Bird Dogs and Baby Chickens

I have two trained bird hunting dogs. One was trained by a professional and has a little more self control (and discretion), the other was trained by me, and believes "if it flies - it dies".

So 31 chickens is quite an event for my bird dogs - they've lost their minds, and can't hear ANYTHING except squeaking chicks. If you look closely, the dogs are shaking.

.... just trying to keep things exciting at my house.

The chicks have arrived - 2 days old.

I got a phone call from the Post Office today.


The chicks were here, and if I was willing to drive to a distribution center, I could have them on today (on a Sunday)
I unpacked 31 chickens, and dipped each of their beaks into the water (twice). They seem to be doing okay - they are supposed to be kept at 95 degrees for the first week.

Next up, Economics

I wasn't sure I should take a class for spring quarter.

I've got baby chicks coming, a new dog that is driving me nuts, and still the whole work/commute thing.

Spring brings lot's of yard work for me, and I'm just not sure how much time I can fit in.

Well - I'm going for it... so tomorrow starts microeconomics.

Camden Yards

Spenser's friend David is in town, and Spenser had class - so it was my turn to play tour guide.

We went to Camden Yards in Baltimore, and did a tour of Oriole Park.

From the dugout toward the B&O Warehouse

From the warehouse

This foul pole came with them from their old stadium (memorial stadium), it's good luck - so they think.

The coolest part... unknown to us till today...

In right field is the B&O warehouse which was remodeled with the stadium. They assumed balls would leave the park and hit the building - so the first three floors of windows are shatterproof. Turns out that there is a wind tunnel that comes through the street, and the balls drop.

They mark the spot on the street with this emblem...something like 65 balls have left the ballpark in the 16 years, AND ONLY ONE ball has ever hit the building.

Who hit the ball?

Ken Griffey Jr in 1993 home run derby. He has the only emblem on the building, the rest are on the street.

Angie gets an "A"

My Environmental Philosophy class is now over.
It turned out to be a really great class, I worked really hard and got an "A".

I'm still debating about taking a class this next quarter. Spring is about to be upon me, with baby chickens, trees to plant and acres to care for, and visitors. Not to mention Ripley and Ollie.
There just may not be any extra time until after my outdoor duties are over.

Next up is microeconomics.

The chickens are coming

So the neighbors and I made an agreement to raise chickens together. They already have a coop, but all their chickens are now gone.





So - I'll purchase and raise the chickens for the first few weeks (they need some care), and then I'll put them in their coop for them with some of my help - and we'll split the eggs.

I've learned so much about chickens! You purchase day old chicks from a hatchery, and they will send them through the mail.


Turns out there is a huge boom in chicken raising, and I found it difficult to get most of the ones that we had wanted. We had to order back in Nov for a March delivery of the popular breeds.

There are really two types of chickens - good egg layers that will lay about an egg a day, and "pretty" ones (As my neighbor likes to call them) which lay about one every third day. The good egg layers and the normal chickens that we've all seen - but then there are some crazy looking chickens.

I've been warned that I need to buy extra to share with the wildlife. Hawks and coyotes take off with them, especially when they are little. So - I've purchased (32) chicks that will be delivered the last week of this month. We assumed to lose 1/2, and when they start laying will give us about a dozen every other day, which is more than we can eat - but we know people.
They should start laying at the end of the summer.


Some of the real exotic ones don't come sexed , so you can assume that 1/2 will be males - if you play the odds - we could end up with 3 males. We can see which ones we like best, and eat all but 1 of them. Did you know that you don't have to have a male to have eggs?

I'm curious to see if the "pretty ones" are dumber than the ugly good egg layer ones.

... I haven't yet figured out how I raise 32 chickens in the house with two bird-dogs.



<--------- This one lays blueish-green eggs (but we couldn't get any of those!)