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.