A right handed and a left handed chicken

I finally located the right breed of chickens to Bel and Cleo.

 Bel is a Buff Orpington.

Cleo is a Marans.

Not that this really makes any difference-- in the long run they are still Bel and Cleo, Belina and Cleopatra.

There differences, besides color of feathers add up to Cleo's eggs are darker brown than Bel's, which are more beige. Bel tends to be more brooder and Cleo is more bullyish. Bel is noisier. She lets the whole neighborhood know that she has laid her egg. Cleo just takes it in stride.

  One difference that I have noticed lately though has sparked my attention. When I pick them up I place my left hand on their belly and my right hand behind their legs. I gently nudge them onto my right hand. They seem to grab on to my hand easier than when I come from the front. The difference is that when I pick up Cleo she sits comfortably on my right hand an rides to where ever I take her. Bel on the other hand (pun intended) turns herself around so she can ride on my left. Could it be that Bel is a leftie?

Last weekend I was informed by my left handed son-in-law-to-be that left handed people are smarter...of course he may be biased. But lefties do get picked on more and ignored by righties, which is similar to how Cleo treats Bel. . .

three against one (six, counting humans and chickens) or raccoon returns with friends

Detroit: It is a nice quite town, no sign of gang attacks. I had a relatively quiet weekend, relaxed, ate, shopped, showered (for a wedding), and slept.


Minneapolis: Gang of three raccoons tried to devour chickens, but for the help of their loyal guardian, Beyonce (and sons #1 & 2, and random niece). 

4:30am:  On a relatively quiet night, in a relatively quiet neighborhood, all hell broke loose as the Raccoon Three, complete with masks, switch blade claws which they maneuver faster than the most adept opposing thumbs, and chemical warfare, slip quietly into the backyard home of Bel & Cleo. It is thought that this was a gang initiation. The youngest of the three was sent to make the attack.


The Beyonce, Guardian Dog knew something was askance and the three humans followed her out the door.


Beyonce shoots into action, while two of the Raccoon Three stayed in the tree watching and the third, hovered around the coop. Witnesses said Beyonce was able to leap tall buildings (the chicken coop) in a single bound. She leaped over the coop and attacked that raccoon. The raccoon was screaming and Beyonce had full control with her mouth around it. She shook the raccoon and landed it on the deck. By this time it could barely move. It lay on the deck, wounded but still breathing it crawled toward the tree where his homies were watching. Son #1 tried to get Beyonce in the house but she took off after that raccoon and shook it till it died at the foot of the tree with the two in the tree ready to pounce. 

After the kill she was covered in blood; son #1 brought her inside to assess the injuries but found none.

Meanwhile, after Beyonce was in the care of son #1, son #2 attempts to rescue Bel and Cleo. They were safely tucked in their nesting box the whole time. He took Cleo inside to the porch for the rest of the night and came back out to darkness in the backyard. Still nervous about the two raccoons in the tree, he made his way to rescue Bel while random niece uses her camera to flash light at the raccoons to make sure they stayed treed while the chickens are rescued and brought to safety.

I return from Detroit at midnight. Two chickens greeting me at the door in the porch where they have spent the last 4 nights. Daytime home is still the backyard. 

By the way, they continue to lay eggs. They know they are safe with Beyonce.

P.S.: Rumors of Beyonce being pregnant are not true.  

Chickens and other life stories

I haven't been here since Easter! Sorry girls, your lack of egg production put me in a fog of depression. Do you know what it's like having to admit that you're not laying eggs like it says on the box cover; "These chickens will lay one egg every 24-36 hours as long as they are healthy." So when one of you stops, I feel like I must be doing you wrong somehow. Now that you are both laying again on schedule, I realize it was probably the intense heat of July, and the trauma of me being gone ALL THE WAY TO INDIA for almost all of June and a good part of May, after all I wasn't really fully here the few weeks before and the after my trip--kind of like what the kids go through going to camp but they usually do better during those times, they actually speak to each other, though maybe it was because  they actually did the traveling. Is that the problem? Did you want to go to India with me?? Let me tell you, they don't treat chickens as nicely there as you are treated here--at least not the ones I saw. You are much better off here. But now you are both laying again in a regular fashion and Bel, since it was you that had the most difficulty, you sure are proud of yourself when you lay. Cleo, you just take it in stride, like "I am just being a chicken. No big deal."

Recent News: I came out of the house one day last week to find a hawk sitting on your coop. You both knew it too because you were hiding in your nesting box, right under the hawk's nose. So we now have string and vcr tape string across the coop area. Seems to be working but last night I found a hawk tail feather. Did we have another visit girls? You two had better keep your noses up when outside the coop area because I can't protect you out there.

One more thing girls, I may be a little distracted--just a warning, because I am going through one of those life marking events: I am going to be the MOTHER OF THE BRIDE! I know, no big deal, but do you know what your grandmother went through before you were hatched. Not that I am going to be a grandma yet but I don't know what chickens call it when there is a new rooster in the house. Don't fret. It will calm down again after mid October so please just keep laying those eggs.

Seven Reasons to Raise Chickens in the City

"Seven Reasons?"--I am really not copying this theme from others who may blog and read this. Actually, I am copying God. It is a theologically sound number to make a list--7 is the number of completion so I guess I could just call it the "Complete List." But in terms of lists, maybe there are 10 reasons --so it may not be the complete list. Ten could be theologically correct also, the 10 commandments and all; although it depends on which list of commandments you follow--pre- golden calf or post,in that case there are about 14 and that once again is 7 twice. And I am not about to make a list of 613 as in the Levitical Laws; or 99 as in the Qur'an's names of Allah (of which there are really 100, but Allah hasn't revealed the last one yet); or 40, which seems to just mean a lot; or 330,000, as in number the Hindu deities --although no one really wants to commit to a specific number, because you just never know who has a deity in there home that we don't know about and surprise! the Hindu religion really only has one God--that is Vishnu, Krishna, and Shiva. Three in one...hmmm, sounds vaguely familiar to this Catholic.

So 
Seven (or the complete list) of reasons to raise chickens in the city:

1) Chickens are so personable. They even greet me when they see me, unlike some of my other roommates.

2) They are a great party topic.

3) They are relatively low maintenance. They even survive the cold winter days and nights.

4) They have introduced me to my more curious neighbors.

5) They fertilize my garden (and the neighbors which gives me brownie points in the neighborhood).

6) They give Beyonce (the Guardian Dog) a sense of importance--imaginary maybe--but she is the alpha dog to the chickens anyway, or so she thinks. I don't think the chickens necessarily believe that, but they do humor her.

7)  And the EGGS of course!