because my iPhone has a green cover and a shiny apple on it.
I am waiting for her to hack at it, trying to eat it. 

She gets rather LOUD if it's past her feeding time ... that girl can EAT!!!

I better go and fry up that 2" egg of ours. 

We'll have a family feast tonight :)

Thank you Rupaul!

We very much appreciate your generous gift and will honor you with lots of worms for it.

Chicken lays an EGG!

8 days into our feathery adventure and we have our FIRST tinny EGG!!!


GOOD CHICKEN! 

The smallest and the BESTEST chicken ever!

Chicken finds the nest

It's been three days now since we grew by three heads and a whole lot of feathers :)

The new girls are slowly getting acclimated with their new hacienda and us.
I did my first poop-scoop duty and must say chicken-poop STINKS!!!

I spend every day a little while in the coop so they feel more at ease and know I am not going to throw them on the BBQ.

Susan (aka Ginormica) has become very brave and even eats out of my hand.

Rupaul is walking around like she is the queen of the backyard ... very proud!
... and she steals the food from Chicken, the poor little one!
She has definitely "strong leadership skills" (if you don't want to call it bossy :)

Chicken (aka Frau Thomas ... as you can see we are not quite clean on the names yet) is the smallest and apparently the smartest since she is the FIRST one to sit in the nest.

Now the wait is on.

I think she was just hiding in there since I was cleaning the coop ... no egg laying action so far but they have gone through quite some trauma in the last days and will surely need some more time to calm their chicken nerves before they will even consider blessing us with some organic goodness :)

So far so good.
They all are still alive, that should count for something :) and tomorrow we'll go on a snail/slug hunt and serve a fancy escargot dinner to the new ladies on the block.

ahhhh ... Milpitas farm life.

I am trying to convince Pat to add a Tea Cup Pig to the farm but he won't fork out the $2500 that they cost :(
Whats $2500 if you can have a TEA CUP PIG people???

Really?

BORING!!!

They are SOOO cute and can fit in a cup, perfect for traveling.
Puts a whole new meaning to the travel cup :)

Oh Mathilda, one day you'll be mine!
And then you, me and na-course Lulu will have lots of tea parties, and we'll dress you up and take pictures ... a tea cup pig ... a dream come true :):):)

The CZ family is GROWING!

Finally it's time to make the BIG announcement.
It's been weeks and weeks of making, planning, prepping and pondering and today we are ready to spread the news!

The CA CZ family is growing by not one, not two but by THREE heads!

All naturally, no hormones or artificial help was used!!!

We have built the babies room and play pen, sewed a banner and today it was time to welcome them into our family.

The Ls and I drove to Palo Alto to meet with Ls Principal Mr. G.
Mr. G is leaving for Europe in a few weeks to spend the summer over there.
His family is rather big and so he was happy to let us adopt three of his little ones.

Please welcome the three new CZ girls, Rupaul, Asoka and Chicken.

The nesting box with PINK nesting paper (guess who chose that ...)

Dork checking out his new sisters.
He looked SOOO confused.
I bet he'll start chucking around and trying to lay eggs soon, my super "smart" Dork :)

Rupaul in full BEAUTY! She is so beautiful ... and I think she knows it too!

Asoka, or better Ginormica, is the biggest chicken I have ever seen!
Boy she is the size of the other two combined.

And this is Chicken ... because she is a little Chicken (aka scardey-cat)

It took them all afternoon to settle down and Rupaul was quite talkative when it got dark.
She walked in and out of the coop (an old playhouse we picked up for cheap) and was just calling for  ...
I am assuming her daddy.
When we tucked them in they were all huddled up on top of the nesting box, neither wanted to use the perch to sit/rest on.
Pat will add another perch up higher since it seems they like being up high ... away from danger and coldness.

Here is the new hacienda, perfect with banner and all.
At night we close the windows and door to keep them more protected and tucked in.
The Ls are already fighting over who gets to let them out and feed them first.

We gave them some lettuce and water melon to snack on and it looked like they LOVE watermelon :)
Pat said to give them a whole head of cabbage ... apparently they love picking at it.
Food and entertainment at the same time.

So this is our BIG announcement; the CA CZs are now in the self-sustaineble egg providing business (that is so a Pat - word ... I would have just called it chicken farming ;)

We can't wait to find the first egg in the nesting box and after that enjoy fresh, organic eggs from happy chickens which, in case you are wondering, will die of OLD age !!!

And this also answers the famous question of "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"
Clearly the chicken, since we have no eggs yet and it's been like 5 hours since we have had them :)

Sleep well my new babies.
Can't wait to hear your clucking in the morning.