Chicken photos

Just some nice photos of some of the chickens. Click on any photo to see it pop up larger.

Blue Laced Wyandotte

Red Sex Link

Black Silkie rooster

Golden Sebright rooster

Golden Sebright rooster

Blue Silkie rooster

Red Sex Link

Red Sex Link

Cuckoo Marans rooster and Silver Laced Wyandotte hen

Black Breasted Red Old English Game rooster

Black Breasted Red Old English Game rooster

Unknown mutt rooster

Silver Laced Wyandotte

Silver Laced Wyandotte

Golden Sebright rooster

Golden Sebright rooster

Opera dress

Back in 2014, a couple of my friends alerted me to the SF Opera's upcoming costume sale. I went on a whim, not realizing how special this was. The opera rarely has these sales - this was only their 5th one in their 90 year history! The sale was located in a huge warehouse. One corner was roped off and displayed their more expensive pieces, mostly fancy gowns. Which of course drew me right away. I have always wanted to own a ballgown. My mother, who is supportive yet practical, had asked me on previous occasions: where would I wear a ballgown to if I did shell out the money for one? Which was a very good question, as I've spent most of my life as a recluse. But that day, I saw this dress on sale for a song, and I couldn't resist:

Unsurprisingly, the gown then spent 3 years in my closet. I needed to make a few alterations: shortening the skirt, taking in the shoulders, fixing up the ragged lace, replacing the ribbon in back, and sewing in bust enhancements. (It had originally been fitted for a tall, wide-shouldered buxom amazon.)

This past December, I made another spontaneous purchase: tickets to see Hamilton in San Diego. And I knew that I HAD to wear my opera dress to the show - it was in a similar style as the dresses worn by the Schuyler sisters.

I didn't get any photos in the daylight, as the show was at 8 pm. But I will definitely be wearing this dress every opportunity I get, so I'll post better pictures at some point! (And yes, Hamilton was AMAZING.)

Fox hat RIP

I forgot that my foxy sun hat was resting on top of the lamp when I turned it on. (The switch is on the floor.) Bummer.

Chicken tractor

Most of my garden area has been mulched with cardboard and straw. It works well enough, though this area is prone to wind storms that send the mulch traveling.

However I've neglected other areas which are now overgrown with grasses, which will turn into dangerous foxtails as they mature.

I was thinking that I should build a small chicken tractor for these areas. The chickens inside will happily munch on the grass, getting extra food and nutrition while solving my weed problem. But time and energy are in short supply lately, so actually making a tractor was overwhelming. Until I had a sudden realization that a wire dog crate (with the plastic pan removed) would be perfect for this.

Five minutes later, the whole thing was ready to go. The hardest part will be catching the chickens to put them inside each day. Today I spread out some treats and was able to catch the Red Star and Speckled Sussex. They'll catch on and start avoiding me soon enough. I'd rather avoid making them sleep inside the crate as they won't be comfortable. But putting in a roosting bar would be easy enough, so that may end up being the solution.

More eggs from new hens

I had been very excited about the Easter Egger laying her beautiful, light blue eggs. A couple of days later, I opened the main coop and found that she was not, in fact, the first one to start laying:

This clutch was in the far corner, where it was difficult for me to reach, so I laid down a piece of plastic trellis to discourage nesting there.

It worked well enough - they are now laying eggs just in front of the trellis, on the right side. I can reach that spot easily, so it's a fair compromise.

At the same time, I removed the water bucket and food bin from the newer coop, and closed up the front panel. (I'd been leaving it open to encourage more exploration.) Now their intended nesting spots are more dark and hidden, so hopefully they'll start using them more often. I also placed a ceramic egg into each of the nesting boxes.

Successfully contained chickens, scaly leg mites

After severely cutting back their flight feathers plus hacking away at their roosting tree, I have finally convinced the bantam roosters to stay put inside their run. Burr has decided to sleep on top of the coop, but Hamilton and Laurens go inside to cuddle up with the pullets (and Lafayette, the Cuckoo Marans who has never made trouble).

Burr on top of the coop.

They are SO upset that I woke them up.

As a bonus, the old rooster who had already lived on the farm has also decided to sleep indoors, in the original coop with the older hens. He's had scaly leg mites for a long time, but I wasn't able to do anything about it earlier. He won't let me catch him during the day and he had been roosting in the pecan tree as well. This evening, I put a towel over him, bundled him up, and thoroughly coated his feet with vaseline. I'll keep it up twice a week until the signs of mites disappear.

Blue egg from Easter Egger

Found a perfect blue egg in one of the nesting boxes! It's funny that the first of the new hens to lay an egg happens to be the only one whose eggs will look completely different from everyone else's.