I said I would become a better blogger, and I am trying desperately, but it seems that I cannot commit. I need to write the topics down that I stumble upon. I need to develop an evening ritual that includes writing just a short piece to keep this blog current. I need to have exciting things to discuss!
But, to put this all behind us, and maybe inspire what very few people who have come across this blog to continue to read, I am going to write about the happenings on our farm. Today, I am going to cover our chickens...
To my beloved boyfriend's surprise, at the beginning of the summer I got him five wonderful chickens. They are the sex linked kind and are suppose to be wonderful egg layers.
For weeks we kept them in the laundry room. They were too little for being outside as it was cold and our chicken coop does not inspire confidence in its ability to house babies of any sort, but maybe the stray cat variety. About the time they developed most of their adult plumage, we decided the weather was decent, they were starting to escape their box easily, and it was just plain time for them to go out.
So we put them out in the coop. For the first two weeks, we kept them locked to the inside of the coop. Than we opened their little coop door to the chicken run area and let them explore. To our dismay, they opted to avoid the big world for another week, only looking outside longingly. Than, one day they took to the outside like stars do to the sky! They flocked, they chased bugs, they dug up the ground! They turned into quite the most beautiful brown and black chickens I ever did see (my proximity to the situation should just be over looked...).
Well, now they are at least four months old, if not older. They still haven't graced us with any eggs. We lovingly feed and water them, put a roof over their heads, and talk to them when ever we are outside. Why haven't they bothered to leave us anything in return? I thought chickens laid eggs around 16 weeks. It seems like they are taking advantage of us!
Than, to make matters worse, one of the lovely ladies has developed the most beautiful tail and cone.... That's right! We have a roster in our hen house. I realize that sexing chickens is not exactly the easiest thing to do, but isn't that why they developed sex linked chickens - to take the guess work out of it? I feel absolutely horrible about this situation. He has started to crow in the last week and we never intended to have a boy. I am just not sure what to do. There are hundreds of roosters on craigslist to be given away and I am too much of an animal lover that if it doesn't come in a package (unrecognizable) and surely not doted on by me that I cannot eat it. I just do not know what to do. As of this minute,we are letting him "fatten up," but that is just code for letting us get more attached to the little booger. So what does everyone else do with their unintended boys? If there are too many to give him away, and I can not imagine eating him, what else can I do with him?
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