CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK!!!
I really want to apologize for not posting pictures lately. I'm heart broken that my last few posts have been accompanied by any photos. For whatever reason, this site isn't letting me upload any from my computer. I guess I'll have to see about posting from another computer or trying to upload them from Dan's phone. So anyway...
Dan and I hosted our first New Year's Eve party here on the Shawhan farm. It was a blast! Lots of good food and good company. One thing on the menu was a vegetable tray that Dan and I bought from, where else, Kroger's. It had your typical veggie assortment of carrots, cauliflower, celery and broccoli. Our party was great...lots of food and lots of left-overs. One of which was our veggie tray.
After several meals of the tray sitting on the table and not being eaten, I finally took it out to the barn. I have heard from several sources that chickens can benefit from table scraps, especially those that originally came from the garden. Also, for the past couple of weeks our chickies have been cooped up in the coop and not getting their usually dietary supplement of bugs and grubs. Thankfully, everyone seems to have made this adjustment quite nicely. We are getting anywhere between 11 to 14 eggs a day and the chickens don't seem as mad in the morning as they used to be at us because they were ready to be let outside and we had slept in too late. The only noticeable difference may be the paler yolk color.
I started out giving the chickens a small handful of broccoli. (I didn't want to over-do it, since I know what excess vegetables do to me!) They loved it! Tonight, I gave them the cauliflower, not knowing if they would eat that or not, but they ate it right up. I guess next I will try the celery, but I'm not sure if chickens like celery or not. Jimmy and Charlie are getting a few carrots about every other meal. Charlie ate his the first night, but chose not to eat them tonight. As I remember correctly, Jimmy loves carrots and Charlie spits them out.
I haven't taken care of the animals the last couple of feedings...busy mornings and I was feeling sorry for myself last night. Today was a long day and sometimes if I haven't seen everybody for awhile I get a little anxious, hoping all is still going well. So it felt good to take care of everyone tonight and sort of re-connect and spend a few extra minutes with my animals. Animals are special and can (at times) be relaxing and therapeutic...especially when you need a smile...chickens are great for that!
...cluck... cluck... cluck....
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