The Big Chicken Experiment
I saw my former chicken yesterday. She was hanging out with my neighbor’s goats and horses. Seeing her made me reminisce about the times when she would come lay eggs in my beautiful chicken coop. Oh, those were the good ol’ days. So, those of you who are...
Better Than the Pecking Order?
Did you know that chickens can follow a pecking order 136 chickens long? What that means is, through a series of skirmishes (some more violent than others), chickens establish their own governing body within their clan. The strongest chicken, typically a rooster, is...
Are Your Employees Free Range?
For the past few weeks, l've been writing about employee engagement. Although employee engagement has been on the rise for the past few years, 35% engagement isn't a number that we should consider success. My last article described a company that judged productivity...
Is Boring Beautiful?
If you have ever been to Hawaii, you know that everyone (at least those of us on vacation) makes time to watch the sunset. As the sun begins falling, people start making their way to the beach. During our honeymoon over 15 year ago, my husband and I witnessed people...
The Reward for Pushing Beyond Your “Perceived” Limits
A few weeks ago, I was lamenting that our plans to climb South Sister in July were cancelled. This is the first summer in six years that l’m not training for some adventure. I've completed Hood to Coast and Cycle Oregon, climbed Mt. St. Helens and trained for the...
United Together with a Flock Block
As you probably know, I inherited five chickens last month, two hens and three chicks. It wasn’t long before they all successfully flew the coop. Since then they have been hanging out together, free-range. But about a week ago, I noticed that they weren't all together...
The Big Chicken Sale
As you know, I am now a chicken mama. In the past three weeks, I have learned that my chickens are much more free-range than I expected or planned on. Yes, this is saving me money on food and effort in cleaning the coop, but I do have concerns for their safety,...
How to Cope When It’s Time to Fly the Coop
On Mother’s Day eve, I became a chicken mama. Our friends brought over two hens and three chicks and put them in my chicken coop. On Mother’s Day morning, we opened up the chicken coop door and out came five very scared chickens. By...
Fearing or Forging the Path Forward?
I finished my chicken coop and have just a few details to wrap up before I bring the chickens home to roost (I’ve been waiting my whole life to say that). But surprisingly, behind these details has been some fear, almost paralyzing enough to keep me from finishing the...