A Box of Pandoras

Hello World!

aboxofpandoras — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:41:09 +0000

I took a break from the blog (a long break) to prepare for and then have my little guy. He’s seven months old now, so I really don’t have any excuses for not starting back up. But, if you’ll indulge me for just a second, introducing the best little dude in the whole world!

And the winner is …

aboxofpandoras — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 01:44:47 +0000

The people have spoken. After more than a hundred votes and some fierce competition, this poor nameless chicken is nameless no longer. She will be known, now and forevermore, as Princess Laya. The mega-talented writer and editor Kelly Brewer will get a dozen eggs (once they start laying). Congratulations Kelly!

Princess Laya

Vote Now and Name. That. Chicken!!

aboxofpandoras — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 01:21:56 +0000

From more than 60 submissions via the original blog post and Facebook, the list has been narrowed down to a select few.

As promised, an esteemed panel of judges (all of you!) will pick the winning name. The winner will receive a dozen eggs (if you live in town). If the winner lives out of town he or she will receive something of similar, but less perishable, value.

Vote Now!

Hippos, giraffes and butterflies – Oh My!

aboxofpandoras — Mon, 28 May 2012 16:16:22 +0000

We recently spent a lovely day as tourists in our own city. On a stunning Memorial Day weekend Saturday we ventured out the Albuquerque BioPark complex.

We started at the Botanic Garden. The highlights were all the plants in full spring bloom and the recently-opened-for-the-season PNM Butterfly Pavilion.

We then ventured over to the Albuquerque Zoo and ran into an old friend, a zookeeper, who got permission to let us FEED. THE. HIPPOS. Hippos are remarkably, fantastically cute. Especially when they’re behind six-inch steel bars. It was also public giraffe feeding time so we did that too!

To top off a lovely day, we had dinner with some of our favorite people and the saw The Avengers, most of which was filmed right here in Albuquerque.

Here are some gratuitous butterfly, hippo and other assorted pictures for your ooohing and ahhhing enjoyment (mostly hippos though).

Puttin’ on the Eclipse

aboxofpandoras — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:36:25 +0000

I’ve been looking for authoritative information on the annular solar eclipse path next Sunday, May 20th. Seems that the good folks at NASA obliged.

This interactive map can tell you if you’re in the path of the eclipse and what time it will be visible for you. The only challenge is that the times are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UT) otherwise known as Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT). So basically, if you’re in Albuquerque like I am, you’ll need to subtract seven hours from the time below to see when the eclipse will those in Mountain Standard Time. But WAIT, there’s a catch: it’s daylight saving time, so only subtract six hours. What’s that you say, why don’t I just do the subtraction for you? OK, fine.

The start of the partial eclipse will be: 6:29 p.m.
The start of the annular eclipse will be: 7:35 p.m.
The maximum will be 7:36 p.m.
The end of the annular eclipse will be: 7:38 p.m.
And the whole spectacle will end at: 8:37 p.m.

If you’re in another timezone beside MST, you’ll need to do your own clock math.

And finally, don’t forget to be prepared to watch the eclipse with some other device besides the naked eye. Watching a solar eclipse without eye protection turns you into a rabid flesh-eating zombie. It’s true. So protect yourself and happy eclipse watching!

Name … That … Chicken!!!

aboxofpandoras — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:37:27 +0000

One of our chickens is nameless and that lack is starting to impact her self esteem. She mopes around in an existential funk questioning her place in the world. So, it’s time for her join her named sisters: Mrs. Henny Penny/Penelope Houston, Houdini, Karen and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy for short).

Here’s some details on the Chicken Who Shall Be Named:
– She’s an Easter Egger and will lay either blue or green eggs.
- She’s rather friendly and will let you pet her and pick her up.
- She was the runt of the litter but now has grown to be of equal size to our other chickens.
And here are some glamour shots, the white chicken is the one that needs a name:Click to view slideshow.

And here are some details on the contest:
- All entries must be received by May 31st, 2012.
- All contest entries should be submitted in the comments to this blog post. You’ll need to provide your name and email address to comment below and suggest a name, which will also give me your email so I can contact you if your the winner. Your email will not be used for nefarious purposes.
- If two of the same entries are submitted, the one submitted first shall be considered.
- The winner will be selected by an esteemed to-be-determined panel of judges.

UPDATE: The winner will be selected by the most esteemed panel of judges I could think of – all of you. That’s right – this chicken will have a crowdsourced name.

- The winner, if in town, will receive a dozen fresh eggs (once the hens start laying). If you’re out of town, you receive something equivalent. You’ll also be immortalized in our chicken history.
- The winner will be announced here in mid-June.

Teenage Chicken Wasteland

aboxofpandoras — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:13:38 +0000

Our chickens are rapidly progressing to adolescence. And it’s a tough journey for all of us in the household.

First off, they’ve started preening – checking themselves out the mirror and applying too much blush.

And I caught Mrs. Hennypenny texting her chicken friends when she should have been studying for Egg Laying 101.

Just the other day Houdini tried to convince me that she should live in room with the separate entrance to the outside. Sure, like I’m going to fall for THAT one.

And the brooding, the endless brooding. The other evening, they all put on eyeliner and listened to The Cure and Depeche Mode all night long.

The pecking order is also in full effect. They’re very judgmental and have started harassing our late bloomer. The runt isn’t developing at quite the same rate as the other and they make endless fun of her. I think they even anonymously had a training bra delivered to her the other day. Teenagers can be so cruel.

But before we know it they’ll be out of the house ready to embark on life’s journey in our backyard. I hope we’ve given them to tools to be good chicken citizens. And I’m sure we’ll look back on this time in their lives with fondness.

They grow up so fast.

Trouble in a cage.

Making a break for it.

Mrs. Henny Penny

aboxofpandoras — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:02:07 +0000

Why thank you, I do believe I look smashing this evening.

Can I Haz Candy?

aboxofpandoras — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 03:25:09 +0000

Buffy hanging with her peeps.

Peep, peep, peep

aboxofpandoras — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:37:25 +0000

And so begins our poultry adventure. We picked up our chicks today from Miller’s Feed in Albuquerque. They are just two days old and happily peeping away under their heat lamp.

We have four breeds of chicks (hopefully all hens, but we won’t know for a while yet if we’ve got any roosters).
The breeds are:
Rhode Island Red
Buff Orpington
Araucana (also know as an easter egger or a south american rumpless) (rumpless, hah!)
Barred Rock

Excuse me while I go look in on the chicks again, they keep falling asleep spontaneously and just kind of falling over into a fluffy little heap. The cuteness is maintaining at pretty much ridiculous levels.

Want to learn more about Albuquerque’s Urban Chicken Ordinance and about urban chickens? Check out this urban chicken website and download the report for information on urban chickens in 25 cities around the U.S. including Albuquerque.