Random Bits and Not Really a Rooster

Tom is in Boston and had a dreadful time getting there this morning.  It took the bus 2 1/2 hours taking the back roads to avoid traffic. He isn't sure whether there was a wreck, or this is just the start of summer madness. He barely was on time for his appointment - this is important because all the appointments tomorrow depend on when he gets started today. At least he will be flying back tomorrow afternoon.

Yesterday I heard a crow - as in crowing - and not from our roosters or the neighboring rooster, but from one of our hens. It is fairly common, at least enough that there are various versions of the folk saying about "a whistling woman and a crowing hen". Apparently it comes from a hormone imbalance, which I find interesting since chickens have gender issues. For example, when a fertilized egg is layed, it isn't decided yet whether the chick that hatches is male or female. The brooding temperature decides that, at least in part, and a warmer clutch yields more roosters, cooler more hens. So, if you have two hens brooding the same clutch, the eggs will stay warmer. If for no other reason that the two hens usually don't take the food/poop breaks at the same time so the eggs don't cool down as they normally would with one broody hen. From what I've read, some crowing hens are still laying eggs, but I don't think ours is. Her crow is more of a croak, but it certainly isn't one of the noises a hen makes!

An interesting bit of trivia is that there is a nation wide mealworm shortage. (I feed mealworms to the zebra and java finches in the sunroom. And the chickens when they need a super special treat. I used a trail of mealworms to teach the baby chicks to climb up and down the ramp in their coop.) Anyhow, I don't know details but apparently one or more of the big mealworm suppliers had a failed crop and that has effected the whole country. Fortunately I found out about it right before I fed off the last of my mealies and I'm now nuturing them. They aren't hard to raise on a small scale at least.

And the last bit of randomness is that I really like singer/songwriter/ukulele player Julia Nunes.  Look at her vids on Youtube. Expecially Build Me Up, Buttercup and It's Raining Men   and her  own song Into the Sunshine .