Good evening, friends and family! Today was fowl day at the MSU Extension Tollgate Education Farm Center. The resident fowl shaking their tail feathers on the farm include: baby chicks, hens, a rooster, and a goose.
Mr. Alex showing off Henrietta’s down feathers.
To start the day, the counselors had a very special session planned: Feathered Hangout. The peppers were introduced to Henrietta the Hen, Steve the Rooster, Snow the Pullet, Rosie the Pullet, and Lucia the Goose. The peppers learned that a female chicken is called a hen (a pullet when it is young) and a male chicken is called a rooster. When chickens are young you can tell if it is going to be a rooster or a hen by whether its wing feathers are all uniform in size. If they’re all even, then it’s female, if they’re not then it’s male. Mr. Alan also taught the peppers that hens lay eggs only once every 25 hours, which means they can provide 6 eggs per week. There are also different eggshell colors: white, brown, blue, green, etc. All the egg shells contain calcium much like our bones and teeth and there’s no difference between the eggs inside. Brown shelled eggs are just as nutritional as white shelled eggs. Eggs have different eggshell colors simply because of added pigment. Generally hens with white earlobes will lay white eggs while hens with red earlobes will lay brown eggs.
The Green and Yellow Pepper being very gentle with Snow and Rosie.
After learning about the chickens, Mr. Alan brought out his special friend, Lucia the Goose. Lucia was very excited to meet all her new pepper friends. Mr. Alan showed the peppers Lucia’s webbed feet which are excellent for swimming. Her feathers also contain an oil to help her from getting wet, unlike a chicken’s feathers. No wonder we never take chickens for a swim! To end Feathered Hangout all the peppers got in a line and skipped on the grass. Lucia is very attached to the peppers so whatever they did she did as well! The peppers enjoyed their time with all the fowl in the coop and are sure to visit them again soon.
The peppers did an excellent job hopping.
After such a fun morning, the peppers spent some relaxing time in the garden making newspaper pots. Mr. Alex, Ms. Jackie, Ms. Mandy, and Ms. Courtney went through the concept of reduce, reuse, recycle. By making newspaper pots the peppers were reusing newspapers to eliminate waste. Newspaper is made of paper which comes from trees and is made up of cells which contain carbon, the building block of life. The peppers used pot makers to form the newspaper pots and filled them with soil and seeds.The newspaper pots can be planted in the ground because the newspaper is biodegradable.
The Yellow Peppers all working on their newspaper pots.
The morning ended in the Garden Kitchen. Ms. Robbin showed my friends how to whip up another delicious snack! Peppers made mango salsa and homemade tortilla chips. After a morning of excitement the peppers were re-energized with such a flavorful snack.
The Orange Peppers slicing tomatoes and softening limes to make yummy Mango Salsa.
With satisfied stomachs, the peppers began the afternoon with an adventure in the Maple Forest. Ms. Courtney, Ms. Mandy, Ms. Jackie, and Mr.Alex taught my friends how to identify poison ivy by simply looking at its leaves. A good way for peppers to remember poison ivy is that if it has leaves of three, let it be! The counselors also taught the peppers the difference between producers, consumers, and decomposers. Producers make their own food by using energy from the sun, consumers gets their food from eating other living things to obtain energy to survive, and decomposers break down other living things in order to gain energy. The peppers walked the trails of the forest to see what they could find. Some findings include: a marshy area filled with toads, cicada skin, and the blue tubes that transport sap in the spring time! The walk through the forest was very exciting as there were many things to see and explore.
Remember peppers: leaves of three let it be!
After such a nice walk, the peppers’ stomachs were starting to grumble again. It was snack time. This time Ms. Robbin helped the peppers make Yogurt Granola Parfait. Ms. Robbin put the peppers to work slicing the strawberries, measuring granola, and mixing all the ingredients together. The sweet snack was just what the peppers needed to give them enough energy for the last activity of the day: the nest drop.
The Orange Peppers sliced bananas to add to the fruit and yogurt granola parfait.
The counselors led a discussion about the types of obstacles that must be considered when making a nest in a tree such as predators and weather. With these in mind, the peppers were sent out to gather any natural materials they could find to build nests, just like a bird. The peppers gathered mud, twigs, grass, weeds, etc. Some of the peppers created a cup shaped nest and rested the egg in the middle while others furthered the cup shaped nests and created tops to provide even more protection. Once all the nests were created, the peppers stood on the wagon and dropped them to see if an egg would break. Nests that used a lot of mud and grass/weeds to cushion the eggs and keep them inside the nests provided the best results: a safe egg.
The Red Peppers preparing to drop their nests.
After an exhausting day, I mooed goodbye to my friends and prepared myself for a restful evening. Tomorrow is Clifford Wednesday (okay, it’s Ruminant Wednesday), so I’ll be in the spotlight. Looking forward to meeting you all personally tomorrow! In the meantime, check out the gallery below to relive Fowl Day as well as the video of the peppers Soaring with Lucia.
Until then,
Clifford the Calf
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- The Orange Peppers gathering mud for the drop.
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- Some Orange Peppers used sticks while others used leaves.
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- The mud was used as a paste to keep all the nests together.
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- An Orange Pepper gathering materials for her nest.
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- Orange Peppers creating their nests.
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- The Red Pepper saying goodbye to his egg.
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- This Red Pepper wasn’t sure if the mud would let go of his hand.
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- This Red Pepper’s egg bounced out of the nest on impact, but still survived!
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- A Red Pepper handing another Red Pepper her egg that survived the drop.
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- One Red Pepper used mud and weeds to protect her egg. The other Red Pepper simply used mud to create a nest.
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- The egg survived!
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- The Red Pepper in the motion of dropping her nest.
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- The Red Peppers preparing to drop their nests.
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- The Green and Yellow Peppers looking at the blue tubing used to transport sap throughout the forest.
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- The Yellow and Green Peppers on a walk in the Maple Forest.
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- If you listen really hard you can hear cicadas and other living creatures in the forest.
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- Remember peppers: leaves of three let it be!
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- Ms. Courtney showing the Yellow and Orange Peppers the shape of poison ivy.
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- Birds use whatever they can find to create nests, so the peppers did the same.
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- The Red Peppers creating nests that would protect an egg from breaking after a fall.
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- The Orange Peppers sliced bananas to add to the fruit and yogurt granola parfait.
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- Wendy loved being pet by the little peppers.
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- Mocha is a lop that you can remember from her floppy ears.
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- The Yellow Peppers finished snack early and spent some time with Wendy and Mocha.
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- The Red and Orange Peppers searching for frogs in the forest.
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- The Red and Orange Peppers on a walk in the Maple Forest.
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- Lucia is such a curious goose. She tried to peck some of the peppers’ name tags. They’re so shiny!
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- Lucia loves shiny things and checking out Ms. Courtney’s shoe!
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- Lucia roaming the circle so she could visit every Yellow and Green Pepper.
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- Lucia coming to visit the Yellow Peppers.
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- Ms. Jackie doing an egg experiment with the Orange Peppers.
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- I think Snow fell asleep again.
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- The Green and Yellow Pepper being very gentle with Snow and Rosie.
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- Once these pullets are hens they will lay white eggs.
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- I think Rosie really likes her new name!
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- Snow loves being held. She falls asleep almost every time.
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- The Yellow and Green Peppers named this pullet Rosie.
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- The Green Peppers holding Snow.
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- Henrietta knew there was some food about.
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- Henrietta visiting with the Yellow and Green Peppers.
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- The Red Peppers learned that newspaper pots are biodegradable.
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- The Orange Peppers slicing tomatoes and softening limes to make yummy Mango Salsa.
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- The peppers had just enough time to meet with Steve the Rooster.
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- Look at all those wonderful geese flapping their wings.
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- The peppers did an excellent job hopping.
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- Lucia wanted to stay near everyone.
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- The Orange and Red Peppers preparing to spread their wings like Lucia.
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- The peppers skipped to different sides and Lucia skipped along.
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- Lucia is very attached to humans so when they move she comes with them.
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- The peppers all got in line and Lucia walked in front of them as if she was giving orders like a general. Silly Lucia.
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- Lucia doesn’t have any teeth. She just has a very strong bill.
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- Lucia enjoying all the attention.
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- Lucia came up close and even tried to sit on some laps!
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- Lucia was very talkative this morning and enjoyed visiting with all the peppers.
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- Mr. Alan comparing the length of Lucia’s wing to a Red Pepper.
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- One day this pullet will grow to be a hen and lay one egg every 25 hours.
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- The pullet loves when her feathers are being pet by a friend.
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- The Orange Peppers were very excited to hold their new friends.
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- Mr. Alan taught the peppers the proper way to hold the pullet (young female chicken).
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- The way to determine if a young chicken is male or female is to look at its wing. If the wing is a uniform length then if it’s female.
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- Mr. Alex showing off Henrietta’s down feathers.
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- Mr. Alex describing why there are brown, white, blue, and green eggs. It all has to do with pigment.
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- Henrietta searching for worms.
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- The Yellow Peppers all working on their newspaper pots.
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- A Yellow Pepper using the pot maker to roll newspaper into a newspaper pot.
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- Mr. Alan showing the Orange and Red Peppers Henrietta’s wing.
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- A Green Pepper slicing tortillas to make tortilla chips.
