Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Spring Chickens






And the winner is............Jeanne of Gone Feral in Idaho.

Thanks to those who entered.


It's been a great spring and our hens have been out enjoying themselves.
Here's a rare photo of all six of the girls.


The three hens across the center, Hazel, Brazil, and Peanut are now two years old.
Jelly Bean, the hen at the top of the photo, and Tootsie and Ginger, the two at the bottom, will be five years old this June.

They all still seem to be laying since some days we pick up six eggs from the nesting box.

Here's Ginger looking rather feisty.  Which she is.


Hens are enjoyable to own, and you may be jealous of our ability to do this:


.....gather beautiful, fresh eggs out our back door.

If you're thinking of purchasing some chicks, The Coeur d'Alene Coop blog has a great post on just that subject.
Candace gives some excellent advice.  I would add that the care needed for baby chicks can feel a little overwhelming at times if you haven't the required motivation.

We think of our "girls" as our pets, yet they aren't on the level as a cat or dog.  Although I have known people who kept their chicken in a box while watching TV with it. 
Some chicken breeds are naturally friendlier than others.  Research is required when choosing the hens that will be right for you.  We looked for good manners, laying ability, and weather tolerance.

I have lots of posts on my sidebar about our chickens, check them out.

Hope you and yours are having a great spring.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I sooo wish we could have chickens in my neighborhood, but its a no-go...I even tried talking to our mayor about it. Gotta get out of surburbia! Your girls look like so much fun, and the eggs, wonderful.

Goneferalinidaho said...

Yay me! We would like to try chickens at some point, but we have so much work ripping out old overgrown landscaping in the backyard, that it won't happen this year.

Kathleen said...

Wow, five years old already?? That's amazing. I remember when you were adding them to your garden. I am jealous of all the fresh eggs! Your garden looks good too. Those lilacs will be blooming soon. You're ahead of us but I guess that's no surprise!!