Rainbow Bridge Poem

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here,that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills or all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown

Our angel Faline has passed

Lord, as if the week weren't like a bad country song in some ways already, Erin and I watched Faline closely today.....she has truly worsened in the past couple of weeks so that now she is having trouble cleaning herself and BOTH legs are causing her so much trouble, she can't even walk and has to use her beak to hold herself up.  So it looks like we are going to have to make a humane decision and find a humane way to go about it.  And though Natalie at age 4 has been very matter-of-fact with the other losses, how in the world are we
going to help her prepare and handle the loss of Faline who has been her favorite and special pet for the past 9 months??

Grampy wisely advised us: 


Natalie understands the relationship of pain and suffering to being able to live. Just as with your two pets who had to be put down, I'll wager, she will get on with this as well. The closeness to life, mating and death are inevitable outcomes of having animals. I think her experiences are not unlike those of children raised on farms, where these events are a part of "the circle of life" and are simply to be expected. You might tell her how her love for Faline actually gave her a longer life than she would usually have had - that she would have died as a chick without Natalie's care for her. So, she actually had a pretty good life because of Natalie and that when she gets to Pet Heaven, she will tell all the other pets about how Natalie loved her.


We made an appointment at the nearby vet who treats chickens as pets instead of livestock.   They were so sweet and patient and gave Natalie all the respect of an adult with a beloved pet.  The vet visit went well and Natalie bravely watched Faline fall asleep, then wept a little once we buried Faline at home. She astounded the vet and ourselves with handling everything way beyond her years.  

Emails on the hawk and loss of Pixie

 What a week!  We had some funny and sweet exchanges about it that I thought would be good to share on the blog....

Dec 9, 2011 Bambi wrote: 

This came in this morning from my friend, whose sense of humor is dark and twisted like mine.  Don’t get her wrong, she is actually very supportive, and loves animals. She is donating a flock of hens along with us from Heifer International for Christmas too!  This email made me laugh out loud when I saw it.  Her one liners are hilarious!

From Bambi's co-worker:  How is everyone the day after Chickengeddon?

From Erin:  That is exactly what it felt like!  Diana and I woke up in the night twice because we couldn't sleep from the trauma.  Blessed humor keeps us going!!

Bambi wrote:

I’m sure it was awful.  Poor Diana was so stressed when I talked to her yesterday.  I just wanted to leave work and go hug her!!  I was so grateful when she noticed Peach Chicklet.  The relief in her voice rang out loud and clear.  This had to be so traumatic for her, Sam, Natalie, and you.  

I knew this was bound to happen sooner or later (losing one in attack), no matter how well they are loved and cared for.  It’s just nature playing out.  Mary said she had a phone call last night and Natalie gave her all the gritty details.  We are both so relieved that Faline made it through unscathed.  We do not want anything to ever happen to that little hen!  

From Erin:  Natalie wore her hen necklace to school again this morning in honor of our lost Pixie Jolene....have had her song running through my head all morning....Jolene, Jolene!

From Bambi:  Me too…but I’ve changed the words a bit!

From Mary:  I am afraid to ask about it!

From Bambi:  the revised song......

Big Hawk, Big Hawk, Big Damn Mean Hawk,

Why’d you take Jolene away?

You could have your pick of hens, but I will never love again,

Why’d you take Jolene away?

*SIGH*

I know it was in the hawk’s nature, but I’m still pissed at it

Found Peach Chicklet!!

Dear Chicken Gang--Had a bad day, but the one good thing is that as I was talking on the phone with Bambi about the hawk and losing two hens, our little speckled sussex Peach Chicklet came out of hiding in the garage!   She must have been hiding under one of the cabinets in the garage where we couldn't see her, because believe me we've been looking!!  She is still with us, thank goodness.... 

Hawk attack

I have bad news and I hope you'll forgive me writing this out by email....I'm not sure I can say it aloud well now anyway.  Natalie and I were inside the house, the hens were ranging in the yard and Ash was inside because he gets cold after chunks of outdoor time.  We didn't hear anything amiss.....but when I walked out back, I found Ernie (our neighbors dog) in the garage!!  

But that was the least of it because I *think* Ernie may have actually crawled through the fence after hearing all the noise and chased a hawk away.  When I looked, the hawk was standing near Pixie Jolene's body and then flew to the trees....Our neighbor Sam, Natalie, and I looked all around and couldn't find any trace of Peach Chicklet.  

Luckily Faline, Fannie Mae, Georgie, and Buffy were hiding in the garage behind pots and shelves....and Little Red Hen was outside by the trash cans with 1/2 the feathers torn from her chest and body.  There are feathers all over the yard.  

We buried Pixie in a place of honor with a marker.  We are still looking for Peach Chiclet but fear that she was taken by the hawk.  

I am so terribly sorry.  I just can't believe it.  I just....am so sorry.

Biggest Egg Ever!

Can you believe the size of this egg?  Our thanks to Fannie Mae for the largest egg we've seen from the girls yet!!   It was about 3" tall and over 6" in circumference.   

   We're waiting to hear from Joan and Barb how many yolks it contained....my guess is three!

Coop move for winter

We did it, we moved the coop!!  After much grunting, growling, pushing, and shoving, the hen house is sitting squarely in the middle of the garage....and I swear, Faline looks happier than she's looked all day (she felt colder than the other hens who can move around more easily)....and the babies are moving around more instead of huddling together upstairs!!  

I'm sure having them indoors will be a different set of challenges, but I already feel happier knowing that I won't have to worry about them as much!!  Thank you all for your support in deciding to make a big change.

By the way, I'll be darned if that besom hawk didn't fly through the yard while we were working.  Little Red Hen started clucking like she does when she lays an egg and they all began running for cover--Ash and I ran toward it yelling and barking.  I'm sure we were very intimidating :)

Cold, rainy, and leaky coop

After two days of 40 degrees and slanting constant cold rain......

I was gathering eggs this morning, freshening food and water, and trying to clean the coop....and the sand on the inside is wet, there are a couple of leaky places in the upstairs....and it was just a pain to do all that in the wet and cold.  I wondered if Bambi had felt the same way when she took care of the gals last week??  Anyway, I got this crazy idea that we should put the coop in the garage for the winter--and spring rain season!!  It made me laugh, but then the more I thought about it, the better the idea seemed....the hens would be more protected from wind, wet, and cold....I would be protected from all of that when doing the farm chores....and if we had a bitterly cold period and wanted to run the heater, it'd be easier to do in the garage.  And when we let them out, we just open the coop and garage door.  I feel like this would make us ALL more comfortable!!  But am I crazy???  Please tell me, I can take it.  

P.S.  

I just read a blog from a woman in Seattle and she moved her hens in the garage because SHE wasn't pleased about doing farm chores in the rain either!!  HAHAHA!!!

Bambi said:  I love it!  Do I thinks it’s crazy and unconventional ?  Yep, I sure do, but aren’t we crazy and unconventional?!  We have the most spoiled and loved fowl in the universe!  I love that you’re concerned about their comfort, and I am definitely concerned about your comfort, so I say do it!!!! 

Enjoying the fall!!

While we were out of town for two weeks, Bambi stayed at the house and took care of the dogs, cats, and hens.  Everyone looked so happy and cozy when we returned!  Bambi is so good with the animals!  

The eggs are coming in regularly with plenty to share.  Joan came and got a dozen the first week, and we  actually had to give 2 ½ dozen away!  We get four eggs each day, so every 3 days a new dozen!  

Bambi - You are the chicken whisperer! Since you kept the hens while we were in Cape Cod, Georgie has been laying in or near the box (not on the ladder where her egg breaks), thank goodness!!  

And since we have mild weather this week, Erin cleaned out the garage and we are integrating the wee chicks into the outdoor coop....they have all ranged together outside and mainly act like 2 separate flocks....at night we wait until the big girls go upstairs and then slip the wee ones into the roost :)  There have been a few lost feathers in the morning though, and Georgie seems the most threatened.  

It looks like rain, so I've just put the hens in the coop and the chicks upstairs with their own food and water....there's a lot of grinching and groaning from Little Red Hen and Fannie Mae, but no attacks or feathers lost so far....please send harmonious wishes to the coop, if you get the chance!!  

First outing in the portable coop for the babies

Checking out the new baby chicks as they begin to move into the great outdoors.....

The cousins came to visit this week.  They learned to feed grapes to the hens and check for eggs in the eggbox....such excitement!  Here are the girls all enjoying some cuddle time with the feathered gals!  There is a special place in heaven for the birds that let kids carry them around like these hens do.

New baby photos at one week

One week old speckled sussex....named Pixie Jolene by Bambi!

Peach Chiclet, Pixie Jolene and Buffy (the buff orpington) at one week old

Eggs galore...sometimes

Well, the girls are doing fabulously at the whole egg laying part of their day. All except for one strange thing....someone keeps laying an egg so that it falls down onto the ladder and breaks!  We are trying to diagnose the problem.  Erin...to herself quietly as she stares at the nesting boxes she has so carefully created for the hens....if i was a hen, what would I need to help me not lay my egg on ladder?  how would I need to be informed that the best place for an egg is in that soft cushy box??

All those pretty brown eggs!!

New baby chicks!!

Around 9:30am we got a call from the post office that our 3 new baby chicks had arrived.  Erin rushed over to pick them up and was relieved to open the box and find all were peeping happily and doing well.  Here are their first photos as one-day old wee ones.

One of the two new speckled sussex chicks.....and

Our first buff orpington chick!

To Martin, formerly known as Marge

Dearest Martin,

I wanted to write to you and express both my sadness and dismay at your horrible predicament.  You were brought into this world a poor, small, defenseless chick, and immediately placed in a small walled in pen with several young ladies.  You were then fed and cared for by.....several woman.  You were then given a girls name, cooed at and held, and expected to act as a proper lady would.  This was just so unfair. 

Did anyone ever support you as all those "strange" changes came over your body?  Growing feathers in funny places?  Looking at those young ladies in your pen for just a little bit longer than you should?  Thinking that having an egg the size of an....egg, coming out of your body would be really freaky?  No, I don't think they did.  I totally feel for you. 

And when nature finally won out, and you crowed to the sky to declare that you would NOT be held to the standards of a woman, what do they do?  They forbid crowing!  What is up with that?!?!  Who else is going to warn them that an airplane is going by?  OK, the dogs do, but the dogs are not always outside, so you need to speak up.  I understand.  Every cock has to crow.

Martin, it has been a pleasure knowing you during your childhood.  Sorry about the holding and cooing thing when I came to visit.  I feel a little awkward about that now, but I was misinformed at the time.  Have fun in your new home.  You are starting fresh, with a new name, a new hen house, and a new harem. 

Regards,

Kurt

Further commentary on our rooster mishaps

A series of updates on Marge/Martin were sent around the other day.  They went something like this...


Erin wrote: 
       Good news!  A lady in the next county contacted us through Craig’s List.  Her father-in-law lost his rooster and needs one for protection of his hen flock.  We’ve emailed about it today and it sounds really perfect – a farm that won’t eat Martin or use him for cock-fights! And will allow him to rule the roost!

Bambi wrote with an ironic laugh:
     Um, er, how exactly did the father in law “lose” the chicken??!!


Sallie sent us into more giggles as she replied:
       Who cares???  Happy humping, Martin!

Holly then sent us into further hysteria by emailing: 
       Notice: I will be replacing all greetings, salutations, and best wishes with the words  "Happy humping".  Going on a cruise? No more "Bon voyage"! From now on, I wish you a cheerful "Happy humping!". 21st birthday? Happy humping! Just had hip replacement surgery? Well, "Happy humping" to you, too! Sallie, you are a jewel! 

What?! A rooster?!

Yes, friends, Marge is a boy!!

Fannie Mae (front left with white on chest), followed by Georgie with Marge/Martin the newly discovered rooster behind them.  Heading away from the camera are Faline and Little Red Hen.

The revelation part 2

Sallie writes:

Don't know about the rest of you, but what I'm most looking forward to is Natalie's version of this revelation.  It has no doubt offered an early opportunity for a 'bird & bee' talk.  Probably sounds something like this.....


Mom: Well, honey, Martin, er, Marge was supposed to be a girl, but now it seems she's, er, he's a boy.  


Natalie: Marge isn't a boy, Mom.  He's a rooster.  


Mom:  You are correct, Natalie, and because Marge, er, Martin, is so in charge he can't live here anymore.  


Natalie:  But, Mom, (with some of her instant tears for emphasis) this is Marge/Martin's home! 


Mom: Well, it has been his home, and we have loved him and given him a good start in life.  But now that he is grown up and crowing night & day, we can't have Martin running around goosing the hens.  


Natalie: NO, Mom, Marge isn't a goose, she's a rooster. Look, Mom, Marge is humping Faline again!  I'm going to kill him with my broom and we can both have chicken legs for supper.  (Cause you know, that Marge does have a very big set of drumsticks.)


Holly chimed in: 
Poor, gender confused Martin.  I might have felt sorry for him/her if it wasn't for all of the humping. In retrospect, Marge's leadership seems more like typical rooster bullshit. Not that I know a damn thing about roosters, but I do know a lot about bullshit. 


Is anyone else reeling because the brain trust at Nicholasville Tractor and Supply made a mistake?   They owe you a lady chicken.



Diana wrote:
You all are making my sides ache!!  In the meantime, Fannie Mae and Little Red Hen (i think) have each layed an egg and Marge just got a time-out for pecking Natalie!!  




It's been hard coming out of denial and realizing that the experts at the hatchery and at Tractor & Supply can make mistakes with color-sexed hens.  It's been a week with a high learning curve, and it's only Tuesday!!  Uncle, uncle!! :)  


I suppose this evening we'll email the Wilkie clan and ask for help/guidance with Mar...uh...Martin.  I know it'll be a lot less trouble having a rooster-free yard, but I got kinda attached to the wee besom, maybe since I'm the only one who'll hold him!

Hugs and fresh eggs for all!

Revelation Part 1

Aloha everyone!!

So yesterday, I was on the phone with Joan describing Marge's behavior. Joan, bless her, encouraged me to look at her anatomy to make sure she's not a rooster.  I believe she said something like, "Just look down there and see if she has a pecker!"  Joan also promised me that if Marge turned out to be a rooster, she would never be able to look at a chicken again without laughing....

I went online to research chicken anatomy.....and learned that all the chicken organs are inside, so it's not always easy to tell, but there are other clues:

--Compare chickens within the same breed.  A rooster has a bigger body, bigger waddles, and a bigger comb than the hens.  YES.

--Look at the comb.  In a rooster, the comb will always stand erect, whereas with a hen, her comb will be smaller or fold over.  YES.

--A rooster actually has an oil gland, so its feathers will appear shinier than the females.  YES.

--A rooster will have spurs on its legs.  YES, just recently appearing.

--In looking at the tail feathers, hens have a simple duller set of feathers whereas the rooster's feathers look more like plummage and can be multi-colored.  YES.

--Lastly, hens cluck and roosters crow.  Lord, YES.

I think I am no longer in denial and have learned that even experts can't color-sex the chicks correctly all the time.  Ladies, Marge is a rooster!!!!  

I laughed so hard, I had tears streaming down my face!!

But now what??  The thing is, we're not allowed to have roosters in our zone....and there's no hiding Marge since she crows all the time!!  (even though i've sworn to our neighbors she's just a dominate hen).

Erin and Natalie are both nervous around her since she gets aggressive with them.  She humps all the hens, and we don't want the eggs fertilized.  Blast!!  What should we do??  Marge is Bambi and Mary's chicken....I actually love Marge too, although lately I notice HE is a lot more work to have around than the sisters.  I feel sad about this.

Erin suggested we call up Gina's parents and sister (who are all connected with UK's Agriculture program in a big way, love organic farming, chickens, etc) and ask them if they know of anyone who wants a rooster....and specify that we don't want Marge eaten.  It's our version of a rooster relocation program :)  Then we could research and possibly get 3 more laying hens to introduce to our flock--or something like that....somehow get a robust flock of hens who can lay eggs, be docile and fairly quiet, and keep each other warm in winter.

As I write this, Marge (uh er, Martin) is humping Faline.  We don't want to do anything without your all's input and permission, so please speak honestly and tell us what you think!!!!

Love to you all~

diana and erin

The First Eggs!

Dear Chicken Coop Friends -

We have big news to report!  The girls have laid their first eggs this morning!!  Diana was outside puttering in the yard and heard a distinctly different racket coming from the coop.  She ran over to check it out and opened the egg box to find that the first egg had been laid...only to roll over and down the ladder (see the photo attached!).

The second egg came along not much later and the girls all ran over to cheer their sisters on as they took turns in  the egg box.  We now have two beautiful brown eggs in the fridge and hopefully can report more of this kind of joyful activity soon!  I remains to be seen if Marge will lay eggs...but we are keeping a close watch and will let you
know.  The girls are proudly strutting around the yard now having been treated with fresh water and cracked corn on which to graze as a reward.

May you all have as fruitful a day as the hens!
Love,

Erin, Diana, and Natalie

And the most patient hen in the world award goes to....

Faline!!  She lets Natalie cart her around the whole yard on the wagon.  

I think she even likes it!

Dust bath and a close-up of Faline!

Cuddling with Faline

Sand bath in style for Faline

Sand and sun

Dear Chicken Mamas!

After the disappointment of little Pan not making it last week, I'd say we're doing a pretty good job moving onward.  It helps to know that we did our best and Pan never did really seem as healthy as everyone else....

Erin built the portable chicken coop this weekend!!  It's amazing!  So now we can place it anywhere in the yard, put the hens inside, and they are safe and sound in the yard with us, the dogs, and so on.  I had them in it and near me while gardening yesterday, and they just seemed so happy....clucking around, eating grass, laying together in the sun and shade....so satisfying to see them this way.  We've had them loose in the yard a few times, and they love to eat leaves along the fenceline, poke around in the garden--eat the snap pea leaves, etc....but once they've done a bit of exploring, they want to run back to the safety of their coop!!  

Faline seems content as long as Natalie holds her....she sits on Natalie's lap, comes to Nat when she's called, loves being carried around, talked to, sung to, and so on :)

We're also feeding them leftovers of things--they love cantelope, Grampy's bread, some lettuces/spinach, watermelon, and their own food.  It's amazing how much water they drink!

Thank you, Bambi and Mary, for the blue tarps from Home Depot--we have needed them several times already to keep the rain out of their coop run!!  Also, Erin found that people are switching to using sand in their coops (instead of pine mulch) and raving about it because sand is cheaper, cleaner, chickens love it for sand baths and grit anyway, and it can keep them a bit cooler in the heat of summer. 

The coop!

The first round of coop work....whew!!

Yes, we added a real shingled roof in July.  Now....what to do about insulation and gutters?

Building the Coop

 Erin, Nat, and I spent all day yesterday building the outdoor run (permanent, not portable) to the hen house!  Bambi and Holly had given some great design ideas, and Erin knew what supplies to get, thank goodness.  Also, we used some of Mark's wood for the frame base (thank you!!)  We are VERY pleased with the results....the run seems very secure, sturdy, and yet pleasing to the eye:)  At about 5pm last eve, we moved the chickens into their new home, and it was so much fun watching them explore! 


Upon returning from dinner, they still hadn't moved up the ladder and into their coop for the night, and so I hunkered down (the run part is 3 ft or so tall) and caught each hen, managed to get them all in the coop on my hands and knees, and closed the doors for the night.  It was very humbling.  I kept thinking, "good grief, if any of our neighbors are watching me right now, they must be laughing their heads off."  Hopefully the hens will learn to tuck themselves in, and this won't become a nightly ritual for me :)


Erin opened up the doors this morn, and all the hens are fine and have been happily moving about in grass, fresh air, shade, sunshine....they are able to watch nature all around them...it's been a lot of fun to sit here and watch them from the family room window.  And the temps will reach 80 degrees for the next several days, so the warmth is in good timing!!


Also, as soon as we put the hens in their coop, we noticed that Ash (the herding dog) sat beside their pen as if he was guarding them...when he barked, it was at something else and seemed reluctant to come back inside the house.  Not that we would trust him with loose chickens, but his guarding the coop is an added bonus!!

Moving our little feathered friends to the great outdoors

The girls stayed in the office for a few weeks while we waited for the spring temperatures to warm up.  Then they moved to the garage for a while...in their little wire portable cage.  Now its time to start showing them the wider world of bug hunting, grass eating, and so forth.  What a hoot to watch them explore!  They are such naturally curious creatures!

Growing feathers!!

The wee ones are growing so fast!  I swear every time I come in to check on them or hold them, they've grown more feathers and are taller.  It's simply amazing to watch.

Cousin Evelyn gets to meet a chick

Wing feathers!!

Learning to perch...a life skill!

The chicks first chance at eating worms and grubs from the compost pile

The coop co-op

Diana and Mary

Bambi and Joan

Diana and Holly

Sallie

Natalie and Erin

The invite and the chicken co-op plan begins

NOTE to friends emailed in March 2011:

Want to go in on a set of chickens and a coop?! We're not joking :) The Tractor Supply Store has great sets of 6 pullets (female hens) that are for sale at $2.50 each chick. The coop we could make easily and tweak as needed. You all could invest a small portion, get eggs as they start to lay (at around 4 months old) and help out if we have to be out of town for very long. Think on it!! It just sounds fun and like the right time!

your clucking friends at Eastway Drive

**************************

After some research, we found that we are fine with the zoning, and aren't doing anything "new" since the neighbors around the corner have chickens (and a much smaller space)....our friend Gina's sis and her family have chickens up the street.

We'll have 6 chickens, that's the minimum quantity you are required to buy from the feed store....with the particular coop we're looking at buying (kit to put together), there's a shelf at the bottom for removing manure, and we can dump it in the compost bins. I haven't yet figured out what we should feed them and when (as they grow)....how long to keep the heat lamp available to them, etc....we clearly need more research!! But even still, Erin and I really felt like we wanted to give it a try....

Let's keep researching and talking!! I also know that you, Holly, Erin, and I have been intrigued with the idea of raising chickens for quite awhile now, and why not give it a try?? 


 I am adopting Gina's theme since the New Year:   BEGIN!