Fart Egg

We got another fart egg this week! For those of you who don’t know about the fart eggs, they are eggs laid by newly laying hens. It is kind of like a practice run that leads up to the real thing. As you can guess, it is full of air! This is only our third in 4 years, so it is exciting for us to find!
The hens have been eating their fill of blackberries, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and low hanging grapes from the vineyard this week. They also have discovered pasta salad and think they found Heaven.

Chicken poop

The girls are just not too psyched to be in the hen house with this hot weather! They would much rather be outside eating their fill of blackberries from all the bushes that have sprung up this year. I tell you what, chicken poop is magical stuff. I have been amazed at the things like blackberries, tomatoes, melons, etc. that have grown right outside the coop from a seed that has escaped them. The blackberry bushes have grown into a large canopy giving them lots of shade. What a great trade off! They also have been eating squash and cucumbers from our garden. Eggs should be tasty this week!

Bee swarm

The girls had quite a busy weekend posing for glamour shots for an upcoming Edible Memphis magazine article about them. They are typically too busy running around to pose but this weekend I had a little posse that followed me around whenever they saw the camera. It’s as if they knew it was time for their 15 minutes of fame. We paid them for their time with the country version of greenbacks, Collard greens. We also gave them lots of shredded cheese, strawberries and frozen sweet corn cobs to keep them feeling fresh in the heat ;) The above photo is a swarm of honeybees that decided to set up camp on a Cabernet Franc grapevine this weekend. Jay set up a bee house in the vineyard for them. Hopefully they will stay and help us pollinate!

Bent Willow eggs just got a restaurant gig!!!

Well the girls just hit the big time by securing a spot at the new farm to table restaurant The Elegant Farmer in Memphis, TN. I can't wait to go and order a Bent Willow egg! Please check out the restaurant and support us! http://theelegantfarmerrestaurant.com
In the meantime, the girls really got into the Easter egg spirit this week. We got all sorts of speckled eggs, “chocolate” eggs, and even a few deep greens and lavenders that we’d never seen before. What a fun week! The girls have gone wild for all the strawberries we’ve been giving them. We grew some and the rest are being sold by a precious couple on Hwy 72 just outside Piperton. If you want some wonderful strawberries with no pesticides, check them out. They also got to feast on Hot cross buns, yeast rolls and every other Eastery food we couldn’t finish ourselves. We actually put their food out several yards from their normal feeding bowls so they would get a little exercise this weekend! You should have seen those little rear ends waddling as fast as they could to come get their treats. I need to video it.

Chicken names

I have learned a few things along the way when it comes to naming my chickens. For example, I recently learned that I should avoid any racy sounding names unless I want a lot of Google hits on my blog from Europe and Morocco. Apparently, "voluptuous Dolly Parton" is an oft requested search. Much to their dismay, the web surfers are offered my story of the large breasted blonde hen who turned out to be a rooster. I have also learned that if a chicken is named after food, he or she will certainly come to an untimely death. I don't know how it happens, but it is an automatic jinx. We have lost Snickers, Godiva, Hershey, and most recently Dumpling. The only chicken to avoid this fate is Milky Way. I have put it out there for the fates that he is named after the constellation reflected in his beautiful black and white flecked feathers and not for the nougaty candy bar! On a positive note, chickens named after loved ones have taken on their personality traits as well, whether it be as mother, protector, or clown. Take care or else I may be naming one after you!!!

New duchesses arrive at the Palais des Poulets

Our 4th generation of hens has been moved from the nursery into the Palais des Poulets. They were greeted by Sallie, the Rhodie, and Priscilla, the Dominique, who represented the Ladies Auxiliary. After a tour of their new home, Sallie and Priscilla treated the girls to a welcome luncheon featuring raisins, baguettes, and cheese. A fine time was had by all. The new court at the Palais has enjoyed exploring the great outdoors and playing chase with Milky Way and the other roosters even though I keep telling them that they are much too young to date.

Counting chickens

I know you all have been told at some point or another "Don't count your chickens before they hatch". It's a great expression. I literally have made plans for eggs in a nest that ended up not hatching. The result of which was going to the Crump flea market to try my luck buying baby chicks from a man in overalls and no teeth who swore they were all girls. That was a hard lesson as I ended up with 3, count em, 3 roosters. That is 3 too many for someone in the egg selling business. Especially when I already have a well established Cuckoo Maran rooster named Milky Way who doesn't need any help with the ladies. Well, now I have added another expression to my repertoire. Don't name your chicken before puberty. It happens to me with every new generation of chicks. You may remember the plucky big breasted blonde we named Dolly Parton. Well, Dolly ended up turning into a really mean rooster we renamed Uncle Swep after one of Jay's great uncles. Now, we are in another predicament as our precocious blonde Buff Orpington chick Lindsey Lohan has recently been heard attempting to crow.

Someone or something is taking our eggs. We are finding lots of egg yolks and bits of egg shell in the nesting boxes. The culprit is especially fond of the white eggs. Our neighbors seem to think it is a snake. Yikes!

Dolly Parton no more...

We have finally identified our free "exotic" chick that the good people at Murray McMurray hatchery threw in. The bad news is that it is Dolly Parton, our voluptuous, big breasted blonde. The good news is that SHE is a HE and he is an Ameraucana chicken that will enable us to have some purebred chicks eventually. These are the chickens that Martha Stewart turned me on to that lay the green and blue eggs. They are originally from a line of jungle fowl from South America. They are our customers' favorites!

For the record, his name is now Uncle Swep. He is named for Jay's Great Uncle who was a large man with even larger feathery eyebrows. He is trying to crow but is still sounding more like Peter Brady hitting puberty than a manly man.

The Palais des Poulets' New Court

The Royal Court of the Palais des Poulets officially doubled on February 9th when 2 day old chicks arrived. We ordered 10 Ameraucana chicks (the blue/green/pink layers), 10 Buff Orpington chicks (voluptuous strawberry blondes like yours truly), and 5 Brown Leghorns (plus a free fancy breed we have yet to determine).

We have also started an Adopt a Chick program with our current egg clients. They get naming rights to the chick of their choice. We have taken the liberty of naming some ourselves based upon their outstanding personalities. Below is a line up of some chicks who have already made names for themselves.

Lola, the Showgirl
Dolly Parton, the big breasted blonde

Patricia, the Bully (she is very jealous of Dolly especially although they are almost identical)

Chick Norris, the Peacemaker (she puts the beat down on Patricia several times a day when she starts acting bitchy)

Catfish, the Gasper (poor Catfish went through a bout of hiccups for several days. Jay said she looked like a catfish gasping for air.)

Sponsored chicks: JennyVergos, Dabney Millar, and HENrietta Brown. There are still 16 working girls for "hire".

Here's What You've Been Missing at Bent Willow

Well now that the new year is upon us, I thought I would take time to reflect on what has happened at Bent Willow Ranch since my last post in July '08 (lazy, lazy me).

CHICKENS: We had lots of success with the chickens. In fact, by the end of the summer, we were up to 20 eggs a day! We lost three girls, Iris, Fern and Dom Perignon, to heat. The remaining girls stood up to the heat, ate lots of bugs picked out of the garden and helped us create quite a nice little niche in the Free-range egg business. We are now an officially licensed egg producer and just got a 100 from the Health Dept. last month! My OCD is paying off!!!

Winter came and the girls began to molt and stop egg production. I told everyone that they had sent their feathers off to Land's End to try out as Covergirls in the Down Comforter issue.

Now that the days are getting a little longer, they are beginning to amp up egg production again. Martha beware, we are gaining ground!!!

GARDEN: Our garden made several bushels of beans and okra and a few tomatoes and melons. We relied on our neighbors for the rest. We had bushels of apples from our apple tree and even some wild cherries that we made into flavored vodka.

HUNTING: Jay, the boys and friends killed about 150 doves, 9 does and 5 bucks this year.

CABIN: We got a nice new green steel roof for Christmas. It officially makes the house look like a Lincoln Log Cabin.

Fart Egg

Here is a sample of what we collected today. We had an average white egg from our Pearl White Leghorn, a jumbo probably double yolker from our Ameracauna, and then this teensy little egg. It is the size of a cocktail olive. I was so excited to show Jay when he got home tonight. When he saw it, he said it had Guinness World Record potential. We raced to pose the eggs and take just the right photo at the just the right angle. I then quickly posted it on the Backyard Chicken forum that we so dorkily subscribe to so everyone could Ooh and Ahh and tell us how marvelous our chickens were. I hit "Enter" and breathlessly waited to get my first response. It came within seconds. I gasped "Jay! we have a response." As I clicked with anticipation, I came to discover a new word for my country vernacular as well as the answer to what this wondrous egg was..."a fart egg".

Eggs for Sale!

The girls are earning their rent at the Palais and we are officially in business with over a dozen eggs a day. The girls are free to stroll the yard, taking in the fresh country air and they lay at their leisure in their private chicken suites. Their meals consist of organic feed and fresh fruits and veggies from the adjoining garden, with an occasional treat of yogurt, tomato horn worms and imported French cheese.

Cocktail hour for Sallie

Jay noticed at roosting time in the late afternoon, that dear old Sal was still poking her head out to see if it was cocktail hour. She just knew he would have some sort of hor d'oeuvres for her. On a lark, he stuck his arm out and she mustered her fat rear end out the window to fly over and see what she could charm him out of. It is now a nightly affair. Cocktail hour with Sal. (For the record, Sallie likes fine imported French cheese.)

Harvest Season at Bent Willow Ranch

The garden is in full swing and we are busy picking a variety of fruits and vegetables. The blackberries are peaking right now. We've had cobbler coming out of our ears! Next up is chokecherries. Anyone know a recipe for chokecherry liquer? We are also getting over a dozen eggs a day in several different colors.

New Arrivals

Four new girls have checked into the Palais des Poulets this week. Grace Jones, an Ameraucana named for her White Mohawk-like tail, arrived for an extreme makeover. She has taken to the yogurt treatments and fruit cocktails and should be a beauty before long. She arrived with 3 Partridge Rocks named Cher (checking in for help with her flat bottom), Queen (checking in for help with her fat bottom), and Godiva (checking in with her friends for moral support). They will pay for their stay with brown and blue eggs, although so far, they are late on their rent. We are hoping it's just because they have been too busy being chased by potential suitors.

It's official!

We are farmers, as of today. We went out to Bent Willow and I was in the coop with John, Jim and their friend Greer. All of a sudden we heard a terrible squawking noise. We have become accustomed to the sound of King Tut jumping all the girls, but this was even more intense. John and Jim ran out of the run and swung open the main doors of the hen house to see what was going on. Next thing I know, I hear “It’s an egg!!! It’s warm!!!” It was right next to the egg boxes, in a spot where Tut likes to rest next to his girls. I was so thrilled that the boys found it. The excitement was palpable. Jim was furious that we were going to take it because he wanted a baby chick. I explained to him that the hen did not sit on it, so she didn’t want a baby chick. If it was left, then it was meant for us. We then went to the garden and picked two cherry tomatoes and some french green beans. What a gratifying day!

For those wondering about the fate of the egg, Jay scrambled it in brown butter and served it on toast. It was delicious!

The Palais des Poulets is officially open for business! Appetizers of crickets and freshly dug earthworms were passed around as the tour of the property commenced. Guests were then invited to go for a game of tag by their boy hosts and hand fed grapes by their other humans.

Sallie, the Rhode Island Red, enjoying a gourmet cricket canape.

First Gobbler From The Ranch - April 5, 2008

This old bird with unusual tail feather markings tried to maul my "pretty boy" decoy before he succumbed to lead poisoning. Fried turkey fingers for the family and for Herman!

The Girls

Our Chicken clan includes 5 Rhode Island Red hens, 5 Pearl White leghorn hens, 5 Dominique hens, 5 Cuckoo Marans (3 roos and 2 hens), and 5 Easter Eggers and 1 Egyptian Fayoumi roo named King Tut. The eggs should start coming this summer. We'll have them in all colors...even blue and green!