Hey, Fellow Chicken-Loving Science Nerds

One of the kiddoes came home telling me about this today so I thought I would share.

From Behind the News 23.10.12 Chook Science

Gotta love a kid who questions.

Take care

A Day of Firsts

With the start of a new week came a few exciting first.

The tomato bushes have managed to keep fruiting through the cooler months, with the help of a homemade hothouse (more on that later), and I have been slowly watching these round bottomed babies turn from green to luscious red. With the need for a midmorning snack, and these looking too good to leave any longer, the idea of a simple morning tea of tomato on toast, with a pinch of salt and pepper, was enough to get these tastes buds excited.

Yes, it was amazing.

I always love trying a new recipe that will hopefully become a family favourite and extend my repertoire just a little further. After eating the most amazing Spanish Tortilla in Barcelona last year, in a tiny, no-frills cafe, I wanted to be able to recreate this delicacy at home. The kiddoes renamed it "Chip Pie". For a first attempt, the results were pretty pleasing, but I think I will still keep searching for another recipe. Any suggestions?

I honestly think it was even better the next day for lunch, but don't tell the others.

Another one to add to the list.

But the most exciting and wonderful first was that our girls are growing up.

We followed the delighted, and almost hysterical squeals of "Come quick!", out to the coop and found this tiny, precious egg sitting in the box. 

After photos and excited phone calls to grandparents, it was decided to add the egg to the tortilla. It was a very good decision.

I hope you all had a fabulous start to the week.

Take care

Wet and Wild Week

It has been a pretty wild week here on the southwest coast of Australia. A storm hit here on Sunday and another one followed on Tuesday night. We are pretty sheltered where we live, so we didn't get any damage. The only cleanup we have will involve a rake: nice and easy.

The rainfall has been quite substantial so everything is looking lovely and green.

The peppery rocket is still growing, and regrowing, and regrowing.

The beetroot are coming along nicely. 

The broadbeans will need restaking this weekend. With all of this rainwater, these are thriving.

Coriander usually goes to seed really quickly for me, so this year I bought a plant, rather than planting seeds or seedlings, and it is doing really well. 

The lime tree is loving the rainwater as it is covered in lots of buds. Luckily none of the fruit we blown off during the winds.

The girls are loving the aftermath of the rain. There are heaps of grubs around the yard. 

I hope that any of you in WA are okay and didn't get much damage from the strong winds. It looks as thought winter is finally here.

Please make sure to join in by adding any of recent comfort food links to the previous post. It is wonderful to see what in going on in other kitchens.

Take care

A Sigh of Relief

The title of this post has changed in my head several times over the last few hours. "The Night We Didn't Get Much Sleep", " Chicken Searching by Torchlight" or "The One That Got Away".

Last night we were a little late in checking the girls were in bed so by the time we got out to the yard, we found three of four of them huddled under the tarp next to the coop. Normally they put themselves to bed but the door had closed so they weren't able to get themselves into their warm, dry, nesting boxes. This began the late-night search of the yard. That was when we came across the first sign that something wasn't quite right.

We searched under trees and shrubs, in the cubby, we even tried looking in very understanding neighbours' backyards. The anxiety levels were getting higher and higher as the minutes went on. After about half an hour, there was nowhere left to look. We decided that something untoward had happened. Many tears were shed and appetites had disappeared by the time we all cuddled together on the lounge.

It took a while for everyone to get to sleep with all the 'what ifs' and thinking through the possibilities of what had happened to Ruffle. The events of Mrs Bok kept running through my mind.

During the night there were a few games of musical beds as people woke from restless sleeps.

I was first awake this morning so thought I should probably check the yard before either of the kiddoes ventured out there. The last thing I wanted them to find was part of a chicken, or one of the other girls dead from the fright of whatever had happened the night before.

I opened the back door and headed out to the yard to find a gorgeous white chicken pacing the wrong side of the fence, wanting to get back in with the girls. I picked her up and brought her back into the house to show the waking children that we still had a flock of four. Everyone squealed with delight to see her in one piece.

Ruffle watching over the rest of the girls.

Our theory about the feathers in the yard is that a dove fell victim to a cat, and that spooked the chickens. We have no idea where she got through the fence but will be doing another wander around looking for any gaps.

We are all so relieved that there has been a happy ending to this.

Take care

Weekend Chickening

I love a long weekend.

I have been meaning to get to the Lockridge Community Garden for many months now, but as it is about 20 kilometres away, I never seem to be organised enough to get there. After reading about a workshop they had planned, this was the motivation needed to go and have a look.

Welcome signs written in a variety of languages are attached to one of the raised beds.

These gorgeous little eggplant made me envious (and hungry).

The workshop we attended was on keeping backyard chickens, and took place out in the wonderful grounds in a limestone amphitheatre. For an hour and a half we listened to the great advice of the speaker and useful tips of other chicken owners who attended. (It sounds like Neem Oil is something we should have on hand).

After some extensive reading of two great books, The Chook Book and The Joy of Keeping Chickens, I now feel that by going along and hearing someone talk about these topics that we are on the right track regarding animal husbandry.

One of the highlights for me was seeing the treatment of scaly leg mite. Seeing this first hand certainly made me feel more confident if I ever need to try this on our girls.

Our girls seem very relaxed and happy wandering around the yard and finding somewhere for a dust bath. After this photo I quickly decided to harvest the crop of three chillies remembering Gavin's experience with chickens and chillies.

Take care

Freeranging

This weekend has been the first time that we had let the chooks have free range of the backyard, and they loved it. We were all a little anxious about setting them free as the yard is not entirely secure so decided they needed to be fully supervised, just like toddlers.

Luckily the girls have yet to find any of the gaps through to next door. These will be dealt with this week. 

We had been planning on getting chickens since we were in Germany, so all of the gardening since our return has been me 'preparing' little areas for the chicken to be able to feed. By preparing, I mean, 'Oh, I wont bother weeding that. I'll just leave that for the chooks.'

I could sit for hours in the yard and watch them work their way from garden bed to garden bed. Their behaviours are so interesting, and their antics are hilarious. Each bird has quite a distinctive personality and interactions between the four keep us all in stitches.

Take care