Egg and kitten

First let's deal with the eggs. I thought all four of our new "Muff" hens were laying, but today Gordon found a teeny-tiny dark brown egg in the coop....

(The camera is doing weird things to his hands. They aren't short and stubby!)

The other Muffs are laying small white eggs. I'm thinking this was laid by the dark-legged hen. (Leg colour and and the skin-colour around chickens' ears is related to egg colour.)

The white eggs are from the other muffs. Their eggs are quite pointy. The other two on the left are normal large eggs from the Sex-Links hens.

Perfect for a tiny omelette!

Meanwhile, Naomi is appalled at the attention you're all paying to Emily the kitten...

Even though she is great with a dirty look, Naomi doesn't have a mean bone in her body and is the sweetest cat I've ever had. The tiniest, too. She weighs seven pounds. Like Emily, she showed up out of nowhere, screaming her head off outside my bedroom window one late September night back in 2008. She was six weeks old when she arrived. She's a tortoiseshell completely lacking in typical "tortitude!"

Meanwhile, Alex and Emily had some together time in the bathroom after my shower this morning. All the cats LOVE lying on that green bathrobe of mine. (And no, I wasn't naked when I took these photos!!!)

Alex weighs 14 lbs. Emily is 2.5 ls.

She kept slithering up to Alex. He was having a lot of fun with her new pink Kong Kickeroo kitten toy!

He gave her one swat and a few sniffs but mostly ignored her. I think it's driving Emily crazy. At one point she waited until he was busy washing himself, then snuck up from behind and pounced on him. He jumped a foot in the air!

I tell ya, that girl is going to rule the house!

Poor Alex. He needs to lose weight but he's not as Jabba-esque as this photo suggests. I recently started all the cats on a raw food diet and they are taking to it very well. Alex used to eat kibble like it was crack. I have raw-fed my dogs for over a decade, but was afraid to try it with the cats as they have more exacting dietary needs (read: are easier to kill if you screw up.)

 Finally I took the plunge and it has been going really well. Just got myself a new meat cleaver! Among other things, you need to be sure cats get enough taurine. Although I am careful about the meat/bone/offal ratio in their food, I sprinkle on some taurine a few times a week for insurance.

I am no zealot when it comes feeding pets. I think you should just do what works for you! I enjoy feeding our pets raw and am pleased with results, but that's just me. As long as your pets are happy and healthy, it's all good!

Hope you enjoyed your daily kitten fix, with bonus full-grown felines!