Our favorite evening time discoveries as we go for a walk around the paddocks:

There are the same three chickens who always walk all the way up the hill, and perch on the gates, right in the corner.

They stand close, gossip loudly for a while (a lot is happening in the chicken world every day), and then go to sleep on the gates.

Then, there is the same one chicken, who ever since we baled the hay, comes and flies all the way to the top of one particular silage, and sleeps there. Same silage every day. There are a few bales together in a row, but she always chooses the same one bale.It is very unusual for a chicken to want to be by herself at night, most of the chickens stay and huddle together.

This is what true free range is supposed to mean.

Come morning, all these four ladies go and join the flock. Why do they do it, and not stay like everyone else with the herd?
My theory: they just like the sunset from that height :

Now adding two days for home deliveries of eggs and farm produce (for now, Canberra only).  Choose between Tuesday and Friday  deliveries when you checkout.

"Last night I dreamed of chickens,
there were chickens everywhere,
they were standing on my stomach,
they were nesting in my hair,
they were pecking at my pillow,
they were hopping on my head,
they were ruffling up their feathers
as they raced about my bed.

They were on the chairs and tables,
they were on the chandeliers,
they were roosting in the corners,
they were clucking in my ears,
there were chickens, chickens, chickens
for as far as I could see...
when I woke today, I noticed
there were eggs on top of me."

-- the poem "Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens" by Jack Prelutsky, From the book "Something BIG Has Been Here"

#livingthedream #poetry #chickens #eggs #freerange #chickenseverywhere #welovepoetry #dreams #dreamscometrue  #jackprelutsky #whatdreamsaremadeof

A big THANK YOU to all our team. It takes a village to grow pastured, truly freerange eggs.
 
We have the chickens totally mobile and free, and all infrastructure without walls and floors, so it takes a lot of hands to find, collect, and process the eggs, and take care of all the chickens. #thankyou #teamwork #eggs #farmwork #bonvoyage #partyatwork #freerange

a.k.a. 'The Cavalry Charge' (you need the audio!). Having some fun at work today with the egg machine. #workisfun #workandplay #playatwork #funatwork #jumpingjoy #joy #egg #eggmachine #machinefails
--music from The Overture to Rossini's opera William Tell

Tall grass, blue sky, and friends to share all the gossip with. What more would a girl need? #sky #grass #chickens #eggs #chatter #gossip #wishyoucouldhearit

"The tractor goes round and round...I am soooo sleepy... zzzz"
😴
-- Forest the Maremma sheepdog, while watching our tractor do all the hay baling work.

"Ode to Some Yellow Flowers" -- poem by Pablo Neruda

"Against the blue moving its own blue,
the sea, and against the sky,
some yellow flowers.

October arrives.

And though it may be
so important for the sea to unroll
its myth, its mission, its yeast-like inspiration,
there explodes
over the sand the gold
of a single yellow plant
and your eyes
are fixed
on the ground,
they flee from the great sea and its rhythms.

We are and will be dust.

Not air, not fire, nor water
but
earth,
only earth
we will be
and maybe also
some yellow flowers."

--translated by Jodey Bateman

#poetry #eggs #pabloneruda #pastured #yellowflowers #october #freerange #earth #chickens

Speckled beauty, like flakes of snow left melting in those first sunny Spring days.

"A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period —...

A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels.

It waits upon the Lawn,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope you know
It almost speaks to you.

Then as Horizons step
Or Noons report away
Without the Formula of sound
It passes and we stay..."

-- "A Light exists in Spring" by Emily Dickinson

That feeling when the day is done and we can all lie around, squinting at the sunset, smelling fresh spring grass. #done #spring #grass #freedom #freerange #Maremma #workdone #eggs

#stuckwithyou and the adventure continues #lovelyday #springsun

Photobombed by jumping Jack
Have you ever seen a happier dog?
#photobomb #maremma #happy #happydog #free

The red bin got stuck, and try as it might, red tractor couldn't pull it and got stuck. Try as it might, the yellow tractor tried to pull them and got stuck. Try as it might, the green tractor tried to pull them and got stuck. Try as it might, the hilux couldn't pull anything but got us humans out of the paddock.

Fun was had by chickens and humans alike.
Nobody is complaining because rains and tall grass are a blessing.
#farmfun #bogged #fun #stuck #mud #chickens #tractors #bringiton #anyothertruck #farmlove

 1. Learned to 'bark' (sound is not to be missed! )
2. Socializing well with chickens
3. Drinking from a bowl.

They definitely improved employment skills in the first four weeks of life
#puppies #Maremmasheepdog #learning #jobready #cute #freerange #firstthings #growingup

Could not believe where we found an egg today: on top of the fallen tree which is the chicken Disneyland playground, and beautifully nestled within the better bark fissures.   #freerange #eggs #hardtofind #hiddeneggs #pasturedeggs #findtheegg #trees #playground #chickenplayground #eggfinding

Raising Maremma puppies is easy.
Sleeping in a pile and shifting for a comfortable position: the tough life of a puppy on Hilltops Free Range eggs farm.

#cuteness #sleep #puppies #sleepinginapile #cutepuppies #cutenessoverload #freerange #Maremmasheepdog #farmlife #toughlife

"Sowin' things an' growin' things, an' watchin' of 'em grow;
That's the game," my father said, an' father ought to know."

With sowing done for the winter, we praise the rains and watch our oats grow. Not letting the chickens near that paddock now, but they have done the fertilizing bit well.

From the book "Backblock Ballads and Later Verses", Wheat by C. J. Dennis

Welcome to our three puppies, born and bred on Hilltops Free Range egg farm.
Mother and kids are all doing well.

Just beyond the sunset
Lies a home for me
Where the world is peaceful
Like a paradise should be
Just beyond the sunset
Someday is where you’ll find me”.       
-- “Just Beyond The Sunset” — poem by D. Harris