Spring Has Hatched

Spring has sprung, in the form of oh-so-slightly milder temperatures - translation: above freezing for three days in a row, no less - and nights that have moderated enough that I don't have to run the hot water tap to prevent a frozen pipe. Sugar shacks all over the region (here's a good one the next town over) are starting to boil the sap of sugar maples (Acer saccharum) into pure New England deliciousness. The first green shoots of new grass are seen in the otherwise boggy mess of mud underfoot, and the magnolia and forsythia have buds that are swelling fast, promising to bloom as soon as April rolls around.

Another favorite milestone today - daylight savings time! I know most folks hate losing an hour of sleep, but in my case it means my puppy alarm clock, aka Mooney, permanently set for 4am standard time, now doesn't go off until 5! It's amazing what a difference that makes mentally. There are days when I must be up and about earlier than 5 to get where I need to go for work, here's hoping they are infrequent enough to keep him on this new, later hour.

In other news, spring is also being heralded by the peeping of eight chicks in a brooder (I'm calling it Henway Park, it's a blue monster of a rubbermaid bin) in my garage. All *should* grow up to be laying hens. I say should as there is always the possibility that the hatchery accidentally on purpose included a rooster. If that should be the case, his future depends on how docile he is. Docile = live long and prosper, not so much = the backyard version of the french revolution. Damn I hope they are all the girls they're supposed to be.

Here they are when I brought them home, at one week old:


And here they are one short week later, having doubled in size and already shedding their downy baby fluff and growing their adult plumage:


I cleaned the brooder out completely today and added a training roost. They're trying it out by ones and twos, wobbling all over the place, flapping their wings for balance. Funny stuff. Farm TV - season one, episode one.

These girls came home with me from a workshop at Cold Antler Farm in that lovely part of extreme eastern New York known as "Veryork". Jenna, the proprietor, writes a fabulous blog about her own journey to farmhood. She generously shared some of her hard-won knowledge with ten neophytes last weekend. She also generously gave me more chickens than had been promised, due to people who canceled or who were not ready to bring chicks home quite yet. So instead of one of each breed, I am now proudly owned by four Rhode Island Reds, two Buff Orpingtons (both heritage breeds), and two Ameracaunas, those wondrous layers of pre-colored easter eggs. They lay eggs in various shades of blue, green, or pink. Fascinating chicken fact - the color of a chicken's earlobes (who knew they had earlobes, right?) indicates what color eggs they will lay. Oh, the things I don't know but love to learn!