A Pleasant Surprise

How could I forget. This June we learned that our memoir 'Little Farm in the Foothills' was selected as one of nine books to be featured on the Washington State Library's Summer Reading list.  That was a very pleasant surprise!

Here chickie chickie!

I'm a bit blue because it's late into September and the rain has dominated the month's weather pattern. In fact it is raining right now and that is why I'm inside writing on this blog. Back at the beginning of June I had my 62nd birthday and Sue engineered a surprise for me. She took me for a ride to the South part of Whatcom County, down Hwy 9. We turned off the highway and headed East into the countryside. Finally we stopped at a little farm where I observed some dogs, goats, pigs and oh yes - chickens! We met a young woman who raises chickens, both for meat and layers. Sue told me she had located this woman, Shona, via the WSU Extension office in Bellingham.

Shona, who goes by the handle  'Dirty Mama', in the 'Grow Northwest' magazine, showed us around and told us that the hens for sale were 'teens' at present. Shona called them the 'Girls', and said they would begin laying eggs around the 1st of July. The variety of bird she said was called 'Bronze Sexlink' and were supposed to be good layers. Sue and I decided to purchase six hens at $15 each. We asked if Shona could hold onto them until the first week in July because, ah, we still had to finish building our coop and chicken-run. Sue and I really liked the look of the birds and they seemed calm and friendly.

The month of June went by quickly but we made steady progress and finally the coop and run were ready for the hens. We figured to make adjustments as needed. A day or two after the 4th of July Sue and I returned to 'Dirty Mama's' farm and picked up our chickens. It took a little while as one of the birds ran off into the tall grass and hid for awhile. Shona eventually caught the hiding hen and Sue and I said our farewells. But not before getting lots of good advice and tips on the whole chicken & and egg opperation. The trip back home took about 45 minutes - the hens were in two good-sized cardboard boxes with air holes. Once home we released the 'girls' into their new home.

During rest of July, August and first half of September we have indeed made a number of changes to the Coop & Run. But the good news is that for most of the Summer the hens were regular egg layers. Also, the 'girls' are so very glad to see you when you come into their area. Sue and I did have lots of other chores to do like weeding, tying up tomato vines and spliting firewood for the Winter ahead (as of today we have a good supply of wood on hand). The hens egg production has declined as the days have gotten shorter. For a time they were laying one egg per day, per hen. 

In the garden the volves are our new Enemy #1 - any good ideas on how to wipe them out without chemicals - we do want a more or less organic based opperation. The root crops have done well - carrots, onions and so forth but the leafy greens did not do well this Summer. The tomatos are very slow in ripening - so little Sun to do the job!

Well, its 2:35 PM and time to give some feed to the Hens. We have joined a local chicken feed Co-Op to buy organic feed for the 'girls'. Sue and I were pleasantly surprize how many folks, not living on actual farms, raise chickens - many live in the city limits of Bellingham. I get my lumber in Everson and the guys at the building center tell me that this summer many of the purchases for wood have been for the constuction of chicken coops. After the recent egg scare in Iowa - the number of persons getting their own laying hens may climb higher.

Farewell - hope to write again soon. ~ John