Recent sitings at Critter Farm

Very healthy looking Rhubarb growing in the garden:

A Rufous (I think) Hummingbird enjoying newly made nectar:

An Ambystoma gracile, also known as the Northwestern Salamander:

A Townsend's chipmunk eating fallen sunflower seeds from the bird feeder:

An antenna afixed to the deck railing so one newly certified Ham Radio-operating husband can talk to his nerdy new friends:

One really cute pup named Roxy, sunning herself on a rock:

The plaid boys "working" on the coop:

It seems there's always something entertaining to see at the Critter Farm!

Sure signs of Spring in my world

Here are the top 3 signs that Spring has returned to our part of Oregon:

1) We all start sitting outside and smiling a lot again, even if it is only 50 degrees:

I love it when my oldest son, Teagan, and Alana, his girlfriend, come out to visit. We always have the best time.

2) I start taking pictures of every blooming thing I walk by (or under):





3) Track season begins.
See the boy on the right, waaaay in the distance, decked out in red and black, jumping the hurdle? That's my son, Aidan. He loves to run:

This was really an exciting race. Look at him go:

He's suddenly developed the longest legs. I'm only 5'5", his dad is 5'9"...Aidan's pushing 6' now:

That's his best pal, Louis, running next to him:

He was so pumped after this race. He won, too - his first hurdle race at the high school level!

Summer used to be my favorite season. I think it's definitely Spring now.

Is that coop built yet?

This is a question I'm hearing more frequently lately.

We made some progress on the chicken coop over the weekend. Jim has fully sided both the right and left walls. It's beautiful. I'm a little embarrassed at the way this thing has taken on the 'fanciest chicken coop ever' quality. I read frequently all the clever and imaginative ways people have found to gather, scrounge and recycle materials to make the perfect home for their girls. That's not this. Outside of the used windows I found, anyway. Oh well. It is our first major project here on our new farm and we are learning from it. My girls will be, ahem, very comfortable.

Jim is still going to put cedar trim around both the windows and will cut a 12"x 12" chicken door in the lower right-hand side of this wall:

Roxy, our pup, is always on hand to supervise.

There is still the small issue of this gate:
It needs to be moved. Or a new one needs to go in closer to the coop. See the coop way in the distance? Our house is over there, too. This means that to get to the coop currently, one either climbs through the electric fence (it's not turned on right now) or walks the length of the fence to this gate, goes through the gate, and walks all the way back to the coop. In the summer, this won't be a big deal, really, but in the winter, when it's dark and cold and I'm lugging water, it will become un-fun. Unfortunately, I may be making this walk or climbing through the fence wires for quite some time, as the quote I just received from a fencer priced us at almost $800 to rewire, reground and install a new gate. Who knew electric fencing could be so complicated. Not me, that's for sure.

This evening, Jim came home from work a bit early and got the tar paper up on the back wall and got a good start on the siding. Every day, we're getting a little bit done and before we know it...it'll be time to work on the run! :-)

The warmer weather we're having is helping a lot. Somehow, having your fingers and hands frozen after 10 minutes of being outside is not conducive to quick coop building, so let's hope the warmer days are here to stay.

It was so sunny and warm yesterday that the chicks got to go outside for the first time. My son and I loaded them all up in a big Rubbermaid container and off they went...for a field trip to the driveway - woo hoo - much better than the field trip to the kiddy pool in the family room!! I put up a small dog play yard to contain them and out they came. My niece, Julia, insisted on getting in the pen with them. She loves my chicks as much as I do:

Roxy, my pup, spent most of the time looking over Julia's shoulder. I think she would have gone into the pen, too, if she'd been invited:

Here's a bird's eye view of being outside, there's not much baby chick-ness left in THOSE faces, is there?:

I live with 12 unruly teenagers

Before I get started, I just have to say: I'm BUSY! And I suspect you are, too. I've had so much to do lately that I'm completely falling behind on my important blog reading (and writing). I couldn't believe when I woke up this morning that my last post was on Saturday. Where is the time going?? Once the growing season really begins, I fear everyone will stop posting updates and I'll go into major blog withdrawal!

On to my girls...
I really had plans to move them into the garage this week. Yes, they are still living in my spare downstairs bedroom. They are a noisy, dusty, flappy, fluttery bunch that no longer resemble baby chicks, they now look, truly, like very small chickens. They had outgrown their baby brooder box and were making such a mess with dust and feathers that I decided it was time for them to make the move. At the last minute, though, I just couldn't do it. No, really. And not just because it is still dipping below freezing at night. There are still so many unpacked boxes in our garage from our move that, right now, there is, frankly, no room for the chicks out there. So, I went scrounging at various stores for a bigger-better-brooder-box (ooooh, nice alliteration) and got one at Costco. It was very tall and skinny, so I cut it in half, connected the two parts and voila!
A new and improved brooder box:

BEFORE: Old brooder box:

AFTER: New brooder box (see the relief on their little birdy faces?):

And at CeeCee's really cool recommendation (that's CeeCee from My Little Bit of Heaven, if you don't already know), I put a box with a clump of dirt and grass into the brooder for them to scratch around on. They LOVED it. The picture below is when they were -long necked - still initially, suspiciously investigating it (in case you're wondering, five adolescent chicks can actually fit in this box):

Below is a shot of Dot, enjoying the box of grass and dirt. Wait, no...here's Dot wall-staring again:

The most exciting thing today, though, was the fact that I went in to check on the gals this morning and somebody had laid me the most perfect little egg:

I am so amazed at how advanced my little girls are. Nobody would fess up to ownership, though:

Happy 1st of April!

Things are looking brighter

It's really hard not to get excited when you see a forecast like the one below. Even though our local meteorologists have been known to make fairly frequent miscalculations, and I'm not going to place bets or hold my breath or anything, I do, however, feel a tremendous surge of joy when I look at the Portland-area weather outlook for the rest of this week:

Look at those highs! Nice, huh? Will I finally be saying "goodbye" to the thermals I've been wearing underneath my jeans for the last 3 months? Of course, I'm completely ignoring the rainy graphics inserted for next Sunday and Monday, so distracted am I by that big, yellow 'sunburst' graphic inserted for the next three days.

I just looked at the thermometer...it's only 26 degrees right now. Now, what did I do with my thermals...

What happens if we all turn out the lights?

Have you heard about Earth Hour?

Well, if you haven't, you have now. And it's tonight, from 8:00pm to 9:00pm

The idea behind Earth Hour is that, by turning off all the electricity in our homes for one hour this evening, we will be joining millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change.

From the Earth Hour website:
"Earth Hour was created by the World Wildlife Fund in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. "

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour! "

Check out the Earth Hour website if you get a chance, it's pretty cool.

If you bring up Google, they've turned their normally bright,white screen dark for the day.

What will YOU be doing at 8:00pm tonight? :-)

(...my chicks are going to FREAK!)

Some call them chicks, I call them my girlfriends...

I love my girls. There are no two ways about it. Chickens ROCK.

My twelve little ladies entertain me in ways I never dreamed of and every day I grow more attached. I can't help it. I can sit for hours in my spare downstairs bedroom, leaning over their brooder box, observing them, whispering to them, and chuckling quietly to myself at their antics. Yes, I have become the crazy chicken lady.

Physically, these chicks are growing and changing every day. There is some weight to their bodies now and the most interesting markings on their feathers are developing. I noticed yesterday that the little combs on their foreheads are all beginning to grow and are no longer flush with their heads.

Another thing that has changed recently is how they interact with me. When I go into their room now and say "Hello, girls!", they will all start chirping, peeping and running around their box.

If I sit down in the chair and lower the side lid, within 10 seconds, there are four or five warm, little bodies perched on the edge, waiting to jump into my lap:

Another four are running back and forth below, eyeballing me, and I can see them "thinking" about how to get up to where their sisters are.

Hmmmm, you say....five plus four equals nine. What about the other three? Well....my two Rhode Island Reds are quite shy and stand-offish. They are not reaching out to me the way the others have. They will run to my outstretched hand in the box as long as it is holding a tempting treat, but they are showing no interest in sitting on me or getting to know me better.

And then there's Dot. She's my twelfth chick and one of the little puffball-headed chicks that, I think, may be a rooster. As near as I can tell, Dot, sadly, has absolutely no people skills. She's also a big chicken, as in easily frightened. Whenever there's a commotion in the box and a chicken pile-up results, Dot will consistently be the one cowering at the bottom of the pile. If I put my hand into the box holding, say, tasty cut-up grass or a juicy worm, all the chickens will run to me, except Dot, who will run to the nearest corner and face it. AWAY from me. Almost like she's been put into a time-out. What is up with that? See if you can you find Dot in the picture below:

Here is a better shot of both of my White-Crested Black Polish chicks. They've grown and changed so much:

Beautiful wings are developing:

If chickens do such a thing as imprinting, then many of these babes have definitely imprinted on me. The five that routinely come out to be with me make these funny, quiet little peeping sounds at me that are completely different from what they do in the box with their sisters. Once on me, they'll settle right down, sink onto their haunches, and peacefully observe what's going on around them.

On my leg below is my #1 girl, my Silver-Laced Wyandotte. I sure wish I had a name for her, but I've been yet to be inspired. You know how those things go, right? She was the very first chick to seek me out and jump out of the box to be with me. These days, she frequently insists on sitting on my head. She is also the largest and heaviest of all my chicks:

The little chick below is my Araucana, "Sparrow". Aptly named because, to me, she looks just like a little bird that would show up outside at one of my feeders. She is the SWEETEST chick in the bunch and she *really* loves to cuddle. She'll choose cuddling with me over a handful of oatmeal or cut grass. Isn't she beautiful?:

Do you remember the "devil chick" I posted about a couple weeks ago who kept pecking my Black Star chicks? C'mon...you remember...I drew all those big red circles and arrows around her head in the picture to point out the bad bird. This is her. She's a good girl now, and a really pretty little Barred Rock. She loves me (and all her sisters). Her name is Lacey:

Here are both the Barred Rock girls (one in mid-flight to my knee) and Sparrow. Check out Dot in the background, wall-staring again:

Below is the newest chick to join the jumping-out club. She's one of the Black Sex Link/Black Star chicks. She has the most beautiful reddish gold streaks running through the feathers on her back and wings. You can tell by the look on her face that she was pretty impressed with herself that she could perch on top of the feeder on her way out of the box:


The girls are quickly outgrowing their 2' wide by 2'high by 4' long brooder box and the dust and feathers are being redistributed throughout the house. I'm guessing within the next week or so, they'll be making a move to a bigger box or fenced pen in one of the garages. They'll still be secure and have access to their heatlamp, but they'll be in a spot more appropriate for young hens than my spare bedroom. My girls are growing up!

Just a SNOWY spring day here in Oregon...

Hmpf!

I thought maybe you'd enjoy seeing what I'm looking out the window at this morning.



(Please note the application of the black felt paper to the far right wall of the chicken coop...another step closer to completion!) :-)

So, fess up, which one of you jokers back East sent this stuff to the Pacific Northwest?? :-)

Robin? It was you, wasn't it?!

This and that...oh, and the coop.

This last weekend was really busy!

For those of you who asked, the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary event on Saturday night at the Chaos Cafe' went really well. Close to $500 was raised and it all went to the farm. We were nervous at first because the cafe' itself is an extremely small locale but it was packed to the gills, and people were very generous with their admission donations. My two biggest fans were there to meet me: my mom and step dad. Unfortunately, none of the pictures I took turned out. In case you don't believe me, here's one of the better ones I got (the black and white striped arm you see on the lower right side is my son Aidan):


6:00AM Sunday morning found us, Aidan and me, driving to the airport. Aidan is spending spring break this year in Port Arthur, Texas working with Habitat for Humanity on Hurricane Rita efforts. After saying goodbye to him (my baby!), I tearily strolled along the little alleyway of trendy shops at the PDX airport and something amazing caught my eye:



Yes, those are chicken purses!! Really big, rubbery plastic ones! I almost died laughing. Have you noticed all the farm-themed trinkets, and mugs, and clothing (Carhartt's is big time!) adorning city store shelves these days? For probably the first time in my life, I'm not devastatingly uncool! :-)

After leaving the airport, I made my two-hour drive south down to the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary for their annual Easter Egg Hunt. There was still a lot to be done prior to the 1:00PM start time. My first task was to wash 13 dozen (!) freshly laid, free-range eggs to offer later, for a small donation to the farm, to anyone who desired them:

Then it was time to prepare the "other eggs" for the hunt. Every year, colorful plastic eggs are filled, some with cut up veggies and apples, others with grain and oats, to be "hidden" then around the farm. Families with children come, make a ($10 suggested) donation to the farm, grab a small Easter basket, and set off to gather these eggs. With the contents of the eggs emptied into their hands, they then walk around and feed any of the animals they choose to feed.

Despite really crappy (cold, blustery, heavy rain, lots of mud) conditions, we probably had over 200 people turn out. And the smiles, again, despite the weather, I saw on the children's faces were wonderful:

See this little girl on the left?:

I zoomed in on her face - her expression of surprise is priceless:

I'd never seen so many people going in and out of the barn:

Luke, the pig, delighted in all the attention:

Everybody loved feeding Oyte the donkey:

Chewy wasn't shy about asking for more treats (can you see her tongue?):

It was a very good weekend for the Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary!

And finally...
A quick coop update: We're still not done, but efforts are certainly not stalled:

No, despite all appearances below, those long branches to the left are NOT holding the coop up. I found these in the woods and plan to cut them down to use for big-girl roosts. I might even make a small ladder roost with them for the outside run:

And the windows are in! :-) (Thanks for the suggestions I received on where to look - I went to a place called the ReBuilding Center that specializes in used materials - it's a really cool place and I found two, beautiful, cheap, sorta-too-fancy-but-they-are-matching windows):



Happy Spring!