OK, so it’s been an eventful month at Sunshine Farm (our backyard). After a few mornings of cockadoodle doo’s waking up the neighbourhood dogs, we finally packed up Paprika, our chick-turned-rooster, into a rubbermaid container and drove him back to the farm. Our friends at Blue Haven were welcoming him to the little guy, although the other roosters seemed to be less than enthusiastic to see him. Much had changed at Blue Haven since our last visit, the little piglets have grown, the peasants are looking healthy and there are a plethora of chickens laying very regularly. After picking up some fresh organic meat and of course, some farm fresh eggs (since our birds aren’t laying yet), it was time to pick out our new hen.  We had decided that it would be nice to have a Silkie chicken join our group, since they have such a unique head of feathers! Blue Haven had only three white hens and weren’t willing to part with them, but that was just fine, because as you can see from the photos, we choose a very good looking black silkie cross hen. We love her personality, she’s very friendly and after a few pecks from the two olders hen in our brood, she has settled in quite nicely.

It’s amazing how much the chickens have taken to our routine and boy oh boy do they get excited to see us as we usually come with fresh corn on the cob, eggs, or sunflower seeds to feed them. We can even get them to eat out of our hand! It all makes for much fun and frolic. Even the neighbourhood squirrels have a good time in our yard, running back and forth in front of the hens trying to pick up acorns. The hens are definitely growing and getting ready to lay (which we are expecting in December), every night they settle in and seem to sleep in the nesting boxes, which is a good sign! Soon it will be time to put some golf balls in there to “give them the hint” which is a tip we picked up from “Raising Chickens for Dummies.” Yes, that’s an actual book we read and it’s very helpful!

On a side note, a good writing friend of ours is launching a book of short stories on September 30th. She’s been getting a LOT of great press and we’re very excited to see and read the book. It’s been a long journey for her, but it shows that persistence, with a lot of talent, means success! Congratulations Darcie! Here’s a link to one of the gushing articles about Mennonites Don’t Dance, and be sure to keep an eye out for it at your bookstore in late September. http://thepeartree.ca/2010/09/stories-to-savour/ 

Well we’d better get going, I can hear the girls pecking at the patio door, they must be hungry!

Ain’t she a beauty