Diary of a chicken farmer: part 2.

As stated previously, I spent 2 weeks as a backyard chicken farmer while Cory and Ryan were honeymooning. The major perk: eggs.

A sampling of eggs from the backyard chickens.

And since they enjoyed the cucumber so much (see my previous post), I figured I'd feed them some garden tomatoes:

Well, it was a fun gig, but now I'm off chicken duty. I'll be sure to visit them, though. Nugget and I bonded-- she likes a good neck scratching.

Diary of a chicken farmer: part 1.

First of all, big congrats to Cory and Ryan on their wedding!

Picture perfect, eh?

While my friends are honeymooning in Indonesia, I'm taking care of their animals and plants. I assured them that their cat and chickens would be in great hands, but I made no guarantees about the plants (I've been watering them every few days, but this isn't my area of expertise).

Caring for Cory and Ryan's pets goes as follows:

Step 1, check on Leisha.

A lovely Persian, indeed.

Step 2, gather the eggs.

Raki's present: a large brown egg.

Step 3, let the chickens out.

Raki and Nugget are best buds.

Step 4, tend to them. This means water, feed, and of course, treats:

Step 5, get the chickens back into the coop. This involves shooing them with a broom and a rake.

Doing my best farmer pose.

Overall, it's a pretty fun gig. The fresh eggs and garden veggies are a nice perk, too!


For my first post on Cory and Ryan's chickens, click here.

My friends have backyard chickens, and it's normal.

As I've previously stated on this blog, it's perfectly normal (and legal) for Madison residents to have up to four chickens in their backyards. My friends Cory and Ryan welcomed me into their yard last Sunday to explore their coop and bond with the gals. I had met the chickens before, but I do think we did more bonding this time.

Cory and Ryan have four chickens: Blondie (a Cochin), Nugget (also a Cochin), Raki (a Columbian), and Mountain (a mystery breed). There are a ridiculous amount of chicken breeds out there.

Cory's dad helped them build a gorgeous deck and an impressive coop for their feathered friends:

Exterior view.

Running area.

Interior view.

Side door.

Blondie demonstrates her mastery of the ladder (and yes, all of Cory and Ryan's chickens do respond to  "Here, chick chick chick!").

Ryan and I followed Blondie into the coop...

She was keeping an egg nice and warm.

I found it really interesting that Nugget, Raki, and Mountain lay eggs, but rarely sit on them. Meanwhile, though Blondie rarely lays eggs, she constantly protects the other chickens' eggs while they run around elsewhere. She has a job!

Ryan fetched the egg. Nice work, Blondie!

All of the chickens are used to humans and quite friendly, so they didn't mind that I filmed their snack time:

That's right, chickens like yogurt. And don't worry, Blondie ended up joining in:

And after all that yogurt, it was time to snack on an orange:

Left to right: Raki, Nugget, and Mountain.

I know that I had an exciting evening, but I'd say the chickens had a pretty great one as well: yogurt, oranges, and free roam of the yard. And of course, Cory and Ryan wouldn't let me leave empty handed:

My loot: fresh eggs and peppers from the garden.
Raki lays big dark eggs, Mountain lays big light eggs, and Nugget lays little light eggs.

Oh, and here's the best part: when Cory and Ryan go on their honeymoon next month, I get to cat sit AND chicken sit! Stay tuned for more posts on my egg-gathering adventures. Wisconsin rules.

It's that time again: my 3rd chicken coop tour.

Any time before May of 2011, I never would have imagined myself saying this phrase:

On Saturday, I went on a walking tour of neighborhood chicken coops for the third time.

For me, one Saturday of my summer will always be devoted to thee Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association's Tour Des Coops. In Madison, it's legal to keep up to 4 chickens in a backyard, and local residents just love showing off their coops.

The Jones family (aka Scott, Elysha, Abby, and Clementine) and I took a leisurely walk down the bike path to get to the tour, which was smaller this year (only 6 homes). But still, I had the usual goal: snuggle a chicken.

Commemorative artwork from the 2011 Tour Des Coops (my first visit).

It didn't take us long to find some fresh eggs. 

And it also didn't take long for me to make a friend: Kuna, a 2-year-old Australorp chicken:

Kuna was quite talkative and did a lot of clucking.

Pretty girl, eh?

She had just finished laying this egg. Nice one, Kuna!

She lived in a well-decorated coop with some friends, like this gal.

Abby (a chicken coop rookie) had a great time feeding Kuna and her friends.

And soon, we were off to more coops! 

These 3 identical chickens stuck together, so I bonded with their cat instead.

Big Red posed while enjoying a snack.

It was getting pretty hot, so after our chicken coop fix, we grabbed some snacks at the Willy Street Co-Op and headed home via Jenifer Street. Of course, this meant walking by Andrea's house and seeing her latest sidewalk creation:

Ryan Gosling and a dog in sidewalk chalk: picture perfect.

As always, never a dull moment.

For my first Ryan Gosling chalk post, click here.

For my recap of the 2012 Tour Des Coops, click here.

For my recap of the 2011 Tour Des Coops, click here.

My second chicken coop tour. Who would'a thought?

First of all, please excuse the major delay of this post. I bought a condo in Schenk-Atwood and I've been busy busy busy. I currently have two homes, which I suppose is much better than no home. In a few weeks, I'll be totally settled in the new place.

Now, for the chickens:

On June 23rd, my friend Elysha and I went to the Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association's Tour Des Coops. After loving this event last year, I was excited to return for another go. Last year, I was impressed by an array of beautiful feathers. But this year, it was a deluxe coop that caught my eye:

Amy Alstad and Eric Udelhofen's "chicken mansion" is luxury bird living at its finest.

I made sure to take notice of the coops this year, and there were some great ones (including lovely signage).

This tongue-in-cheek chicken coop is a true coop d'etat.

Short and sweet.

After holding a chicken and a turkey during last year's tour, I was hoping to once again snuggle with a feathered friend. Thankfully, Peter and Andrea Robinson (owners of RP's Pasta) had a friendly chicken who was up for a photo op.

Meet Blue! She was quite chatty when I held her and clucked for everyone on the tour.
She got sassy for this photo and wasn't afraid to do a little legbombing.

But wait! There weren't just chickens this year. Elysha found a bunny:

No feathers, but still pretty cute.

Here are a few of my favorite chicken photos from the tour:

"We're too fabulous for a coop, so we chill in the backyard. Don't you dare touch our beach ball."

Elysha and I had a great time with the chickens, and some day she hopes to have a coop of her own.

Click here for my report from last year's Tour Des Coops.

Got Feathers? Tour des Coops!

While chilling at a post-work gathering last week, Amie mentioned that there was a chicken coop tour happening in her neighborhood. That's right, Tour des Coops: a free walking tour of the local chicken coops, sponsored by the Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association. As someone who has never properly toured a chicken coop before, this sounded like a blog-worthy Saturday adventure.

I began my day in true chicken coop fashion: I got feather hair extensions. I had been wanting them for awhile, and I was sold when my friend Nicole told me that Fine Featherheads were cruelty-free. Thanks to Jece for putting them in:

6 feathers: 2 red, 2 purple, and 2 black & white.
Because I have very thick hair, they should stay in for 8 weeks. Sweet!

I had feathers in my hair and I was truly in the mood to bond with some chickens. I walked to the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood, which is about a mile from my apartment. On my way there, I passed this lovely window decoration on East Johnson Street:

A house is not complete without a cow in the front window.

Daily dose of cow: complete! Now, onto the chickens. I arrived at the first stop on the tour: Richard Freihoefer's chicken coop:

Two chickens hanging out in their coop.

Richard owns two types of chickens: Buff Orpington (tan) and Plymouth Rock (black & white).

The coop is in Richard's backyard. We chatted and I told him that I'm new in town and recently started this blog. Then, he said words that were music to my ears: "Would you like to hold a chicken?" I obviously said yes. As it may have already been implied, I'm a total animal lover. I never refuse an opportunity to snuggle an animal:

Complete with my feathered hair, I totally bonded with this bird (Richard doesn't name his chickens).
She let me hold her for quite awhile and enjoyed being petted.

Little did I know that it was about to get even better. Obviously getting the impression that I love holding animals, Richard asked me: "Would you like to hold a baby turkey?" Again, obviously, my answer was yes:

Meet Tom: he's a 4-week-old baby turkey.
He didn't mind being held and petted, but his real joy came from pecking at my rings. 

After bonding with Richard's birds, I decided to continue exploring the local coops. Before I left, Richard gave me three eggs fresh from the coop:

Thanks for the eggs, Richard!

I proceeded to explore other local coops (all of which are in the backyards of homes in a residential neighborhood). I saw some chickens with beautiful feathers (much fancier than the ones in my hair):

Click to enlarge the photos and see the feathers up close: they're gorgeous! 

After touring a few coops, I thought that I should go check out Lake Mendota (Madison is an isthmus surrounded by lakes). On my way to the lake, I ran into Amie, who had told me about the tour. She had also just finished touring the coops, and I wound up making a pit stop at her house instead of seeing the lake (it's not going anywhere and I'm sure I'll see it eventually). I got to meet Mr. Otterpants (a very sweet cat) and grab a snack. Thanks for the rhubarb turnover, Amie!