Chicken Poop for the Soul

UPDATED: New photo! I was finally able to get Sophia and Zsu Zsu in the same shot.

This morning, the Washington Post provided another reason to love our chickens: apparently, their poop can be converted to energy. Lots of it. And it's actually a triple-threat. According to the article:

"Using a process called pyrolysis, the device super-heats the droppings to transform them into three products: an oil that can be used for heating, a slow-release fertilizer and a gas that the researchers hope will one day be recycled to power the machine."

Chicken poop is already used as fertilizer (and an excellent one, IMHO), but in Virginia, a lot of it makes its way into the Chesapeake Bay. The fish and plants there don't seem to have the same appreciation as the veggies, so converting the excess poop to energy would help reduce contamination of the Bay's waters.

While I don't think that Sophia and Zsu Zsu will be powering our house anytime soon--we'll still be relying on the solar panels for that--it is good to see that our feathered little friends will be adding one more item to the list of gifts they give us. Thanks, Girls!

Chicken Press

Over the weekend Urban Chickens Sophia and Zsu Zsu had a visit from Michael Procopio, food blogger for the San Francisco Examiner. Not only were the chickens on their best behavior, but Sophia was thoughtful enough to lay an egg just about half and hour before Michael arrived.

The column includes some nice close-ups, including one of their business ends--and c'mon, you know you've always wanted a (sorry, couldn't be avoided) birds' eye view of the business end of a chicken. Or is that a smidge too much of "knowing where your food comes from"?

So go, go! Read Michael's column (Urban Chickens: Do-it-yourself Hen Party) in the San Francisco Examiner! As if seeing the chickens weren't enough, the column is funny and I love the way he writes.

Only Partly Because I'm Being Lazy . . .

But mostly because not enough of you read our most excellent chicken blog, UrbanChickens, 99.99999% of which is researched, observed and written by Thomas. It's so good, he was twice invited to be a guest on Spark, a production of CBC Radio!

But here's the lazy part: Thomas is away so I wrote one post. (He's been gone for a week now. Only one post. Bad Mel.) Here's the first paragraph--you'll have to go see the chickens to read the rest.

Houdini's Chickens
It's a little known fact* that, for relaxation between performances and travel, Harry Houdini kept a flock of chickens at his home in New York. These were not your ordinary chickens. Gifted with an intellect to rival that of a Jack Russell terrier, they carefully observed Mr Houdini's practice sessions which, fortunately, were held in the back yard. Through this careful observation, the chickens were able to learn and, eventually, master his tricks. Of course, in accordance with Mr Houdini's early practice, they kept his secrets, passing them only to succeeding generations.

Urban Chickens

Did I forget to mention that we now have chickens? Real ones, as in pets, not dinner. Their names are Sophia and Zsu Zsu, and they should begin earning their keep as egg-layers in late August. They have a blog, Urban Chickens, but Thomas does most of the writing since they moved out of the house. There's a link in the sidebar, if you're interested in finding out what it's like to keep chickens in an urban setting.