A Toast to Compost

Compost pile prior to
 being "turned"

Turning the compost pile; an event that happens every three to four months, or in our case, once every year. Yes, we'll admit it. We're horrible at remembering to turn the compost pile. There's no excuse. It's not too late to make another new year's resolution, right? None the less, our compost pile is the gift that keeps on giving.

The amazing compost at the
bottom of the pile. Ready
for the garden.

There are two components (that we were told) to compost. There are "Green" and "Brown" elements. Browns are considered leaves, grass clippings and more leaves. The greens are the "other" compostable elements including foods (breads, fruit peels, leftovers) manure and other compostable goodness! The ratio between greens and browns should be 50/50. It's typically the greens that people have a hard time finding. However with 5 hens living in our backyard, chicken manure is something we're never short on! 

Did you know that hens actually help accelerate the
composting process? They kick and turn up the
material while they eating the weed seeds you
don't want! How cool is that?!

Chicken compost is really potent. Much more potent than horse, pig, or cow manure. You don't want to just place it right on your garden, it will burn your plants. To make kick-ass compost with your chicken manure... it needs to cook in da pile a while (at a hot compost temperature of 130 to 140 degrees for about 60 to 90 days) just to be safe. You don't want to burn your little seedlings! 

The chicken manure I'm pulling out of the coop today should be ready about May. Here's to healthy composting and a yearning for spring!  

Hello. I'm here for Trudy

"Hello. I'm here for Trudy." These were the first words from my mouth this morning when the receptionist at the vet hospital greeted me. She looked me in the eyes and we both knew what I was there for.

Trudy came into my life just 5 short month ago in early August. I had the opportunity to pull the Saint Bernard from death row at rural shelter about an hour southwest of Raleigh. As soon as I saw her photo, my heart sank. But it was worse in person... her rib cage was clearly visible, fleas and ticks covered her filthy coat. Clearly she suffered (with heartworms) in the scorching NC heat for too long. I was so glad our organization, the SPCA of Wake County, could step in and give her a fighting chance.

The first day I took her to the SPCA's Holding Center. I set her up in a kennel and made a comfy bed of blankets so her protruding bones wouldn't hurt on the concrete floors. I took off her old, ragged electric shock collar and replaced it with a new bright red collar. The next day, Saturday, Kyle and I drove down to the Holding Center with frozen KONGS of peanut butter. We gave her a long and cold bath to cool her down in August heat. We spent hours picking fleas off her coat. Then gave her another bath of cold water just for good measure... we set her up with clean blankets and another frozen KONG for the evening.

Clearly she had an assortment of medical issues beyond the heartworms, which we knew when we rescued her. She lived in foster care for weeks, where she suffered from separation anxiety. But she lived inside, with a family in a home as we tried to work with her sad emotional state and medical situations.

After a couple months she came back to the SPCA where she lived in a room where she got a lot of volunteer and staff lovin'. She enjoyed early morning walks around the shelter's woodland paths. But we still knew she had a number of medical issues that needed to be addressed prior to her adoption.

I found out last night that the medical issues were worse than we thought. She had a cancerous tumor in her right front leg. This leg would need to be amputated. Plus the cancerous tumors may have spread to her spleen. This in combination with the heartworms would be too much for us to humanely ask the senior girl to withstand. She needed to be euthanized.

I was the only one she had in this world. I needed to be there for her to stay goodbye.

"Hello. I am here for Trudy."

With a heavy heart the vet tech lead me into the room where Trudy would meet me. A few minutes later a bubbly Trudy pranced into the room and gave me a big lick across the forehead. The vet looked at me and asked if I wanted a few minutes to alone. With tears in my eyes I looked up from the floor and nodded, yes. She left us alone. I sat there with Trudy for five minutes and just pet her. I tried not to get angry at the situation. Where was her family? She had a collar. She was owned. Why didn't her family look for her on death row? Why was she so neglected, flea ridden, and underweight? Above all, how many other Trudys are out there dying ALONE in shelters? I swallowed my anger and exhaled as the vet entered with a series of syringes in her hand.

She joined Trudy and I on the floor. After the first syringe, we slowly guided her to lay down. The second syringe Trudy relaxed completely and went limp. Her chest stopped moving. After the third syringe, the vet listened for her heart beat and gently informed me she was gone.

I say it every day when I wake up in the morning, I have the best job in the world. But sometimes it is tough. Really really tough. But I won't trade it for the world. I was there for Trudy. 

Oh how far a photo will go... Burt's Bees Contest

Early September I saw a Facebook post from Burt's Bees asking their fans to submit a photo "Raising Your Burts." Being the HUGE fan of Burt's Bees that I am, what they say, I do (Ok not literally, but you get the idea).

I've been a fan of Burt's Bees since my aunt LuAnn gave me my first BB lip balm in my Christmas stocking years and years ago. As I grew up, I fell in love with the brand even more because of their commitment to not test on animals, and use only natural products. This solidified my love affair with this brand. 

There were a handful of categories with which you could submit your photo. I chose to highlight my hens and the social issue they stand for. Not only do I support local, sustainable farms, but I also strongly oppose animal testing. My hens are treated humanely and supply my friends and family with "healthy, happy" eggs. 

So I grabbed the bowl of scratch (AKA Chicken Crack) and plopped the nearest tube of Burt's Bees in the middle. With the girls being as dramatic as they are, this was the only way I'd be able to get a shot of them together by the BB lip balm. Feed 'em chicken crack, and they will do whatever you want.

I submitted the photo and that was that. Done. Didn't think anything of it, didn't expect anything to come of it. I thought of it as a fun way to show my support and boast about my lovely hens!

6 weeks later... I get a call from Burt's Bees. I was chosen as 1 of the top 40 semifinalist! Say what!? I won 100 tubes of PERSONALIZED BB lip balms. Guess what you all are getting for Christmas :) 

The next step in the contest was to create a short video showing why I love BB! This normally would be a breeze for me since I do video editing all the time for the SPCA. HOWEVER, it happened to be on a very busy week for me, and we were leaving for a family reunion that weekend. Sigh. So Kyle and I managed to find one evening where we could rush home before it got too dark, and quick throw together a video. It was VERY impromptu and rushed. I hated having to rush it but that was the only way I could have a shot of moving on in the competition. I'm glad we did it.

I was chosen as a finalist. Top 3 in the country, out of over 850 submissions! 

The next 2 weeks were the longest two weeks of my life. The public was asked to vote for their favorite video! Uggg, I shared my video on FB everyday, and told all my friends, family and co-workers to vote for me!

They even posted my photo on their FB page, to over 1.3 MILLION fans!

Thursday, November 1 was the day I was supposed to find out if I won or not. I held my breath all day. Literally. I got mad at people who called me that day because they weren't BB! It was mind numbing, and it reminded me why I hate competition! I have always said that I was the 'least competitive person out there' and this proved it. But I had gone this far, I really wanted to win.

About 4pm that day we got an email saying they weren't going to know... until Monday! Words cannot express how upset I was. I know what it is like to not breathe for 5 days straight. Longest. Weekend. Of. My. Life.

Finally, Monday afternoon at 4PM I had enough. I was so sick of holding my breath... I needed to email my contact at BB with a friendly follow up. My stomach couldn't take the anticipation any longer. A few minutes later I got a call. I didn't win. BUT they are still going to feature me in a BB ad campaign! I wasn't too upset. I was just glad the competition was done. PLUS since I'm local and such a huge fan, they still invited me down to the company factory for a tour and lunch! How sweet is that? I told them that THAT would mean the world to me :)

Tomorrow, Saturday, the contest creator is stopping at the house to scout the place out for the photo shoot! How exciting! I will give you an update and let you know where we go from here!

A Hen House Mutiny

Day One: Mother Clucker lays an egg in the middle of our backyard.

Day Two: One egg found under water bowl, another in back of chicken run.

Day Three: Two eggs found in far corners of hen house.

Day Four: (Pictured on right) Three eggs, all laid in the hen house. Not one in the nest box....

What message are they trying to send?

Shiver Me... Feathers

105 degrees, 103 degrees, 107 degrees! A heat wave hits the Carolinas! For the last three days the temperatures have been in the triple digits here on the homestead. It's been a game of running to/from an air conditioned building to vehicle and vice versa. I actually heard Kyle take a deep breath and hold it before opening the door to leave the house! It was that bad.

I felt so bad for our three backyard hens. They were taking a beating in the heat. Did you know chickens' combs actually act as cooling agents? Since chickens do not sweat, they rely on blood flow through their combs and wattles to cool them off. This is why chickens such as Leghorns do great in heat. Brahmas (which we have) have pea combs, meaning they barely have anything atop their heads. Though they are hearty in cold weather, the extreme heat (for any chicken) can be deadly. So extra precautions in triple digit heat must be taken. OK I admit it, I find every excuse to spoil my girls.

The night before the heat wave make 'landfall' I decided to make poultry popsicles. They're fun and simple. Just pour corn, strawberries and broccoli heads in little containers of water. Let them sit in the freezer over night until they were frozen solid. You could also do this with peas, carrots, mint (which is known for its cooling properties, and fights bad breath in chickens :), blueberries, grapes... etc. The next morning, (before it gets too hot) tie the popsicles in their coop (to a beam or roost).

The icing on the cake was our next project... the hillbilly air conditioner. We took a frozen jug of water and placed it outside the coop and placed a fan behind it. Voila. A cool breeze for the chickens. The frozen jug would need to be replaced every few hours, as the ice melts.

As you can see in this photo, the girls weren't really sure what to think of the frozen broccoli sprouts hanging from the ceiling... they're consulting each other before taking the first step to pecking at it.

You can really see that Mother Clucker (left) has a very pale comb and wattle compared to the other two. Also Drama Queen Jolene (center) has her wings spread, and all three are open-mouth panting. These are signs of over heated hens. The ultimate need in extreme heat is fresh, clean water. It is also a good idea to have a bottle of Gatorade (for the extra electrolytes) and eye dropper ready, just in case anyone 'faints' or became too lethargic (beyond Drama Queen Jolene's regular 'show').

"The World is Round and the Place Which May Seem Like the End May Also be the Beginning". -Ivy Baker Priest

What a week. A crash course in the lessons of TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) or in this case Trap, Socialize, Neuter and Adopt. Let's go back to how this 'little' project started.

About 5 months ago Kyle and I were on our way to town. We were both hungry so we decided to stop at the Burger King along the way for a milkshake. I've known there was a colony of feral cats behind this BK since we've moved here. There was always food and water left out, and the cats looked happy with their life there. I was always curious who was managing this colony. I noticed once before that one cat's ear was 'tipped.'

(For those who might not be familiar with TNR (like me prior to working in animal welfare) a cat is ear 'tipped' when it is trapped and sterilized and then returned to it's environment. While under anesthesia the vet preforming the spay/neuter surgery will clip the tip of the left ear of the cat. This way when viewed from afar (or with binoculars) you can identify which cats in the colony are already 'fixed' and does not need to be re-trapped.)

So I knew for years someone was taking care and 'fixing' all the cats in this colony. It just so happened that the night we went for our milkshake was the night the colony managers were out trapping! When Kyle pulled up to the drive through I saw two ladies out there with humane traps. I jump out of the car and walked over to introduce myself. They were trapping the cats to be fixed at Operation Catnip the next morning.

One of the colony managers expressed a concern. They've been trying to trap, neuter and return about 3 cats a month, and so far had about a dozen sterilized. However, there were still kittens being born in the colony faster than they're able to trap and fix them. They've had trouble finding homes for the small kittens they've caught in the past and asked if the SPCA could help with any possible future litters. I gave them my business card and told them to call me if this ever came up.

And last week my desk phone rang with a familiar voice on the other end...

There was a litter of kittens. The kittens were old enough to be away from the mother, and the colony managers needed help. I agreed to help, but said we would need a foster home for them while we wait for space to open up at the SPCA Adoption Center. The SPCA is currently in the middle of what we call "Kitten Season" and we have kittens coming out of our ears. I could not take them because I promised Kyle we wouldn't foster any kittens while Miles was still a puppy. So I encouraged and convinced the colony manager to foster.

I worked with the ladies to help trap the kittens. Last Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday I sat out there for a total of 8 to 9 hours attempting to catch the little guys.

Finally, on Thursday night (one week later) I got a phone call. The colony managers caught two of the four kittens! I snatched my car keys and ran for the door. Kyle stopped me and wouldn't let me leave in my pajama bottoms. So I put on proper clothes and drove out to the Burger King parking lot.

The scared little 'teenage' kitten 

They had caught two of the baby kittens and one "teenage" kitten (on accident). This concerned me. I knew the "teenage" kitten would need a significant amount of socialization if we were to put her up for adoption at the SPCA. One of the colony managers agreed to put the time and energy into socializing the "teenage" kitten, but then wouldn't have the space or time to deal with the smaller kittens. Knowing an alternative would be to let the "teenage" kitten go, and attempt to re-trap her during the next Operation Catnip day (which would be very difficult, and would probably be pregnant by that time). I agreed to foster the baby kittens if she would take the "teenager." I caved. Sometimes the best laid plans...

Very frightened kittens in a Burger King parking lot

The two trapped kittens, frightened as hell, came home with Kyle and I that night. I was overjoyed, yet felt sorry for them. They were being plucked from the only world they knew and brought into a home environment. As I was settling these scared souls into our spare bedroom that night the quote from Ivy Baker Priest came to mind, "The world is round and the place which my seem like the end may also be the beginning."

"The world is round and the place which my seem like the 
end may also be the beginning." -Ivy Baker Priest

These little kittens have no idea about the spectacular life we work so hard to provide at the SPCA. They will never have to deal with ticks, fleas, worms, ear mites or having litter upon litter of kittens. They will never have to worry about being hit on the road, or being trapped and euthanized for being a "nuisance." They have no idea what great things are lined up for them. But tonight they are just two little Burger King kittens... sleeping in a crate in our spare bedroom. 

Ode to the Simple Things

Summer. My favorite time of year. North Carolina summers are enchanting. I sit in the hammock and watch the trees sway in the backyard. Breathe it in. The smell of freshly mowed grass, the sound tree frogs and cicada bugs, the periodic glow of fireflies... I can't get enough. This time of year never lasts long enough. I take it as a personal mission to soak in every minute. Enjoy the simple things... advice our three backyard hens heed on a daily basis.

The corn swing.
Attention chicken owners: Looking for fun environment enrichment for your feathered ladies? Introducing the corn swing! We found this neat idea while on Raleigh's Tour D'Coop (Henside the Beltline). One of the backyard chicken coops we toured had a corn cob hanging from the ceiling. The chickens were delighted at the pecking challenge. So I decided to try it with my girls.


On a lazy sunday afternoon we stopped at local curb-side produce stand along our road. They were selling sweet corn for $4/dozen. WINNING! (please excuse the bad Sheen reference). Picked up a dozen along with some peppers, onions, a tomato, mushrooms, lemon and musk melon. Did I mention I love summer?

Once home, I cut some long twine and nailed it to a beam in our chicken run, and simply tied the other end around a partially husked corn cob, and let the girl have at it! Hours of non-stop entertainment. Hmmm, I wonder what other fruits or veggies I can dangle from the hen house ceiling... oh the simple things.