I saved the leaves to see if this can be resteeped. I am happy to say that I did get another good steep out of it. There is still enough rosy flavor left to recognize. The liquor is a little paler and it isn’t a super dark black tea to begin with, but it wasn’t too terribly light and tasted good. I drank some of it cold because of the miserable heat and humidity we have had.
In other news – (stop reading if you are only interested in the part about tea) – I have performed a chicken experiment. Last year, one of my Black Copper Marans got broody and was very hard to break of it. Living in the city limits, I have no rooster. When she went broody again this year, I decided to give in and let her have babies.
I let her sit on three infertile eggs for over a week. (She had been sitting on stolen eggs or in empty nest boxes for at least a week already.) Then one night just after dark, I slipped the eggs out and slipped some one-day-old baby Cuckoo Marans in. She was pleased as punch to become a mother and it is an absolute miracle to watch how she mothers them. She has a special sound that she makes that I had never heard from her or any other chicken of mine before. It always means that she has found food for them. She lets them eat first, and crushes anything too large. She picks up the food and puts it down to show them what they should eat. She summons them when she thinks they have explored too far. She is patient with their constant shenanigans, like repeatedly pecking her head and eye, practicing “scratching” on her back (then hilariously losing their balance and falling off), and getting under her and then poking their heads out between her wing feathers so she looks like a Gary Larson-esque mutant chicken.
They are just over a month old now and they decided they no longer want to sleep in the maternity ward. They fly onto the ramp of the main coop and get in a nest box with their mother.
I really don’t think I fooled Bluebell in the least. I think she knows she didn’t hatch those babies, but she doesn’t care because she got what she really wanted – to be a mom.
People who liked this
Comments
What a sweet story!
First, the tea. I had some of this one for awhile, and although it wasn’t bold, it was lovely & enjoyable to drink.
Now on to the chickens! Yay! I love this posting! :D
I have been talking myself into & out of getting hens for a couple of years now, and the rule I’ve made is I can’t get chickens until I build a coop. I’m also just nervous that I might be too neglectful to have them, but I really want the eggs, & the manure for my compost heaps, so I really need to get my act together & get them next spring.
That is so sweet! I’d love to have chickens, but our town doesn’t allow them.
Our city, which is not a huge city, allows ten hens and zero roosters. We did lots of reading to prepare. I buy organic soy free feed. Supposedly you should cull (eat) your chickens around 18 months old because they stop producing eggs as well. My chickens are from 2 1/2 to 4 years old and all lay just like when they were young.
We have an automatic door on an elevated coop. Nothing can get in to get them at night. NOTHING. Hubby built it after reading extensively about what works best. They have both large (for strength) and fine (to keep flies and gnats out) hardware cloth on the vents. They free range all day and we have “chicken powered composters” in their pen. They put themselves to bed and their door closes automatically.
I love cooking breakfast and telling everyone who “provided” their food, since I can tell their eggs apart. I get way more eggs than I need with just seven or eight hens, but I provide eggs to my athlete son and to my married daughter, as well as the four of us.
If anyone wants chicken advice, I am happy to share any knowledge I have gleaned! So far we have stayed totally medicine free and use organic and natural options for care.
I hope everyone who wants to get chickens can experience it someday! It is fun and feels so good, I still get excited going out and collecting eggs, after all this time!
My aunt used to get ticketed by the city all the time because of her chickens.
That sounds so cool— I have chicken envy! We are rural with plenty of space for chickens but not much free time to care for them. Seems like it won’t be possible until I am to cut back hours at work (semi-retirement, which is a long way off) or until the teenagers have flown the coop.
That’s really cute. Friends of mine who bought some land outside of town just got chickens and we were all so excited when they found the first egg.
What a sweet story!
First, the tea. I had some of this one for awhile, and although it wasn’t bold, it was lovely & enjoyable to drink.
Now on to the chickens! Yay! I love this posting! :D
I have been talking myself into & out of getting hens for a couple of years now, and the rule I’ve made is I can’t get chickens until I build a coop. I’m also just nervous that I might be too neglectful to have them, but I really want the eggs, & the manure for my compost heaps, so I really need to get my act together & get them next spring.
That is so sweet! I’d love to have chickens, but our town doesn’t allow them.
Our city, which is not a huge city, allows ten hens and zero roosters. We did lots of reading to prepare. I buy organic soy free feed. Supposedly you should cull (eat) your chickens around 18 months old because they stop producing eggs as well. My chickens are from 2 1/2 to 4 years old and all lay just like when they were young.
We have an automatic door on an elevated coop. Nothing can get in to get them at night. NOTHING. Hubby built it after reading extensively about what works best. They have both large (for strength) and fine (to keep flies and gnats out) hardware cloth on the vents. They free range all day and we have “chicken powered composters” in their pen. They put themselves to bed and their door closes automatically.
I love cooking breakfast and telling everyone who “provided” their food, since I can tell their eggs apart. I get way more eggs than I need with just seven or eight hens, but I provide eggs to my athlete son and to my married daughter, as well as the four of us.
If anyone wants chicken advice, I am happy to share any knowledge I have gleaned! So far we have stayed totally medicine free and use organic and natural options for care.
I hope everyone who wants to get chickens can experience it someday! It is fun and feels so good, I still get excited going out and collecting eggs, after all this time!
My aunt used to get ticketed by the city all the time because of her chickens.
That sounds so cool— I have chicken envy! We are rural with plenty of space for chickens but not much free time to care for them. Seems like it won’t be possible until I am to cut back hours at work (semi-retirement, which is a long way off) or until the teenagers have flown the coop.
That’s really cute. Friends of mine who bought some land outside of town just got chickens and we were all so excited when they found the first egg.