Does this look like a rooster to you?

This is our Rhode Island Rhett. S/he is in the vegetable garden helping to clean it out and spread the llama manure around. But we do keep wondering about her. Gender ambiguity and all that.

Puns du jour

We've told our friends they're welcome to contribute puns to the project. We'll post a photo of one of Jesse's best soon. Over the entrance between the foyer (yes, our chickens have a foyer) and the boudoir, Jesse painted a sign that says "micro-chick processors." Our friends Terri and Maria have sent in the latest. While discussing the amazing contributions these chickens have made to the blog, we got onto the question of how they type. Of course, they hunt and peck.

Platonic Interests

Lovely pussycat chose to sit upon the garden wall to watch the chickens throw dirt around. Though she appeared pure of thought, we considered the consequences of, perhaps, a sudden change of heart and carried pussycat into the house; and added canine companionship for the cat.

Cleaning the garden

After harvesting our last cantaloupes and green peppers and Armenian cucumbers, we let the chickens eat some bugs in the garden. We'll soon rework the soil and plant for the winter.







After some wild bug chases, les tres chiques (Thx, Maria) made one teeny bed and all got in together. They took dirt baths and pecked at specks in each other's feathers. Then they settled down, and La Chilena went to sleep. Is this normal, Kathy?

Eggs

Our eggs are probably still months away. But we're shamelessly begging bugs from every visitor. We're studying up on eggs and nutrition, and it turns out that bugs matter to the microchick processor. Check out these links:

• British eggs
• Mother Earth News study of eggs from free-range chickens
• Advice on buying local eggs
  
• The Nourishing Gourmet on eggs
• Curbly's egg-dying (uses a lot of fuel but interesting art)