tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119739112024-03-07T05:55:11.741-08:00Humboldt HensThe pampered lives of our backyard chickens, along with crazy chicken news from around the world.Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comBlogger346125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1151101791658237272006-06-23T15:28:00.000-07:002006-06-23T15:29:51.686-07:00Flying the CoopWell, I have reached that point in every blogger's life when it is finally time to make the move from Blogger to TypePad. I'm also rolling all three of my blogs (Dirt, Humboldt Hens, and Worms of Endearment) into one, and in addition to writing about the garden, the chickens, and the worms, I'll also be writing about the book tour and lots of other topics related to my new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565124383/sr=8-1/qid=1151101410/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-9512336-3465513?%5Fencoding=UTF8">Flower Confidential</a>. My new blog home is here:<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.amystewart.com/">http://blog.amystewart.com/</a><br /><br />and I promise there will be plenty of good chicken stuff there, in addition to all the Humboldt Hens archives.<br /><br />And last, but certainly not least, you'll find me over at <a href="http://www.gardenrant.com/">GardenRant</a> a few times a week. We're having a lot of fun, so come join us.Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1150746139316561302006-06-19T12:42:00.000-07:002006-06-20T10:01:42.840-07:00Great Moments in Chicken VideosThis is my gift to you on a Monday when we'd all rather be outdoors. Enjoy.<br /><br /><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6571575392378784144&q=nike+chicken">Nike Angry Chicken - Google Video</a><br /><br /><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/47tlFVBA130" width="425" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1150220408821584322006-06-13T10:38:00.000-07:002006-06-13T10:46:33.723-07:00Garden Rant Takes Over the World<a href="http://www.gardenrant.com"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/1600/garden%20rant%20for%20button.jpg" border="0" /></a>A few months ago, I started talking with Susan Harris of <a href="http://takomagardener.typepad.com/">Takoma Gardener</a> and Michele Owens of <a href="http://www.signoftheshovel.com/">Sign of the Shovel</a> about a modest little idea we had to stage a horticultural revolt. We were tired of what the mainstream gardening media has to offer--warmed-over garden tips, repurposed press releases about the ten thousandth new coleus on the market, dull little essays about the wonders of spring--and we were convinced that bloggers could overthrow the gardening establishment in the way that they are transforming coverage of politics and current affairs. (Witness the success of the <a href="http://www.yearlykos.org/">YearlyKos </a>convention. Not that I want to be the <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/">DailyKos</a> of gardening. I'd much rather be the <a href="http://www.gawker.com/">Gawker </a>of gardening. But one thing at a time.)<br /><br />Like all good revolutionaries, we began by writing a manifesto. You can read the whole thing on our site, but I'll touch on a few of my favorite points here:<br /><p>--We are convinced that gardening MATTERS. Get us out of the Lifestyle section and as far away from home decorating as possible. We're talking about how we interact with the plant kingdom, not how to choose a throw pillow. This shit is important!</p><p>--We are flabbergasted at the idea of "no maintenance" gardens. If I have to read one more magazine article about Easy Container Gardens in 10 Minutes or Less, I may actually go bury MYSELF in the perennial border. Gardening is something you DO. It's not something you buy and arrange around the exterior of your home in between fluffing the aforementioned throw pillows.</p><p>--We are delighted by people with a passion for plants. Show some excitement! Have an opinion! Fall in love! Get mad! If you're bored, put your pen down and go outside. Just don't bore us, too.</p>Are you with me? All right, then. Follow me over to <a href="http://www.gardenrant.com">Garden Rant</a>, where I'll be blogging a couple times a week. Some of my favorite new features include:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/ask_dr_bleedingheart/index.html">Ask Dr. Bleedingheart</a>--horticultural advice for the lovelorn. Send in your melodramas today.</li><li><a href="http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/i_dont_have_a_garden_but_i_watch_one_on_tv/index.html">I Don't Have a Garden, But I Watch One On TV</a>--reviews of garden television and Internet garden videos. (We'll cover podcasts and radio too, so if it's good, send it our way.)</li><li><a href="http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/taking_your_gardening_dollar/index.html">Taking Your Gardening Dollar</a>--product reviews, rip-offs, and vicarious horticultural shopping experiences.</li><li><strong>You!</strong> We're looking for guest bloggers, so if you have something brilliant to say, we hope you'll consider saying it on <a href="http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/">Garden Rant</a> first. Come rant with us!</li></ul>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1148704088395852902006-05-26T21:28:00.000-07:002006-05-26T21:28:08.413-07:00Boo Boo SuccumbsY'all might remember my earlier post about <a href="http://humboldthens.blogspot.com/2006/04/jay-leno-arkadelphia-chicken-video.html">the chicken who went on Jay Leno</a>. Well, I'm afraid that Boo Boo has died. I'm sorry to be the one to bring you this news. Those close to the chicken say that she had seizures, which may have been the cause of her earlier near-drowning experience.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1997968">ABC News: Boo Boo the Chicken Dies</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1148703174405768332006-05-26T21:05:00.000-07:002006-05-26T21:16:11.873-07:00Bess is My Emotional Support Chicken<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN7927.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN7927.jpg" border="0" /></a> This just in from the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/fashion/sundaystyles/14PETS.html?ei=5090&en=83a53d2dee1ee94c&ex=1305259200&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all">New York Times</a>:<br /><br /><br />"At French Roast on upper Broadway, however, two women sat down to brunch with dogs in tow: a golden retriever and a Yorkie toted in a bag.<br /><br />They both said that their animals were emotional service dogs," said Gil Ohana, the manager, explaining why he let them in. "One of them actually carried a doctor's letter."<br /><br />That's right, folks. People are now getting away with bringing their annoying, yapping little dogs EVERYWHERE with them because they have a doctor's note. The story continues:<br /><br />"I had never heard of emotional support animals before," said Steve Hanson, an owner of 12 restaurants including Blue Fin and Blue Water Grill in Manhattan. "And now all of a sudden in the last several months, we're hearing this."<br /><br />Fortunately, a few people see how silly this is, including this guide dog trainer, who said: "I've had teenagers approach me wanting to get their dogs certified. This isn't cute and is a total insult to the disabled community. They are ruining it for people who need it."<br /><br />and a shrink says:<br /><br />"If a person can't entertain the idea of going out without an animal, that would suggest an extreme anxiety level," she said, "and he or she should probably be on medication, in psychotherapy or both."<br /><br />And it's not always dogs.<br /><br />"These days people rely on a veritable Noah's Ark of support animals. Tami McLallen, a spokeswoman for American Airlines, said that although dogs are the most common service animals taken onto planes, the airline has had to accommodate monkeys, miniature horses, cats and even an emotional support duck. "Its owner dressed it up in clothes," she recalled. "<br /><br />Miniature horses? On a plane? Are you kidding me? Why don't they choose something small, like an emotional support lizard? <br /><br />All right, if she gets to have an emotional support duck, I am totally making Bess my emotional support chicken. I need this for my mental health. Just think, fresh eggs everywhere I go. <br /><br />"Waiter, a martini for me, and some cracked corn for the hen, please." <a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"></a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1148674207464167542006-05-26T13:08:00.000-07:002006-05-26T13:10:07.526-07:00Chicken blogging!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN0508.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN0508.jpg" border="0" /></a> I was taking a picture for a post about garden blogging over on <a href="http://dirtbyamystewart.blogspot.com/2006/05/dont-get-dirt-in-keyboard-and-other.html">Dirt</a>, when the chickens wandered over to see what I'd brought them. Perhaps we should set up an old computer out there in the coop and see what the girls come up with. (Do you suppose they touch type or hunt and peck? Sorry, couldn't resist.) <a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a> Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1148272691336841662006-05-21T21:31:00.000-07:002006-05-21T21:38:11.363-07:00Women! What do they want?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN0444.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN0444.jpg" border="0" /></a> Scott comes outside and finds himself surrounded by a flock of very demanding girls. Bess, as always, flies right up to his face, just assuming that he'll hold out an arm as a landing perch about the time she arrives.<br /><br />In other news...Dolley laid one of those strange shellless eggs the other day. It was just like what happened with Bess. She looked really uncomfortable, would hardly move, and then (not in her nesting box, just out in the garden, which is very unusual) out came this weird thing. It broke on the way out, so first came egg white, then yolk, then this rubbery membrane which Eleanor grabbed in her beak and ran around with in the garden in a sort of victory lap. Scott watched the whole thing and was quite horrified. (we took the rubbery thing away from Eleanor--you do not want chickens to develop a taste for eggs. In fact, they tried to gobble up the bits of white and yolk still on the ground. What were they thinking? "Hey, look what came out of Dolley's butt. Let's eat it.")<br /><br />Fortunately, Dolley felt better immediately (wouldn't you?) and went back to laying eggs with shells a day or two later. The only real health risk here would have been if she seemed to still have egg bits inside of her, but fortunately we didn't have to go exploring--seems like it all came out on its own. <br /><br />Ah, farm life! <a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a> Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1147644874068416632006-05-14T15:14:00.000-07:002006-05-14T15:14:34.086-07:00Sunday New York TimesCheck out <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/opinion/14stewart.html?ex=1148270400&en=7ff7a774801674da&ei=5070">my op-ed piece </a>in today's New York Times. You'll be hearing more from me in the months to come about my new book, Flower Confidential, but this will give you a preview.Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1146808222781101712006-05-04T22:50:00.001-07:002006-05-05T09:23:41.273-07:00Every Day is Respect for Chickens Day Around Here<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/1600/scott%20bess%20dolley.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/scott%20bess%20dolley.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.upc-online.org/">United Poultry Concerns</a> has declared May 4 International Respect for Chickens Day. I know that their name sounds like the name of some industry puppet group, but in fact, this is a group that advocates for better treatment of chickens even as they are being raised for slaughter. Good people. And here are some random highlights from their press release:<br /><br />For International Respect for Chickens Day, educators, students, office workers and activists are encouraged to do an ACTION for chickens – everything from showing the movie Chicken Run to setting up a school library display to leafleting on a busy street corner.<br /><br />A Minneapolis group is holding a Most Beautiful Chicken Photo contest. (No, I could not find it online. Dang.) (Update: Thanks to Molly for <a href="http://www.brittonclouse.com/chickenrunrescue/photos/index.php">this link</a>.)<br /><br />"Chickens are lively birds who have been torn from the leafy world in which they evolved. We want chickens to be restored to their green world and not be eaten."<br /><br />The idea for International Respect for Chickens Day traces to famed <a href="http://www.harryshearer.com/leshow/">Le Show</a> host and star of The Simpsons, Harry Shearer, who proclaimed Sunday, May 14, 2000 - Mother's Day - National Respect the Chicken Day because hens are justly praised as exemplars of devoted motherhood.<br /><br />In Letters from an American Farmer, a study of American colonial society published in 1782, St. John de Crevecoeur wrote about chickens, "I never see an egg brought to my table but I feel penetrated with the wonderful change it would have undergone but for my gluttony; it might have been a gentle, useful hen leading her chickens with a care and vigilance which speaks shame to many women. A cock perhaps, arrayed with the most majestic plumes, tender to his mate, bold, courageous, endowed with an astonishing instinct, with thoughts, with memory, and every distinguishing characteristic of the reason of man."<br /><br />Chickens are sentient creatures and have feelings of their own.<br /><br />You're damn right. Go kiss a chicken, people.<br /><br /><a href="http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=46439">U.S. Newswire : Releases : "International Respect for Chickens Day Celebrates Chickens"</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1146716300414510822006-05-03T21:18:00.000-07:002006-05-03T21:18:20.500-07:00Sign of the Shovel: Peeping MadThere's a good discussion going on over at <a href="http://www.signoftheshovel.com/">Sign of the Shovel</a> about the noise backyard hens make. I have often wondered if our neighbors were going to get fed up and come knocking on the door. Our girls can get quite riled up just after, and sometimes just before, they lay an egg (wouldn't you?), and with four of them laying almost every day, it can be noisy.<br /><br />But I sit still and listen to the sounds of our neighborhood. Sometimes, when I hear the chickens calling at 7 or 8 a.m. (a sign that I need to get up and go let them run around outside), I can hear them for a minute, but then the sound is drowned out by a passing car, a barking dog, or even the cry of a seagull flying overhead. And it is certainly drowned out by a lawn mower, a power tool, a scooter, or any other little motorized gizmo revving up nearby. <br /><br />And we won't even mention the loud parties on weekends, especially in the summer, that degenerate into drunken shouting in the streets at 2 a.m. We tolerate it quite gamely, secretly wishing we were invited to the parties, not that we'd really go, and god knows we'd have to bring our own booze--and feeling glad that we are, at the very least, the sort of people who like living in a diverse, interesting, not-too-fancy neighborhood where people can have rowdy parties or, god forbid, lawn mowers.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.signoftheshovel.com/sign_of_the_shovel/2006/05/peeping_mad.html#comments">Sign of the Shovel: Peeping Mad</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1145247228959805352006-04-16T21:10:00.000-07:002006-04-16T21:13:48.996-07:00The Jay Leno Arkadelphia Chicken VideoThis is so brilliant, folks. Thanks to Brian & Enis for sending a link so I could share it with you. Terry Bradshaw's the other guest, and he may be the funniest part of the whole deal.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dslreports.com/r0/download/987951~7440f3e7164ae1b94d4eeb6434534ed1/Chick_em.wmv">The Arkadelphia Chicken</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1145237939105711962006-04-16T18:35:00.000-07:002006-04-16T18:38:59.106-07:00Easter Eggs!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN0003.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN0003.jpg" border="0" /></a> Thanks, girls!<br /><br />And if you're in the mood for some truly fancy organic dyed easter eggs, (I know, Easter is over, this information would have been useful a week ago), check out <a href="http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=113&s=eastereggs">this great article</a> on all-natural egg dyes made of spinach, berries, cabbage and more.<br /><br />Oh, and someone asked what chicken scratch was. Good question! It's a mixture of hard, whole grains like corn and wheat that chickens absolutely love to eat. You can't feed it to them all the time--this is like candy to them, not a balanced meal--but as a bribe or a reward it's great. I think the reason it's called "scratch" is that you can toss a handful of it on the ground and they love scratching around for it. We use chicken scratch to round the girls up after they've been free-ranging and put them back in their run. They will follow a handful of scratch anywhere. <a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a> Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1145237579474273462006-04-16T18:31:00.000-07:002006-04-16T18:32:59.483-07:00Sweet Abigail<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN0007.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN0007.jpg" border="0" /></a> She's so eager to do her trick. The trick is simply that she hops from the back of this chair onto your arm for a treat. Unlike the smaller birds, she can't get herself off the ground (or, as Scott says, she can but she doesn't try hard enough...), but she has figured out how to do this. Anytime I go near the deck, she runs over and hops on the back of the chair and looks at me hopefully. It's a little heartbreaking somehow. Of course I am unable to resist and she manages to con me out of quite a bit of chicken scratch this way. <a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a> Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1144820127291683372006-04-11T22:34:00.000-07:002006-04-11T22:39:33.583-07:00The Coop O-Rama<a href="http://www.homestead.com/shilala/files/coop1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.homestead.com/shilala/files/coop1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p>I totally want one of these. Don't my girls deserve an airy, lofty A-frame?</p><p> Find out more at <a href="http://www.homestead.com/shilala/chickenoramapics.html">The Easy Chicken</a>. They also sell lots of interesting poultry supplies. It's actually a good thing I don't have much time on my hands, or I'd be shopping for them, drafting up architectural plans, and most of all, cruising the feed stores to look at the baby peeps, all of whom want very much to come home with me.</p>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1144803070735216742006-04-11T17:44:00.000-07:002006-04-11T17:51:10.750-07:00Now what?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN9882.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN9882.jpg" border="0" /></a> So I'm at the feed store picking up another bag of organic layer pellets. There's only one store in town that offers the organic stuff, so I make a trip out there every couple of months for a bag. This time the woman behind the counter says, "We have organic scratch now, too."<br /><br />Well, that's great! I'd asked about organic scratch before and it hadn't been available. But apparently I wasn't the only one asking for it, so they contacted their supplier and now they're carrying it. She seemed so pleased that she'd been able to respond to the needs of her customers. That's why we support small, local businesses, right?<br /><br />So I said sure, I'd take some organic scratch, even though we had plenty at home. I was expecting a little 5 or 10 pound back, which is what I usually buy, but when I went out to the car, they were loading this in the trunk.<br /><br />"Uh...don't you have it in little bags?" I asked. I have four hens and they get a small handful of scratch as a treat once or twice a day. It takes forever to get through the little bags.<br /><br />"Nope!" the guy loading my car said cheerfully. So I just smiled and closed the trunk, then drove home wondering how many years it would take to get through this bag, much less where I would put it in the meantime. Anybody need some scratch? I've got plenty to spare. <a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a> Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1144428910173445742006-04-07T09:52:00.000-07:002006-04-07T09:55:10.190-07:00How quickly they grow up!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN6458.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN6458.jpg" border="0" /></a> The girls are all one year old. They're officially hens now. Ah, time flies...<br /><br />I was at the feed store last week admiring the new crop of baby chicks and it was all I could do not to stuff a couple in my coat pocket and take them home. Here's a little trick that will melt your heart: walk up to the brooder at the feed store and cluck at them like a hen would. Fifty baby chicks will come running towards you, pushing their beaks through the wire and peeping, "Are you my mommy?" <a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a> Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1144196272137334182006-04-04T17:17:00.000-07:002006-04-04T17:21:28.056-07:00The Arkadelphia Chicken--Mouth-to-Beak ResuscitationI wish I could share this woman's appearance on Jay Leno, which my aunt June e-mailed to me, but I don't have a way to post a video on the blog and I haven't found it online yet. It's about the funniest piece of television you've ever seen. I'll keep looking.<br /><br />Meanwhile, you can meet Boo Boo and his rescuers here.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=23704">Today's THV KTHV Little Rock</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1144195967872962612006-04-04T17:12:00.000-07:002006-04-04T17:12:58.033-07:00Faster Circuit Board Built With Chicken FeathersThanks to <a href="http://rj-studio.com/index.htm">Roni </a>for this one: a circuit board made of chicken feathers and soy. Yeah, we just build electronics with whatever we've got laying around the house. (get it?)<br /><br />Apparently " the chicken feathers make it faster because they have a higher dielectric constant, which means the electrons running around the board will not have to fight with the board to get from a to b. The less electronic interference means faster point to point communication. Also, the thermal coefficient of expansion is lower, so less stress is placed on components once the board heats up (it does not expand as much because keratin expands less than glass/poly resin)."<br /><br />Got it? Good.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/faster_circuit.php">Treehugger: Faster Circuit Board Built With Chicken Feathers</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1143925771189171242006-04-01T12:51:00.000-08:002006-04-01T13:09:31.213-08:00More crop troubleMan, this chicken thing is complicated. Dolley recovered perfectly from her impacted crop (if you're surfing around for crop info, check the February and March 2006 archives), but about three weeks later, we saw Return of Big Crop. I had heard that once a crop gets stretched out, it'll stay that way, but this time instead of containing a hard mass, her crop was softer and full of liquid, like a water balloon.<br /><br />This could be a sour crop, a problem caused not by a blockage but by some sort of ailment. Antibiotics can bring on a fungal infection; for that you feed them yogurt or medicate. But it also could be bacterial or even some kind of virus.<br /><br />One thing you can try is to gently turn the chicken upside down and try to get her to puke up everything in her crop. This sounds like a strange and ill-advised exercise, but yesterday we did try turning her mostly upside down and pushing gently on the crop. She tolerated it, but nothing came up. <br /><br />There are also Espon salt flushes and molasses flushes, where you mix one of those ingredients with water, force it down their throat with a dropper (making sure not to get it in their lungs), and maybe that helps move everything through. But we have not had much luck forcing things in her beak, and the whole idea of putting the dropper far enough in her mouth to make sure the water didn't go down her windpipe just seemed scary.<br /><br />Adding vitamins and electrolytes to their water is another recommendation--that's easy. I bought a little packet at the feed store and they'll all get vitamins for a couple weeks.<br /><br />Feeding them yogurt is another easy recommendation to try. They all like it, and it's good for them. One lesson learned: never try to hide medicine in a food you want them to eat again later. Dolley was very wary of the yogurt at first because of vivid memories of the recent past--but she did eventually eat some.<br /><br />We're also going to make an extra effort to keep their coop clean. Dolley's got watery droppings, too--the vet did see coccidia, little protozoa that live in their droppings, under the microscope, and prescribed antibiotics which we were never able to get down her. They're supposed to develop a natural immunity to coccidia, but with this wet weather, it could really flourish and overwhelm their immune systems. We're reluctant to medicate because you are supposed to let them build up resistance.<br /><br />So: extra-clean coop, yogurt, vitamins. Fortunately she's acting normal, so as long as she's not showing any other signs of illness, we'll watch and wait. Any other ideas?Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1143761900381818622006-03-30T15:38:00.000-08:002006-03-30T15:38:20.440-08:00Chocolate-filled eggshellsYou go, Martha! For a while I was worried that Martha Stewart had lost her enthusiasm for the obscure and difficult, and was instead going for least-common-denominator tips and recipes to appeal to the masses. No more! Now we're blowing out eggs (using a drill, of course), and filling them with melted chocolate that must be kept at EXACTLY 88 degrees while it's being drizzled into the eggshell.<br /><br />Woo-hoo! I will NEVER do it, even though I have four of Dolley's lovely blue eggs all hollowed out because we decided not to eat them while she was on medication--but I will think of it, dream of it, and wish I WOULD do it! That's what I need Martha for!<br /><br /><a href="http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060325/OPINION03/603250318/1038/LIFESTYLE01">Wonderful way to make chocolate-filled eggshells - 03/25/06 - The Detroit News</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1143752786778445002006-03-30T13:06:00.000-08:002006-03-30T13:06:26.846-08:00Chickens Elude AuthoritiesThis just in:<br /><br />"Members of Manatee County Animal Services were unable to round up the feral chickens that have been roaming 16th Avenue West in the Village of the Arts.<br /><br />Enforcement supervisor Larry Adams and field officers Jerry Hill and Joyce Bentley tried for nearly two hours to no avail Monday.<br /><br />"We'd try to catch them and they'd go in flight," Adams said. "They didn't respond to the cracked corn we'd spread, either. We had a castnet, but couldn't get close enough. We're going to try to work on some other avenues and try again."<br /><br />Well, yeah! They're not stupid, you know! Chickens have a powerful genetic memory that encourages them to resist any organized attempts to round them up and take them away.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/14201139.htm">Bradenton Herald 03/28/2006 Chickens elude authorities</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1143529886172701672006-03-27T23:08:00.000-08:002006-03-27T23:11:26.196-08:00Another chicken storyThis lovely piece of writing is from my friend Beverly Levine:<br /><br />We leap up and spread our arms like graceful wings. Our aging bodies are agile, light. We are in a swimming pool. Here, with the clear water to hold us up, gravity is forgotten, and we soar. We are mermaid ballet dancers, full of grace and beauty.<br /><br />We love the exercise at the spa, but conversation is the best part. This morning, Dorothy's usually serene face is drawn.<br /><br />"I'm worried about my chicken." Dorothy hops on one foot and then the other, her hands waving back and forth in the water like seaweed. The mermaids around her stop leaping. Dorothy has several Bantam chickens in her back yard. She also has a pond full of koi. <br /><br />"The chicken fell in the pond," she says, "and it wasn't breathing."<br /><br />"Oh, gosh! What did you do?"<br /><br />"I gave it artificial respiration." <br /><br />Imagination fails. "How?"<br /><br />"Well, I put it on its back, and pushed on its chest, and blew in its mouth."<br /><br />"Blew in its beak?"<br /><br />"Yes. I just held it open a little and blew in."<br /><br />We gently wave our arms, trying to decide whether or not to laugh at the mental picture of Dorothy, with her elegant blonde hair and sweet mouth, blowing into the beak of a chicken. But first, we need to know the poor animal's fate.<br /><br />"So, is it all right?"<br /><br />"I guess so. It started breathing. I wrapped it up in a towel to keep it warm, and told my husband to keep an eye on it." <br /><br />"You saved its life!" Bobbie gives Dorothy a hug. We resume our leaps and jumps across the pool, and the story makes its way from one mermaid to another. We hear ripples of incredulous laughter up and down the pool.<br /><br />When I get home that morning, my husband asks, "How was exercise?" If I tell him, will he believe me?Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1143219798435458342006-03-24T09:03:00.000-08:002006-03-24T09:07:10.566-08:00A Chicken Moat!<a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/img413_191.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.makezine.com/blog/img413_191.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Oh, I loooooooove this! If you have not checked out Make magazine, get over there. Most of their ideas involve doing cool stuff with high-tech gadgets, but some of it is delightfully, low-tech, like this plan for a garden surrounded by a chicken moat. Let the birds patrol the border, eat bugs, etc.<br /><br />They'd get the benefits of free-ranging without destroying the garden. Other ideas to really make this fabulous:<br /><br />1. Plant a Row for the Chickens--be sure to plant leafy greens right up against the moat, so the chicks can stick they heads through the fencing and graze. Grow peas up the fence for this, too. If you really want to make them happy, how about strawberries? I've heard that French farmers feed their chickens marigold petals to get that bright orange yolk--how about planting marigold & calendula, too?<br /><br />2. Cover crops, pollinator crops, green manure: fence off one section of the moat at a time and plant clover, rye, vetch, fava. Let it all bloom! You'll attract pollinators to the garden and it's great for the soil. Once it's done blooming, take down the fence and let the chickens turn it into compost. Keep a couple sections going at a time so you always have something in bloom to attract the good bugs.<br /><br />3. Speaking of compost...just toss everything in the moat! Brilliant!<br /><br />4. Don't forget to screen the top of the moat, too, so the chickens will stay in and the hawks and racoons will stay out.<br /><br />Honey, can I have a place in the country? Pleeeeeze?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/02/how_to_make_a_chicken_moat.html">MAKE: Blog: HOW TO - Make a "Chicken Moat"</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1143156759379420832006-03-23T15:28:00.000-08:002006-03-23T15:32:39.393-08:00A traffic jam!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN9755.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN9755.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br />Four hens trying to lay at once! It rarely happens that the Egg Stork arrives at the same time for all four of them, but when it does, it's chaos. We have two nesting boxes (each bird does not need her own box; they usually take turns and besides they develop a preferred box) and as you can see, the box on the right is the box everyone wants to use.<br /><br />Abigail was there first, and that didn't stop Eleanaor from just settling in on top of her as if she wasn't there. Bess got box #2, to the great chagrin of Dolley, who was left<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/640/DSCN9772.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5278/615/320/DSCN9772.jpg" border="0" /></a> in a sort of "waiting room" next door. Scott snapped this photo the very second Bess laid her little green egg, and as you can see, Dolley is already poking her beak around the corner as if to say, "Are you done in there yet? Move it!"<br /><br />Eventually everyone but Abigail laid an egg. Maybe she just gave up in disgust. <a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a> Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11973911.post-1143047956769356772006-03-22T09:19:00.000-08:002006-03-22T09:22:06.800-08:00But Does it Eat Snails?<a href="http://www.lefutur-usa.com/img/goods/12_b.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.lefutur-usa.com/img/goods/12_b.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Speaking of keeping a chicken in the house...check out the amazing Chicken Alarm Clock, courtesy of my friends <a href="http://rj-studio.com/index.htm">Roni & Jessica</a>. It crows and lays eggs to wake you up in the morning. Fabulous! I may have to have one in spite of my aversion to alarm clocks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.lefutur-usa.com/goods.php?id=12">Le Futur Amazing Gifts</a>Amy Stewarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15568790144917039390noreply@blogger.com