Wow, it's almost December...

Time seems to really fly. The days are growing shorter and the hens are slowing down their egg laying. Egg production is linked to day-length so the chickens get some much needed R&R during this time. The approach of the winter solstice is always a welcome time on the farm since when the chickens rest we rest.

Tupping time (the boys are back in town)

So yesterday was the big day.  The rams went back in with the ewes.  Jack escorted the gents — Newman, Handsome Dude and  Mac —to the ladies in the pasture.  By this time of year, the rams have put on a bit of extra weight so the ewes easily outrun them up the hillsides.  By the end of the first day , the three rams were huddled together.  Trying to devise a better strategy no doubt. Most of the day, my farm help and I spent laughing.  Poor boys!  There's lots of ladies and lots of hillsides on the ranch.

Happy Hens Farm newest arrivals

The other morning, I noticed Nellie, one of the Red Jungle Fowl chickens, pacing oddly around a mound of composted soil near the barn.  I walked over only to discover eight chicks marching out from under a loose tarp!  I moved Nellie and her brood to a private suite where they can be safe from curious barn cats (and the skunk).  Given the "crowd" Nellie runs with, the papa is Red, a very striking Ameracauna rooster.   

The rams

Okay.  I admit.  I think the rams are probably one of the coolest animals on the farm.  This is Newman, a very formidable Scottish Blackface ram. When Newman isn't politely posing for pictures, he has been known to bash up an old redwood outbuilding or destroy metal livestock panels with his horns.  He's the top breeding ram on the farm and quite a confident guy.

Jack vs. Pepe le Pew

There's nothing like being awakened at 2 a.m. by your barking dog only to hope that it's not really the smell of skunk wafting through your house.  I'm sure Jack's intentions were good.  But the skunk's aim was even better and he (or she) managed to spray my front door.  Luckily, Jack was inside the house and only the front of the house smells.  In fact, it smells so strong it makes your eyes water when you walk by. I'm sure it will wear off soon.  

Of course, there was that time that Jack managed to get skunked about 10 minutes before we finished loading up sheep into my trailer. I then proceeded to spend the next several hours (4 to be exact) pulling a trailer full of my sheep with Jack riding shotgun, as they say, next to me.  You may be asking yourself how that could be. Well, I had one of the worst head colds of my life and couldn't smell anything.  And Jack didn't seem to mind.  For him, it was just another perfect day.

Eggs

With around 250 laying hens, I manage to get lots of eggs every day.  I find egg gathering one of the most pleasant tasks on the farm.  The chickens clucking away in the hen houses adds a certain hypnotic hum to to the farm.  Some chickens stand up to let me collect the eggs from underneath them in the nesting boxes, others peck my hands as I reach in, and a few others — let's just say I still haven't lost any fingers!

The eggs are collected routinely throughout the day and minimally washed and packaged.  They range in color from white, buff, brown, dark brown to blues and greens.  The flavor and richness of the eggs is a reflection of the lives my hens lead:  days filled with fresh air, sunshine, and the freedom to range and forage hillsides and creek beds.  

Control is just an illusion

Who knew the path to enlightenment was a road full of chickens?  With the first hen house, I was adamant about the hens sleeping in their house at night.  However, a handful of Black Minorca hens thought otherwise and insisted on roosting in the trees outside of my back door. For about a week, I vainly attempted to pluck them out of the trees and lock them up in the hen house.  Of course, my attempts to do so sent them scrambling to other branches and one hen, in particular, always seemed to end up on the roof of the hen house staring down at me.  (I'm convinced she was mocking me.)  Now the "renegades" as I call them sleep every night in those trees and have been joined by a few other hens. They are the first sight I see in the morning, usually rummaging around in my front yard or catching the first light of day on my porch.

Jack

I like to say "we all work for Jack" (aka el Jefe).  He manages to keep track of every-thing on the farm and is always the first to let me know when something is amiss, such as the sheep have managed to burst through a fence and into the wrong pasture. He also seems to enjoy buzzing past the chickens, watching them squawk and flap in indignation.  Now that spring is here, the ewes and lambs spend their days on the hillside pastures.  Jack runs the perimeter of the hillsides at the close of every day to help bring the sheep down to a pasture close to the house.  This keeps the lambs safe from coyotes at night. 

More chickens...

I seemed unable to resist the beautiful array of colors and patterns the chickens offered. So hen houses were built and more chicks arrived. The farm is also home to a flock of sheep, a handful of cows and some pigs. The rhythm of my life shifted to match the seasons of the farming year, from spring's unbridled burst of activity with the arrival of chicks, lambs and piglets to bracing the farm for the cold, short, rainy days of winter. Finally, one day I realized that my identity as an urban dweller had slipped away and I was a rancher.  I think the transformation must have caught me by surprise. I don't remember it happening.  I just remember one day only having a vague recollection of my former self.

Chickens or how it all began

It started as such an innocent aside to buying a farm — a few chickens here, a few chickens there. After all, my plan was to become a cheesemaker so no harm in a few chickens. Pretty soon I found myself mumbling "I'm not sure" when people asked how many chickens  I had. Friends began using the word "intervention" when talking about me. But hey — what may appear to be sheer madness can often be only slight madness and I was on my way.