April just slipped right through my fingers….May almost coming to a close …..and soon it will be June!  Our season started off with the much anticipated arrival of baby chicks and the training of our new Glamping Greeter puppy Hank. April and May were awesome months of Glamping, meeting new friends and catching up with old ones as well!

This blog is dedicated to our 19 heirloom chickens……so-Lets talk “roosters, hens and chicks”!!!

I must admit i am a city /farm girl and this story I feel sure will confirm that for you! I wanted so bad to have baby chicks that were actually hatched under mama  that I did not even notice when one of my hens went broody. Maggie is a Salmon Faverolles which were originally bred by the French to be layers and for meat. They’re gorgeous and wonderfully odd-looking, with muffs, a beard, feathered legs and five toes. One day I noticed she was not leaving the coop and a particular nest even at night to go up on the roost. 

Meanwhile being the city/farm girl I am I was marking eggs with an x and gathering a cluster of eggs of my own in hopes of encouraging a  hen to sit on them just like the books told me! So by the time I took full notice that Maggie had gone broody it was DAY 4! When I went in to pull my x eggs out of the coop and felt under Maggie I found there where 12 eggs under her:) and thats when i noticed Ester sitting very zen like.

HENS…a broody hen is what they call a hen that is ready and willing to sit focused on a cluster of eggs  for 20 days while they incubate.  They call this state very zen like because they are almost in a trance, I call it ‘zen hen’. 

So here we are Maggie sitting on a dozen eggs and Ester who is a polish standard that NEVER go broody is sitting on almost 18 eggs. How that happened I am not sure. When you have 17 hens laying if they all decide to lay in one nest that’s a lot of eggs and they do seem to all go where there is already an egg in the nest. I was not sure how long Ester had been there or how many times she left the nest and another hen got in and laid an egg so now my timing of her  hatching was unknown.

Some of our most entertaining conversations here at The Martyn House have been about chicken sex!

 SEX.…. Baby chicks have daddy’s too.  In order for an egg to be fertilized and become a baby chick you need a rooster. We have two roosters King Arthur and Prince Henry so pretty much that says that every egg in our hen house is fertilized. Now to be clear a hen does lay an egg every day whether you have a rooster or not. Without a rooster there will never be a fertilized egg.

 EGGS. Every egg  has  a germ spot. This is the small, rather tough white spot you find in a breakfast egg. Next comes the yolk, then four separate layers of white. All of these parts are kept in shape by membranes—very thin layers of transparent “skin.” At the large end of the egg is an air pocket, filled with oxygen. The shell, that looks as though it were solid, is actually porous. That is, there are thousands of tiny holes in it, so small that it is impossible to see them. The egg breathes through these holes. The germ spot in the fertile egg is the part that becomes the baby. Before the egg is hatched, the baby is called an “embryo.” The embryo must have food while it is growing. It gets its nourishment from the yolk of the egg. That is why the germ spot is always attached to the side of the yolk. The egg white is a cradle for the growing embryo. If the egg gets bumped accidentally, or if it is moved too suddenly, the soft white around the embryo comes between it and the shell and cushions the shock.

 MOTHERHOOD A mother hen as she sits on her eggs reaches underneath her body and turns them frequently with her beak.  She does this very gently making sure each one is turned over  because the egg yolk tends to float toward the shell. When the egg lies too long in one position, the white separates and allows the yolk to float through, forcing the germ against the shell and killing it, so it is very important for the mother hen to  change the position of her eggs. When a hen has babies, she sits on the eggs until they hatch, morning noon and night-exactly 20 days. She keeps them warm by spreading her soft feathers over them. She is very careful with them and won’t let anyone else touch her eggs  except me of course:) As the given number of days approaches the chick is almost fully developed. The chick turns slowly inside the egg shell, and begins to peck it with his beak. It can take him up to as long as 20 hours after the first peep to break out of the shell. All this time he keeps turning  and pecking, until he has pecked a circle clear around the large end of the egg.

An interesting note in all of this is that when a mama hen is ready to sit she usually is on a cluster of eggs and it is very important not to add any more to this cluster. If you are gathering the eggs yourself for a hen gone broody you can do this over several days but add the eggs to be hatched at the same time   Do not add eggs from day to day as you collect them, and do not add any more after you set the hen. The germ cell of a fertile egg is always ready to develop into a chick, but it does not begin to do so until the hen sits on it—that is, maintains constant temperature and humidity at a level sufficient to trigger growth of the embryo. Thus it doesn’t matter if the eggs you set were collected on different days: All the embryos begin to grow at the same time, and they will all hatch on the same day. If you add more eggs after the hen starts incubating the clutch, however, the development of embryos in the new eggs lags behind that of the first eggs, and hatching cannot occur all on the same day—a disaster.

I say disaster because that is what we had. The early arrivals hatch with the last of the yolk material in their systems, and are thus able to wait awhile without feed or water for up to 3 days. It may take 36 hours for every chick to arrive.  In practice this means that one typically waits until the following morning for the last chicks to hatch. Any egg showing no sign of pipping at this point is unlikely to hatch and should be removed. Maggie hatched out 3 the first day…and then Ester hatched one the same day.  When I went in later that day Maggie was in the wrong nest Ester was on Maggie’s babies and eggs and another hen was on Esters eggs and baby. WHAT???!!!! So I tried to get Maggie back on hers and the other hen out of there and Ester on hers –mission accomplished . Day 2 I am worried now about how the baby chicks are going to get out of the nests to go eat ( they are almost 2 feet off the ground) and what about the other hens and roosters?  Everything i had read said they would hurt them!  I am now becoming the overprotective hen house keeper.  And I am concerned about the last eggs Maggie was still sitting on because she is not leaving them and she is also not paying  attention to the baby chicks who now need to get out and forage for food and water. I decide to remove Maggie from the coop and create a separate space for her and the  chicks.  i wanted to create a  place where the other hens cannot get at her babies but it was too late when I went in to get her 2 of the babies had been severely pecked one died the next day. Maggie now had 2 chicks left and I decided it was too late for the other 8 eggs to hatch so I removed them to throw them out and on the way to the trash I heard peep peep and back the eggs went- Then  Ester has another chick-Ester kept leaving her nest and other hens got in it and on and on it went…..so I made a hen house keeper executive decision and gave Maggie the 2 chicks in Esters nest in the separated area . Are you getting this disaster picture???  Now Maggie has her 3 chicks ( the first 2 and the newly hatched one I almost threw out) and now 3 of Esters. Ester continued to sit on her eggs and hatch babies and I continued to give them to Maggie. In the end Maggie had 8 babies to care for…..I finally decided after a few more days that the eggs Ester would not get off of were bad too or at least so far apart in hatching that it could take another  week so I removed them and once again peep peep and Ester hatched another baby chick this one she would not let me give to Maggie she was keeping this chick!!!

After a day i noticed Maggie was anxious about being separated from her big girl flock but I worried they would all peck her babies to death if i opened he up to the flock. It was then that i had my farm girl epiphany that they kinda had this motherhood thing figured out and I needed to open the pen up and let them do what they do best protect their babies. I think one or two of the other hens went after a baby once and Maggie set them straight!

In the end there were two mamas and 9 baby chicks that now live in the hen house with the whole rest of the gang. They are so cute how they stay with their mama,  listen to her cackles and learn from her. Nap time they all run under her into the cave she creates under her breast and wings. The other hens do not dare mess with any of those babies and the roosters protect them. They are all one big happy family. It was exhausting giving birth to 9 chicks. There is a reason i am called a city /farm girl and  my lesson has been that nature works best when man does not interfere. For 1,000′s of years hens have laid eggs hatched babies and raised them I think they can manage on their own……

This will be the  first of a 4-part series on GLAMPING…and it’s all about COUPLES

We have celebrated many many anniversaires, weddings, engagements, and of course birthdays here with couples from all over the country. When we started The Martyn House we wanted to be an ‘adult only’ facility because we felt there were plenty of campgrounds for kids and we wanted an adult campground that took all the misery of camping and  turn it into a more glamorous style of being in the woods and in harmony with nature.

We do not allow cars up on the property so the first experience here is the quiet walk to your luxury sleeping tent. We have realized over the years that many people do not get out in the woods much. Our guests are often urban dwellers and camping is usually not on their bucket list. But it seems in some way Glamping tickles the fancy of many and they take the leap.

Once arriving at your tent you will find a beautiful interior with robes, french presses, electricity, indoor plumbing, hot showers, and being the linen snob I am scrumptious beds to sink down into with coverlets filled with down. Then comes the quiet……the birds, owls, and yes roosters in the morning all part of the incredible experience we give you.

Each evening a bon fire awaits you usually a glass of wine in hand you can spend the evening in stimulating conversation with other guests or by yourself with your significant other watching the moon rise or falling stars.

The next morning as you meander down to breakfast which we have appropriately scheduled at 9:30 for sleeping in time you are refreshed and engaged with one another, for many an experience they have not had in years, Holding hands, a little PDA and often tales at breakfast of what they learned that night when they went back to their tent and spent another hour or so talking on their veranda. Its amazing what the lack of TV, email, phones, or other stimuli does for a relationship. Seems talking is not practiced as much as it used to be!

After that first night you enjoy the property with walks, naps, picnics, and you may never  leave the property. Its the next night that we see the amazing difference in what disconnecting to the hectic world we all live in does. Most of our guests describe incredible feelings of relaxation, quiet minds, reevaluating their lives and most are already planning their next trip and adding another day to it.

We set out to offer an experience where our guests can be in nature without forfeiting the comforts of home!  We marvel at the stories wrote in the journals we have in each tent. We have met many new friends along the way and many of our guest have left with new friends they met here as well. We know the guys would prefer this to be called anything but Glamping …sounds  a bit girlish right??? And maybe it was created by girls who felt camping did not always have to be rugged with paper cups and plates, sleeping bags on the ground or tents you had to crawl into but I am here to tell you its the guys that fall in love not only with the experience of sleeping in a tent but with their wives all over again…ahhhhh love is a many splendor thing!

stay tuned next for the what girls love about Glamping Girl Getawys…

Last night Rick and I went to our Chamber of Commerce annual Gala…..it was called the Snowflake Ball-upon entering there was a beautiful ice sculpture of a snowflake  and the room was filled with blue twilight and the bzzzzz of a party!!!—- This event is where the who’s who are recognized and the passing of the gavel from the old president to the new. For us it was all about community!

I love seeing a group of local folks come together to honor their little town, its achievements and create the vision for tomorrow. We sat a table with 3 couples we did not know and had the great opportunity to tell them about all the exciting things happening in Ellijay!! – Its so easy to sit back and complain about this or that…and each time we heard a little negative bit we turned it BACK AROUND to what can you do to change that! I believe that many people in communities are at a lost as to how to help-

start by calling your local chamber http://www.gilmerchamber.com/and get on the volunteer list, attend a local town meeting, join a club, start a club. See a need …..figure out how to fill it. Communities are built by people helping each other….you need to engage yourself.

We here in Gilmer county have so much to celebrate we have rivers and mountains.  We are an outdoor destination for so many activities. Does mountain biking interest you call Terry and Mike at Cartecay Bike Shop and see how you can volunteer your help at their upcoming 2013 Italian Road Bike Festival http://www.cartecaybikes.com 

Interested in hiking? get in touch with the folks at Benton MacKaye Trail and see how you can participate in trail maintenance or join a hike or organize one  http://www.bmta.org/

or get involved in the Appalachian trail http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home

i could go on and on of how you can get involved but this you must DO…..

See the vision of what you want the world you live in to be like and do something!

In Ellijay I see a thriving downtown known for its  specialty shops and shops of Antiqüités , river walks, downtown walking tours and in town biking trails, a Historical Society museum, Art galleries, a place to come browse eat and enjoy Nature at its best…remember we are an outdoor destination for the Ultimate in outdoor adventure!  We also are an incredible resource for agritourism, we have vineyards, and apple alley, we have dairy farms, and goat farms, and mushroom farms.

Want to join in the fun while creating Ellijay and Gilmer County as the BEST ? We start with building community…connecting with your neighbor…asking ..HOW CAN I HELP!!!!!

When I see the first daffodil bud in January I feel this incredible excitement of spring and renewal. As I explore this feeling a bit more I find myself wondering if nature is speaking a language to us we often just do not pay attention to.

The leaves are piled up and already beginning to decompose and then there is this ever so slight bit of green spike and then one day and that happened to be today I see the buds—and I imagine in my mind the yellow topper that will show up in a few days if the weather stays warm and the sun shines down upon us.  So todays walk was a deeper look at nature and how it affects me.

The trees are barren, as it is, January. But the views are awesome as the Blue Ridge Mountains peek through the gapes that the now barren trees provide. Sunrises are so much more vivid against  the grey sky’s of winter . Today there is a slight drizzle out but its 62 degrees yes that’s right 62!! I am basking in this warmth even if it is raining. This is how winter makes me feel.

I feel clearer, I feel quieter, I feel open, I feel hopeful, I even feel a bit inquisitive. Sometimes I want the heavy snow to come so I can feel all these things even more as our entire town immobilizes.

Daily now some flock of birds show up heading to their winter getaway, the other day it was robins, my studio back meadow was filled with the chatter and worm pecking they do so well!~ geese squawk overhead every now and then but for some reason during winter all this seems so much more amplified. I look at how nature takes care of itself with the seasons and I feel comforted to know this gift is for human consumption.

Drink in the gift of winter my friends for it is the gift of clarity of your lives and the knowing there will be a bouquet of daffodils very soon.

I have been exploring the world of blogging this week and decided to make a few changes. I am still trying to figure out how many of you are followers but i assume if you are then you will get this blog and thus be able to follow me where ever i go. I have created a new blog through my coaching site some of you might have read ‘i do believe…. i do believe ‘ this is now on my new site followed by Frankincense and Mrrth. They will be longer and most often stories of life as i remember it. The site is http://joannsinsideoutcoaching.wordpress.com/

Please be sure to follow that site as well if you want to get those stories emailed to you. The Martyn House site will continue to have fun shorter blogs of life here and now. I have been busy in my studio making soaps so stay tuned for a blog about how i reinvented my soap line!

Always inspiring creativity and now exploring what it was in my life that inspired me!