Chicken woes

I'm happy to report that the chicken I adopted and call Barebutt can be renamed as her tail feathers have grown back. Look at her in all her radiant beauty.

Alas, although I adore her sweet personality, she is my problem chicken. She pecks a hole in freshly laid eggs and eats the raw yolk. Worse yet, her unacceptable behavior has rubbed off on her peers and I have caught them in the act as well.

Google searching led me to feed them more protein, nab the eggs as soon as they are laid and put golf balls in their nest. To no avail.

What to do? Glynn built me a roll-away chicken nest. The nest rests on a slight angle so once an egg is laid, it rolls into a little compartment at the front. Said compartment hides the egg from the chickens.

Success unless a chicken decides to lay an egg elsewhere.

Yesterday I found two pecked eggs.

Nothing left but to cull the offending chicken from the flock. One of Glynn's co-workers, Bill, said he would take Barebutt. I assumed this meant Barebutt would be found as chicken stew for dinner but, bless Bill's tender heart, he found a home for Barebutt - a neighbor who has free range chickens galore and is unconcerned about their egg laying (or egg eating) abilities. Barebutt has now retired in ease and can eat all the fresh yolks she wants!

Spring in the Pacific Northwest means rain, rain and more rain. In between rain showers, my project has been restoring order to my raspberry patch. I removed spent canes and tied this year's canes to stakes. The scratches and scabs on my ankles and arms attest to my efforts and I will be happy at harvest time in August that I persevered and did the hard work.

I am once again involved in an online e-course. This time it involves sketching and watercolors, both of which I've always wanted to learn. I am being taught by Junelle Jacobsen. Her wonderful blog is www.yesandamenblog.blogspot.com.


I never knew water color paints and crayons could be so forgiving!