I think Herbert's lonely...

[gcvmom]

'cuz she's standing on the patio by the sliding glass door and looking in with a wistful expression on her beak...

And then she laid down on the door mat and went to sleep for a minute, but was rudely awakened by the sound of a bead being sucked up by the vacuum cleaner.

Now she's just sort of wandering around the patio and onto the lawn. Maybe it's time for her afternoon egg. She usually lays one about now.

Okay, well that's enough Wild Kingdom for one day. We're off to see Hellboy II...

 

[Hound dog]

This is the chicken, right? Maybe you ought to get another one to keep her company?

Dare I ask what you do with the eggs? lol

 

[Lothlorien]

I say get her a man! Maybe you could name him Gertrude? Oh boy, I just crack myself up.....bwaha! ;-)

 

[Abbey]

I say get her a man! Maybe you could name him Gertrude? Oh boy, I just crack myself up.....bwaha! ;-)

Hey...Gertrude was my given name (seriously). You take that back.

Now, down to the dirty details. Bringing in a rooster stirs the whole pot. They are loud when you least need them to be. If you're out in the countryside, it's ok, but city...ugh.

You'll have plenty of fresh eggs, though, and many chicks if you don't monitor. (Not the chicks on TV...we're talking little chickens.)

On a side note, birds are quite capable of laying eggs that are not fertilized, hence no need for a male. (Everybody clap now!!!) They just need to be sexually mature. (Not the eggs, but the chicken.)

If you hold up a flashlight to an egg and see a red dot...Herbert has been tramping around. Bad girl.

She just wants to be snuggled.

Abbey (aka - Gertrude.)

 

[Star*]

It makes no difference.............

Roosters/men

They MESS UP everything!

Get her a poster of Foghorn Leghorn and a nest that vibrates.

 

[Abbey]

It makes no difference.............

Roosters/men

They MESS UP everything!

Get her a poster of Foghorn Leghorn and a nest that vibrates.

Thank you Star for giving my first real laugh of the day...and it's 8pm.

I haven't thought about Foghorn Leghorn in years. I LOVED that cartoon.

Abbey

 

[gcvmom]

Roosters are out... but I think Star may be onto something... or ON something...

And yes, we have eggs-o'-plenty these days thanks to Herbert, bless her lonely little feathered heart! Which is really great, since I just read that the price of eggs is up 31% since last year! Now if I could just figure a way to turn chicken (poop) into gasoline, she would really earn her coop -- I mean keep!

 

[Marguerite]

"Now if I could just figure a way to turn chicken (poop) into gasoline, she would really earn her coop -- I mean keep!"

You can, in a way. If you use the manure to fertilize a crop of what, use the wheat to make grain alcohol, distil it, then put it in your petrol tank - that would do it.

Alternatively, put Herbert's "leavings" on the garden. Or put some in an old stocking and leave it to soak in a bucket for a week, with any old weeds or other organic rubbish. After a week, drain it off, dilute the "tea" about 20:1 and pour the dilute fluid all over the vegetable garden. Plants love it, it's a fabulous nutrient boost.

We've got the local community garden club regularly raiding the compost in our chook house. In return I get a basket full of freshly picked fruit & vegetables. Very welcome!

Marg

 

[gcvmom]

Thanks for the fertilizer recipe Marg! Up 'til now, I've been scooping her plops and dumping them unceremoniously in the compost heap, then watering thoroughly. But hey, I'm up for brewing a batch of foul/fowl tea I can add it to the worm tea I already make with my worm bin... I wonder if the worms would like Herbert's leavings? Or would it be too harsh for them? They prefer vegetarian stuff (they're red compost worms -- a bit different than the garden-variety earthworm)...

 

[Marg's Man]

Don't add Herbert's contributions to the worm farm. They are too strong and would kill your worms. Your idea of mixing the 'teas' is best.

Marg's Man

 

[SRL]

We have friends who have a huge tom turkey that was raised from a babe by people and he likes company too. It's the funniest thing watching him because he will hang outside their door waiting for someone to come out. He follows their grandkids around like a puppy dog. It's a hoot.

Too bad you don't live closer as Gertrude and Tom T. could become friends without the risk of hanky panky.

 

[Marguerite]

The compost heap is the best place for the chook poo.

Serious suggestion - why not cut out the middle man ... er... chook, and let Herbert have access to the compost heap? Or at least, access to what you put in the compost heap? Chooks not only eat a lot of vegetable scraps, lawn clippings etc, but it can save you on chook food. They also scratch over the heap and do some of the turning for you. And chooks are also great when it comes to eating garden pests - they LOVE snails and grubs. Unfortunately, they also love a lot of garden plants, so you will need to keep Herbert out of the garden itself.

When I find snails or curl grubs, I carry them over to the chooks.

With the various teas you're making, do make sure you water them down well.

Also, putting chook poo in the compost heap is a great way to keep it working much faster. You can also let it dry out, and break it down in soil, so you can spread it round the drip line under the citrus trees. Lemon trees especially love it.

Sounds like Herbert is earning her keep as well as enjoying her place in the sun.

Marg

 

[TerryJ2]

A pet chicken and turkey as friends... that could work.

I'm still chuckling about the vibrating nest.

 

[gcvmom]

Marg's Man -- thanks for the tip, I'll be sure not to burn the worms with Herbert's plops

SRL, I think Herbert really does like company. She is very calm and settles down nicely when I pick her up and hold her under my arm... someone must have handled her a lot as a younger bird.

Marg, our compost heaps are all in large plastic bins to kind of keep things a bit tidier and keep the other critters we get OUT (rats, mice, racoons, squirrels, opossums...). Herbert DOES get to have as much of our vegetarian kitchen leftovers as she can handle (LOVES spaghetti noodles , also old salad bits, overripe/moldy fruit, stale bread or moldy bread, etc.). She also enjoys eating the clover in the lawn, some of the grass, the pomegranate leaves and for some reason, she has a liking for calla lily leaves (they used to look really nice in my flower bed).

When I turn the compost piles, I frequently find HUGE grubs from the alien Japanese fruit beetles we get here. I used to just toss them down the hill for other critters to find and eat, but you can bet that Herbert will get first pick now! I once found over 100 of them in a compost bin!

 

[Steely]

Star You did it again.
My first real laugh of the day. Geesh. Too good.

GVC.........I wanna a chicken.

It makes no difference.............

Roosters/men

They MESS UP everything!

Get her a poster of Foghorn Leghorn and a nest that vibrates.

 

[Abbey]

I think I'd take a rooster over a man. Wait a minute...aren't they the same?

Naw, I got it now. One just cockles in the morning, the other one blows wind. You figure out which is which.

Abbey

 

[Shari]

I dunno which is which, but I do know if your rooster turns out worthless or annoying or you just get tired of picking up his ____, you just whack his head off and he makes one heck of a nice pot pie...

 

[gcvmom]

Yeah, you sure can't get away with that with a man... can you? I have to hit mine REALLY hard and he still can't cook worth a d@mn!