Karla's Cottage

Peeps and Pups

Last year, we did a big car switcheroo.  We got Ryan’s car back from Adam to repair, planning to pass it along to Sugarwings.  Since the grandfairy does not have a license yet, we use it to go back and forth to the dog park. It’s been great for that and will be hard to lose this “dog car” when it’s time to clean it back up and hand it over to the new driver.

Around here, dogs pretty much rule the roost, but they are just going to have to understand that it isn’t really their car.  They are just borrowing it.

Our little peeps are growing up, have lost most of their downy fuzz.  They look like mini hens now instead of babies.

The teenage chickens now live with the rest of the ladies and are free to roam both yards with them.  The old biddies aren’t exactly welcoming of the intruders, but they are used to them and are excepting.  The little ones lived in a pen inside the pen for a bit and that seemed to help the transition.

All of the babies are impressed with the egg that the mature hens left in the nest.  We watched as they checked out the egg, tried an experimental sit on it, and basically just hung out around it.

For now, they mingle just a bit, but not in a cozy way.  It’s definitely two separate flocks, sharing one home.  As long as no one gets too hen pecked, it should be fine.  The bigs are quick to put the littles in their place, with a sharp peck.  But the littles are full of that youthful energy and speed that keeps them out of danger of a serious argument.  They are listening to the warnings of their elders and skeedaddling out of their way.

Fingers crossed that they learn from the older gals, and end up being good, sweet chickies, like those ladies are.  The bigs are pretty much, no muss-no fuss birds.  I hope this latest batch grows up without any divas amongst them.

 

Things that made me smile

Last summer while out garage sailing, I came across a box of garlands for five bucks.   There were more, and I shoulda bought them all.  It was late in the morning, after hours of shopping and my purse was lighter than I’d started out, while my car was much fuller.  I was being practical, because the flowers are just decor, not resale items or supplies.

But man, don’t they add a spring time feeling to the space?  And they are a quick and easy change, I simply drape each one over the hanging hooks.  And presto-chango I have a dramatic new entry to my booth.

I’m very glad I snagged these sweet roses, seeing them hanging makes me smile.

Another thing that brought me a big ole grin? Beth gifted me this spectacular apron that she made!  Perfect for adding pizzazz along with practicality to my Juju work days.  I tried wearing jackets with pockets, but honestly, nothing beats a work apron for carrying my essentials. And this one is so soft and pretty, plus, it’s pockets are quite deep.

Thanks, Beth!

My buddy, Angie, also had a gift for me.   A big bag of broken and junk jewels from both her and her mom.  I used the beads salvaged from vintage necklaces to create bracelets.  

And look at this! A lucky four leaf clover, a gift from nature.  

How can you see this firework candle coming across the restaurant and not have a big smile on your face? Wow, I was impressed by the spectacle this added to my friend’s birthday celebration.

Last, but far from least, our peeps are busy growing and being adorable.  So far, so good, no deaths.  It isn’t easy raising chicks, but we haven’t lost a single one.  They are getting cute and learning to play chase, all of them crazily and frantically following the bird with a worm in its beak.  It’s my favorite game.

I hope your week is full of smiles too.  You have to find them wherever you can, those little things mean a lot.

A Chicken Swing for the Ladies

When I mentioned to Rich that a friend told me she had seen chickens happily swinging at a botanical park, he went right outside and made one for our sweet hens.

So far they aren’t impressed, interested, or even intrigued by the idea.  I heard you need to give them time.  My thoughts are that when they are in their enclosed area or the coop, it would get more attention because they would have less entertainment in those spaces.

This is set up in the open fence where they are constantly busy, scratching and looking for tasty treats, so they are just way, way too busy to kick back and relax on the swing.  

We will see how it goes.  We like it set up where we can watch them, but this might not be the spot it needs to be in.  I’ll update you as spring progresses and we are outside more to observe.  

Gosh, is spring really ever coming?  This has been such a dreary month of March.  I could use a little chicken fun to brighten my day.  Get swinging, little ladies!

The ladies get a treat

This time of year, once the family has packed up themselves and their gifts and headed home, I am itching to pack up the holiday Foof that fills my home and get my halls undecked.  I am ready to enjoy simple surroundings with items like this elegant bloom.

The opulence in the cottage makes me so happy, until it doesn’t and all of a sudden, it is clutter to me.  Then I right then, right now, want it gone.  Typically, Sugarwings wants me to leave it up til after New Years so I do. Right now, I’m busy with getting ready for the next Good Juju sale, so I am honoring the grand fairy’s request and keeping my priorities in line by making price tags instead of hauling tubs of glittering pretties to the closet.

A compromise in starting the undecking was to clear out the gingerbread houses. When the kids were little, we’d take them to the woods for the fairies to live in.  Now, I had them over to the hens to peck at and enjoy.

I’m not sure how much they will eat, but they do enjoy the novelty.

And I enjoy having just a little less stuff on my dining table.

 

Queenie

If you are squeamish, you shouldn’t look at these pictures.  I’ll tell the story, then leave a gap and have pics at the end.

Poor Queenie, the other chickens pecked her head raw after her foot was injured and she was weak.   I named her that because they messed up the crown of her head, and also in honor of the passing of Queen Elizabeth.

We were babysitting the neighbors flock while they were away.  This young chicken got her foot stuck in the fence and hurt it.  Rich got her down and put her back in with the others after contacting her family.  But wanted to put her out of her misery, he did not think she would make it.

The next day, she was discovered with the horrible wounds from hen pecks, and he brought her home, made a special pen for her.   She was hand fed, and pampered.  Her poor leg was swollen three times it’s normal size and her head was raw.  Rich, again thought she might need to be euthanized.  But I thought that her eyes were bright and inquisitive, and she seemed happy for attention.

Then, a door was left ajar, I think it might’ve been me.  Sugar got out, knocked over the pen and ran away with Queenie.  The poor bird was terrified and my husband was crushed. He cares so deeply for our pets, and any small creatures he finds around here.  He and Sugarwings had a big adventure with a box turtle named Sonny just the other day, and they still talk about that rescued turtle like he was part of the family.

Once again, I looked into Queenie’s eyes.  They still seemed bright and friendly, even though her body was limp.  There was no blood on her, just a lot of dog slobber and a few missing feathers.  Rich felt little hope for her after pulling her out of the dog’s mouth, but he set her special pen back up and he caught her a few grasshoppers.  She has an appetite, and he has been cutting up pork chops, fresh veggies and other treats for her, which she seems to like.

I think she will make it.  Our friends do not want her back, but I don’t know if our flock will accept her either, she might need to be someone’s single chicken as a pet.  Other hens always seem to bully the younger, weaker girls.  Until her head heals and re-feathers itself, and she can walk again, we will keep her safe and segregated.  

I think she is a lovely bird, with her jet black feathers and sparkling, black eyes.  All of our other ladies have orange or yellow eyes, these shiny, black ones are lovely.  And she seems to like us.  Fingers crossed that this sweet little gal does okay!

 

See what I mean?  What a pretty face she has! Even with her injuries, she is a very, pretty chicken.

 

New in the studio

Did I mention our new peeps?

They arrived on the day before Easter, and it was right after I got whacked in the head, so I was resting and still in bed.

Rich walked in with a box shaped like the kind Duncan Donut uses and I thought he was bringing me breakfast in bed since I wasn’t feeling so hot, quite a surprise!

But these were an even better surprise.  They named after donuts because of my first impression of them.  

Eclair

Glazey

Cruller

Blueberry

Long Jane (I guess I could’ve named a hen John, but thought this was cute, I just call her Janey)

Maple

We enjoyed the new peeps so much we promptly bought six more, this time “Olive Eggers.”

Here is a more recent photo, they are starting to feather out and learn to fly.  We put a grate over then pen to keep them in.  While I do not mind sharing my studio with them, to keep them warm, I don’t particularly like the idea of them having free range of it.

They have the sweetest songs as the peep and tweet all day.  It’s been such a relaxing sound to have in the background as I work.  I will miss them when they go to live in the coop with the big girls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The life cycle of a pumpkin

Last fall, we took a trip to the pumpkin patch, after an extremely LONG time of no regular outings. The grand fairies and I typically had a schedule of getting out and exploring on a regular basis. In the summer, it was the pool, park, zoo, and more. In the fall, we'd go to the pumpkin patch multiple times and host pumpkin craft parties after. 

2020? not quite the same.  But we masked up, and social distanced our way through the punkin patch, and made the most of a day out.  We were pretty happy to be there, too, even with the restrictions and changes that had to be implemented.

 

We probably bought way too many pumpkins, hoping to have a carving party with Fin and Clover, but the weather didn't cooperate, and we couldn't get together outside, so I made use of the gourds as best as I could. 

When the pups were tiny, I liked to do photo shoots with them for their new families, so these were great to use as props for posing puppies.

After Halloween, I spray painted some of them white and added a touch of glitter to the tops, and placed them into flower pots in front of the house.  Others got turned into pies.

(The white pumpkins make the best pies, uhm, not the painted white ones, the REAL white ones.)

Now, it is time to clean up the front porch and get rid of the pumpkins who have seen better days. They are squishy and wrinkled, but instead of tossing them out, they went to the hens.  The birds don't eat the rind, so didn't even bother with the painted exterior. They went right for the tasty seeds inside.

I guess I didn't have too many pumpkins after all! At least the chickens didn't think so. We have been giving them a couple a week and they are pretty happy with the treats.

Cooped Up in a Positive Way

Our coop has been empty for over a while now.  Sadly, each season there was always attrition in the number of birds.  So every spring we would buy more.

Due to my husband’s previous travel schedule for work, then his amped up travel plans for retirement, we decided to not replace the flock a couple of years ago.

As you all know, everyone’s travel plans are different now.  
It looks like we will be home a while....

So we took a trip out to the country and loaded up a dozen hens.

We debated getting more than 12, since all of the raccoons, hawks, and other critters on our land will be every bit as glad to see the hen house fill up as we were.

But, while having a few chickens to keep us entertained and provided with eggs while social distancing, that same confinement means less trips to the feed store.

And 12 can produce a lot of eggs to keep us, our family and friends well supplied.

We already got 4 the first day!

After frying them up, I wondered why on earth we went without chickens for so long.
You really can taste the difference.

 

Welcome, Ladies! The Cinnamon Queens are here

I'd never heard of Cinnamon Queens before.  (The name sounds like a drag show in New Orleans or something).  But once I looked up the name and found out what they really are, I was thrilled to be getting a boxful of them.

These gals are half Rhode Island Red and half Rhode Island White.  

Our first hens were dainty reds, and since then, we have had many other occupants of the coop. But none of the newcomers ever measured up to the sweet nature of the little red hens we started out with.  

(You can see how clean and pretty the coop used to be and how happy we were when the very first red beauties came to live with us here.)

I'd been excited to get some pretty blue eggs and we switched to Ameraucanas for the color.  We also got a few other breeds, including red and black sex links.  None were friendly, no matter how hard I tried.  Each time I'd go into their home, they'd act like I could only be there to butcher them, not feed and pet them.  

They were loud, big, and nervous.  And big hens mean bigger piles to be left behind, so stinkier too.

Here is one of the unfriendly ones. Doesn't she have a look in her eye that says she isn't very trusting??

And here is one of the new girls.  She looks bright, curious, and sweet.  

As we opened the cage and let them out, they didn't make a sound, no screeching in terror (like the other chickens do when anything changes, if feed them, if I look at them, if the door opens, etc), no flapping around and trying to escape, no distrust at all.  Each one started to explore their new space and seemed to be adjusting just fine.

Now, this behavior is not due to the farm they came from.  For the last few years, we have dealt with a nice family who raises birds, and buy a few hens from the same place each time.  The difference seems to be the breed, not the people who bred them.

Not that I'm giving up on the other chickens. They will always have a home here, and I will pet their heads and rub their warm tummies when I get eggs from them.  I keep trying to convince them that I am their friend.  

They don't believe me so far.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Cinnamon Queens will prove to be better pets for me.  If they aren't, well, I hear that they are excellent layers, with extra large eggs, so that isn't so bad.  I'm glad that they are here.

And if they decided that they want to perform some sort of drag show/dance review that suits the name  "Cinnamon Queens", I'm going to be supportive.  If they do, I think they might need some sort of Moulin Rouge style individual names, right?   Here are some from the movie that I think will suit them:

Satine

Baby Doll

La Petite Princesse

Nini

Antionette

Pearly Queen

Production: There are several breeds that are referred to as modern day brown egg laying strains. These are breeds that were developed for their abilities as layers, and each hen will lay between 250-300 eggs annually. Temperament: CinnamonQueens have a reputation as being particularly sweet and docile birds.

https://www.purelypoultry.com/cinnamon-queen-chickens-p-375.html

 

The new hens are settled in

Could there be a more beautiful shade of blue?

Our new ladies in the coop are doing a magnificent job of keeping us supplied in these pretty eggs. Good girls!