Chickens, etc.

Well, I know we don't post much anymore. I guess we've gotten kind of bored with the blog these days... And of course we have a lot of other things on our plates too. After we spend most of the day on the computer at work and/or studying we just don't feel much like getting back on for blogging.

I have also joined the board of our neighborhood's Chamber of Commerce, and have been working on that website, which expends some more of my computer energy. I know a chamber of commerce might not seem like my cup of tea, but I have actually been enjoying it quite a bit. Since our neighborhood is so diverse, ethnically, racially, and socio-economically, it is a really cool organization, working on lots of issues for all of our neighborhood's residents and businesses, not just the "big ones."

The chickens have been in a lull lately, not laying much because of the changing weather and daylight hours. We got good eggs through the winter last year, and hopefully as they get settled into the cold, and get used to the light bulb in the coop (instead of sunlight), they'll start laying better. Yesterday I was in the kitchen making green tomato lasagna and I heard a brief flurry of squawking out there, so I popped outside to see what the racket was about. Well, when I opened the door there was an egg sitting there in the laying box. In the last month or so, we've really only gotten 2 or 3 eggs, so I was glad to see another one. Well, the water bowl was completely frozen since I had refilled it the day before, but the egg was still very warm, so all the squawking must have been from that egg popping out!

Our other recent chicken story happened a couple months ago. It was still nice fall weather at that point, and we had our windows open through the night. Trinity was awakened by a whole lot of chicken commotion outside about 2 or 3 am, and well, I am such a heavy sleeper I just rolled over and barely new anything was going on. After a while, the noise finally broke into my barrier (with a little help from Trinity's anxiety about the noise), so we grabbed a flashlight and went out to investigate. There in the corner of the coop was a medium sized possum that had squeezed through the door!

A couple of the locks had been sticking pretty bad, and I hadn't oiled them up yet, so we only had one out of three latches secured well, so he was able to squeeze through one corner I guess. I know possums can be pretty mean, but I don't think the chickens were in too much danger - they were holding there own pretty well in there in fact, and I think the possum was in over his head! He looked terrified of them! We held up one end of the coop and scooped the Ladies up to safety and then I chased the possum off with a broom.

About a week later, after I took the trash out one day, I left the lid off to air the can out. The next morning I went outside about 6:30 am with a fresh trash bag and when I looked in the can, there was the possum staring back up at me. He had climbed in looking for a treat (there was none to find) and he must not have been able to get out! Well, I was only half awake at that hour, and quite startled, so I slammed the lid down on top of him and locked him in. I didn't have time to deal with him then, so I just went to work and left him there! I wasn't sure what I would do, so I decided to call a pest company and they came and picked him up while I was at work a couple hours later. In hindsight, I don't think I would call them again (it wasn't free, that's for sure). They just "relocated" him... I have since spread the word to any lurking possums in the area that if I catch another one I don't think I will be so nice by paying for their relocation, or even chasing them off with a broom! Hopefully they have gotten my message, so I don't have to resort to more drastic measures. But I will if I have to!