Marilyn Archives - Bumblebee Blog

Bzzzz November 10th, 2010

If you were expecting a savory fall poultry recipe from reading this post title, you’ll be disappointed! You can’t eat these chickens because they’re pets. And you can’t eat this sage, because it’s ornamental. (Okay, the flowers of the stunning salvia elegans—pineapple sage—are edible.)

As I was giving the chickens fresh water this morning they were kicking up such a fuss about the fact that they didn’t get their afternoon walkabout yesterday that I opened the gate so they could have extra time wandering the yard and gardens. Fall is one of their favorite times of year, I think, because there is such adventure searching for bugs under every fallen leaf. I am also less prone to shoo them away from areas of the garden that I don’t want them scratching in since the garden is largely devastated by fall already. What harm is a little bit of chicken foraging going to do?

The chickens did seem to tire of their bug hunting adventures early though because I caught them congregating near one of the bird baths for a mid-day snooze. As you can see though, T. Boone Chickens is still guarding his girls.

He’ll have some help with the guard duty soon though. As it turns out, my instincts on the gender of Edith’s baby were correct. Baby is a rooster and is now learning to crow. He is now called Ricky since he is clearly not a Lucy.

Posted In: Chickens

Tags: hens, Marilyn, Ricky, rooster, T. Boone Chickens

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Bzzzz July 1st, 2009

I wonder if the reason God makes baby animals so adorably cute is to ensure that we will love and care for them?

Think of a baby kitten’s wide-eyed stare, puppies tumbling over each other in enthusiastic play, baby koala bears holding on to their mums, baby kids flopping their big ears around. Heck, even babies that grow up to be killers are lovable when they’re little—baby bear cubs, coyotes, foxes.

Not snakes though. A small size does not improve a snake’s lovability factor.

Baby chicks, I think, rank among the most adorable of the adorable baby animals. Adorablest? I know because I have six new baby chicks as of this morning—two buff laced Polish, two standard white crested blue and two Easter egg standard. (At least, that’s what I ordered.)

This adorable Easter egg standard's name is Meredith. Not only will Meredith go nicely with Myrtle, Maude, Madelein and Marilyn, but it is also Ben's girlfriend's name. Live long and prosper, Meredith!

This little cutie is one of the Easter egg standards and will grow up to lay blue/green eggs.

If everyone survives to adulthood, we will then have 12 hens and a big old rooster named T. Boone Chickens. That will double the number of hens T. Boone must service.

My husband keeps shaking his head and asking, “What are we going to do with a dozen eggs a day?”

Frankly, I don’t give a damn. I just like my chickens. The eggs dishes are a bonus—quiche, pound cake, omelets, souffle, frittatas, egg salad, deviled eggs, creme brulee, chocolate ice cream, cookie dough ice cream, chocolate chip cherry ice cream…

Posted In: Chickens

Tags: chicks, Easter egg chicken, eggs, hens, Madelein, Marilyn, Maude, Meredith, Myrtle, Polish chicken, T. Boone Chickens