Perching Basketballs

It has been cold here. Not Chicago cold, but, in the teens when we go out to liberate the chickens from the safety of their coops at dawn.

On top of the cold, it snowed one day this week. So, when we opened the coop doors, the chickens refused to come out.

Here’s a closer view. Normally, they would have all flooded out the door. But not with the snow on the ground.

I went in to feed them, and noticed that some of them had puffed themselves into perching basketballs to try to get warm.

OH! Here’s another chicken story!

I think I’ve talked about how the sandhill cranes winter here. It’s pretty great - they fly low over our farm all day long during the winter. They make a beautiful whirring noise. In the last week, they’ve been spending the day eating in our neighbors’ yards.

A couple of days ago they landed just outside the fence of our chicken wilderness. Jan called me and said they were there, and that I should go take their pictures. It was afternoon - just after 3:00, so I’d just given all our chickens scratch in the yard where their coops are. So, rather than being spread out all over the chicken wilderness, our flocks were all right in the yard by the house.

I got my phone set to “photos” and started walking toward the far end of the chicken wilderness - where I could see the cranes. I turned back to look at the house, and discovered that all forty of our chickens were following me! I felt like the Pied Piper!

I’ve recently discovered that I can get all the chickens to run to the yard any time of the day or night, simply by calling them. I was amazed to discover it. But, I’d never had them spontaneously follow me! Perhaps because I was trailing forty birds, the cranes didn’t move away, and I was able to get great photos of them.

Oh, and one more chicken item. This is something I see many days, but this morning I had my phone ready when it happened:

I love that beings can share a meal across the lines of taxonomical class.

The goats are affected somewhat differently by the cold. When it’s very cold here, we feed them a little bit more hay than when it’s warm. Goats have four stomachs, the largest of which is called the rumen. The rumen ferments the hay, and puts out an enormous amount of heat. Goats actually keep warm by eating.

Of course, they also have puff-face in the winter. They puff out their facial fur so that their faces look fat, and it keeps them warm. The first time I saw one of our goats with puff-face I thought we needed to call the caprine dentist!

Lulou is now a month away from delivery. She’ll be the first of our does to kid. We’re starting to think about converting my back porch into the kidding parlor again. To that end, I’ve put a hook on the wall where I now hang all my hats. I can’t leave them strewn all over the goats’ birthing room! Soon we’ll cover the floor with yoga mats, then cedar pellets, then straw to make a nice place for them to kid. As we get closer to Lulou’s due date, we’ll haul out all the kidding stuff. Heaters, iodine, wipes, towels. She’s so big already we’re worried about her having triplets.

And last of all, I’m involved in another exciting soap experiment. A friend of a friend wrote to ask if I’d make a bar dish soap. I have tried so hard to avoid buying plastic bottles, and this fall had a disaster when a gallon container of dish soap (so that I wouldn’t have to buy twelve plastic bottles) leaked all over our postal carrier, her truck, and then my kitchen. So, when my friend asked me to create a bar dish soap, I was enthusiastic. I couldn’t believe I’d never thought of it.

I searched the internet, and found a recipe to use as a starting point, and made a batch. They’re vividly lime scented. I think I might put less essential oil in the next batch. They’ve got three more weeks to cure before the team can start testing them. But I have high hopes. And there’s nothing more exciting than learning a new soap.

If they’re successful, I’m going to try grating them and using them in the laundry! But, that’s for another day.

Meanwhile, stop by my website for all your soap and shampoo needs! https://www.serenasoaps.com/