Feed store didn't have straw, Monday.

No eggs today. WTF?

Thursday: 3 brown. Gave girls a pep talk, told them they'd shown they can be productive, so they need to stay with the program.

They get fresh straw tomorrow. hen party might be all they need to get happy and productive again.

Wednesday 2 brown

Swam my usual 36 laps, final lap down on one breath. cramped in left calf as I was finishing the one breath length. so two times in a row getting calf cramps... Will be monitoring this.

Tuesday 1 brown

Monday: 3 brown

Sunday: 5 brown, 1 green.

Swam my usual. Had cramp in right calf on the 25 yard on a breath length had to surface and did elem back stroke to finish up.

2 brown as of 11:00 AM.
+ 1 brown

1 green, 2 brown.

Had a nice 4 egg omelet (smoked salmon, green onion, pepper jack) with a likely young lass for lunch today. My hens lay damn good eggs.

I've given away 3 dozen eggs this week. Production is basically back, not as steady as in past. I'm still going to slaughter some stewing hens and replace stock - 8 rhode island, 4 barred rock, and a dozen meat birds in mid March timeframe - main slaughter around Memorial day.

4 brown.

I think one of the aracaunas is laying her eggs where I can't find them. she is an escape artist and frequently crosses the road.

2 brown as of 9:00 AM

Total of 5 brown, 1 green.

2 brown as of 11:45 + 2 brown by 2:00.

5 brown 1 green. production is getting to be a bit more consistent.

Will finally finish sub floor today, get drywall up with a coat of mud. Might sand and recoat mud before bed tonight.

Last week was kind of rough for me. I took the fling with my sweet young neighbor to heart, felt a connection that left me doing a lot of introspection and work on knowing myself. Overall it was a very fine thing. The hallmark holiday probably had something to do with my coming back to it as it put romance front and center in my mind, and the plans I'd made to spend last weekend with her were fresh in my mind.

I'm a fool for love.

Brewing again today. Pilsner, gonna be a first for a lager fermented at lager temperature.

3 brown.

Tub is back in place.

3 brown, 1 green

4 brown as of 11:45... + 1 brown at 2:30.

1 green as of 1:30.

I've got materials for framing new joists under new sub floor. Finishing removal of old subfloor, will be putting new 3/4 inch tongue and groove subfloor down, then 1/4 inch cement board. Old sub floor was 1 inch.

4 brown at 1130 AM. 1 more brown at 2:30. one more brown egg. No green eggs today. Total is 6 brown.

Sub floor did not go in this afternoon. plumbing and structural issues - I need to do some scabbing of new joists perpendicular to the current one. And I've got to deal with the cast iron toilet flange and drain pipe. Blech. Sub floor will be in tomorrow.

1 green, 3 brown.

Wow. Finished some demolition in house - guest bathroom is gutted. Getting the bath tub out was how should I put this... it was a mother fscker. 300 pounds of porcelain covered cast iron that jst fit the space. And the damn rodent droppings under it. I'm really glad to be getting this work done - floor was rotted out completely (partially rotted when I bought the house and then 5 more years of kids splashing didn't help.

Solid 3/4 tongue and groove underlayment. Scabbing onto rotted joists. Schedule 40 drain replacing cast iron (whiskey tango foxtrot - cast iron drains?)

Floor will be 12 inch italian ceramic tile which should preclude future water damage a bit better than the linoleum.

2 brown eggs.

Brewing today, a wit beer - zot d'amour (bastardized flemish/french for fool of love). Hens have left over mash - 6 pounds belgian pale ale malt, 4 pounds organic malted wheat. they kind of freak when they get warm grain in their crops.

Sunday 4 brown plus 1 brown cannibalized.
Swam 1800 yards. First swimming in about 6 weeks, and my time was pretty much the same. Ooo Rah! I've been getting a bit of exercise elsewhere - had a fling with a much younger woman in the past month and that can be good exercise.

Saturday 1 green.

3 brown.
That makes 9 eggs in a 48 hour period. If all hens were laying it would be 24 eggs in a 72 hour period, so we're not at full production, but we do have much better production than a month ago.

My hens are getting with the program again.

1 green, 3 brown as of 11:45 AM.
1 more of each as of 3:00 PM. Half a dozen eggs in one day.

Looks like the pep talk worked. I'll tell them I expect the bar to be raised even higher next week.

Wednesday: 1 brown.
Gave them a pep talk, thanked them for previous day's production and told them they've moved the bar up, they should be clearing that bar by at least 6 eggs every 2 days. Given the changes in the diurnal period that should be easy.

3 brown, 1 green (+ 1 green cannibilized). First 5 egg day this year. Going to be quiche season again soon. I make and freeze em - these are some of my favorites:
Quiche Lorraine
Italian Sausage, sundry tomato (or swiss chard), fontina
Asparagus, smoked gouda
Broccoli, cheddar

I did give the ladies a bit of a pep talk yesterday.

Back to future flock planning - still looking at stewing hens to take current flock down to 2 araucanas, 12 new chicks for laying, slaughter most of the remaining old hens over spring/summer as new hens get their production going...

And get a dozen birds only for frying/roasting - have a couple of butchering days late this spring. If this goes well I may go for another dozen meat birds in the fall.

3 brown.

Looking at a hatchery catalog online today - the dead chicken wasn't a leghorn as they lay white eggs. Must have been a white rock.

I'm still thinking 8 rhode island reds, 4 barred rocks. Might go for 12 Cornish X Rocks for meat production - 6-10 weeks from chick to 3-4 pound dressed chicken depending on sex. Broad breasted with meaty legs.

What's a henweigh?

(bad joke)

2 brown, 2 green.

leghorn died. I need to build a fire to dispose of her, short term she's going in double trash bag in freezer.

The rest of the flock is thriving. I'm not going to do a necropsy of any sort on her, don't see the point.

I'm trying to figure out if it was 2002 or 2003 that Brooke brought in the first chicks.

I'm thinking 2002, she got chicks while Cody and Kami were in Australia after Cody's radiation therapy... Hmm, were there chickens here when Kami came back with us in August 2002? I've got to say no, that chicken care wasn't a concern when traveling back then. so the dead leghorn is a little under 5 years old.

Thursday 1 brown, 1 green.
Friday 3 brown, 1 green
Saturday 2 brown.

Leghorn looks like she is not going to make it.