The PERFECT Decorated Egg

This is just how I found this egg.  After lifting it from the nest box, I felt overwhelmed by it's beauty!  I carefully brought it in and placed in one of my son's pieces of pottery to take pictures to share.  I adjusted NOTHING!  How could a human's decorating possibly compare to this glorious creation of God's hen?

Maybe you could glue some chicken feathers on a brown egg to recreate (would be beautiful--blow out egg, then glue), but could you do what my Candy girl did?  Could you be VERY uncomfortable for hours, and push an egg out of you so hard that it ripped little feathers out of you?  And do this daily?  I think NOT!  I sure wouldn't want to go through THAT!!!  2 child births in 5 years was plenty for me.

Eggs are taken for granted.  But not by their Mama hen/rooster (that's me).

An Egg Per Hen

I was SO excited yesterday when ALL of my 6 girls layed an egg for the first time!  1/2 dozen eggs in a day for the beginner that I am.  Not bad, if you ask me.  Actually, raising my chicks to hens has been so much fun and I've learned so much by spending time with them twice a day.  They love to be misted with a spray bottle in the heat of the day, fluffing and cleaning their feathers (which helps keep them free of lice, mites,etc. and cools them down during hot temperatures).  The hens come running to me when they see me with my spray bottle!  About  6 p.m. is their snack time.  My girls favorites are watermelon rinds and MY leftover corn cobs.  They love most herbs (Not basil though--instead I use this to keep insects away from the nest boxes, from the coop, from the run).  The hens went  nuts when I gave them fresh sweet bay leaves (they grow wild all around here).  They also have laying feed available always and get special grains each evening.

Roosters In the Ex-pig's Pen

This is a funny conversation which I had with a friend yesterday:

My friend has 5 roosters and they keep taking "turns" on all her hens.  They were exhausting them.  So she and her husband caught all of them, except the oldest rooster.  The captured ones were put in the ex-pig's pen (ex-pig attacked her and is now in the freezer!).  Now what is my friend going to do with them?   She said they're going to live a monk's life.

Classic Sesame Street - Song: "There's a Hole in the Bucket"

My Buff Orpingtons--Photos and the Submissive Squat

Pictures of my Buff Orpington hens at 24 weeks.  3 of my girls are now laying an egg daily unless we have major thunder storms.  Then I only get 2 eggs.  I have gotten 4 in a day twice now and have 4 out of 6 of "my girls" doing the "submissive squat" when I enter the run.  From what I have learned, a hen can only lay 1 egg every 24 hours.

Naughty Candy pecking at my shoe

My girls love to be hand fed

My girl Annie's "submissive squat"

I had the hardest time finding pictures of the "submissive squat" versus how they just lay down.  To the left is the "submissive squat" that Annie does when I first enter the run.  Notice that she is not in the relaxed position of laying down but seems kind of anxious.  Annie loves to be gently stroked from behind her neck down to her fanny feathers.  The squat is because the hen wants to have her egg fertilized by a rooster so it can develop into a chick.  When no rooster is around, they see me and my husband as their rooster and immediately squat when one of us enters the run.  I am working on a video of this to post soon.  People who have never heard of this think it sounds very weird, which it does.  But it is the way of things in the chicken world.  Not having a "real" rooster has no effect on egg production.  Please check out my link to Fresh Eggs Daily, a website by Lisa Steele.  It's a fantastic resource to almost everything there is to know about raising healthy chickens.  To locate the article about roosters, choose "topics" then "chickens".  Below that, choose "basics" Article 21.  Best I can direct you right now. 

Buff Orpington's have beautiful, soft low feathers on their fannies.  They are very delicate and small, and float on the tiniest breeze.  I'm still working on catching that image.

Click on photos to see closer.

Beautiful fannies

How to Dry Herbs--Easy and Cheap

I have been growing my little "kitchen" patch of herbs for over 15 years now.  I pick them fresh for cooking with, but have always had more than needed.  So I dry them to use throughout the year until the following year's fresh herbs are ready to harvest.  I tried hanging them in bundles at first but they collected dust.  I use the following method, which is also great for drying flowers to gather the seeds for replanting/expanding and for the petals.  I use both dried herbs and flower petals in homemade soaps.

No need to rinse your herbs unless you use chemical pesticides, which I never use and there has been no need to.  I sometimes use a natural bug determent but wait at least a day, usually a week, before cutting and drying.  I'm sure I am over-careful!  I dry them on a window screen, you can choose size or how many you want depending on your needs.  Cleaned old ones are fine as long as they are in good condition and have no rust on the screen itself.  You can dry all herbs this way with little or no cost.  Elevate screen from the floor as you want air circulation both above and below your cuttings.  Place in a dark and dry room.  I never place in an air conditioned room, but your priorities should be dark and dry, not HUMID, however you need to accomplish those two.

When the herbs are ready to store, they will break up easily between your fingers (crispy and crumbly is the best way I can describe).  Check them daily.  If you over-dry, the aroma will decrease and the taste when later used will be basically useless.  That is something you don't want to store and cook with up to 1 year maximum.  The 1 year rule also applies to most store dried herbs you buy.  Just get rid of that try (feed to chickens, add to mulch pile, whatever) and start over again with new fresh herbs.  Usually all the dirt on the unwashed herbs will drop off during drying and when you remove to a basket lined with paper towels--or whatever you want to use.  Next I put the herbs in a lidded mason jar by hand (used, washed mason jars, seals and lids are what I use).

If you can't stand the idea of not washing your own naturally grown herbs, then rinse and gently dry between paper towels BEFORE you dry on screen.  There are other ways of preserving your herbs including freezing, storing in olive oil, dry-packing with salt and infusions.  I will share these with you later.

Animal Songs: "Chicken Bop," by StoryBots

Greek Basil and Easy Drying

You can also cut tops when blooming

Bad pic but these are little clusters

By happen-chance I planted Greek Basil along the vegetable garden edge.  This Basil is the ONLY one I will ever grow again for cooking!  The aroma and taste is excellent, not as strong an anise taste as Sweet Basil.  It grows like a miniature shrub, but is only about 8" tall and about the same in width.  I have constantly harvested it by little clusters.  Its easy to collect (every 3-5 days), dry and store.  When you learn to cut it just right, which took a few tries, there is no trimming necessary.  No need to rinse unless you use pesticides (which I never use on any plants) and Basil plants, in my years of growing, have never needed.  I then dry on a window screen.  A cleaned old one is fine--you can dry all herbs this way with little or no cost.  Elevate screen from the floor as you want air circulation both above and below your cuttings.  Place in a dark and dry room.  Do NOT place in air conditioned room.  When the Basil is ready to store, it will break up easily between your fingers, smelling roughly 3X stronger than fresh cut.  If you over-dry, the aroma will quickly dwindle to basically useless.  Check it daily.  Almost all dirt on the herbs--usually all--will drop off during this time and when you remove to a basket lined with paper towels or whatever you want to use.  Next I put the herbs in a lidded mason jar by hand (used, washed mason jars, seals and lids are what I use).  If you can't stand the idea of not washing your own naturally grown herbs, then rinse and gently dry between paper towels BEFORE you dry.  There are other ways of preserving your herbs including freezing, storing in olive oil, dry-packing with salt and infusions.  I will share these with you later.

Southern Ice Tea Recipe

Down in South Carolina, where we drink ice tea throughout the year, we are very particular.  Area fast food places have ice tea, but not the real thing.  Restaurants usually do.  If you ask why it's so good, most will tell you that it's the water.  But I believe it's all about the strength.  Plenty will disagree, or have their special way of making.  This is how I make ice tea--I remember my mother making it this way for years.

Cherie's Recipe for Southern Ice Tea
This makes 1 gallon (we drink a lot of it, especially in summer) *

• In glass container (I use a quart liquid measuring cup) bring to a boil about 3 C. of water in microwave, or you can do this in pan on stove.  Let it set 1 minute.
• Place 3 family size tea bags into hot water (or 9 regular serving)
• Let tea brew for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put 3/4 C. sugar in gallon pitcher.
• When tea is done brewing, remove tea bags and pour brew over sugar in pitcher.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
• Add cold water to fill 1 gallon pitcher.

You can make it less sweet or sweeter by adjusting sugar.  Or make it unsweetened.  If you want it stronger or weaker, adjust the brewing time.

*For 1/2 gallon of ice tea: use 2 family tea bags (or 4 regular serving), brew for 3-4 minutes, use 1/2 amount of sugar.

The Moron Brothers - "The Rooster Song"