It appears that Mr. Reid has a gift for raising chickens. He's the keeper of our coop and he does a fine job keeping them laying eggs and away from grizzly bears. The chickens flourish under his watchful eye.
Our little flock is a productive one - we get between 10-12 eggs every day and, this time of year, we use every one. This spring we decided that we needed to add some new chickens to the flock to keep their ages varied. (So the eggs just keep on coming...) A friend down the road fired up her incubator (thanks Wendy!) and just after spring break we became the proud parents of 18 new baby chicks.
The chicks grew and some show signs being roosters. Eventually these chickens will become part of the great circle of hobby farm life (dumplings, anyone?) and their female companions will stick around and keep our guests in the best eggs we've ever eaten.
Which brings me back to Mr. Reid and his chicken raising talents. Usually, you expect about 20 percent mortality with baby chicks. We didn't lose a one. We found ourselves with too many chickens. What to do?
The heroic teacher of driver's education at our local school (bravest man we know) came to the rescue! He and his artist wife arrived this evening to take some of the chickens to their new home in Paradise Valley. We gave them chickens and Sue gave us the most beautiful rooster pitcher. What a good trade!
You can visit Sue's website and see other examples of her beautiful work at: www.suetirrell.com
