Happy Harvest Blog
Privacy Stalls
I finally got around to a simple fix to make higher walls on the nest boxes - just cardboard. Two of the nest boxes never got any use - too exposed. They all squabble over the corner office box and it gets vociferous. I hear them whining- complaining, indignant, offended, self-pitying, insulted, according to their chickenalities. I've been holding in an egg here for ages, and she just barged in here! Get off of me, I was already in here! Take a number!
Starter Egg
SOMEbody's a late bloomer.One of the "new" red hens, just coming online. The Silkies lay bigger eggs (but not by much).
Nearly hatch time (?)
It’s getting exciting! The red hen is almost due. In the interests of continuing to let the white hen do her own thing without interference, we did not look at her eggs.
The Days of Our Lives with The Combed and the Feathered
H.W. gets upset with “them all crowded around, staring at me”, and threatens to throw his hat at them. His hat-throwing has made such an impression that he no longer has to throw headgear, just give it a cowboy swoosh over his head, and instantly the chickens turn as one and flee. Not the hat!!! Hilarious, and effective.
Chickens running
Sometimes when I’m walking down the path, I hear a little whisk whisk behind me, and I look back to find two or three hens eagerly running along behind me. They stop immediately when I stop and mill around, at a loss. Uh, we were just, uhhhh, nothing.
First contact
I heard the Silkies burst out cry-screaming, and I ran out to see, just in time to see a red (full-size) hen sprinting towards me on the path from the coop, head up, eyes wide. Behind her Snowball the Silkie rooster was thundering along like a stormcloud, head down, wings out, and eyes narrowed. I didn’t have time to turn my camera on before it was over.
Pet chicken
We have one pet chicken.The low hen hangs out by the camper all the time now. She’s different, very content to be all by herself out here the other side of the field from the flock. I would too, if being around the rest meant I got feathers pulled out of my head.
Week 2 with the laying hens - still a novelty!
They are endlessly entertaining, popping out of the grass, sneaking, running, exploring. They love it under our box truck and hang out under there every day, whether rainy or sunny. H.W. has a swarm of chickens near him most of the time when he’s working. Chainsaw, splitting firewood, dragging things around - they drift along behind him as he works.
Itty bitty bantam eggs
I notice that they shift some nesting material and the plastic eggs from box to box; H.W. reiterates wish for a night-vision chicken cam. “What do they DO in there when no-one’s looking?”
Chickens, continued
I take off looking for the sunburned hen, and find her deep in the woods. She’s cunning and it’s a long, scratchy chase through the undergrowth with her little tail disappearing far ahead of me, to get her back up to our civilized area and back to the flock.An hour later, she’s gone again, and I can’t find her.
Day 2 - Layers
The hens let themselves out to range today. All the hens. Late afternoon I found all of them out, scattered about, very, very happy in the long grass. I wish I could leave them out already, but I don’t trust them to return to the coop at night, and they are not allowed to camp out with unsavoury characters around.
Respectable chickens
These are robust birds. They’re plump, and heavy, and hot with feathery chicken warmth, and you can feel the strength in their muscles. They seem HUGE after handling the Silkies. Like housecats compared to gerbils. Not petite housecats, either.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
Bite size.
