Green Rascal Design

Since we were so busy last week with the yet unfinished mini split heat pump project, I didn't have any time to post my Friday fluffy update. The mini-fluffs are getting pretty big, and we thought it would be interesting to also get updated pictures of the big birds.

Here are Sugar, Pepper and Nutmeg (in order) digging around in the old potato box from last year. This year we are prepping it for beans or something. The birds find this box endlessly fascinating because there are apparently tons of yummy things in there. Where is Cinnamon, you might ask...

This is what Cinnamon likes to do whenever I hang out with them. She jumps on my lap and sticks her head under my arm. She can stay like that for over half an hour if I can stand it (which usually I can't).

Now that I've shared some pictures of the big fluffs being headless, lets check on the babies.

Clover and Pumpkin are still learning to be held, but they have made lots of progress and are still ok with the camera. The adults do not like the camera at all!

You can tell how much bigger the adults are than the babies by using my hand as a measuring device, lol. The babies are only about half as big as Sugar, and she is the smallest adult by far.

At this point you might be wondering, and I suppose it's a good time to explain why they all like to be held the same way. For some reason they do not like to be held with my right arm (unless its Cinnamon wanting to be held like a football with her head in my armpit). Ninety eight percent of the time they prefer to be held on my left. This is probably because the way a chicken sees is completely different from the way a person sees.

In almost all of these pictures the birds are looking at the camera with their left eye - that is their "far eye." Their left eye sees far away things best. So whichever way is to their left is where they're looking for predators. Or they're looking with their left toward the house hoping I'll come out and give them treats.

Their right eye is their "near eye." They look at me with their right eye when I'm holding them because it's easier for them to see me.

I've often wondered what it must be like to see so differently. Sometimes I try to think about how one would design buildings for beings who see this way. Seems like a pretty difficult thing to do - putting lots of space on the left and all way-finding signs on the right, for example. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little lesson in chickenness. Have a good week!

So I had the hubby hold the fluffs for today's pictures because it's just easier.

That's the theme for the week. I need easier! It has been super busy here and with home stuff. We got a new efficient dish washer installed. I got it at Mrs G Appliances just before all the prices went up! (I highly recommend them.) Also, the mini-split heat pump was delivered on Wednesday. I managed to get it to the backside of the house and covered up before heading out to my networking event. We don't have anybody scheduled to install it because the install quotes we got were sky high. But the packaging for the two appliances went into the chicken cage to serve as perches for a while. They're nice little pallet type things, and the birds seem okay with them for now.

I went to the DCN Networking event on Wednesday night, and got to hang out with at least one person (guess which one) I have already met out networking. It was fun, and I may go again if they have more events.

Add to that our CSA orientation meeting last night... We're really excited to be joining the CSA. The Farm manager is really upbeat, and she's the kind of girl you'd just like to hug. She answered a lot of questions. We came home with a couple pieces of paper with info on them such as the types of vegetables we'll be getting and when they will be available. This all starts around the 4th week of May depending on the weather.

I also sent out a check to join the cheese CSA which partners with our CSA. I love cheese. I really love goat cheese. I can't believe I waited so long to make a decision on this. But the other CSA members who had the cheese share last year and were at the meeting last night just raved about the cheese, so I pulled the trigger on that today. mmm, goat cheese...

Nevermind our own garden is more or less flourishing here. Lots of berry bushes have made it into the ground. The asian pear tree was also planted finally. And the hubs is now the plant guru at his workplace too. I think it's pretty funny. But he finds these interesting things about plants and is always dying to share what he's learned. For instance, last night he made me watch a video that looked like an old episode of Grizzly Adams, but was really from 2000 or so, about this guy Sepp Holzer, who has lemon trees growing in the Alps. If you know anything about lemon trees, you know they usually don't grow on mountains. Somehow he makes magic happen. Now we're contemplating going to Austria to visit the Kremeterhoff (not sure about the spelling) sometime.

And I'm all about sharing this stuff too, so now I'm off to find links... weeeeeee.

Happy Friday. Have a good weekend!

Please excuse the pajamas and morning hair... The hubs took this picture of Pumpkin stretching her neck out against my head and the chair this morning, and I've been sharing it all over. This is the best picture of how cuddly they are!

Clover actually likes to cuddle too, but she is shy about having her picture taken while she's letting it all hang out.

Also, yesterday I discovered Eggzy in my Springwise RSS feed, and it was like the heavens appeared! We have too many eggs, and until now I haven't known what to do with them. Well Eggzy made it easy. They provided all the rules (laws for local egg selling) and some neat tools for managing egg counts and such. We started an egg stand today. While it's not beautiful yet, I'm sure it will be very helpful in the future! It's very exciting.

We have also been working on the environmental systems here. Currently we have oil heat and it's killing my soul. I intensely dislike oil in general, and the boiler here is ANCIENT. The efficiency is on the floor, and I'm here freezing my butt off all the time. This is in addition to having no air conditioning. The AC thing is somewhat ok because the cross breezes we get are pretty good, but sometimes it does get pretty darn unbearable in the summer. So we're thinking of just providing a boost to the system with a mini split heat pump. I had someone here on Tuesday, and their estimate is going to be crazy I believe. But it's just to find out how much we'll save by getting a unit ourselves and having a couple pros out to help us. We've done TONS of research on this, and it is time to pull the trigger. :)

The only other news around here is the continuation of networking efforts all over the place. The Power Lunch Project get-together at Houlihan's on Tuesday night was a lot of fun. The appetizers were plentiful! Then I had a coffee break with a TPLPer yesterday - technically not an official TPLP coffee break, but it still counts.

That's all the news that isn't! Have a good weekend. We will be digging out sea buckthorn bushes and planting lots of berry "bushes" in their place. Hey I like dirt just as much as the next chicken, haha.

This week has been unbelievably busy with networking and other things going on. So it's Friday again, and here are some fluff pics to get the weekend started.

I thought I'd share some of the babies looking a bit crazy because that's what they have been lately - CRAZY. They refuse to sit still!

In other news, I had a really nice TPLP lunch on Tuesday, followed by a fun AEC - Networking meetup that night. Wednesday involved a trip to the feed store for supplies and bird food galore. Yesterday was filled with general office work and an Entrepreneur Philly meetup later in the day.

Today has been mostly shuttling chickens back and forth between their home and the Fluff Utility Vehicle/mobile unit. The fluffs have been very needy lately! It has been really nice having them want to be held and petted, and egg production is up. Also, if anybody needs eggs, please take them! We have way too many eggs! haha.

That's all. We will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...

I'm pleased to see that Clover continues to develop some color around her head. And it looks like she's still got blue eyes. We'll see how long that lasts.

Pumpkin continues to develop her royal personality. This includes jumping out of the box whenever we pick up Clover first.

And we are starting to teach them how to be held - rather than letting them sit on us all the time. The dangers of letting baby chickens roam around unchecked are great indeed because poo can strike at any moment. (I keep telling myself that poo is my favorite substance on Earth, but I still haven't been convinced.)

It is very nice out today, and I *may* consider bringing the chicks outside for a short time. It depends on how warm it actually gets.

Have a good weekend!

Another week has gone by, and Pumpkin looks a little like a baby golden eagle right now. She's really growing up nicely.

Clover is starting to have a little tiny bit of color around her neck, and I'm anxious to see if the trend continues.

She likes to flap her wings a lot lately. I kinda feel like a helicopter landing pad.

[What is this big shiny silver thing doing in our box?]

That's all I have for today. It has been one heck of a week!
Have a good weekend.

It is kinda hard to tell, but the chicks are much bigger than they were last week.

In case you're wondering, yes I have a special bird shirt just for times like these. It makes for some awesome baby chick naps. It keeps the mess contained, and then it gets special cleaning treatment.

Anyway...  have a good weekend!

Introducing Clover and Pumpkin. This picture was taken the day we got them - last Tuesday. I decided on monofloral honey names. Clover honey is lighter than pumpkin flower honey, that's all.

This was taken  on Wednesday or Thursday. They liked to snuggle up under my shirt collar as if I was really their momma hen. They've kinda outgrown it since.

Clover is the pinnacle of adorableness.

Pumpkin is more curious and assertive. You can also see little wing feathers developing quite nicely.

They are easily twice as big now as when we got them, although you can't tell from these pics. The little princesses don't like to stay put very long and taking pictures of them is a small challenge.

Anyway, that is all the news that isn't. Happy Monday.

On Sunday we finally got 4 eggs in one day. I was pretty happy to see them. Now they are accumulating quickly again, and I have to find people to sell them to fast.

I have fed hard-boiled, chopped up, eggs to the chickens and the cat, and I have had egg salad for lunch a few days in a row now, haha.

Most people I talk to are totally confused about the fresh eggs. They think green eggs are somehow bad. I put all the blame on Dr. Seuss! The shells are the only part that is green. All the eggs are the same except for the shell colors.

The shells are different colors according to the breed and genes of the individual chickens. The little off-white egg is a product of a half-Leghorn and half-Rhode Island Red chicken. The leghorns lay big white eggs, and the reds lay light brown eggs, I believe. So Sugar's eggs are off-white. The dark brown egg is from Pepper. She is mostly Cuckoo Marans, and that breed lays extremely dark brown eggs. The green "easter eggs" are from the Araucanas, Cinnamon and Nutmeg. They could have laid any number of colored eggs but their genes make them lay green.

Sometimes the green eggs are brighter than these ones, and that is due to the amount of vegetation in their diet. Right now the birds aren't eating grass every day. When spring gets going we will put the girls out in the mobile fluff unit where they can mow the lawn for part of the day.

Also, people are often unaware that eggs from chickens with lots of space, and lots of vegetation in their diets have lower levels of cholesterol than standard white store-bought eggs from chickens that are kept in tiny cages and fed nothing but corn-feed. Generally speaking, free range eggs are much healthier. Since the birds get lots of exercise and vitamins they are healthier. Our birds have a great life compared to commercial chickens.

Anyway, lesson over for the day. It is time to get back to design! We have lots to draw. There are lots of errands to run. And I have a networking lunch later! Have a good day!

We are up to 2 hens laying eggs now. Sugar never stopped laying over the winter, but the other three have had a long break. Then, for an early Valentine's Day present on Saturday, I received a nice little green egg from Cinnamon. Now she is up to laying every other day! Hopefully Pepper will lay an egg soon. She stopped before all the others, and lately has been extra needy so I think the chances are good.

It's really nice to have the fluffs want attention again. When there was snow on the ground they were crabby and didn't want anything to do with us. Now it seems like all they want to do is get picked up and held. Hopefully I can get a picture sometime because it's pretty funny looking when I have 4 chickens all trying to take a nap on my lap.

I took half of the plastic down from their cage because it was falling off in the wind anyway. It's nice to be able to see the other side of the yard now!

Oh, and this is big news for me: I have a short article about our first year and a half of chicken-keeping published in the March issue of Grid magazine! It is under Dispatch, on page 30. I'm really excited about it! The article is titled "Living With the Birds," and they created a cute piece of clip art to go with it.

We even got to go to the release party the magazine had last week. (Which reminds me that I could write about the food at the restaurant we were at because it was awesome.) It was crowded there, so we didn't really meet a lot of people. But we did get to talk to one lovely young lady from a restaurant which I have yet to try. (Which also reminds me to get in touch with her about applying to PennDesign's landscape program) And we also talked to Iris Bloom, from the cover story about protecting our water from fracking. I have yet to read the whole magazine, but it's good to be this busy I guess.

Anyway, check out Grid Philly! It's a great read when it comes to living sustainably in the city. The March issue is available in print now, and will be on their website soon I think.

So many things to do! And little brown birdies are singing in the trees too. Yes, I think spring is creeping in. It's great! Gotta run. I think I hear the "I laid an egg" song. (sometime I'll try to get a video to post too!)