farm fresh

My recent hiatus from the blogging world hasn't been due to lack of postable material. Unfortunately our internet was completely uncooperative last week and I couldn't even get on to check my email. This is the sort of thing you have to put up with when you live in the boonies. You just have to learn to grit your teeth and deal with such inconveniences. And tell yourself that the sight of all the little fall calves in the fields makes it worth it.

That, and the farm fresh eggs I've been collecting every morning.

Last week we collected our first dozen eggs. We are consistently getting 2-4 eggs a day now and enjoyed our first batch of fresh fried eggs this weekend. Granted, they are not any bigger than the size of Margaret's fist (and that's not very big). One might think we were raising bantams instead of barred rocks and Rhode Island reds. But I have confidence that they will get bigger and soon we won't have to eat four or five eggs each in order to get a taste.

Another milestone in our chickens' lives is the taste of life as free range chickens. Their outside run is fairly spacious but the grass still disappeared pretty quickly and it functions now as a big dust bath. So last night we sat around in lawn chairs and opened up the coop gate. Our dogs laid around at our feet and watched the loose poultry with slightly disdainful glances. Baldrick even helped herd them back into the coop for the night when it started getting dark. Not sure that I would trust them alone together but I have to say I was favorably impressed with their reaction. Now we just have to introduce them to the border collie pack. That could be more exciting.

Those were some happy chickens.