Fall cleaning, big time!

We’re having our sometimes annual Oktoberfest party this coming weekend. We used to have it every year, but then missed the past couple for various reasons. Anyway, M and I as usual are treating it as a reason to get the house cleaned and de-cluttered from top to bottom. We bought some new enclosed storage units from Ikea for the basement (I’ll add pics later) to house all of our ski, camping and hunting (M’s) gear. So much neater!

Then we went through all the cupboards, closets and under the stairs to sort through all of it. We took a bunch of things to charity and then 2 loads of junk to the dump (Sam’s old couch – ewwww, an old coffee table, a broken down dresser, some crappy shelves, and all kinds of paper/cardboard to be recycled).

The house is feeling so good, so open and organized from top to bottom! It’s one of the side effects of a big party that I love! Of course, I had to paint something in order for this project to really be complete.

I painted the two doors in the kitchen a dark brown (left over from our bedroom) as their paint jobs were looking a bit sad. Then M suggested that I paint the basement door that goes outside. I don’t think it had been painted since installation in 1951! I painted it the reddish color left over from the upstairs hallway. But instead of looking like a soft red (as upstairs) it looks decidedly salmon pink. So I will be repainting it tonight with a mix of the last of the brown and the “pink” to make some sort of brown color. Hmmm. Should be interesting.

Then I’ll paint the trim in the kitchen now that M has filled the gaps in the new molding and the nail holes. Another project 2 years in progress. But the party is a good excuse to get it done!

And for the first time, my folks are joining us for the festivities. They arrive from Minn. on Thursday about mid-day. They’re heading out to Bainbridge/Poulsbo for Thursday night and Friday, then coming to our place for dinner Friday night. It will be so nice to finally have them meet all of our friends. Plus we haven’t seen them since our big trip to Mexico in April. So it’s time for a visit.

The girls – all settled

It seems that a pecking order has been established as calm is reigning in the coop. I’m not sure that Agnes ended up on top as I would have guessed. I think the final order is Mary, Agnes, Maggie and then Pru. But no matter, as long as they are all getting along and no one is getting picked on we’re just fine.

A flaw in the coop design was found last week when we got some very heavy rain. It seems that on the back side (along the fence) the rain dripping off the roof was splashing up from the concrete and getting the straw all wet. M found me a 2”x12” that was about 8 feet long and we leaned it against the back to keep the splashing off the straw. Of course by then the straw was so wet that it was impossible to see if it was helping and after I cleaned the wet straw out on Thursday it stopped raining. Hmmm. It’s supposed to rain some more this week so I guess then we’ll know. If that hasn’t stopped it then I think we’ll put some plastic up about 2’ on that side to keep them dry.

The little girls are getting big fast – I’ll try to get a pic tonight or tomorrow. They are all almost as tall as Agnes already, Mary may even be taller. Poor Agnes, the little Serama that she is, is going to end up the smallest of the bunch I think. They’ve been going to be awfully early the last few nights. To the point that I think after the time change this coming weekend that they’ll be in bed by the time I get home. Oh well, they should be up before I leave so I can say hi then.

Sterling is home

So it’s been more than a few days since I had time to post, and when I tried on Saturday Blogger was down. So here are the updates, split into multiple posts to make it easier to get through…

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I came back from Dallas early on Monday and picked up Sterling at about 11:00 pm. Good thing our vet operates 24 hours or he would have been there until Tuesday night. Poor thing! They shaved his neck to get access to the wound, so he looks a bit lopsided with the white skin and gray undercoat showing in contrast to his black hair. He was still all swollen when I got him but the vet was confident that it would go down by the time he was through with his antibiotics. In the end he was only $160 this round.

So here we are a week out and we finished off the antibiotics tonight. What I assume is his lymph node is still a bit swollen so I’ll keep an eye on it for the next few days and call Dr. Z if it doesn’t continue to get smaller.

Overall, he’s glad to be home and I’m glad it was as easy to fix as it was. I love this time of year with him as he’s usually so independent that we only really see him when he wants to go in and out and at night when he sleeps on the bed with us. Now that it’s getting colder he comes in for the evening and sleeps on the arm of the chair by me while I knit and M and I watch some TV after dinner. So nice!

Cat fight

In addition to the girls, M and I also have a 9 year old black cat and a 11 year old black lab. Plus I have a beta fish on my desk at work. I'll post pics of everyone some other time. I've had the cat, Sterling, since college (gives you an idea of my age). At the time that I got him I was living in a townhouse near a busy street and so he was an indoor cat. He also was an indoor cat that loved to climb... curtains, furniture, your pant leg. So he became an indoor cat with no front claws (yes I was young and stupid).

Fast forward to now, where we live in fairly quiet neighborhood 20 blocks south of downtown. He's outside more than he is inside when the weather's nice. And so are the other 20 million cats in our neighborhood. And since he's half Siamese, he's extremely territorial, which translates to frequent cat showdowns and less frequent full blown fights. On Tuesday night I saw him on the fence looking into the neighbors driveway - and based on how loud he was screaming I knew there was another cat involved. I went out to break it up and they both took off running. Wednesday I only saw him briefly as the weather was nice and he wanted to be outside. I could see that he'd been in a fight, but it didn't look any worse than usual.

Thursday night he came in while I was eating dinner and I picked him up for a cuddle and a hello. That's when I noticed a lot of matted hair on his neck, just under his chin. I grabbed a washcloth as I figured that if nothing else the matting had to be uncomfortable and of course I wanted to be sure he was okay underneath all that. Turns out, not so much. Someone bit his head and left a nice deep puncture wound in there which was still open. His neck and side of his face were swollen and warm so I decided to call the vet first thing in the morning (didn't seem urgent enough for a midnight visit and emergency charges).

Had to drop him off as the vet had no appointments. So I left him about 8:15 am yesterday and made arrangements for him to stay until Tuesday night because as I mentioned the before, M and I were both leaving today and not coming back until Tuesday. They called about 9:30 to let me know that it was definitely infected, but hadn't abscessed. So, they gave him a big shot of antibiotics and are dosing him twice a day until we return. Bummer. For both us and him. For us because I'm imaging this will be about $400 (need to call today for the final estimate). For him because he hates to be cooped up and as soon as his fever comes down and he feels better he's going to get crabby. Bummer for the vet as a crabby Sterling can get pretty mean.

Oh well. The million dollar kitty (more long stories for another day) is now the million $400 kitty. I'm sure he'll be just fine. I just wish he would stop being such a bully and stay out of trouble. But I'm not sure that logic works on cats...

4 Girls on a Roost

They did it! After much discussion the last couple of nights, the girls were all on the roost bar tonight. Lined up Pru, Mary, Agnes and Maggie. So cute! A lot of discussion required, but there they all were just after dusk. I wonder if they made it all night? So proud!

I'm headed out of town for the weekend for work. And M is headed to Moses Lake for the opening of duck season. That means we had to find a chicken sitter for the first time. I asked our neighbor across the alley, Walt, if he would check in on them Sunday and Monday evenings. Mike leaves late Saturday (I leave at dawn for Dallas) and we both get back Tuesday. Should be fairly simple for Walt as the 4 of them don't go through that much food or water right now. Hopefully he'll just have to clean the straw from the latest excavation out of the water and give them a handful of cracked corn for dessert.

Simple! Hope it goes well as we have several other extended trips coming up this winter and it would be nice to know the girls will be well looked after...

A sunny fall day

Today we got some more nice weather - and I definitely tried to enjoy it as they become much fewer going into winter here in the PNW. I spent some time with the girls after work. They're busy digging holes in the straw of the coop every day. I finally figured out that they're after the cracked corn that escapes their treat dish. And once they find it in one place they figure it's probably in other places too and go looking everywhere. I raised the level of their feeder and waterer to try to keep the straw out of it as they've been filling it up with their excavation efforts.

Here's some pics from this nice sunny day.


Mary - she's getting big. Maybe she's not a bantam after all. But Agnes is still keeping her in line.

Agnes' mean look - it definitely keeps the little girls in line (and me!)

Pru and Maggie - getting so big so fast!

Musings about the hennery

It's interesting to talk to people about my chickens. At first everyone is surprised that I have chickens and live in the city. Then they're curious about getting eggs. Then everyone always asks if you have to have a rooster to get eggs (no) and then feels embarrassed that they didn't know that you didn't. But of course, we're so far removed from our roots as a farming nation that it's not surprising that we don't know these things. Or that chickens aren't really smelly or dirty if you keep their space clean. And that they don't take much time. Really.

As M said at dinner tonight, I'll tell you that it takes me 15-20 minutes a day to take care of the chickens, but it's really more like 5 minutes. The remaining time is the time I spend talking to them and double checking their living space and making sure that all is right with my hennery. I take them a daily treat in the morning - usually some lettuce or other scraps from dinner the night before (I have a little bucket that I collect them in). I say good morning, I double check their water and food and make sure they're ready to go. Then after work I get them a treat of a small handful of cracked corn (organic) as it's getting colder and I feel they can use a few extra calories to burn before bed. Then I say good night.

As the days are getting shorter the girls are usually just getting up about the time I leave for work (7:15 - 7:30) and headed to bed about the the time I'm making dinner. I watch their evening ritual out the kitchen window. Agnes goes to bed first, taking her time making her way up the ladder and then pausing to survey the land before heading in. She's claimed a spot on the roost bar fairly far from the door, just over the top of the nest box. Then the little girls, the usually push and cheep and jump on and off the ladder as they negotiate who goes in first and who goes in last. Then they all pile up in the corner between the nest box and the wall in the straw to spend the night. Mary is always the last in the door way at night and the first in the morning - making sure that all is well and nothing is threatening.

Now that's it's getting colder, I usually go out after dark and put the door M made me over the opening into the roost box to keep out any stray cool breezes. Then I when I go out before work I take the door off and let the girls out. As the door is just fashioned from a leftover piece of vinyl I'm sure that they could let themselves out if they really wanted to.

Not sure where I'm going with this post, mostly rambling as I reflect on how much a part of my life the girls already are even after just a short time. They're the source my anecdotes and a chance to escape the urban life in my thoughts and my time with them. They're a nice way to start the day and an even better way to wrap it up. I can't wait until we start getting eggs from Agnes again and the little girls closer to spring so that everyone else will understand my obsession with downtown chicks.

A rainy day

Today we woke up to rain. I'm working from home today as I have a 11:30 am doctor appointment. Last night the little girls finally seemed to figure out the idea of the roost bar. I had the top of the roost box open as I was looking to see if Agnes had laid an egg out of the nest box (no such luck). And they were on and off the lip and the roost bar. Of course, once I closed the upper portion, and they all moved to the roost bar, Agnes had to have her say. In the end, she claimed the whole thing for herself and they slept piled in the corner again.

But at least they're figuring it out. When I went out to open the door for them this morning, Mary was up on the roost bar with Agnes and they seemed to have come to a truce. I hope they keep trying and learning what it's for. As Pru and Maggie get bigger (Mary's already almost as tall as Agnes) I think they'll be better able to defend their right to roost... If not, we'll have to find a way to add another roost bar in there. But, with it being 4' wide, there should be plenty of room for these four little banty hens...

Settling In

So we've had no more eggs from Agnes so far. I'm keeping my eye on her, but she may just be pissed about the little hellions. Enough to stop laying for a while. It's been colder the last few nights so I got M to fashion me a door of sorts out of a leftover piece of vinyl floor so that we can seal up the roost box at night. The little girls are still sleeping piled up between the wall and the nest box, I'm not sure if that's to stay warm or if they're just still getting used to their new home.

In other news, my neighbor across the alley is talking about getting chickens, as well as the neighbor next door. I guess it's catching!

The waters are calming

We haven't really had chaos mixing the two ages, but a lot of uncertainty on my part about it. But tonight after work I gave them a box of dirt to play in and they managed to do it with a minimum of squabbling. Aggie still occassionally takes a peck at one of the little girls, but everyone seems to be sharing food, water, treats and space with a minimum of conflict. Hopefully that will continue...

Agnes has now given us 3 eggs, 1 each on late Thursday afternoon (collected Friday morning), Saturday morning and late Sunday afternoon. At this rate we should have enough miny eggs for an omelette on Saturday! Alas, hopefully she's getting the extra calcium she needs from the crushed oyster shells I put out with her grit as she's eating grower feed (lower in calcium) with the little girls. If her shells start to get soft I'll have to make other arrangements to feed her (perhaps on top of the roost box), but hopefully we won't have problem.

Now we just have to decide if we're going to put a light in to encourage her to lay through the winter. I'm not sure if we will - seems a little over the top when only one girl is laying. Of course, the little girls should start sometime just after the new year, so maybe it is worth the effort...

Meet the little girls

These are the little girls, Mary, Margaret and Prudence. We've gone with a mid-century Catholic nun naming theme. Seemed appropriate since we started with Agnes. We're calling them all Aggie, Maggie, Mary and Pru for short. I picked up these three little hellions from a woman named Irene and her husband in Marysville. They must have 100 - 150 birds free ranging on their 5 acres. They've got bantams, standard hens, ducks, turkeys and geese in every size, color and breed that I've ever seen.

Irene went out and rounded up 7 little girls for me to choose from on Friday night when they were sleeping (these girls are not tame by any means). I chose these three for their color, personalities and similar ages. Hopefully they are all in fact girls - if we do have a boy in the mix we should know sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This possibility, and giving them the ability to stay warm together, is why I got 3 instead of just 2. I originally wanted 3 hens total - this way I'll either end up with 3 or 4 hopefully, and 4 is an okay number.

Mary is all white, and has no real tail. Maggie is black and gold and at least part Polish, and looks to have a top hat starting. Prudence is the most muted with gray and black coloring, and shy, of the three little girls. She's always hiding behind one of her sisters.

Saturday night they bedded down in the straw on the ground instead of going up into the roost box. I rounded them up about 9:30 pm and put them in. Total chaos due to my headlamp - learned the lesson on that one. But they eventually all found each other and made a nice little nest in the straw. Tonight, I was hoping they would figure it out, and they did! So proud. I just have to wonder how old they'll be before the figure out the roost bar... Maybe they'll learn soon by watching Agnes - I'm sure it's warmer up off of the floor...