New Spring Kids
Add comment April 15th, 2008
Broody
At the moment, there is a broody hen in our chicken coop. She began sitting on her nest the week before we left for Maryland. It is terrific fun anticipating the tiny “peep peep peeps” of newly hatched chicks. But there is (not surprisingly) a wide gulf between a hen’s intentions to hatch a clutch and the manifestation of chicks. The saying goes like this: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Laying the diurnal egg is typical hen behaviour. Some hens are satisfied with the ready-made nest in the chicken coop; other hens find a secret spot somewhere else; but most youthful hens (dare I call them “spring chickens”?) make it their business to deposit an egg somewhere just about every day. And so our story begins: One day in the nesting box, our protagonist, (let’s curtsy to cliche and call our everyhen “Henrietta”) gets an idea. Her idea becomes an indefatigable urge; for inexplicable reasons she has decided to hatch out some biddies. She keeps her idea a secret, but prepares for her adventure by continuing to lay an egg every day in the hopes of accumulating a nice little pile of eggs to hatch. Once she builds up a treasury, she will commence setting for approximately 21 days. This ought to be easy but she is already encountering a problem.
Her first problem is that some industrious robber (in this case human, but the robber is not always human) comes along behind her every day, stealing her egg. It isn’t easy, in a chicken coop, to fill a nest with eggs to hatch even with all the other hens helping out. But robbers fail, especially two legged robbers, and one evening, or two evenings in a row, or perhaps even more evenings in a row than that (like when they are getting ready for some big human endeavor,) these two legged robbers may in fact ‘forget’ to pick up the eggs. (Actually, they see the eggs and say, “later,” knowing full well that no egg pick up is in the works. From afar, I know that it looks just really really easy to pick up eggs once a day, but I tell you, sometimes it is not as easy as it looks.) So, finally, due to reasons beyond her capacity to contemplate, a little nest of eggs appears for Henrietta to sit on.
We can imagine her great sigh of relief when she sees this accumulated pile of eggs; her efforts have been rewarded. She proceeds to climb onto the nest, fans out all those lovely feathers, and sits. And Sits. And SITS. She is perfectly suited to keeping those eggs at 99 degrees for three weeks. She capably provides the appropriate humidity, around 55 percent. Without this relatively constant heat and humidity, the eggs won’t make it. (She is even able to increase the humidity as the eggs get close to hatching; this makes the shells easier for the chicks to peck through.) The whole process is yet another small miracle of Nature. It is so magical it seems kind of foolproof; even accounting for the robber and the constant temperature requirement and the one or two dud eggs that might be in any nest.
By now, you probably have a question. With all that sitting, you want to know, how does Henrietta manage to eat and to drink and to take that nice little dust bath that keeps her free of parasites? This is indeed a problem, how not to die of hunger and thirst and parasites while sitting on this nest. Like all mothers, Henrietta denies herself all manner of comforts, but finally she just can’t take it any more and she gets up from her precious nest to see to her own needs. There goes the constant temperature. Hopefully she won’t take too long.
As Henrietta hops down from her warm nest, another hen appears, looking for a place in which to lay an egg. Hens are notorious for wanting to lay only in nests that already have eggs in them and Henrietta is leaving behind a lovely full nest of eggs that is perfectly warm. This really seems opportune; after all the eggs must remain at a constant temperature. The interloper hops onto Henrietta’s nest, and commences laying her egg. This can take a long time. Could this be a problem? But the eggs are staying warm without Henrietta! What great luck! Is it?
Meanwhile, Henrietta, now finished with her restorations, comes back. Her nest has been stolen! What a hen-ous crime! Oh my. What will Henrietta do? Will she get her nest back? Oh, what anguish for Henrietta!
But our Henrietta is determined; she is not going to be defeated. She WILL continue setting on a nest. Demonstrating great pluck, she finds another nest to sit on. (There are, after all, ten nests to choose from.) Henrietta makes herself comfortable. Meanwhile, the interloper who has tricked Henrietta into sitting on another nest is not in a maternal mood. She finishes laying her egg and hops off. Goodbye constant temperature. Goodbye appropriate humidity.
Henrietta seems oblivious to this fiasco. Her determination to set, no matter where, amounts to a failure of imagination. She is now brooding on another nest. There are fatal consequences.
Really it is not a nice story. YOU know what happens to Henrietta’s eggs; girls and boys, all Henrietta’s nice eggs die when they get cold. Poor Henrietta. Does SHE know? Who can tell?
I will tell you one more thing. When you look up ‘broody’ you find that it comes from the Old English, bro (long e), to keep warm. ‘Broody,’ however, doesn’t just mean “to sit on eggs,” but also, “persistent morbid meditation on a problem.” (Wordwebonline.com)
What do you think?
Add comment May 20th, 2007
AM and PM
The usual timekeeping conventions of AM and PM stand for different things at our house. PM means “pre-Maryland” and AM means “after-Maryland.” AM time is much more expansive than PM time; it moves slower and lasts longer.
A big thing on the AM list is “garden,” which means lots of things, but yesterday meant this:
I did not take a ‘before’ photo. (I do have SOME pride.) But I will show you some of our peonies, most especially my favorite pink peony. The peonies (emphasis on the second syllable, “pe-O-nies” in our neck of the woods) really took a hit this year with a late major freeze, but the reds and pinks bloom later and so were not as affected.
Satisfying, yes?
Add comment May 14th, 2007
Two species, two points of view
Species Number One
It has taken 10 days for our school chicks (hatched in a kindergarden class) to begin thinking outside the coop. They have finally realized that there is a great edible world of bugs and grass out there. They just haven’t yet agreed on which direction to take.
Species Number Two
Now, which one of these kids is real and which kid is the reflection?! Or are these two kids acting in unison?
They aren’t identical, they just act that way!
photographs by Liliana
1 comment May 11th, 2007
Woohoo! Maryland!
What a wonderful time we had at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show! The people! The animals! The fiber! The yarn! It is always terrific to see old friends and make new ones! If you have never paid homage to MSW, mark your calendar now for the first weekend in May, 2008. There is simply nothing like it. Come and see us next year!
Monday was a long ride home for us two tired people. Soon after pulling in the driveway, I went down to the barn to check on things. Look what I found!
How lucky is that? A few days early, two perfect little does, on the ground, dry, and full of colostrum when I got there! Absentee barn midwifery doesn’t get any better than that! They are tiny — six pounders — but strong and lively and smart! Think up some names for us, May flower names please. We are still too tired to do it ourselves!
Add comment May 10th, 2007
More and More
My romance with grey and brown and blue continues! Welcome Soapstone!
Time seems to be shrinking geometrically since I signed up for the Master Spinner I class, which happens the week before Maryland Sheep and Wool. There is a lot of yarn and top to be dyed and labeled between now and April 23, the first day of spinning class. I simplistically imagine that a reasonable level of organization will save me from a last minute frenzy. I should just admit that it IS inevitable that I will start flying around, breathing fire on everyone before it is all over; it would be wise to get everyone’s asbestos suit at the ready. That’s right; be prepared, I always say. Be prepared and hope for the best.
Add comment April 10th, 2007
Lots and Lots
It was an all day affair; mixing dye, painting yarn, scouring mohair, dyeing mohair. I started at 8 am and finished at 7 pm. Long day. Lots done. Lots of checks on the production schedule. Lots of wet yarn hanging to dry. Lots of dry yarn on the couch. Lots still to go. This must be why they call them dye LOTS!
Add comment April 1st, 2007
Moving Right Along
Behold the newest colorways!!
Meet Oberon, in honor of Shakespeare’s mischievous fairy king.
Greet Brown Earth, a springtime nod to newly turned earth and blue, blue sky.
There is one more on the way, which still needs a tiny tweak. Soon, I promise!
Add comment March 19th, 2007
My Heart With Pleasure Fills
Wordsworth’s season has arrived! Finally!
THE DAFFODILS
I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:—
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company!
I gazed, and gazed, but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Add comment March 16th, 2007