March pear blossoms

Vieni vieni candida
vien vermiglia
tu del mondo sei maraviglia
tu nemica d’amare noie
da ad anima delle gioie
messaggiera per primeravera
tu sei dell’anno la giovinezza
tu del mondo sei la vaghezza.

Translation:
Come [flowers and blossoms],
come white, come vermilion.
You are a marvel for the world
and the nemesis of all things dreary.
Give joy to the soul
through your message of spring.
You are the youth of the year
and the beauty of the world.

– Giuseppino (Italian, ca. 1600)

While it is still getting down near freezing on some nights, we are enjoying some glorious spring days here in Middle Tennessee. The warm sunny afternoons signaled the sleeping plants, who are yawning and stretching toward the sunlight. The grass has its first flush of green, daffodils cover the hillsides near old farm houses in the Shire, and when I stumble outside in the pre-dawn darkness to feed the hens, the sky is filled with the sound of birds. –Not just songbirds, mind you: my little banty hens sing to me as well, although their “song” sounds more like a group of angry jays scolding me.

The little ladies are doing well, and I believe all four of the gold-necked d’Uccles are laying now. There is a bit of hen drama going on in the coops, however, as the onset of spring has signaled two of my bantam cochins to go broody.

When a hen decides to “go broody,” she will sit for weeks on a nest in a trancelike state. She will have pulled the soft down feathers from her breast area to line her nest and expose the eggs to the warmth of her skin. She may leave the nest very briefly for food, water and a good stretch, but a good broody hen will return to her responsibility quickly. To the nest she’ll return and sit, flattened and growling like an angry pancake, pecking anyone who dares disturb her precious eggs.

Both Lucy Liu and Aunt Bea have gone broody (yes, Aunt Bea is still here, but that’s another story). Luckily for them I happened to have some fertile bantam cochin eggs from a contact in North Carolina, and both hens hatched out some adorable little chicks. Unluckily for me, I removed the chicks to stay with their brothers and sisters in a brooder, and both hens are now still broody.

Angry pancake: Lucy Liu awaits egg hatching

I seem to be on a trajectory winding ever closer to Ultimate Cuteness: first the bantam hens, then two batches of standard-size chicks, and now a batch of what may be the cutest chicks ever: bantam cochin frizzles. These chicks are bantam sized cochins, with full, round tail feathering and feathered feet. As an added bonus, though, over half have the genetic trait of “frizzling,” meaning their feathers curl. When they are grown they will look like adorable one-pound little feather balls. Be still, my heart!

At one week of age I can already tell which ones express the frizzle gene. Below on the left is a “splash” chick, who will be white with splashes of grey. Her feathers will be straight. On the right is a blue (or possibly lemon blue) chick who will be frizzled. Even his tiny foot feathers are curled!

Bantam frizzle cochins, one straight-feathered and one with frizzle gene

In between caring for chicks and hens, I am also beginning my garden preparations for the year. I spent yesterday planting herbs and roses around the banty playhouse, and I hope to begin planting vegetable seedlings indoors today - - although those who know me and my superstitions also know I will not be ready to announce my 2009 plantings until we are fully past the “jinx” stage. We will keep the same size plot we used last year, though, with some changes to the lineup to get more of the veggies we want.

As I type this I am looking out the window realizing we are blessed with another gorgeous spring day - - and I am indoors! I am going outside to enjoy the lovely weather, and I wish you all a Sunday full of sunshine and new leaves poking through the warm soil.

Thaney bored with photo session

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For a cute video of broody hens, visit Rooster Red’s YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7-HY5OV5CA .

To read about the New World Renaissance Band’s album featuring the quote opening this post, visit http://cdbaby.com/cd/tnwrband1 .

To learn more about Nightwatch Recording, a wonderful record label that supports medieval and Renaissance artists, visit http://www.nightwatchrecording.com/ .