Chickens

After recently stating here that the chickens were safe from the threat of being sold, I sold most of them.  I sold the five pullets, I think... I'll explain that in a bit... and received some cash and a rooster in trade.  I've learned that chickens sell fast on Craigslist; the first guy who called took them, and I got other calls even after I took the ad off.  The guy came from Platte City, which is no small trip.  I will admit I sold them cheap, ten bucks apiece.  I probably should have asked fifteen, but hey, I'm happy.  I sold all the young pullets that were just beginning to lay.

Here's the thing:  The older hens aren't on strike for all that long, and three hens lay plenty of eggs for me and Cliff.  Why feed so many that I don't need?  Which of course brings up the question, "Why get a rooster?"  

Well, I enjoy hearing a rooster crow in the morning.  The hens are happier with a rooster around, too.  And it's more fun to watch them all roaming about the yard, watching the rooster call them to him when he finds something tasty, even though he's lying half the time.  If you toss a crust of bread to the flock, the rooster will hurry to get there just so he can take the credit for it.

I kept three hens:  Mama Hen, who makes another reason I wanted a rooster, because I want the option of letting her hatch some chicks; Chickie, my pet Araucana; and the white leghorn-type hen a neighbor gave me.  She sold their flock, but this hen escaped the hunt, and thus ended up here.  I will know which hen lays each egg now, because one lays brown eggs, one lays blue-green eggs, and the other one's eggs are white.  The rooster is a lovely Araucana, reputed to chase small children.  He won't chase Cora but one time!

The reason I'm not sure whether I sold the five pullets is that they are all Buff Orpinton, like Mama Hen who hatched them out.  So they are identical to their mother.  The buyer and I went in the chicken house and caught those wild pullets one-at-a-time, and I think Mama Hen is the one remaining.  But I'm not sure.  

To further confuse the issue, I found a brown egg in the nest today.  It wasn't a tiny egg like the pullets had been laying, but it seems awfully early for hens to start laying again.  I didn't expect them to go back to work until late February at the earliest.  However, Chickie has also started laying, and there's no doubt about the fact that it's her, since she lays blue-green eggs.  

So that's the chicken story.  

Luna, the calf, is eating calf starter pretty well and drinking water.  She's still leery of me, but I can rub her sides and neck now without her acting like she's going to run through a wall.

I have mentioned lately that I have been starting my day with meditation.  I've wondered how many of my readers think I have gone totally berserk because of that.  Well, I happened to watch CBS Sunday Morning, one of my favorite shows, and there was a segment about meditation that confirms my own experience.  A man lists all the things it can do for you, and I will affirm that it's all true for me except for the "helps you sleep" part.  My sleep is still as crazy as ever.  I don't worry about it so much, though.  So there's that.