Wow, it has been quite a while.

Work, travel... and the girls aren't producing. Keeping fowl this time of year would be a waste of money, except they can be fed for chickenfeed. the days will be getting longer soon, so that may kick the production back into gear. In the meantime I'm not eating any eggs.

I've been swimming pretty regularly - changed up my set after talking with my son (he's taking courses in exercise science and kinesiology which makes his advice worth listening to). anyway I'm doing 35 laps non stop, taking short break and doing the 25 yards on the bottom, 25 yards freestyle back.

Basically Monday and Wednesday evenings I'm at the pool. Been pretty chilly on getting out of the pool - it is outdoors and the evenings have temperatures around 40 degrees fahrenheit. With a wet body and evaporative cooling this is chilly.

Monday: 1 brown.
swim 1000,500,300+cs+elemb

Wednesday: swim 1000,500,300+cs+elemb

Thursday: 1 brown
Friday: 1 green, 1 brown
Saturday: 1 brown
Sunday: 1 green, 1 brown

Wow, it's been a while.

I've been travelling. The hens have been poor producers.

Starting Oct 13: No eggs
swim 1000,500 (did 25 u/w breast stroke - realized not enough time to get full 1800 in)

Thurs: none
Friday:none
Saturday: 1 green
Sunday: 2 brown
Monday: 2 green
swim 1000,500,300+cs+elemb
Tuesday: 1 brown
Wednesday: 2 brown + 1 brown cannibalized.

Sunday: 1 green (1 brown cannibilized)
Monday: 1 brown

Thursday: 2 blue
Friday: 0
Saturday: 1 blue, 1 brown (+ one brown cannibilzed)

Tuesday: 2 brown

Monday swim 1000,500,300+cs+elemb

Wednesday:0
swim 1000,500,300

Saturday: 0 (one brown cannibilzed)

swim 1000,500,300+cs+elemb

Sunday: 3 brown

Monday: 5 brown, 1 green

Thursday: 3 brown
Friday: 0 (one green cannibilized - found on shelf above laying boxes)

Wednesday: 0. that's right zero, not even any cannibalized. What's up with this?

Actually probably will find 2-3 green eggs, one of the americauna hens gets out of the fenced range area and is laying I think - she had a couple of hiding spots that I've made impossible for her to sit... she's got someplace new and is providing eggs to local rodents.

Swim 1000,500,300+cs+elemb

Monday: 1 brown (+ 1 brown cannabilized)

No swim.
Tuesday: 2 brown (+ 1 brown, 1 green cannabilized)

Saturday: 3 brown, 1 green (+ 1 brown cannibalized)
Sunday: 6 brown, 1 green

Sunday swim 1000,500,300+cs+elemb

Thursday: 1 green, 2 brown
Friday: 3 brown

Looks like molting season, lots of feathers in coop - might explain the drop in production.

Wednesday: 3 brown, 1 green
Found 4 green eggs hidden - one was partly cannabilized, plus two remnants of brown eggs.

Swim 1000,500,300+cs+elemb

Tuesday: 4 brown

They have to be hiding eggs somewhere, the zero production over the weekend makes no sense.

Monday swim: 1000,500,300+cs+elemb (mixed it up due to uncertainity about how much time I had... makes more sense to do the extra at the end I think).

Sunday: 0
Monday: 0

I didn't get a chance to check for eggs all day Sunday, and only checked on Monday late in the day. No scratch on Sunday. I'm expecting a major binge of egg laying Tuesday as the girls make up for lost time.

There's also the possibility they've laid outside of the laying boxes and I need to discover their new egg hideout.

Did not swim Sunday, should get regular set in tonight. Tomorrow's post will confirm.

Thursday: 2 brown, 1 green
Friday: 4 brown, 1 green
Saturday: 1 brown (+ 1 brown cannabilized). New straw in henhouse.

Swim:1000,500,300 (some time pressure, didn't do the cs+elemb).

Wednesday: 5 brown
swim 1000, 500+cs+elemb,300

no swim Monday - Labor day.

Monday: 1 green
Tuesday: 2 green, 5 brown

Sunday: 1 green, 2 brown.

Swimming looks problematic this week, HS football and other events kept me out this weekend. If pool is open tomorrow I'll get a swim in in the evening. Wednesday night is out. Saturday may be out for other events.

I'm bummed, I really would like 2 miles a week minimum and preferably 3 miles (or even 4).

Thursday: 2 brown, 1 green (+ 2 brown cannibilzed)

Friday: 2 green (+ 1 brown cannibilized)

Saturday: 1 green, 7 brown

Wednesday: 1 green, 2 brown

swim 1000,500+cs+elemb,300

Monday: 1 green, 2 brown
swim 1000,500+cs+elemb,300

Swimming pool is on school year hours - M,W evening and weekend afternoons. So tuesday, Thursday and Friday there is no chance of swimming.

Tuesday: 1 green, 5 brown

Thursday: 1 green, 2 brown

Friday: 2 brown, (+ 1 brown cannabilized)

Saturday: 1 green, 4 brown

Sunday: 6 brown

swim 1000,500+cs+elmb,300

Wednesday:8 brown, 1 green

swim 1000,500+cs+elemb,300

Monday 3 brown
1000,500+cs+elemb,300

Tuesday: 7 brown, 1 green
no swim.

Sunday 4 brown, 1 green

Thursday 8/17: 9 brown, 2 green

Swim 1000,500+cs+elemb,300

Friday: 4 brown

Saturday: 9 brown, 1 green
Swim 1000,500+cs+elmb,300

Was away for a week, no new posts.

Tuesday: 6 brown, 2 green
1000,500+cs+elemb, 300 swim.

Monday 4 brown, 1 green.
1000,500+cs,elemb,300.

Sunday: 8 brown, 1 green.

changed out straw in henhouse. the ladies always get real happy when they get a chance to kick around clean straw. Hen Party!

Thursday: 5 brown (+ 1 green cannabilized).
Swam, modified set again
end of the 1000 freestyle I did 25 backstroke, 25 breast stroke before taking break.
500 freestyle, corkscrew/elem backstroke
300 yards - 25 hugging bottom breast stroke (one breath) and 275 freestyle. Total 1900 yards.

Friday: 1 green, 7 brown (+ 1 brown cannabilized)

No swimming today.

Saturday:2 green, 3 brown.

Swam 1000, 500 +cs+elemb, 300. 1850 yards total.

Tuesday: 2 brown.
Swam, modified set a little 1000 freestyle, 500 freestyle, but continued with 25 "corkscrew" ie combined freestyle/backstroke with body turning continuously. Return length was elementary backstroke as i was a bit tired from the corkscrew lap. Then the usual final 300 yards - 25 hugging bottom breast stroke (one breath) and 275 freestyle. Total 1850 yards.

Wednesday: 2 green, 4 brown (+ 1 brown cannabilized)

Did the extra lap of corkscrew/elem back plus usual set swimming.

Sunday 1 green (+ 1 green cannabilized)
Monday 6 brown , 2 green.

Friday 5 brown, 1 green (+ one green cannabilized)

Saturday 4 brown.

Renewed my CPR certification and motorcycle accident first response training today. Had fun with it... when I was practicing removing helmet I supported my victims cervical spine after setting aside helmet... as I lowered his head I told him "I'm slowly lowering your head I'm supporting you, not any more... and let his heas drop the last 1/2 inch. Big laugh from everybody. Obviously if I was doing this with truly injured person I'd not do such a thing.

Wednesday 4 brown, 1 green (+ one green cannabilized).

Thursday 1000,500,300 swim.

Egg count: 3 brown

5 brown, 1 green.

The ladies are busy making cackleberries, that's 17 eggs in 2 days!

Did the usual swimming set today.

8 brown, 1 green, + (1 brown, 1 green cannabilized). 11 eggs today!

Swam 1000,500,300, usual set.

Saturday: 5 brown, 2 green.
sunday: 2 brown + (1 brown and 1 green cannabilized).

Thursday count: 1 brown, 1 green. I gave them a pep talk, told them how sorely disappointed I was in their production. I also told them I knew it was hot, but that they had plenty of water and shade, and some nice squash from garden overproduction.

5 brown, one green today.

Swimming in a few minutes, same set. Didn't swim yesterday, was setting up camp at Laguna Seca, MotoGP race.

Didn't swim today, got caught up in other activities.

2 eggs cannabilized today, one brown one green.
Intact egg count:3 brown, 1 green

another 1800 yard swim today. The exercise may be having some effect on my weight, need more time to see. Definitely has given me better wind.

Egg count: 6 brown, 0 green

same swimming set today.

made ice cream by hand yesterday to help bring a member of my motorcycle club back from the Isle of Man where he has been in a coma since before the race. Raised $380 in about 2 hours.

Egg count:3 brown, 2 green

4 brown, 1 green today.

7 brown, 2 green eggs today.

I was supposed to head out this morning and ride to Hollister for the MBCOC all clubs motorcycle run. help do set up. Went to start my bike and it cranked twice, then lostr all electrical power. Positive wire had its terminal end corroded off. Spent the morning fixing that. Then on to Hollister, back.

Kind of tired. It was hot out there today.

Same 1800 yard set swimming today. 3 weeks to go from difficulty swimming 200 yards at a go to doing 1000, 500 and 300 yard set without much trouble.

I'm going to be in shape if I keep this up. so I think I will - at least 3x weekly do 1800 yards. I've noticed improvements in the little less than 4 weeks I've been doing it - the aforementioned endurance, plus my pulse rate at the end of a set was 146 the first time out, now it is 124. So 146 after 200 yards versus 124 after 1000 yards - my heart is working less after more strenuous exercise. Cardio and pulmonary systems are functioning much better. Measured breathing during freestyle has to be good in a yoga/spiritual sense as well - exhale through nose, inhale through mouth at a pretty constant pace.

This almost has to have an effect on my metabolic rate, which could lead to weight loss. If that happens other infirmities will be alleviated (left psoaz muscle causes back aches, restriction of motion of left leg).

4 brown, one green egg so far. Brown egg on top of the oystershell again... it had been canabilized.

well, picked up feed after heading to the swimming pool - swam 1000 yards, then 500 yards, then 300 yards - total of 1800 yards or a bit over a mile. First length of the final 300 yards was 25 yards of breast stroke hugging the pool bottom, ie on one breath. Rest was freestyle.

Picked up a sack of feed and another sack of scratch. The girls are productive today there were 4 more brown eggs - total of 7 brown and one green egg today.

3 brown, 1 green today.

Buying feed and scratch later in the day. Ducks seem to eat mostly scratch and vegetable kitchen waste.

There may be some curiousity about just what kind of hens, and how many of each I own.

2 Americauna
2 golden sex links
1 barred rock
1 leghorn
3 wyandotte lacewing
7 rhode island reds

14 total hens. 2 ducks that don't do anything but harass the chickens. I got into raising chickens with a former girlfriend. She wanted eggs for her children and I put up a chicken coop while she raised chicks. Originally there were rhode island reds, barred rocks and leghorns for a total of 12 hens. The next year more chicks were purchased, and one day I came home to find her telling me "I didn't get any more chickens"... I asked her what she was getting at and she told me she'd purchased 4 Muscovy ducks. At that point there were 19 chickens and 4 ducks, and there really wasn't enough space for them. over another 8 months 5 chickens succombed to predation leaving the 14 here currently.

My girlfriend moved a year ago. I offerred to build her a chicken coop at her new home, but she was very put out by my asking her to clear the building site prior to my carpentry. I don't understand this, free skilled labor is a boon that I'd think would be welcomed. Anyway she doesn't have space for fowl so I still have the chickens a year later. I like having some poultry and am fondest of the Rhode Island reds. If and when she ever does get space for poultry I'd like to keep about 6-10 rhode island reds. The two remaining ducks are also still here. I'd slaughter the ducks, but her son (I regard him as a step son) thinks of them as his pets and visits them occasionally.

So far 8 brown eggs, 2 green eggs today.

Well, 7 eggs so far today... one additional brown egg yesterday. Crazy chickens are finding a new place to hide the eggs - on top of sack of oyster shell calcium supplement.

Lost two eggs due to week shells - a couple of hens are not eating their oyster shell. Cracked eggs lead to a form of cannabilism as the hens like to eat eggs. Thankfully they crack as I'm harvesting them and I can get them out of the egg box and toss them into the yard. Egg remains in the laying area seems to lead to more advanced cannabilism - some of the older/more dominant hens will peck at eggs if they sense (smell?) egg remains. Had a problem with that last month that seems to have cleared up with fresh straw.

Egg production for 7/11 - 4 brown eggs, 0 green eggs (americauna hens lay green eggs, really).
More likely later in the day.

Picture of coop and eggs may be posted at any moment. Egg production numbers may be a regular feature... then again may not. There also is potential to have a chicken yard cam set up. And the video of a chicken crossing the road may yet be made as well.

Why?

You know, I have to wonder if Stephen Colbert might not find this blog... having to do with heuvos and all, and Stephen having the largest huevos of any fake news show.

Being a fan of his brand of over the top satire, I feel I should post a link to his fansite. Now I wonder if Stephen does a kibo-esque google of the blogosphere... Kibo having grep'd the news spool back in the days of usenet... seems like there should be a neologisim combining grep/google for vanity searches in the blogosphere. Kiboogle? Groogle? these seemed forced, but the bare verb google seems to lack a bit of the panache that I associate with Kibo.

I tried creating a blog yesterday - Mountain Eggs and did not make a post... Looks like it is in /dev/limbo, as blogger.com shows the page as unavailable, but I can't get to it to make a post today, instead I get a 404.

so this location Huevos de la Montana is being set up...

I intend on posting accounts of various adventures, fictional and factual... some political rants, some humorous material both historical and current.

Eggs are nutritious and tasty. Being as I own chickens and live in a small california mountain community it seemd like a reasonable name. Plus it has multiple senses - easter eggs in a computer sense, huevos in a spanish slang sense...


Now for a joke.

An attractive woman walks into a bar, sees a good looking male bartender.
Says to him, "I'd like a double entendre"

So he gave it to her.