Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Wrapping It All Up

CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK!!!

This post is called Wrapping It All Up because I have now blogged about my chickens for one whole year. My first post was last October 27th...the day the Chicken Lady phenomenon began.  This is also my 100th post! Chronicles of a Chicken Lady is the only creative writing project that I have successfully stuck with, setting aside days I would post and sitting at the computer at 10:00 on a Sunday night when I would rather be in bed. I have shared my success stories and my failures, which I might add, is not easy. But I am very proud of myself for creating this project and maintaining the discipline to do it, even when I didn't want to and when I was grasping at straws for something to write about. So, go me!

I also want to thank everyone who reads my chronicles! You all mean so much to me. I am still in awe at the number of people who talk to me about it and really show me that they are out there listening and reading. That is something I'd like to work on in the future, is trying to get Chronicles out there to more than just my Facebook friends.

That being said, I have no plans to stop writing Chronicles of a Chicken Lady. In fact, I have even more ideas and plans for my blog in the next year to come. I have decided to take a week or two off because I want to experiment with the site and make a few changes to give it a fresh look for year 2. Plus, I don't want to ever burn out my readers! (That's why I limited my posts to 2 a week.) I think some people already think I have no life since all I post on Facebook are my chronicle links!

As I have been re-reading my posts over the past year, I see that I have made comments or have posted stories/incidents that I never really cleared up. Or that may have left some people wondering, whatever happened with that? I went back and tried to see where any of those instances may have occurred and will try to touch base on them in this post. (This is something I plan to work on over the next year...making sure I have follow-ups on some of my posts that need it.)

So here goes:

In the post Weasel Trappin' I talked about the few times we set our weasel trap and came up with nothing. Last spring we sort of stopped out attempts at catching Mr. Weasel. So his status is still GUILTY and is running at-large. There is still a warrant out for his arrest and death sentence. Now that the weather is turning colder again, I feel we will have a much better chance at catching him. I plan to do some library research as soon as this afternoon in catching/trapping weasels. I could care less if it is illegal...I will not have my chickens attacked and destroyed. I pay for those, so if I get in trouble, the law can repay me so I can buy more chickens. I will of course let you know what I find out and how the trapping efforts go.

Farmers Don't Want to Come Home to an Omelet...this was a popular post, since most of my embarrassing stories are. I just wanted to let you know I have never tried egg-based homemade beauty remedies since and I have no plans to do that in the future.

Saddle Up! I never did buy my ladies "chicken saddles". I'm too cheap and I figure Laura Ingles Wilder never made "saddles" for her girls either.

A Chronicle Mystery: The Case of the Deposited Kittens this is sort of still ongoing actually. It was scary the number of cats we found in our barn that day. My idea of not feeding them in hopes of them moving on helped. In just a few days we were seeing only 3 or 4 cats roaming around. I had given 2 of them names and as soon as I did, one got hit on the road. Some of them ended up at the neighbors. One in particular, Marshmellow, was never tame enough when it was in our barn. It went across the street and became loveable, but it never grew. Now Marshmellow is back at our barn, tame, but is still not growing. I gave it a Fancy Feast sample this very morning that Kroger's had sent me in the mail.

In Scratch Out at the O'Kluck Corral, I saw Cad-Buddy and Chicken Hawk going at it like never before. I have never seen this behaviour since. Maybe that was the only time and they worked it out amongst themselves who is boss and who is the lower peon. Both boys seem healthy and no one is covered in blood...or dead.

The Bates Motel...the bottom floors are the only ones used. We can find up to 5 or 7 eggs a day in one box of the main nest box and yet 4 other nesting places are available. Some of the chickens are not so afraid of the Bates Motel to not stand on top of it at night. Also that Zac guy from Ghost Adventures hasn't been out to look for paranormal activity yet.

My First (and Failed) Attempt at Chicken Stew is STILL my first attempt. I haven't tried it with a store-bought chicken yet, but I still plan on making it making it one day. I also recently threw away the other Amish bird. I didn't think anything good would come out of it.

I am very happy to report that we haven't had any other cases of Coccidiosis! Also, this is something all animals can get...not just chickies.

Our Dueling Sitters are longer brooding...thankfully. Two at one time was too much. I don't think anyone sat longer than the others, and I have a feeling either both of those girls, or at least one of them, is going through the molt right now.

And last but not least, Crutchy the Comet is doing well. She no longer limps, but is running strong through the steer lot!

Speaking of the steers, A.K.A. Beefy Boys: this past year their gang consisted of Bert, Ernie, Chum, Jiblet, Big Mac and Chuck. All of the boys besides Bert and Ernie have met their fate in the last month and a half. However, Bert and Ernie's days are numbered. They were a part of our story and the newbies, who will be arriving shortly, will continue to make appearances in my posts.

I think that wraps it up! One whole year of chicken drama, with LOTS more to come! Please keep reading and sharing as I will continue to learn right along beside all of you. I'll be back in a week or two and will be posting again on Sundays and Thursdays!

Love You All and a big THANK YOU! from the bottom of my heart!

The Chicken Lady

                                                                                                ...cluck... cluck... cluck...

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