It is not even midway through August and my chickens are at full egg production! 5 eggs per day for 5 people doesn’t sound like that much but we actually are having a hard time eating through all of them.

To eat all the eggs, my mom has been making tofu and chive eggs. All chives are from my garden and all eggs are from my chickens! All I need now is to grow Tofu XD

Clove was the first to lay and she did so a full month earlier than the others. Midway through July I was about to fill the feeder and was shocked to see an egg nestled in the corner of the coop! My dad built two nesting boxes in a mad rush and I started to give them crushed egg shells (we were still finishing their Grower feed) after another chicken laid an egg without an egg shell. Apparently you only need one nesting box per five chickens but since they lay at around roughly the same time, we made an extra as a precaution.

It’s been pretty crazy though. Typically you get some weird eggs in the first month or so of production, but other than that one without a shell, each egg has been perfect! So far we’ve had 4 double yolked eggs!

The day I found my chicken’s first egg, I also found that my asparagus had grown. Earlier, I skimmed off the top layer of soil when I realized I was probably smothering it. A couple weeks later, it sprouted! It doesn’t have much sun where it is so it hasn’t grown as large as it should it has certainly taught me a lot about how to grow asparagus.

Other projects has included growing a pumpkin plant (fingers crossed) and repurposing the weedy rock garden in my backyard to a flourishing herb garden! Learn more about my project in the herb page!

With way more free time on my hands, I’ve rediscovered the joy of being outside! Although I’d love to start growing my own vegetables, I entirely trust myself quite yet (not to mention that it is summer already)! For now, I’m focusing on weeding, outdoor foraging, composting and making my five hens as happy as they can be!

Every day I find it hard to believe that I raised these big strong girls from tiny chicks and finally, after much working in the garage, we made them a coop! I’ve been moving it around every week or so to ensure that they have fresh grass to scratch at.

Recently, I’ve moved the coop to our patio stone because of all the weeds between the cracks. I also discovered the hard way that all 5 of the girls have extremely sharp claws and beaks so I’m hoping that they will wear them down a little on the stone before I move them back onto the grass.

It’s been really 30*C recently and my chickens are really feeling it. Similar to dogs, they don’t sweat so instead, they pant. They also drink lots of water, droop their wings and take lots of dust baths.

My compost bins are so much fun. I recently realized that there are A LOT of flies around it so I prevented this by covering whatever I put in with grass clippings. My compost will probably end up being really acidic because of all the chicken poop, pine needles and lemon peels I put into it. I don’t really mind it though because I am hoping to use my compost for growing vegetables next year and most of them like a slightly acidic soil.

I’ve been trying to fill my compost bin to the top so I can let it sit in the second bin I made. But it is like Sisyphus! Everytime you think it is full, you water a little, mix some more and it shrinks!

For urban foraging, I’ve noticed that some wild raspberry and strawberries have come out! I hope I’ll be able to eat them by the end of the month.

As for my asparagus, it hasn’t grown and it’s been a month! D: I dug it out recently and my hypothesis is that I buried it too deep. Seeing that the roots looked quite alive, I simply skimmed off the top layer of soil. Hopefully they grow. I know I don’t have much of a green thumb but the box said “guaranteed to grow”!

I admit it. I have pandemic pullets. In my defense, I got them simply because I had nothing else to do with everything cancelled, not because I was afraid of the apocalypse!

I love the temperament of barred rocks but love the colour of rhode island reds! So I got three of each. I named my chickens after herbs; Juniper, Parsley, Comfrey, Periwinkle, Clove and Mallow. From day one, Juniper was the largest and I assumed she was a couple hours older or so. (When they are chicks, this makes a difference!) Everyday, you could see their tiny personalities growing, especially when I took them out for the first time! Periwinkle, a small rhode island was alway hyper. She’d be the last to fall asleep and when she did, she’d chirp in her sleep and wake herself up! Then, she’d step into the middle of the circle of sleeping chicks, and wake the rest of them!

There were some serious weather changes in March and it was often chilly when I’d take them out. This was the perfect time to introduce Barley without the barrier of the brooder.

I’d walk him first to calm him down and sit him down on the lawn with his leash still on. Then, I’d let the chicks go towards him when they felt comfortable. They loved him. Or, more specifically, they loved his heat.

All was going well…until we realized Juniper was a boy! The draw back with rhode island reds and barred rocks is that there is not clear way to gender them as chicks. It was around 4 weeks that it became really obvious, Juniper, the barred rock was a cockerel (a male chicken under a year old). We found him a happy home elsewhere where he has lots of ladies to please and space to exert his big boy personality!

The tell tale signs was his large comb, overall dominance, yellow feet (barred rock females have dark feet) and lighter feathering. Once again, backyardchickens.com was where I went to find this out.

The girls didn’t seem to miss him though. In fact, their personalities got bigger! From month one to two, I was worried about Comfrey because she was quite a bit smaller than the rest and didn’t seem to be eating as much. Now at three month, she’s always the first one out the door to seek new places! Even though Parsley and Mallow are larger and the most dominant, they’ll follow Comfrey on all her wild adventures and Clove and Periwinkle (who now look and act very similar), have no choice but to follow.

They are all learning how to perch on high up branches in trees but haven’t been able exceed 5 feet or so (thank goodness). It is quite the struggle to get them down.

Herding them around the yard to look for new patches is something that I do for fun now. You have to know your girls and their pecking order well to get them to move to your liking. For example, I know Periwinkle and Clove will always follow the rest of the flock, Mallow and Parsley will run off if there is another pullet with them and Comfrey will do whatever she pleases, then will magically summon the rest to follow her.

It is amazing how much your chicks will grow in a quarter of a year. One day they’ll be fuzzy fluff-balls of cuteness, the next, straggly teenagers and then beautiful young ladies! Below I’ve included some of my Chicken Whisperer tricks but if you want to learn how to raise your own chickens, check out the rest of my website!

Chicken Whisperer Herding Tricks:

• Have a stick that is a good thickness and is slightly shorter than your shoulders (a bit longer than a hiking pole). This will help you block the one chick who tries to run off while using your body to keep the others on track. It is also handy when getting them out of bushes.
• Make a certain sound when using the herding stick; the chickens will know what you are trying to do and will react accordingly.
• Spot the leader and make sure she doesn’t get out of line! The rest will most definitely follow if you aren’t careful.
• Put their feeder in at the place you want them before you herd them. Once you are close enough to your destination, they will run towards it and you job is done!

Note: avoid making physical contact with the chickens and your stick. Simply waving the stick or thumping the ground with it should be enough to get them moving the other way.

Today is Tuesday, March 4th, 2014.  We candled the eggs the second time.  Unfortunately, 6 eggs didn’t make it.  They showed dried out blood lines which indicated that they “quit”.  Hoping for the best for the other 6 eggs.

Today, February 25th, 2014, Winky candled her eggs with a self-made Illuminator (made from recycled materials).  Signs of embryo development is already showing with dark shadows.  We can even see them move.

On Tuesday, February 18th, 2014, Winky picked up her first dozen of fertilized eggs from a Hatchery in St. Jacob’s Village.  It was an adventure since mommy got lost and made the 1hr and 15 minute trip into a 4 hour road trip.