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I was wondering, Robyn, how many eggs do you get from your chickens? (and just how many chickens do you have?) If I wanted to have chickens laying eggs for two adults, how many chickens would I need? And do I have to have a rooster as well to make the ladies produce?? (Sorry, I’m realizing that last question is pretty basic – I could probably find the answer with just a quick Internet search. But I’m lazy and know that you can give me the answer.)

According to Fred, we currently have about 60 chickens, but in the next few weeks there’s going to be some processing done, and I imagine 10 – 15 of them will head off to Freezer Camp (especially most of the roosters.) At the moment we’re getting a couple of dozen eggs a day. Good laying hens produce an egg about every 36 hours – or to round down a little and make it easier to estimate, I’d say a hen lays an egg every other day.

How many chickens you need depends on how many eggs you use. We use four eggs a day, every single day, for breakfast. We also occasionally eat egg salad, and of course use eggs to bake with every now and then. I can’t imagine that we’d ever reduce the flock to a number smaller than 2 dozen hens for the two of us, but I also know that our egg consumption is on the high side and some people could go for weeks on a dozen eggs.

(I have my cholesterol level checked once a year and it’s always been ideal, if y’all are wondering. I know I’d be curious!)

Lastly, and YOU GUYS PAY ATTENTION TO THIS: you absolutely DO NOT need a rooster for hens to produce eggs. It would drive me nuts back when I watched Survivor, and the contestants would eat one of the hens instead of the rooster because they thought a rooster was necessary for egg production. IT IS NOT.

Roosters are necessary if you want fertilized eggs (and you cannot taste the difference between a fertilized and non-fertilized egg, I promise you), but if you’re not looking to expand your flock (or have adorable fluffy chicks to cuddle), a rooster isn’t required.

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Are you and Fred getting any pigs this year?

No pigs this year – we still have a freezer full of pork. I miss having pigs – and that field is perfect for them – but I understand why we’re not getting them (it was Fred’s decision, since he’s usually the one to take care of them). But next year, for sure!

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I’m curious about how all the kitties do with the Furminator. Are they compliant or do they put up a fuss? Any tips on how to successfully Furminate a kitty? Only one of mine tolerates it to any efficient degree. The others either slink their bodies away from it or just flat run off.

None of the cats are super fond of the Furminator, and in fact with most of them I can only get a few swipes in before they run off. Sugarbutt kind of likes it, but he gets bitey after a few minutes. Miz Poo will tolerate being brushed with it, but she whimpers sadly about it (drama queen.) Kara would probably let me brush her all day long, just because she likes the attention. Tommy’s okay with it for a few minutes, Jake runs and hides, and Maxi, Newt, and Alice act like I’m trying to beat them. I brushed Stefan with it a couple of times the other day, but he actually didn’t have much loose fur on him. The only tip I have is one that I don’t really like to use – you could hold them (gently) by the nape of the neck while you brush. But they don’t like it, and I don’t like to do it, so I mostly give up and expect to do a lot of vacuuming this time of year.

Interesting fact: if you pet Kara, she feels really soft and sleek. Not much fur comes off when you pet her, and I used to think that she just wasn’t a shedder, but when I do brush her with the Furminator, I get an amazing amount of fur. One day I’m going to have to make a video to show how much I get when I brush her!

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I need this, maybe you have one.

I don’t have one – and I can’t imagine my cats laying that close to each other without hissing and smacking! But I’d love to be able to give it a try.

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Seems like no one can be trusted in the foster room – everyone is keeping on eye on everyone else….

You know what? They’re all a bunch of shifty characters, and it’s good that everyone’s keeping an eye on each other! They’re all total tattletales, too.

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Unrelated to this post: Robyn, a little while back you gave me some advice with regard to my senior kitty with cataracts who would dip her paws in the water dish to see where the water level was at and subsequently get litter clumped to her feet because her paws were wet.

I wanted to let you know that I took your suggestion to put something floaty in the water dish (I cut a straw into 1″ pieces and put two pieces in each water dish). I also bought a raised dish (the stainless bowls sit in an elevated framework). I am very happy to report that she no longer dips her paws! It’s working out very well & is such a huge relief that I just wanted to thank you very much for your help!

That is wonderful news! Thanks for letting us know that it worked out so well.

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Awww, Miss Dorfy blew into our hearts three years ago today! *Waves to Dorothy and her mom!*

Can you BELIEVE it’s been three years since she showed up here? It doesn’t seem nearly that long!

And my favorite picture of her. Such an adorable girl! If you click on the link to 2011’s post, you’ll see her hussying it up with Rufus.

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Is it me or does Tricki have a touch of the Loon.

Tricki IS slightly loonified. The loon particles must have floated through the screen door and gotten into her system!

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I really don’t understand why Tricki wasn’t adopted right away. I mean, she’s absolutely beautiful, her name is awesome and she seems like a super sweet little monkey. I would have had a really hard time walking away from her.

She is THE sweetest thing. She’s also, unfortunately, a scaredy cat. I know that when I’ve been in the cat room while dropping off or picking up other cats, her response is to hide in the litter box. Even when I brought her back here, she spent the majority of the first week and a half hanging out in the foster room closet (I say “closet”, but it’s almost as big as the foster room itself – I don’t want y’all to think she’s crammed into the back of a tiny closet.) When she’s given time, she relaxes and starts coming around – if I go into the foster room and sit on the floor, she comes right over to be petted. I was laying on Fred’s bed yesterday reading, and she alternated licking my arm and flopping over on her back. She is gorgeous, she is sweet, but she just doesn’t “present” well. It’s going to take someone who’s willing to look past the scaredy-cat aspect and give her a chance.

I know it can happen, I just want it to happen SOON.

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Nice pictures, and a plant we call the same name! Spiraea is very popular here too and its long arching branches of white flowers are why its also known as the Bridal Wreath bush. It is one of my favourites, however your Primroses are NOT the same at all. Ours are yellow and occasionally flushed with pink in the wild form and in many,many colours as cultivars known as Primula. We also have a long stemmed wild form called Cowslips which are mentioned in Midsummer Nights Dream.

I would be interested to know what your Primroses are and the field of yellow looks like Oilseed rape.

That yellow field is, indeed, Oilseed Rape. We initially thought that it was Goldenrod, but I got a close-up of the flowers and consulted the internet and found that it’s actually Oilseed Rape. I don’t know if this is the first year they’ve grown it in that field or we just haven’t noticed it in the past, but it certainly is pretty. I’m going to try to remember to pay attention next year and see if they grow it every year.

Our Primrose is the Showy Primrose, which is a type of evening primrose. They grow all over the place around here, and I’ve always thought they were really pretty. According to the Wikipedia page I linked, they can also be invasive. Which I guess explains why I see so many of them growing in fields and beside the roads!

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I took this poster down off the wall because there was a big rip in the corner (and also, I was ready to put something different in that spot on the wall), and the INSTANT I put the poster on the floor, Thomas claimed it as his.

“What?”

Pretty Miss Livia, in her favorite nappin’ spot.

“You gonna lay down and read so I can bite your book, lady?”

Livia and Dennis doing the move we refer to as “sniffing noses.” I know, we’re so creative.

Such a good girl, putting up with having that whippersnapper all up in her face. I didn’t witness it myself, but Fred reported that yesterday Livia was licking Dennis on top of the head, and then he started licking her, and it was just a big ol’ lovefest. I wish I’d seen it!

Tricki, curly-tailing it.

Tricki! Your zipper is showing! (She doesn’t have a scar, her fur happened to be laying just right.)

GORGEOUS.

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Speaking of gorgeous!

I did my best to get a video of Corbie’s squeaky non-meow. In the first section, I was doing my best to fake a sneeze, because usually when I sneeze he squeaks at me (I think it hurts his ears). He wasn’t fooled by my fakery, though. In the second segment, I did get his squeak a couple of times. I sure do love that silly boy.

YouTube link.

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Previously
2013: Aslan’s eating style is what I call “crumb catching” – long after everyone else is done eating, he’s still there licking up what’s left.
2012: The Downfall of Senator Stanley J. Boogerton
2011: The little hussy.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: She kicked Sugarbutt’s butt but good.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.

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