Eggs Eggs Every Where

My girls have been laying eggs like crazy. I was getting 14 to 20 eggs a day. I now have about 20 dozen in the frig and because I don't have established customers for them I am trying to use them as fast as I can. So to slow down the production line I have had to shut off the light that usually comes on for 2 hours in the morning in the coop. Production is now down to 5 to 9 per day. So if any of you live on South Whidbey and would like to buy some eggs, I will give you a dollar off per dozen your first order. (Regularly $4) or I can fashion a Thanksgiving turkey out of them!

This is why I have poo on the back porch

I have a new addition to the flock. Another black Silkie that I named Baby after the character in Dirty Dancing because as we all know "no one puts Baby in a corner". Although I was told she is a hen I am not completely convinced. She doesn't crow though so that is a good sign. I found baby on craigs list and sucker that I am I made the call. A nice lady rescued baby from a flock of bigger birds when she was at deaths door. Feeding and housing her separately from her own chickens became a problem when the husband became a little irritated at all the chicken poo in his work shop. Imagine that. I thought poo was a way of life.

Baby was pretty ugly when I first met her. She was lacking several patches of feathers including all the feathers on her head and she was really dirty and kind of sticky from having "no pick" on her wounds. Baby quickly won my heart but every lady (and the rooster) that approached her was met with flying talons. Self defense learned from necessity I suspect but I don't give up easy. I noticed that she was very interested in watching the other chickens so during the day I would take the ducks out of the adjoining pen and put Baby in there. She was able to see the others through the wire and feel secure enough to do chicken like things like take a dust bath or peck for bugs. I noticed that she wanted to be near the others. Just not with them. Being in the same run with the other girls caused her to fly into a panic. Even landing in the ducks wading pool once. At night I put her in a large dog crate on the table in the coop where she could watch the other chickens through the wire of the door. She was very happy with this arrangement. She had her own private condo.

I started adding chickens to her pen during the day starting with the other silkies. Every day I would add one more until there were about 10 chickens in with her. I can now let her out in the yard with the other hens and she is holding her own when it comes to competing for the treats I toss out for them. But still not in the run. Too confining I guess. In the yard there is room to get away from any of the bitchy ladies and I have one or two of those. In the evening I toss organic scratch in the pen and when the chickens run in to get it I close their gate. Baby waits outside the gate for her share and if she doesn't get it she stands in front of me looking imploringly up into my face as if to say "where's mine?" Cute. Kind of dog like too. When she is finished with her treat she hops up the two steps into my gardening half of the coop and waits for me to pick her up and put her in her condo.

Since this is getting rather lengthy I will sign off with some photos of Baby and of a friend of the big girls that

decided to visit us while we were picking apples in the yard. Speaking of apples I promised a recipe for an apple pie this time. However this post is getting too long so I will make the next post recipes and pictures and I will do it in the next day or two. Here is a picture of the featured recipe just to give you a hint.

Rustic Apple Pie

So tune in before Monday. This pie is the best apple pie I have ever tasted and it is made with (real) maple syrup instead of sugar. Should be called maple caramel apple pie. YUM!