Well, it seems a special kind of cold tonight, with lows down to twenty-nine. Now that’s not unheard-of cold for March, but it sure feels a mighty cold after I was sweating in my shirtsleeves on Saturday.
I have placed all kinds of strange things on my plants to protect them from the cold. I have pulled out the wool blankets and even extra pairs of coveralls to help insulate our tomatoes and peppers in the coldframes.
We’ve got some great heirloom varieties this year and I can’t wait until I know for sure what is going to produce. I promise to post produce as soon as I can.
Madeline, our son’s favorite hen, is sitting twelve promising eggs. She is wrapped up in our son’s coat and is well protected from the icy blast.
I am very excited about Madeline’s desire for motherhood. I am absolutely committed to doing my small part and breeding the desire to raise chicks back into chickens. And it is really not hard to want to, because there is just nothing quite as heartwarming as sweet chicks peeking out from under their moma’s protecting wings.
I’m using breeds like Salmon Faverolles (Madeline) and Bantams to sit our larger breed’s eggs. But contrary to popular belief, Salmon Faverolles do lay medium to large eggs and they do lay, on average, an egg every other day. Right now, they are laying every day. They expect spoiling and respect, however, which has made them incompatible with modern systems. So modern agriculture has left them alone and their lineage is unspoilt.
Our rooster, Theoden, saw our other brood of chicks and became inspired. He has spent the last week coaxing the hens to sit, parading all day in front of the nesting boxes. When that failed, he starting sitting himself. He is one committed dad.
So Madeline is sitting now and Theoden is free to pursue other interests. He is mainly patroling to ensure no one disturbs the nest of promise.
I’ve spent a good deal of time around chickens in my previous agriculture life. And I could not stand them. They were aggressive, nasty, and cannibalistic. I stopped eating chicken for a while.
Now, I am amazed at the intelligence, yes, I said intelligence of these birds. They are very compassionate to the other members of their flock, more so than most humans, I’d say. The roosters spend a good deal of time finding treats, bugs and etc., for the hens. Brighid, our premier mother hen, sometimes has trouble containing her brood of thirteen and I find that other hens have adopted the chicks.
Sweetie Pie, another fine rooster, comes and finds me if something is amiss.
All this has lead me to believe it is all about how they are treated. Chickens who are treated as chickens should be, with freedom, sunshine, and plant-based natural feed are fine creatures. Chickens grow in the modern agribusiness model are miserable and boy, do they act like it. I think this same idea can be applied to the modern human.
Here’s praying everyone stays warm and comfy tonight. I considering sleeping out there with them but a very wise friend told me to stick to my own bed tonight.
-Breann
