Raising chickens has been quite an adventure. We've learned (though experience) how our chickens were escaping from our backyard, how to clip their wings, that they don't get seriously sick every fall (they just molt), and that every once in awhile, they may lay very, very small eggs... called fart eggs.
Of course, being new to raisimg chickens, we thought that there was something seriously wrong with them. But after a little research...(ok, A LOT of research), we discovered that a fart egg had been laid. Apparently, it occurs when reproductive tissue breaks away. The chicken's body treats the tissue as a yolk and forms the rest of the egg around it. However, the fart egg is completely yolk-free. Who knew?
The weather has been so beautiful this weekend, that it was time to start planting seeds!!! Knowing us, we probably planted a little late (or early depending on how you look at it), so we'll see what pops up in a week. We decided to take two courses of action: human food and chicken food. I planted the human food seeds starting indoors... focusing on lettuces, radishes, beets, and spinach. Eric on the other hand concentrated on planting the chicken food directly into the ground. This was a major event. Not only did he prepare the soil, but had to fence the bed off. You know that chickens love to dig! In the past, they have killed very established plants. I had to say goodbye to our artichoke plant this year. Anyway, the bed consists of an omega-3 chicken blend, red oats, buckwheat, flax, and cow peas. And yes, these are cover crops too. We're rockin' multi-purpose planting. See the diagram for the pattern the "chicken bed" was planted in. The bed is 8 ft x 4ft.
