The chicken dance

There may be nothing as cute as a big fat chicken running at full speed. Voluptuous Betty likes to move -- but when she gets going, it's still just a power-walk. One foot is always on the ground. Often two feet are on the ground. Betty & I have a lot in common.

We had some more coop-visitors this past weekend. Kevin & Dori are considering some chickens of their own. Dori brought the most delicious vegan fig bars (seriously, the MOST delicious) that Andrew & I have been enjoying since Sunday. Get your own at the Clintonville Co-op where Dori sells her baked goods (or ogle the treats online). We're not sharing.

Also, we were finally able to share our egg-bounty with our immediate neighbor. We only had 6, but it felt good to share. We'll have to toss a treat to his dog Rocky, too, as Rocky has been on raccoon patrol since he came to live next door!

Finally, are you all excited about the new & improved Bexley Farmers Market that's only two and a half months from its opening day!? I know where I'm going to be from 4-7, Thursday, May 19th! Spread the word. Link to it on Facebook. It's going to be awesome.

Read all about it: Stolen chicken!

"The chicken yard was a classic crime scene: Coop open. Hatch lying on the ground. T-Rex, Gertrude’s long-suffering subordinate, standing dumbfounded."

The NYTimes gives voice -- and a happy ending -- to my worst chicken-nightmare.

More eggs!

Not only are the hens surviving the ice storm and the cold weather, but their egg production is up. Joan--always reliable Joan--has given us an egg every day for the last 8 days, but this morning there was an egg from one of the other girls as well. I retrieved Joan's egg this cold morning, and then, about an hour later, there was a second egg in the coop. It's nearly indistinguishable from the eggs that Joan has been giving us. Is it Peggy? Is it Betty? In the words of the authors of so many terrible philosophy papers, "Who's to say?"

Chicken visitors

In the past month we've had a bunch of neighbors calling on the chickens. I can't say the ladies are terribly gracious hosts, but they're fun to watch. Some of our visitors have been interested in getting a few chickens of their own so they're stopping by to see our set-up. Some are just curious to meet 'em.

Todd & Erin from the Local Matters Storytelling Project came by to get the skinny on the Bexley Ordinance process & to hear about how the chickens fit into our lives. That was fun. I feel like I could talk about chickens all day.

Speaking of chickens: We've also been letting them free-range a bit in the dog run which seems to take the edge off of their crankiness. They seem so happy when they're just scratching around. I could learn a thing or two.

From cloaca to plate in less than 10 yards

We finally cooked up our eggs. Joan has been a champ--giving up an offering each of the last three mornings. Her eggs are about 2/3 the size of what you'd get in a grocery store, so we waited until we got a few, and then scrambled them up for "eggs in the basket".

Jessica blew out the eggs, so we have three eggshells for our scrapbook.

Jessica thinks I look like a PSA for eating a healthy breakfast. I think that she is enjoying her eggs a whole lot more than I am!

OMG! An egg!

This morning we got our first egg & it's beautiful! And tiny! And perfect. Clearly we have highly intelligent chickens.  Andrew suspects this is Joan's because she was clucking with pride this morning.

We're legal

On Friday Amy Jennings, the Animal Control Officer of Bexley, stopped by to do the 'coop inspection' and sign the permit paper work. 
The inspection took 1 minute. She's just checking to see that the coop exists, that the chickens are living in humane conditions & counting them, as far as I know. The permit is our name, address, phone number, number of chickens, and a signature. That's it. Very simple. Columbus could learn a thing or two.