News from the hen house

  It took six months but we’ve finally got eggs! We also have a rooster. Surprise! 

 When we went to our local feed store, we picked out five (female, or so we thought) chicks; one for each of us to name. We got a variety of breeds so we could observe the differences in each. Solen and Papaw each picked white Leghorns. The thing we’ve learned about Leghorns is that they’re not a very friendly breed. They don’t even attempt to endear themselves with humans. So over time, “Diamond and Blanca” got dubbed “Heckyl and Jeckyl”, a more fitting title for each. They are, however, good egg layers. They each lay about one a day.

I chose a Barred Plymouth Rock and named her Opal (the black and white hen in the photo). She has turned out to be a sweet, friendly natured gal, she has no aversion to hopping up in your lap and eating out of your hands. She’s a good egg layer too – one brown egg about every day. 

Grannybear got an Orpington, a beautiful red, fluffy chick she named Ginger. Ginger turned out to be George. He was sweet at first, until he hit puberty, then he got mean. It’s a rooster’s job to protect his flock I suppose. He won’t hesitate to peck the hand that feeds him, but I’ve established a pecking order so he knows I’m in charge. Of course, he won’t lay eggs but he does provide a service protecting the ladies from would be predators like small dogs, foxes, racoons, etc. so I guess he can stay.

Sagan picked a pretty little Bantam he named Crystal. Unfortunately Crystal didn’t make it. She had a bad case of scissor beak (or cross beak) and I just don’t think she was getting enough to eat (despite our best efforts to keep her fed). We were sad to see her go and Sagan was sad to lose his girl.

Then one day a very strange thing happened. A tiny Bantam hen came walking down the road and up our driveway. She was a pretty little thing and the neighbor caught her and asked us if we’d lost a chicken. We said no but we’d add her to our flock and feed her and keep our ear to the ground if anyone had lost one. Not one peep from any of the neighbors, so Sagan got himself a brand new Sebright Bantam. She lays tiny white eggs. You can see one of them in the photo.

All in all, having back yard chickens has been a very positive experience, and I would recommend it for anyone with a little space and time enough to manage a henhouse. You’ll never go back to store bought eggs once you’ve tasted farm fresh.