Candy

Before we had chickens, I went to the Heirloom Expo where I was introduced to all kinds of things - veggies, fruits, animals and... eggs. Up until then, I thought a brown egg was a brown egg. Until I saw these:

These gorgeous, dark, chocolate brown eggs. Oh My! Someday I would have the chickens that lay these eggs. Oh yes-siree! I took the photo with the name of the breed so I would be sure to remember them. Cuckoo Maran. Cuckoo Maran.

Fast forward to the chicken murders of 2012 and then the mysterious chicken death later on that year and we ended up with eight new chickens. And you can bet at least one of those was a Cuckoo Maran hen. Actually, Lola the rooster was supposed to be a hen, but alas, not only was he male, he was a mean male. He's no longer with us. 

But let me introduce you to Candy:

Candy, named for the chocolate brown colored eggs she was to lay, is our lovely Cuckoo Maran. We got her when she was just a little tike - about three months old. She came from the same place that James Dean, our rooster, came from. They were raised together and get along just fine. Candy is a consistent layer - everyday - and the first one out of the nesting box in the morning.

The problem with our lovely Candy is that not only are her eggs light tan, they are also misshapen and the shell is really thin. They always have creases in them. In the egg biz, these are known as 'flat eggs'. I've done everything I know to help strengthen her shell, but for whatever reason, this chicken won't/ can't transfer the calcium to her eggshells. Because of this abnormality, I don't want to sell them.

And of course, we don't want to hatch her eggs because we don't want to pass this odd trait onto the next generation.

The good thing about this is that we, the egg farmers, are guaranteed to have eggs instead of selling them all and having none. They are fine on the inside, wonderful in fact, but just really REALLY weird on the outside. Bumpy, odd colored, creased and swirled. Who ever knew that eggs could differ so much.

National Heirloom Expo

The National Heirloom Exposition is a not-for-profit event centered around the pure food movement, heirloom vegetables, and anti-GMO activism. Last year I went for three days with My Friend From Canada. It was absolutely incredible. I saw things that I had never seen before - like Cuckoo Maran eggs and SO many types of garlic.

Seeing such beauty, such variety - well, I wanted to do it all. Raise chickens, goats, turkeys. Grow incredible varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, flowers, winter squash, Of course, I wanted one of everything. 

Fast forward to this year and Seven Cats Farm has 2 Cuckoo Maran chickens and my attempt at growing different winter pumpkins was a failure (I give the gophers and crows credit for the failure, by the way).

This year, the Lovey and I got away for 24 hours and soaked up as much of the show as we could. After having two growing seasons under my belt, I think I have a better idea of what grows here, what doesn't grow, what the soil needs and what physically I can and can't do. Armed with this knowledge we spoke with vendors and speakers. We discovered fish emulsions that can be used in drip lines, mustard therapy for soil and discovered some fruit varieties we'd like to grow. We got some samples of things, including ground up bugs. Verdict is still out on that one.

We also saw some just cool stuff. Here are some photos. 

CHICKEN COOP!

Yep - You guessed it. And with a new coop

Comes Chickens!

Here are the youngest set: These gals were hatched on June 27th, which means they are 10 weeks old. Ameraucanas, Buff Orpintons, Cuckoo Marans. We will have blue, brown and chocolate brown eggs in December, I think.

And these chicks are between 3 - 4 months old. The buff one is a rooster, the little one with a grey head is a Silver Wyandotte hen, and the bigger black and white one is a Cuckoo Maran hen.

You can tell that poor Alice (a Jersey Giant) has been pecked and pecked. She had two roosters vying for her attention. Not a good ratio, this two to one business. Sadly, both roosters are no longer with us, so she has been given a much needed break. Now the only pecking that is going on is the ever-ugly establishment of the pecking order. Right now, Alice is ahead. She's getting to feel especially important right now, but that won't last long. Soon, the buff rooster will be feeling his oats and will become king of the hill. But he will have eight other hens to protect, so this time Alice won't be the only object of his desires.