Free range eggs

Our experiment this year with free range chickens has been a challenge but is now proving to be totally worth the effort! We purchased 50 heritage breed chicks early this season. We trained them to roost in a wheeled roosting box with a 1/2 inch wire mesh floor that acts as a portable fertilizer-mobile on the pasture and lawn. After culling more than a dozen roosters and suffering some losses to predation and other miscellaneous causes we are left with about 10-12 laying hens and another 7 or 8 roosters (still too many) who have all been doing really well over the last few months. The chickens all have free range over the entire farm during the day. They spend a lot of time in the tree land eating bugs. There is still some green grass out there despite the freezing weather so they are getting some greens too. And we supplement with kitchen scraps and grain daily.

One problem we are having lately is with some roosters getting too aggressive. The three Buff Laced Polish roosters we have are absolutely beautiful but they have become little attack chickens. The kids are now too scared to go out in the yard with the chickens any more, and while it's been a nice break from having to supervise them catching and holding chickens we really don't want to have a situation where the kids can't go out into their own yard! Scotty has been learning how to handle the rooster attacks but Eliza is just too young to get it. Besides that, the roosters have been ganging up on the hens too much and I worry about them getting hurt. So unfortunately our "yard art" (the beautiful, funny looking Polish roosters) will have to go.

Here's the flock getting their grain and scraps in the yard.


Every evening they all come up to the front of the house (maybe because it's warm there) and pick through my no-till kitchen garden. Sometimes they even come "knock" on the doors and windows. With all of our huge South facing windows it makes for great Chicken TV.

This was taken from the front window.


The best thing about the free range chickens though is the EGGS! Wow, I've never had such delicious, rich, dark-orange eggs. And since nothing good comes without some effort, of course the hens have decided to lay their eggs all over the place. It's like a treasure hunt trying to find their nests, which they seem to move regularly. But what great fun for the kids! We have started observing their behaviors and watching where they go to try to figure out where the nests are. Scotty has expressed some interest in quantifying the numbers of eggs we get (inspired from the movie Chicken Run I think) and drawing graphs of egg production so I think we'll put together some kind of data sheet that we can fill out daily that records hen behavior, location of nests, and egg production. Hey, the boy is a third generation wildlife biologist after all.

Even more fun than finding the eggs is eating them. Scotty has learned how to cook eggs from his Nonna and really enjoys doing it (and telling me how to do it right). I hope the pictures do them justice--those yolks really are incredible.

Pokemon trainers

The kids have recently become very interested in the world of Pokemon. What I have learned (from them) is that Pokemon are little monster type things that have different kinds of powers. They can evolve to more advanced creatures and they can also be trained by their owners. There is a card game, a TV show, and there are video games. The kids have a couple of plush Pokemon toys and several other imaginary Pokemon that only they can see. Eliza (sadly) no longer refers to herself as a bird--she is now a Pokemon Trainer.

I love these photos because they each look just like their Pokemon!


Scotty with Chikorita



Eliza with Pikachu

Jam session

Here's an example of the many spontaneous jam sessions that occur around here. Whenever Chris picks up an instrument one of the kids (usually Eliza) runs to get something to play. Here is a duet of recorder and unplugged electric bass.

The boy in his element

It doesn't get any better than this!

Learning through living

The other day I got the notion to start taking photos of our everyday activities to start documenting the kids' learning in case I ever need it. Here are some photos taken on a cold Monday when we spent the day inside.








The kids love to help make and eat bread.





Making a three hole cake, a favorite recipe from my childhood.




Scotty wanted to see what would happen if we try to burn aluminum foil.



Scotty found a fun way to practice his lettering.




Eliza was pretending to sleep while holding the baby junglefowl.



They ate a whole bag of blueberries that day!

Quick trip to CO

We decided to make a quick trip to visit Chris' grandparents last week. The morning after Halloween we headed out in a rented minivan to visit Grandma Jean first and then Pa. We had a fun morning with Grandma and then a delicious lunch at Aunt Robbin's restaurant. If anyone reading this is ever in Pueblo, CO you must eat at The Hen House in Pueblo West. It's delicious home cooked food.

Here are the kids having fun with Grandma.



After lunch we continued on to Denver to visit Pa. On the way we stopped at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry
which is a place that we visited with Scotty frequently when he was younger but haven't been to in a while.

This sign greets you as you enter the driveway. I took this for you, Crystal!


This was the first snow the kids have seen this season. They were VERY excited about it!


Scotty got to see the big Corliss engine run on electric power. It only runs at a tenth of its working potential and it's not on steam power but it's still really impressive to see that huge flywheel turn.


They also had a mine exhibit and some smaller engines. Scotty chatted with the docent about engines and she invited him to come to the model steam engine show they will be having in June. He was thrilled with the whole place.



Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of our visit with Pa. It was short but sweet and we really enjoyed seeing him. Friday we left Denver early for the 7 hour drive home. On the way we stopped at a beautiful open space area for more snow play.

Our Halloween

This year was great fun. After much deliberation and negotiation with Scotty over his costume (he originally wanted a highly mechanized helicopter with lots of motors, belts, and switches which were simply beyond my capabilities and our time available) he finally got the idea to use a box and his pedal race car to make himself into a car for halloween. We painted windows and other details onto a box and mounted it atop his pedal car. Here he is painting the box (with my help).



He was thrilled and proud to wear his costume to our weekly homeschool park day, where several kids and some moms came in costume.

Here he is riding towards the park in costume:


Eliza, already a little bird most days, simply wanted some feathers to complete her look. This I easily achieved with two feather boas purchased for half price at the fabric store and an old shirt. Here she is at the park:



Here's one of our tribe, Beth, involved in a serious conversation:


On Halloween night several of us from the homeschooling group met at Susan's house to go trick or treating in her neighborhood. After a mishap that involved me locking the keys AND Scotty's costume in the car was resolved, the kids headed out with Sylvia and Gary and Chris and Dan. I stayed behind to answer Susan's door since everyone else was also already out and about. Here they are ready to go:



Scotty ready for action. Note the real working headlights and the candy bucket attached to the front.



Eliza was very pleased with her stash. Apparently she had a great time too. Reports are that she started just walking in to people's houses when they answered the door! Sylvia said that it was a good thing that there were three adults because my two kids required them. Scotty needed the help of both Gary and Chris to get up and down curbs and Sylvia had to keep a close eye on Eliza as she "flew" into homes.


Andy, Dan, Scotty and Spencer trading candy and hamming it up for the camera.


After trick or treating we paid a visit to Nonna so she could see their costumes and offer a treat. The kids stayed with her for a bit while Chris and I went to pick up a minvan that we rented for our short trip to Colorado, which was to begin bright and early the next morning.

The kids love it when Nonna reads to them (but neither Nonna nor Scotty like having their picture taken).


Pooped out Little Bird after a great evening. It's a good thing too, because Mommy Bird needs to pack!