Chickens – Nest Cafe ~ Cafe Nido

Fall Eggies: Aug, Sept Oct 2024

Published on November 26, 2023November 25, 2023 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

Last night (just after Thanksgiving) there was a solid frost blanketing the grass and tree branches. I broke up a top crust of ice in the hens’ water bowls. The hens are going to roost with the sunset around 4:40pm and rise at 7am, so they are sleeping well over 12 hours. These are the signs of late fall and winter.

Here is the egg count for the year thus far:

Month (2023)	Laying Hens	Eggs per Day (avg)	Eggs per Week	Dozens per Week	Eggs per Month	Dozens per Month	Feed Cost	Cost per Dozen
Oct	5.25	4.0	29	2.4	125	10	$ 30	$ 2.85
Sep	6	4.6	33	2.8	137	11	$ 30	$ 2.60
Aug	7	5.6	41	3.4	175	15	$ 30	$ 2.04
July	7	5.8	42	3.5	179	15	$ 30	$ 1.99
June	7	6.2	45	3.7	186	15	$ 30	$ 1.92
May	7.25	6.2	45	3.7	192	16	$ 30	$ 1.86
April	7.25	5.8	42	3.5	173	14	$ 30	$ 2.06
March	7.5	4.5	32	2.7	138	12	$ 30	$ 2.58
Feb	5	3.8	28	2.3	107	9	$ 30	$ 3.33
Jan	3.5	2.7	19	1.6	83	7	$ 30	$ 4.30

The “Laying Hens” count is now corrected, which I forgot to do in previous posts. 3 hens have been molting this fall: Waffles, Shaki and Tots. I’m surprised Tots is molting at just one year old, which I realized when she became unusually skittish to the touch and started losing head and tail feathers. The partial hen counts mean that a hen stopped laying (started molting or Nuggo’s henopause) for part of a month.

There is a noticeable decline in egg laying. I now sometimes buy eggs to supplement. I always thought that my hens’ eggs were on the smaller-side compared to large supermarket eggs, but pleasantly found ours to be as big or bigger than large eggs by weight.

I am also perplexed why the 2 year old hens (Brownie, Blanqui, Ramsey) haven’t noticeably molted nor paused laying eggs. Are some barnyard mixes or hybrid varieties capable of not molting?

It’s reassuring that even though our winter egg count is low, the cost per dozen still beats the price of organic-fed, cage-free eggs at Costco or supermarkets. I believe our hens live out better qualities of life than those from best eggs at a premium grocer because their beaks are never trimmed, they can forage bugs (so many worms in the rainy season!), enjoy organic garden veggies, fruits, and grass, and have a large area per bird to roam around. The most comparable brand I have encountered so far are Wilcox Farms pasture-raised eggs (by taste) and Vital Farms Organic Pasture Raised Eggs, but my babies’ eggs have the plus that they don’t require any trucking or logistical delivery to our kitchen.

I want to raise chickens forever!
– Korean Chicken Tender

Blackberry Jam Recipe

Published on August 21, 2023August 15, 2023 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

In the Seattle area, invasive Himalayan blackberry vines abound with thorny branches and complex root systems. From my experience, these are the #1 most difficult weed to remove because the thorny branches always leave bloody battle scars, grow extremely fast, and it’s never clear how extensively the root system goes. Even their serrated leaves have thorny center veins!

But there is one silver lining! Once a year, at the peak of summer (usually late August), they yield a bounty of edible fruit with rich flavor and big seeds.

Walking back from the library, I scouted a blackberry patch on an abandoned lot. These berries grew with less exposure to car traffic and pollution being on a quiet residential street. I later set out with the hubby and big bowls to harvest as much as we could until we couldn’t tolerate the thorny pricks, stings and sticky berry juice stains any more. I blended the berries, strained out the big seeds through a sieve, and set out to make blackberry kombucha and enough preserves for the year. These can be enjoyed with plain greek yogurt or in baking.

For the first time, I got fruit jam to set! 2 full days after preparing the blackberry jam and putting some jars in the fridge, I tilted them and noticed they were no longer watery. Yes!

Here is the actual recipe I used, which is based on the tested Ball recipe from my pectin jar label. This was my first serious attempt at making jam and the result is good, but I don’t feel it’s good enough to share as a gift to neighbors or friends. I include notes for future recipe improvements.

Improvements for Next Time:

Use less water: There is a half inch of excess water above the set jam in most jars.
Use slightly less pectin: The jam is a little thick like jelly, whereas I’d prefer a spread.
Keep more seeds: I like a little more visible seeds
Try sugar instead of honey: There is a distinct honey taste. I don’t mind, but sugar is more neutral.
Add lemon or lime juice to add slightly more tartness

Ingredients

Yield: 12 half pint jars + a quarter pint
Total process time: 2 hours. Start a few hours before dinnertime!
About 2kg or 4.2lbs freshly picked blackberries, washed and rinsed
14 tablespoons of low/no-sugar pectin (next time: try 12 tablespoons).
2 cups or 500mL of water (next time: 1.25 – 1.5 cups)
510g (about 3/4 of a bear bottle) of Organic Raw Honey
Next time: Juice of 1 or 2 fresh squeezed lemons

Tools

Pressure Canner (Presto Model 0178)
12 quart stock pot
12 Half-pint mason jars, canning lids and rings, sterilized in boiling water
Wide mouth funnel, canning tongs, hot jar wrench
Blender
Strainer
Boiling tap water to submerge jars in the canner
Timer

Steps

Blend blackberries and strain out the seeds in batches. Pour fruit juice/non-seed pulp into stock pot.
Note: The seeds comprised about 1/4 of my blackberry weight.
Add some seed pulp back to stock pot, to taste or visual preference. I used 70g of seeds, next time try 150g of seeds.
Heat berries. Bring berry stock pot slowly up to a boil, gradually stirring in pectin. Break pectin clumps and stir continuously. Bring to a full roiling boil that cannot be stirred down.
Add sweetener and boil 1 minute. Sugar or honey. The blackberries are not sweet enough for my taste to make a true no sugar jam. Some day you’ll be hardcore. Add lemon juice here and taste test. Return to a full rolling boil for one minute (set timer).
Remove from heat. No need to skim foam per Ball, it will go away!
Follow canning directions to water bath 12 jars’ worth of delicious preserved blackberry jam, with a little extra (quarter pint) to enjoy without canning.
Chicken snack. Feed excess blackberry seed pulp to chickens! They will love it, and you will love not having anything to throw away!

June & July Egg Eggies – Heat, harmony, & 6 a day!

Published on August 14, 2023November 25, 2023 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

It’s mid-August and the first heat wave has struck Seattle this summer. The highs are near 90 degrees and my back porch thermometer reported 96 degrees due to a greenhouse effect from the semi-transparent porch roof.

When it’s hot like this, with highs above 80 degrees, I check outside every hour or two to observe how the chickens are coping. They hold their wings apart from their body, pant, hang out in the shade in the north side of the house, eat less grain, and need their water bowls refilled twice dailyi. I give them kale and outer cabbage leaves in the evenings because their appetite for salad spikes. The older hens (las reinas) tolerate the heat best, while the youngest ones (las angelitas) pant and show signs of distress the most. Each year they learn to cope better.

I am grateful for these hens and the bounty of eggs they lay for us. Here’s the egg count for June, July and other months thus far:

Month (2023)	Laying Hens	Eggs per Day (avg)	Eggs per Week	Dozens per Week	Eggs per Month	Dozens per Month	Feed Cost	Cost per Dozen
July	8	5.8	42	3.5	179	15	$ 30	$ 1.99
June	8	6.2	45	3.7	186	15	$ 30	$ 1.92
May	8	6.2	45	3.7	192	16	$ 30	$ 1.86
April	8	5.8	42	3.5	173	14	$ 30	$ 2.06
March	6	4.5	32	2.7	138	12	$ 30	$ 2.58
Feb	6	3.8	28	2.3	107	9	$ 30	$ 3.33
Jan	6	2.7	19	1.6	83	7	$ 30	$ 4.30

Observations:

May was the peak of egg productivity with 192 eggs that month, costing $1.86 a dozen (organic, pasture-raised).
June is close behind with 186 eggs at $1.92 a dozen. It’s downhill from here due to the shortening daylight!
Longer daylight and sunny days induce egg laying, not warm temperatures.
Now, in early August, the sun rises about 2 minutes later and sets about 2 minutes earlier each day. I expect greater decreases in eggs for the remainder of the year.
Brownie and the two youngest hens (Misty and Tots) are finally living in harmony! After many months of Brownie spontaneously puffing up her feathers and terrorizing las angelitas, they now share moments of dust bathing and pecking at grass seeds within a few feet of each other. It’s wonderful to see your children getting along after months of bullying and fighting. Brownie was the lowest on the pecking order (Rank # 6), so I suspect she wants to make it clear to the newcomers she will not be outranked.
Tots glucks in fear every time Brownie gets near, which instigates anger and a peck attack. She has been getting better about staying calm and not becoming an easy target.
Tots and Misty still appear to be in equal rank, but occasionally they challenge each other and puff out their hackles (collar feathers).
Hens abhor equality, so Tots and Misty will likely have a fight and set their positions for Number 7 and 8 in the pecking order — they cannot both stay tied for 7th. It’s only a matter of time.

April & May Eggs – $2 a dozen!

Published on June 11, 2023November 25, 2023 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

The days are getting long now as we near summer solstice. There’s still light in the sky at 9pm! The hens rise around 5am and go to roost around 8:45pm. It intrigues me how they are used to such variable sleep over the year, because in the winter they rise around 7am and roost at 5pm (over 12 hours of sleep!) vs around 8 hours in the summer. This post’s photo features the 2 new layers, Tots (golden cheeks) and Misty (grey).

Here is Korean Chicken Tender’s April and May egg counts!

Month (2023)	Laying Hens	Eggs per Day (avg)	Eggs per Week	Dozens per Week	Eggs per Month	Dozens per Month	Feed Cost	Cost per Dozen
May	8	6.2	45	3.7	192	16	$ 30	$ 1.86
April	8	5.8	42	3.5	173	14	$ 30	$ 2.06
March	6	4.5	32	2.7	138	12	$ 30	$ 2.58
Feb	6	3.8	28	2.3	107	9	$ 30	$ 3.33
Jan	6	2.7	19	1.6	83	7	$ 30	$ 4.30

The cost per dozen has gone down because there are 2 new laying hens, all hens are laying almost daily, elder Nuggo occasionally left henopause, and we’ve been able to stretch a bag of organic feed for longer thanks to a Treadle Feeder.

I have been very satisfied our RentACoop Treadle Feeder which has saved me lots of time and feed. My feed costs continue to be the same going from 6 to 8 layer hens because wild birds don’t eat from the feeder. I refill the feeder about once a week now. It’s more frequent in the longer summer days because the hens are awake and active for more hours. Back in February, it was once every 2-3 weeks. One feeder is sufficient for all 8 hens, and this is much more convenient than the conventional feeder I used to refill every 2 days. The feeders are expensive but very much worth it. After patient searching, I found a new open box feeder on Marketplace for about $80 instead of the retail $145.

Thank you dear hens for providing delicious, nutritious organic pasture-raised eggs for under $2 a dozen! Me and my husband do eat all these eggs. They have become a staple in our diet!

The No Beer Manifesto

Published on May 15, 2023 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

Temperature highs are pushing 90 degrees and the days are long with sunsets well past 8pm.

My workout routine is pushing personal records. 6+ mile runs, Sunday bike rides, and intensive gardening to boot as I transplant sunflowers and tomatoes I started from saved seed.

Oh, how a refreshing beer beckons on a sweltering afternoon! How Deschutes Black Butte Porter or Fresh Squeezed IPA lures me with the promise of unwinding on a long summer evening.

But NO! Just as I must get out from the warm covers in the cold winter to rise early and seize the morning, I must resist the allure of an ice-cold beer.

Why?

Because that is not the athlete I want to be.

Because I do not want to reward myself with such a treat after a day of hard exercise and homestead labor.

Because I want the labor in itself to be the reward. To feel satisfied through the work and the outcome.

Because I don’t want to seek an external reward via a “treat”.

Because I want to unwind my afternoons and evenings fully sober as I continue to seize the day.

Because I don’t want my thinking to become cloudy and impede any ounce of potential.

Because I want to go to bed feeling good, clean, strong, and limber.

Because I don’t want to compromise my sleep quality with struggling digestion of alcohol or thirst the next morning.

Because I want to rise early the next day for a sunrise lake run, hill walk, tomato watering, and to see the hens’ first waking moments as they rise with the sun.

I want full control of my senses and seek refreshment in ways that are truly quenching.

—

This post’s photo is from a painted rock along Lake Michigan, near Loyola University in Chicago. I passed by this on a bike ride in September 2013 and it remains a favorite.

March Egg Count

Published on April 9, 2023November 25, 2023 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

It’s time for Korean Chicken Tender’s March 2023 egg count!

The daylight has gotten longer and there’s been an uptick in egg laying. My number 1 ranked hen, Nuggo, emerged from her summer-fall-winter-long henopause and started laying her trademark asymmetrical, lopsided eggs. This heavyset alpha female’s eggs are a treat with their rich yolks and fragile cream-colored shells.

Same as in my last egg count, I currently raise 6 layer hens. They eat organic feed and garden greens, range freely on pasture, and slurp up tasty slugs seeking solace from the spring rains.

Here’s our monthly Egg Count thus far for 2023:

Month (2023)	Laying Hens	Eggs per Day (avg)	Eggs per Week	Dozens per Week	Eggs per Month	Dozens per Month	Feed Cost	Cost per Dozen
Jan	6	2.7	19.4	1.6	83	6.9	$ 30.00	$ 4.30
Feb	6	3.8	27.7	2.3	107	8.9	$ 30.00	$ 3.33
Mar	6	4.5	32.2	2.7	138	11.5	$ 30.00	$ 2.58

Observations:

– The cost per dozen of our organic, pasture-raised eggs dropped from over $4 in Jan to $3 in Feb to now $2.58 in March!
– Hubba hubba Nuggo resumed laying, which increased the egg count.
– When I didn’t see Nuggo roaming around with the other hens one morning, I thought she had died standing erect on her roost bar. (When the time comes, I believe she will die no less a noble death). I was shocked to discover her in a nest box. That day she did a full egg laying simulation with no actual egg. The egg appeared a few days later.

Bottom left is Nuggo’s cream-white egg – note the calcium deposit, pointed tip, and lopsided-ness compared to the other eggs. It is nonetheless a treat to eat!

Jan & Feb Egg Count

Published on March 7, 2023November 25, 2023 by gurrumichu2 Comments

As a Chicken Tender, I raise some of the happiest chickens on the planet.
And as an analytical data tender, I like to track how many eggs have been laid and by whom.

People ask me how many eggs I collect in a week, and I’m a nut about calculating costs too. So I will share monthly updates on how many eggs were gathered and the average cost per dozen. Figuring out these numbers is satisfying. It’ll be interesting to see how the egg count and cost per dozen changes as we approach June where the longer daylight results in more egg laying, and then tapers down as we approach winter solstice.

I currently raise 6 layer hens. They eat organic chicken feed and garden greens, range freely, and slurp up tasty worms like noodles.

Here’s our monthly Egg Count for January and February 2023:

Month (2023)	Laying Hens	Eggs per Day (avg)	Eggs per Week	Dozens per Week	Eggs per Month	Dozens per Month	Feed Cost	Cost per Dozen
Jan	6	2.7	19.4	1.6	83	6.9	$ 30.00	$ 4.30
Feb	6	3.8	27.7	2.3	107	8.9	$ 30.00	$ 3.33

Observations:

– Two of the reinas (2+ year old hens) resumed laying when they finished their winter molt (feather shedding and regrowth) in late Jan and early Feb. This increased the Feb egg count.
– The three bebitas (1 year old hens) laid daily last summer, but this tapered down to a rate of 0.8 per hen (or 4 eggs every 5 days) in January. This is to be expected due to short daylight.

The unchangeable “No.”

Published on February 28, 2023February 27, 2023 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

When someone tells you, “No,”
don’t react emotionally and close control.
“No” may open up a surprising new world to you.
“No” may unexpectedly lead you to good people.
If you begin to push back against the unchangeable “No,”
you will suffer in the process and miss other opportunities.

Your boss asks you to run an errand that has little to do with your job.
Rather than getting annoyed, just do it and let it go.
Do not turn something trivial into a major source of agony
by wasting time and energy thinking about it endlessly.

*

If I had to summarize the entirety of most people’s lives in a few words,
it would be endless resistance to what is.
As we resist, we are in constant motion trying to adjust,
and yet we still remain unhappy about what is.

If I had to summarize the entirety of an enlightened person’s life in a few words,
it would be complete acceptance of what is.
As we accept what is, our minds are relaxed and composed
while the world changes rapidly around us.
Haemin Sunim 혜민스님, “The things you can see only when you slow down.”

Insightful nugget from one of the best books I’ve read (many times).

Maybe this is why I enjoy being with chickens and in nature.
Chickens are not endlessly stressing about and resisting their circumstance.
They accept and adapt. Sometimes they get pecked. But they pick themselves up and keep eating, searching for grubs, delighting in muddy puddles of rainwater to quench their thirst, roosting every night and rising the next morning, ready to start a new day without existentially wondering about ‘why’ life is an endless cycle of suffering.

There’s been frustrating challenges at work, and through the process I’ve discovered a band of great colleagues who remind me that this workplace has good, hardworking people who care. I wouldn’t have discovered this camaraderie were it not for a stress-inducing process with endless, seemingly unchangeable “No’s” coming from above. I’ve started to let it go and have been resting better.

Plum Salad + Chicken Tenders

Published on August 21, 2022 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

Have you ever tried sliced plums in a salad? The arugula and lettuce greens go surprisingly well with the fruit. Here’s a fresh summer meal I’ve enjoyed these last few evenings:

Vegan chicken tenders
Trader Joe’s Incredisauce (“great with nuggies!”) and Peri Peri hot sauce
Salad: baby greens, balsamic vinaigrette, seeds, 1-2 sliced ripe red plums
Optional: Any leftover sides, like elote corn kernels or carrots & hummus

One day I discovered Blanqui (the white hen) eating a fallen plum. I looked up and realized the tree straddling the fence line was laden with ripe plums! This discovery inspired this meal. It also feels appropriate, not ironic, that I enjoy the tenders as a loving tender of happy chickens.

Ramsey’s First Eggs – Python Loop Regressions

Published on May 31, 2022 by gurrumichuLeave a comment

I’ve been gathering data about my hens’ eggs, like how many eggs are laid per day and by whom. One of my baby hens ‘Ramsey’ started laying eggs on March 21st. I weighed the eggs each day and recorded the data. The weight appears to increase gradually over time.

Day	Egg Weight (grams)
0	39
1	42
2	42
3	43
4	47
5	44
6	44
7	43
8	44
9	46
10	50
11	55

I experimented with creating a linear regression (y = mx + b) to find the line of best fit using Python. I plotted the data and could tell this was not linear, so then I constructed a quadratic regression (y = ax^2 + bx + c).

# Set up Quadratic Regression

def calculate_error(a, b, c, point):
  (x_point, y_point) = point
  y = a * x_point**2 + b*x_point + c # Quadratic
  distance = abs(y - y_point)
  return distance

def calculate_all_error(a, b, c, points):
  total_error = 0 # Set initial value before starting loop calculation

  for point in points:
    total_error += calculate_error(a, b, c, point)
  return total_error

I entered the egg weight data as a list (datapoints), and iterated over a range of a, b, and c values to find what combination of a, b, and c would give the smallest error possible (smallest absolute distance between the regression line and actual values). I set initial values of a, b, and c = 0 and smallest_error = infinity and updated (replaced) them each time the error value was smaller than before.

# Ramsey Egg Data
datapoints = [
  (0,39),
  (1,42),
  (2,42),
  (3,43),
  (4,47),
  (5,44),
  (6,44),
  (7,43),
  (8,44),
  (9,46),
  (10,50),
  (11,55)
]

a_list = list(range(80,100))
possible_as = [num * .001 for num in a_list] #your list comprehension here
b_list = list(range(-10,10))
possible_bs = [num * .001 for num in b_list] #your list comprehension here
c_list = list(range(400,440))
possible_cs = [num * .1 for num in c_list] #your list comprehension here

smallest_error = float("inf")
best_a = 0
best_b = 0
best_c = 0

for a in possible_as:
  for b in possible_bs:
    for c in possible_cs:
      loop_error_calc = calculate_all_error(a, b, c, datapoints)
      if loop_error_calc < smallest_error:
        best_a = a
        best_b = b
        best_c = c
        smallest_error = loop_error_calc

print(smallest_error, best_a, best_b, best_c)
print("y = ",best_a,"x^2 + ",best_b,"x + ", best_c)

Ultimately I got the following results:

y = 0.084 x^2 + -0.01 x + 41.7
Which gives a total error of 19.828.

This error feels big to me. I would like to get it as close to 0 as possible, or within single digits. One thing I may do is remove the data point of day 4, 47grams, which was unusually large.

I plotted the data in an Excel graph and added a quadratic regression line as well. The resulting regression line is y = 0.0972x² – 0.1281x + 41.525. This is close to my Python quadratic regression, but not the same. I’d like to figure out why these differ when the model is similar. It believe this may have to do with formula of error calculation – I am using Total Absolute Error, whereas the more common standard is to get Mean Squared Error.