Chicken Math for Beginners

 When I got my first chickens I was not warned that I would need to be educated in chicken math. To keep any fellow newbie chicken owners from going through the same confusion I did I decided I would give you all a crash course in chicken math.


10=60 is our answer. Here is step by step how we arrived at the solution. It is going to be a bit Life of Fred word problemish.

I went to Tractor Supply to pick up 10 straight run leghorn chicks. While in tractor supply I noticed that they had Rhode Island red pullets. Since they were guaranteed to be female I purchased 5 of those. I had the kids with me and as soon as they noticed the ducks I knew we would be taking some home. We were required to purchase at least 2.

10=10+5+2

What is this math you speak of?

A local friend decided she had too many hens and was selling them at a great price. Since they were already laying I chose to purchase 3. 1 died in transit.

10=10+5+2+3-1

A few weeks later I decided we needed to add some variation to our less than colorful flock so I went to a local farm that sells a variety of chicks and purchased 10 more girls. I also decided that it was time for the ducks to go so we had them for dinner a few nights after purchasing the new girls.

10=10+5+2+3-1+10-2


                                   

Three weeks ago we lost 5 of our chicks to predators. We decided to replace 3 of them since three of the five lost were our favorites.

10=10+5+2+3-1+10-2-5+3

Now that our leghorns are older we know for sure that we have 4 roosters. We have decided to add more girls rather than getting rid of some of the roosters. We will pick up 10 chicks on Monday.

10=10+5+2+3-1+10-2-5+3+10

Now, at this point 10=35. But 35? That is not a nice number. If I am going to have chickens I will have to have them in multiples of ten...because...well, because that is chicken math. So I planned to add 5. But then I got to thinking; eggs can only be sold in dozens, so I can't have 40 chickens. Chickens should be kept the way their eggs are kept, in multiples of 12. Clearly, at some point 25 more will have to be added to the flock.

10=10+5+2+3-1+10-2-5+3+10+25

Now solve.

10=60


Congratulations on solving your first chicken math problem.

Homeschooling through the eyes of my children

I saw someone do this with their unschooled children and thought it would be fun to show you what my children think of homeschooling. Here are some common questions they get.

How old are you?
Brianna -8, I mean 9!
Keira- Im 8
Luke- 4

What grade are you in?
Brianna-3rd
Keira-2nd...I think...
Luke-I can't a-member

What is homeschooling?
Brianna- Doing school at home
Keira- school at home, it's basically homeschooling.
Luke- get lots of breaks and you do lots of school, even if you are at home and it's homechool


How long does school take each day?
Brianna- 2 or 3 hours
Keira- 400 years
Luke- yong!

What are you learning about right now?
Brianna- Plants, fractions, God and um, um, um, one second..., commas.
Keira- I'm reading my survivalist book, life in America when it was young
Luke- reading, math, science

What is your favorite subject?
Brianna-reading
Keira- Bible
Luke- coloring

What is your least favorite subject?
Brianna-grammar
Keira-reading
Luke- doing read, doing maff,

What are some good things about homeschooling?
Brianna- You don't have to sit at a desk for about half of the day.
Keira- You don't have to raise your hand when you go to the bathroom
Luke- I like to read and you can color

What are some bad things about homeschooling?
Brianna- takes forever to get done.
Keira- reading takes forever
Luke- not doing stuff that the Bible got in

Do you have any friends? How did you make those friends if you don't go to school?
Brianna-Yes. I see them, and I say, what is your favorite color and what is your name. I see them at restaurants and parks, mostly parks.
Keira- Of course I do! I ask them if they would like to play with us. We mostly meet them at the park and sometimes on field trips and at the zoo.
Luke- Yeah. Sometimes school and public school sometimes. I have two friends in public school. Then one more I don't know.

I need to pay more attention to where my 4 year old goes. I had no idea he had been secretly attending public school.

Do you take tests?
Brianna-yes
Keira- I don't know
Luke- no

Do you like being with your mom all day every day?
Brianna-yes!
Keira- mmmmm, um....ok, yeah
Luke-yeah

Would you want to go to school if you could?
Brianna- no
Keira-no
Luke-no

What do you think you would like about going to public school?
Brianna-eating lunch with friends. Packing your lunch.
Keira- nothing
Luke- eating snacks

What do you think you would dislike about going to public school?
Brianna-sitting at a desk and having to raise your hand to go to the bathroom. I am not used to that.
Keira- You don't get many breaks.
Luke-sitting at a desk all day, even all the time.

Is your mom a good teacher?
Brianna- yes!
Keira- Oh yeah!
Luke-yes

Do you get to play any sports?
Brianna- yes, but I don't do sports. I do art.
Keira- yes, gymnastics. I am on team.
Luke-yeah, soccer and sometimes you can get scores.

Anything else?
Brianna-I have the best family!
Keira- no thank you
Luke-nope

An Open Letter to June Bugs

Dear Disgusting Insect Whose Purpose I Have Yet to Discover,


You are a JUNE bug. Not an April bug, not a May bug. A June Bug. If you are going to insist on parking yourself on my front porch where I will inevitable feel and hear the crunch of my shoe crushing you the least you could do is stick to the month to which you are designated. JUNE.

Sincerely the June-bugist owner of the porch on which you so inconveniently make your home,