Chicken Not-So-Little

May 5, 2023

You stand on the shoulders of giants. There is nothing you cannot achieve. (No, really, though, have you seen how huge this weird featherless chicken is when she stands up? I can see Timbuktu from here!) — Ruth Bader Ginsbird

Here’s What’s Happening at Good Spirits Farm

I caught THE BIGGEST SWARM I have ever seen. On Saturday, I was eating lunch, thinking maybe I could catch a 15-minute nap, when I looked out the window and saw a mass of bees so large I thought I must be seeing things. I, dear reader, was not.

I suited up and tried to mentally prepare myself for being mobbed by bees for the next hour. A few weeks ago, I would have panicked and called for backup. But with my suit on and my handy spray bottle of sugar water at the ready, I just slowly got to work on what needed to be done. Amazingly, I got everyone tucked into their new hive without getting a single sting.

Poor Beakers is really having a rough go of it. I’ve treated her for everything that I have the tools to treat her for: lice and mites, worms, and coccidia—protozoa that can cause intestinal distress. Nothing seems to be helping. I am hand-feeding her little bits of food, but I am worried there’s something less treatable going on. Send us your best chicken healing vibes.

The spring grasses are really growing well now! I love moving the flerd to a new section of pasture and seeing the sheep wading through forage up to their bellies.

Here’s What I Loved This Week

My friend Tove’s Twitter thread of Met Gala outfits as chickens made me laugh and laugh. This is Twitter at its best!