Teaching Old Chickens New Tricks

What's a golf ball doing in our chicken coop?  Actually, there are 3 golf balls currently in the nesting boxes of our coop. The golf balls are teaching our chickens where to lay their eggs.  It makes me laugh.

This year's group of Gals were all about 1 year old and laying daily when they arrived on the Little Farm.  As you can imagine, moving from one "farm" to another can be a bit discombobulating for a poor hen.  That is a big change, especially for a less than genius chicken.

I mean...when, early in our marriage, I moved the laundry hamper from one side of a door to another it took The Big Guy about a year to get used such a monumental change.  I moved the silverware drawer (it moved from the top drawer to the one directly below) about 5 years ago.  The males in my house are still getting used to that one...but I digress.  (I love the differences between boys and girls!)

Anyway, when the Gals moved in, they weren't sure where their eggs were supposed to go.  For the first couple of days, we found them all over the ground under their coop.  This wasn't the end of the world, we still found them easily and such.  However, a few of them were broken. 

Broken eggs!  That's like throwing away a treasure!

So, Farmer Ron stuck one golf ball in each of the nesting boxes on the top of the coop.   Ta Da!  The next day, we had 4 eggs laid IN the nesting boxes.  All they needed was a good example.  Good thinking Farmer Ron!  The Gals sure are quick learners.

At this juncture, I could point out that the Gals are, in fact, GIRLS and that said girls adjusted to this change quite speedily.  And this stands in stark contrast to how the males on the Little Farm seem adjust to things moving around, but I won't...

The Chickens Have Arrived!

The Gals have arrived on the Little Farm!  They moved in last Saturday morning and have already given us 6 eggs and some laughs.  We've even had some sessions of Chicken PE classes!

This year's group are all less than one year old.  We've got a Rhode Island Red, Americuna, Brown Americuna/Unknown cross and a Black Australop.  So far, their eggs have ranged from off white to dark tan.  The dark tan eggs are easily the size of jumbo eggs from the store.

The Gals are currently living in the backyard.  Farmer Ron moved their chicken coop/tractor thingy back there from its place beside our garden.  We thought we'd let them get used our place and roam around the backyard for a few weeks.  The garden is pretty wet and sloppy right now.  When it dries out, we'll move their coop out there and let them eat all the random seeds and weeds in the garden.  We love letting them do our work!


In their coop

We're all glad to have the coop filled again, especially the three youngest Young'uns.  They have been out to look for eggs about 3 times each day.  The youngest Young'un spent a good deal of time in the backyard talking and singing to them.  Hope they like company!



Hanging out by the sandbox


I know the Gals have been given names, but I'm not sure what they are...I've heard about 20 different ones floating around in the past few days.  When they've been officially christened, I'll let you know.

Be sure to check the Egg Count in the sidebar.  I'll keep it updated every few days.  We'll see if these Gals earn their keep over the next eight months or so.

Chickens on the Farm, A Drama in Three Parts, Part One

The Gals of 2009

This is our second year of having chickens here on the Farm.  We like them.  Not only do they provide us with yummy, healthy, non-contaminated (remember the big egg recall this summer) eggs, the Gals are also a source of entertainment and a chance for the Young'uns to learn a bit more responsibility and good work habits. All in all, chickens are a good deal.

Last year, we got day old chicks in late April/ early May.  The four little babies were cute (yes, I am saying this about an animal) and lived out their first week or so in a Rubbermaid tub on a table in our dining room.  Ellie took to carrying her chick around in her sweatshirt pocket which is not something I'd recommend.  Young chicks apparently don't like such treatment and we had to find a replacement chick for the one which Ellie loved a bit too much.  We had lots of visitors (young kids), all curious and wanting to hold our new Farm residents.  It was such fun to watch them!

Totally amazed!

When they got a bit bigger, the chickens moved into the basement where they stayed for about 3 weeks.  They seemed to like their little blue swimming pool home.  We hung a heat lamp over them to make sure they stayed warm enough.  During this time, pretty much every visitor to our home made the trip to our scary basement to see how much the Gals had grown.

While the chickens were going from newborns to adolescents (in just a few weeks), Farmer Ron was building them a swanky chicken tractor.  He spent a good deal of time looking around the Internet at different types of coops.  Ours ended up being a bit of a few different coops he liked all rolled into one. 

A bit older here.  See the more adult feathers on their wings?

FYI- Farmer Ron is not the handiest of men; he just doesn't roll that way.  A man can't be good at everything, after all!  However, he did a great job on the coop!  I was proud of him and the Gals seemed to approve when they moved in around mid-June.

Our poultry residents spent their first couple of weeks out in the real world in our back yard.  They'd poke around the yard during the day and head into their coop at night.  We had to put boards around the bottom of our fence because those things can squeeze through some pretty small spaces!  It was amazing to see how many fewer weeds our yard had while they were back there.  Also, the grass in the spots where their coop sat (chicken tractors are designed to be moved) grew like crazy.  The grass in those places was a deep, dark pretty green and completely weed free!  Just a little chicken bonus...

When they were a bit larger and young adultish, the Gals moved out to the field next to our house.  We put their coop next to the gate in our garden and made a yard of sorts for them out of chicken wire.  They liked poking around their yard and the garden.  I wondered if they would damage the garden plants and was happy to find they left most of it alone.  We lost a few tomatoes and some kale, but in exchange we got some good fertilizer and had fewer bugs and weeds.  Good trade!

It was around this time we realized 2 of the "Gals" should actually be called the "Guys."  This wasn't good.  First, it is legal to have hens in the city limits, NOT roosters.  Second, as any good biology student knows, boys don't lay eggs.  We wanted some eggs.  Thankfully, our Chicken Lady (as we called her) was very gracious and allowed us to make an exchange.

Chicken Lover

All this time, Ellie and Farmer Ron were falling more and more in love with the Gals.  They both spent time sitting on the ground next to the coop just watching them walk around pecking at the dirt.  It even got to the point, that when Farmer Ron walked into an area where the chickens were roaming, they all ran to him and followed him around.  He had his own little clucking harem!

Also during this time we were waiting...and waiting...and waiting.  For eggs.

Being the rookies that we were, we hadn't been too picky out the breed of chickens we got.  Nor did we realize different breeds take different amounts of time to start laying eggs.  Our chickens took their own sweet time and it was late August before we saw our first eggs.  It was a big day here on the Farm, we even took a photo!

Once they started laying, the Gals got busy and we had four eggs each day for about 3 1/2 months.  It was great!  The eggs were various shade of brown and eggs and had deep dark yellow/orange yolks on the inside.  We'd never seen scrambled eggs that color before!

The chickens were the stars of the Farm - the kids enjoyed showing them off, neighbors and passer-bys stopped to see if they were really seeing what they thought they were seeing in the middle of town, young visitors loved opening up the coop to check for eggs and Farmer Ron had his Gals.

We were all full of chicken love...but a cold wind was starting to blow...stay tuned.

Rubbermaid house with heat lamp. Don't tell my Mom we kept this in the dining room...please.

Over 400 Eggs! (and none of them have been recalled)

In the past week or so, we went over the 400 mark on the Egg Count!  Today, the gals officially gave us egg number 426.  426 eggs translates to about 35 dozen eggs from 4 chickens since the end of March.

This is pretty good considering the unexplained Strike and the Tragedy we had earlier this summer which caused a bit of an interruption in egg production.  Also, Marshmallow stopped laying in mid-June which is a shame since she laid almost ostrich-sized eggs.  OK, they weren't that big, but they were huge enough to make me feel a tiny bit bad for her each day.  I thought for sure Farmer Ron would put Marshmallow on the (chopping) block instead of letting her free load, but then he is a big 'ol softie when it comes to his gals, chicken and human alike.  So for lots of this time, we've only had three hens laying.

We paid $8.00 for each of the gals.  If a cheap dozen of regular old eggs costs about $1.00 per dozen, we've covered the cost of each bird with a bit of change to spare thus far.  We haven't keep exact count of the feed expenses, but I think it's around $25.00.  So, we've got a bit to go before we come out even on the costs of the chickens in 2010.  If we normally bought free range and/or organic eggs, we would have seen our money back a long time ago as those eggs cost at least $2.00 per dozen.

However, we won't be calling it quits with the gals (aka. moving them from their coop to the deep freeze in the basement) until sometime in November or December (or whenever Farmer Ron and the Young'uns get tired of taking care of chickens in the cold).  This means we could get pretty close to coming out at least even when all is said and done this year.

Even if we don't come out exactly on the plus side of things, I still feel good about the chickens especially in light of all the chicken hub-bub in the news.  Since our eggs come from chickens we can see out our dining room window, I'm not at all worried about the Young'uns getting sick from eating one. Peace of mind is worth lots more than a few dollars.

Plus, I'm not sure how to put a price tag on the conversations the gals have opened up with neighbors or the pride and amazement of young visitors to the Farm when they find an egg in the coop all by themselves.  And then there's the sheer entertainment of watching the chicken chasing...that's definitely priceless.

Update on the Gals

Sorry to have left you hanging about the chickens!  It's been a crazy couple of days here on the Farm.  Lots of the usual - cooking, cleaning, laundering, playing, hugging and bathing, plus a bit of chauffeuring children, Mary Poppins watching and, big news...painting at the new church.  Yes, Emmanuel Church will meet in it's new location tomorrow morning.  Praise God!

Now you see why I haven't sat down at the computer...

The Gals appear to be fine!  Yeah!  So far, so good.  We've only gotten one egg in the past two days, but that's be expected I would think when a chicken has had a brush with death.  At least I know laying eggs would be the last thing on my mind in such a situation.

On Friday morning, it was raining pretty good (again!) but all of the ladies made an appearance under and outside of the coop.  As the sun came out, they all got braver and made the rounds of the chicken yard.  They are moving a little slower, it seems to me, and look pretty bedraggled due to all the missing feathers. But they are still alive and kicking and for that we're very grateful!

We did have a few scares on Friday, but there were just false alarms which actually turned out to be pretty funny.  Every so often during the day, one of us would look over in the direction of the chickens and notice one laying prostrate (a very un-chicken like position) on the grass.  Naturally, we thought the poor Gal had succumb to her injuries and gone to the big Coop in the Sky.  This was not the case.

If we walked out close to the chicken yard or just watched for a couple of minutes, the chicken would pop back up and start doing her thing.  It was a bit humorous to watch. Guess they just needed to take a little rest.

We had a couple of extra 9 year old boys here on Friday.  They had been told about the drama of the night before and had surveyed the blood and gore as soon as they had arrived.  The possibility that Farmer Ron might have to help one of the Gals out of her misery was dangling in front of them all afternoon.  Needless to say, they watched the chickens quite closely. 

A couple of times when the boys looked over and saw one the Gals playing possum on the ground, they all went running to the garage for the shovels...thinking there was going to be a chicken funeral.  They were happy, but also a bit disappointed when the spunky Gal jumped back up.  I love boys!

We don't really have anything to compare our chickens to, but it seems we've got some pretty tough birds here on the Little Farm.

Tragedy on the Little Farm - Rain, Chicken Feathers and Tears

Rain, chicken feathers and tears.  It hasn't been the best day here on the Farm. 

First of all, it's raining...again.  We've had so much rain in our area this month that everyone in town is making Noah/ark jokes.  I kid you not, I heard one on the radio this morning, at the gas station and from the Big Guy.  Surely, this is a representative total.

More rain means more flooding in the garden.  We have 7 raised beds in the middle of our garden which are water logged, but still doing OK.  However, the perimeter of the garden is just on the regular ground and it's a big muddy mess.  The tomatoes in this section look pitiful.  The lettuce was doing so poorly we pulled it out between storms and the kale is...well, the kale is just plain sad.  The zucchini in our side plots, however, are doing fine.  Good ol' zucchini.

So, the garden is suffering.  We've gotten 3 ice cream pails full of beans, a few green peppers, some swiss chard and 5 zucchini so far.  This is great, but things look somewhat dismal out there.

The big tragedy on the Farm today concerns our chickens.  The poor, poor gals (and I am not being sarcastic here).  The chickens were attacked by one of our neighbor dogs - some sort of terrier breed, I believe.  It was awful.  There are feathers everywhere in their coop and fenced in area.

About 6 pm, Jacob, our second son, looked out the window and yelled.  He saw one chicken flying over the side of the fenced chicken yard and what looked to be a cat running around the bottom of the coop itself.  Jake is a get 'er done, common sense kid.  His first reaction was to yell for me, grab his BB gun (kept conveniently on our back porch, call the dog and run out the door.  I appreciate his quick thinking more and more as he gets older.  If something is going down, I want Jake on my side.

I ran out too and what we found wasn't pretty.  The dog was running out of the bottom of the coop and running around the big fenced-in chicken yard.  There were feathers strewn about under the coop and all over the yard.  Some were in large clumps.  Two chickens, Marshmallow and Mrs. Chicken, ran quickly up into the coop.  The other two were nowhere to be seen.

Jake began walking around our field and our neighbors yards.  He quickly found ZZ (the black and white striped gal) hiding in some vines by a fence.  She was the one he'd seen flying over the fence and who seemed to have the biggest clumps of feathers lying about.  He picked her up and put her in the coop.  We both looked about for Goldie (golden colored) with no success.

Jake, Mr. Observant, knew who the dog belonged to.  The dog had a leash dangling from his collar, so I brought him home while Jake kept searching for Goldie.  I told our neighbor only that the dog and gotten into our coop and chewed up at least three of the gals pretty good.  He was very kind and offered to pay for whatever he needed to.  I told he we'd get back to him, but not to worry.  I mean, it was a dog, an animal.  They do stuff like that.

Where was Farmer Ron in all of this?  At a soccer game, of course.  'Tis the season.  He pulled in about 30 minutes after all the commotion.  We looked over the gals again and decided to let them be for the night.  We were pretty sure that if Goldie could make it home she would.  Chickens are pretty chicken and they if do get out of the coop and yard, they always come back when it starts to get dark.  She showed about 45 minutes later and seems to be fine.

The tears were from Ellie.  She and Zach (young'uns numbers 3 and 4) love the gals the most.  They actually do most of the care taking without being asked.  They're good kids.  Zach was sad, but stoic.  Elle Belle let it all flow.  I didn't shed any tears, but it did make me sad, too.  Some of you know this, but I have no great love (OK, no love at all for animals).  However, something is different about the chickens...  I haven't sorted it all out yet, but I think it has something to do with the fact that they feed my family and are, somehow, part of it.  Those gals help me in my attempts at being a good Mom.  Sounds a big goofy, but there it is.

How will this tragedy play out is yet to be seen.  Chickenwise, not sure what Farmer Ron will find when he heads out to the coop in the morning.  And you can be sure that he'll be the one taking the first look.  I won't do it and I won't be allowing Zach and Ellie to do it either.

Neighborwise, this will be an opportunity to get to know them better.  The family keeps to themselves and we've yet to really get to know them.  We've shared a lot of waves and "hellos," but not much else.  These aren't the best circumstances, but it's certainly forcing some contact.  I pray we handle it in a God-honoring way.

So, there you go...Tragedy on the Little Farm.  We'll keep you posted.

The Gals Are Back on Their Game

Marshmallow, the deluded hen, is the one wearing the white feathers.

Did you notice the number over on the Egg Count?  The Gals have laid 306 eggs (Give or take a few...it's hard to keep count some days when 3 different Young'uns keep checking for eggs.  Especially when one of the said Young'uns is 2 years old.)  We've had them since March 19th.  So, that's about 2.8 eggs per day.

We used to get about 3.2 eggs per day.  However, about a month ago, the Gals went on strike for some mysterious reason.  We went from getting at least 3 eggs per day to getting zero - bam - all at once.  After ruling out a curious little neighbor gal and aliens, our working theory for the lack of eggs was molting.  However, now that some time has passed and we don't have a group of partially naked chickens running around, we're pretty sure this wasn't the case.  The interruption in egg production seems to be just that - an interruption because things have been pretty much back to normal for about a week or so. 

The weather around the time the Gals stopped laying was uncharacteristically cool and cloudy.  Hens slow down their laying as the days get shorter and cooler.  Could this be it?  Who knows?

We do have one chicken who has been acting strange ever since the strike began.  Her name is Marshmallow.  She's our biggest Gal and laid eggs the size of bowling balls.  OK, not really bowling balls, but they were HUGE!  Marshmallow is still on strike.  We know because we haven't had any massive eggs since June 15th.  She doesn't venture out of the coop much, but prefers to spend her days sitting on the eggs the other Gals lay.  She's still eating and has bright eyes and comb, so our best guess is that she's "brooding."  A hen who is brooding sits on her eggs in order to keep them warm so they'll hatch.

Ummmm, poor Marshmallow!  We may have to have a little chat about the birds and the bees with her...there are no roosters here on the Farm.

The Gals Are On Strike!

Have you noticed how slowly the numbers on The Egg Count have been creeping up?  For the past couple of months, we've been averaging 3.4 eggs per day from the four Gals.  However, things have changed.

It appears the Gals are on strike.

When the Young'uns skip out to check for eggs each day, they are coming back sad faced and empty handed.  We've been eking out about an egg a day for the last week or so.

Hmmmm.

This is only our second year of having chickens here on the Farm, so Farmer Ron and I are not exactly poultry experts in any way, shape or form.  Like most things we do, we figure the best way to learn is by doing, so we got the chickens and we're figuring it out as we go.  We even took this approach to having kids..."Let's just start trying and see what happens."  So far, it's worked well, a bit chaotic, but well.

Not being completely well versed in the way of the chicken, we're at a bit of a loss as to the slow down in egg production.  Many theories have been thrown around the dinner table - a sneaky little neighbor gal, the lack of sun, a shortage of eggs on some other planet (think aliens), a need for the coop to be moved, chicken stress (whatever this might be), a sneaky animal neighbor, chicken cannibalism (we haven't seen any empty shells).  See how may possibilities with which we have to work?

The best theory we've come up with is that the Gals are molting.  What is molting you ask?  Here's your answer, thanks to wiki answers:

Molting is the process of shedding and renewing its feathers. During the molt the reproductive system of the bird is allowed a complete rest from laying and the bird builds up its body reserves of nutrients. It is a natural process, designed to maintain the birds' ability to escape enemies by flight( strong new feathers) and to provide greater protection against cold winter conditions. In most breeds the molt occurs once per year but can actually happen twice in the same year. The molt can last from 3 months and occasionally for up to 5 months depending on the condition of the bird at the start of molt. A good tonic added to the drinking water will help speed this along.

So, we're using molting as our working theory of our lack of eggs.  We really don't have a clue if it's a correct theory, but we're going with it for now and we'll see what happens.  Three months is a long time to keep these Gals if they aren't going to give us eggs since we don't keep them over the winter anyway.  (They end up in our freezer somewhere around the start of December.) 

Will we break the Laying Chickens Union strike and bring in scabs? 

Stay tuned...who knew chickens could bring such drama to our lives?

200 Eggs

Just in case you didn't notice, I thought I'd point out that we've hit the 200 mark in the Egg Count. Actually, we hit 200 about 3 days ago or so. Our Gals have officially bestowed us with 214 little beauties since March 19th. For you mathy folk, that's 3.24 eggs per day.

The coop has been moved to the field area behind the garden. I believe Farmer Ron's plan is to move it around the field and our fruit trees for at least the next several weeks. We're not sure what these Gals will do to our garden so they may not be given free reign there like the Gals of 2009 were. We like our chickens, but if they tore up our garden it might just be the end of them. The Gals of 2009 - sounds kind-of like the title of a chicken pin-up calendar.

214 eggs sounds like a lot of eggs and it is. However, it still isn't enough to cover our eggs needs here on the Farm. I still get eggs at the grocery store just not nearly as many as before the Gals arrived.

Zach and Ellie, Young'uns #3 and #4, are pretty much the chicken keepers. Farmer Ron cares for them also. But those 2 kiddos do lots of the feeding, most of the egg collecting and all of the chicken chasing if we need it. Abby, the 2 year old, has even gotten into the chicken chasing. According to Zach and Ellie, Abby is getting "pretty good" at it. Not sure exactly what that means, but she sure is proud to tell me about it when she comes in from helping the big kids.

What are the gals eating these days? Lots of bugs and weeds from the field where they wander, some chicken feed from Fleet Farm and some of our veggie and fruit scraps, too. They must be liking the menu because they've fattened up since arriving on the Farm.

These Gals are pretty Eggsellent. Sorry. Couldn't resist!

Spring on the Little Farm!

It's here! It's really, truly, actually here! Spring! The grass is so green it makes my eyes hurt; the trees have little leaves fluttering on them; the bleeding hearts (these are flowers) are hanging from their branches. It is good!

I thought you might like to see what things are looking like around The Little Farm these days. You're only going to see the outside of the Farm...inside the farmhouse is, well, a bit messy.

Here's the garden and new chicken spread. In the foreground, is the blooming cherry tree. Next is the garden and the bright green spot beyond that is the chicken tractor.


Another look at the garden. The house is in the back.

We just moved the chicken coop to it's new spot and Farmer Ron made a yard for them out of a roll of chicken wire. We needed to get them out of the garden for a while because we planted seeds (lettuces, spinach, chard and other greens) today and they would tear the ground to pieces.

The gals enjoying their new digs. We are getting 4 eggs a day, for the most part. Today we cracked open our first double yolker.

There are even green things poking up in the garden: rhubarb, raspberry bushes and sugar snap peas!




Isn't it exciting? I know some of you live in places where you've already been eating food from your garden...you'll just have to indulge me and my enthusiasm. I can't wait to eat some greens and peas!

Farmer Ron and Zach, our Little Farmer, spent some time getting a few more plots ready for our tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings. I'll keep you posted!

100 Eggs!

We've done it! Well, I guess I should say THEY'VE done it. The Gals have laid over 100 eggs in just about a month. They moved in March 19th and got right to work. In addition to the eggs they've been giving us, they've done a great job eating a bunch of the weeds growing in our backyard. They've also been weeding and fertilizing our garden.

Their only downfall - they scratched up the peas we put into the garden. Despite Farmer Ron's best efforts at chicken proofing the pea patch, they had the pea seeds for lunch.

Meanwhile, we've been eating eggs with yolks the color of oranges. Yum!

You can keep up on the how hard the Gals have been working by watching The Egg Count on the sidebar.

The Gals Out Back

The chickens have made themselves at home in the backyard. We've gotten at least 3 eggs per days since they arrived which we find very impressive. They seem to have settled in quite quickly. Let me just say...the lay some pretty tasty eggs.

There hasn't been much Chicken Chasing PE happening since last week. So, I guess they've decided to stay. Really truly, they are living in a coop in our backyard. They run out of their coop and around the swing set. If I think about this too much is gets me a bit nervous. The line between red neck and urban farmer (smile) seems so thin at times...

The photos only show a tiny bit of the yard because, well, it is a mess right now. Rather embarrassing. We haven't done the after-winter-clean-up yet. The chickens and the young'uns don't mind however. Can you see the littlest farm hand's boots in the background near the sandbox?

This weekend the gals and their coop will be moved to the garden for a while from what Farmer Ron tells me. They can scratch around in there for a bit and eat all the little weeds and weed seeds. We're lazy gardeners!

Ah yes, I need your help because I know you are much smarter than I... I want an egg counter widget! It would be such fun to put some sort of a little counter widget thingy on my blog so that I can keep track of all the eggs we get. However, after spending more than I had to waste, looking for one online, I have come up empty. Any suggestions? The person who can find one will get a free Little Farm in the City omelet! Transportation is NOT included if you live a ways away.

PE on the Farm

How's this for a new take on PE for homeschoolers?

Chicken chasing!

We've had the gals for almost a week and they are not quite sure they want to stay in our backyard. Plus, they are 8 months old and can sort of fly. I mean they aren't going to flap their wings and join the geese flying northward overhead, but they can get from the ground to the top of our 4 ft. fence with no problem.

And if they can get to the top of the fence...

Thus, the new PE class here on the farm was born.




<
It is very entertaining to see the kids outside with their frog catching nets and sticks and whatnot, running around chasing chickens. It is an even better show to see Farmer Ron doing it.


Personally, I don't chase chickens if it can be helped. I'm the teacher. Someone has to watch the class and grade their performance.

The Newest Farm Residents

They are here! After a few miscommunications with the chicken guy, the gals arrived yesterday morning. They went straight into the coop and seemed to be right at home.

Within 10 minutes of their arrival, our youngest four had each claimed and named a chicken. We now have ZZ (because she looks like a Zebra), Marshmallow, Mrs. Chicken and Uno living in our back yard. The kids know that eventually they'll end up in the freezer. They've seen Annie and Snickers, two of last year's ladies, in their chilly new home over the fridge.

They'll stay in their coop for a few days until they get used to the new place. Then we'll let them range around the back yard. We'll also move them into the garden some days so they can scrounge for some leftovers from last year and eat the weed seeds. Less weeding this year! While picking around the garden, they'll also lay down some great fertilizer.

Farmer Ron is very happy. The young'uns all seem to think everything is now right again on the farm. Life is good. Plus, we got four fresh eggs yesterday. Very good!