The Rest of the Story

Today, I sat down with Dorothy, the Saturday manager at our food pantry in Tonganoxie.  We had a very good talk, and when I explained what happened, she described to a "T" the lady who took the eggs from me on Monday.  A Monday and Friday volunteer, this lady is strictly "by the book"... and considers it her place to rule the kitchen there.  I need to explain.... there is no food prepared there, unless someone brings in a treat for the volunteers.... but there is a kitchen from when it was an actual home... and is now the base for the thrift store/pantry operation.  While Dorothy can't control what happens on Mondays-Fridays, she is going to have a word with the managers for those days, to let them know that this lady is misguided, and probably taking donations home with her sometimes.

Dorothy assured me that our eggs often go out on Saturday mornings as soon as I bring them in... and agreed that they are as desirable as "store-bought" eggs.  I do clean them up well before taking them down.

I left feeling so much better, and we shall continue on with our donations... despite a setback here and there.

We have TBones tonight, our second to the last game unless they go into playoffs... Keith has left early to stop to do an errand on the way, and I'll meet him there.  How we have enjoyed these independent league ball games this summer, even in the intense heat.  It's only 85 degrees out there now, but overcast, and feels to me as if it might rain.  We have locked up all the birds early, and made sure the gate from the pasture is secured... in case Mr. Fox visits before we get home from the game.  He has come early several nights, as early as 9:30.  We did not have any visitations last night, and we attribute that to Lilly being outside part of the night.

Here is what Keith worked on this afternoon:

(Pugs are inspecting)

This is the base for the south deck of the new henhouse.  He reports that the ground was hard as rock... he has not mixed the cement yet because the hole on the side where Lilly and Abby are looking is still half full of water, which he had to pour down to even be able to work the soil.  The two x fours are supports which will be removed.

No, a bird didn't die here, though I thought so at first.  The moult has started and there are feathers EVERYWHERE!  No wonder I am only getting about 8 eggs a day.

This poor Welsummer hen is a good reason why I am having roosters pullorum-typhoid tested this week.  A lady I know is a registered tester for the State of Kansas, where no chickens can be hauled to a swap or sale without a PT test.  She will test all the cockerels, and one or two of the older roosters whose Time has Come.  When I gave away the two big roosters from the little henyard, Rocky and Brutus, I was left with the very gentle Dandy, and Handsome, who is a March 2011 hatch partridge cochin.  He has torn the hens up badly, as you can see, though some of them are bigger than he!  They had just recovered all their feathers from the depredations of the bigger roosters.

I am going to have them all tested, and then haul them to a swap next Saturday in hopes of literally GIVING them away for a dollar each, including the purebred porcelain d'Uccles and the mille fleur d'Uccles.  Handsome is going, too.   I am considering hauling Cocky, and two of the mille hens from the pasture pen, as well... since I still have a breeding mille rooster, Boots, and the two Naughty Girls (one of whom has gone broody, and one of whom is in the above photo).  It's not that I necessarily want to cut down on numbers, but a trio of Mille's is easier to sell than one rooster.

Our other problem is that the cockerels have started fighting each other, and ganging up on each other, so something has to give.  This is common, and you know I love my roosters... but we just can't have all the commotion all the time.