The amazing technicolour egg palette that can be part of a backyard flock is, at the very least, enchanting. When you pick out your babies or pullets or hens, part of what you might consider is the egg colour they will offer. And—happy news!—hens that lay beautiful coloured eggs can be just as prolific (or…
Category: Personalities & Breeds
Oprah Our (Buff Orpington) Chicken Girl
It’s been a very challenging few weeks. We’ve definitely had some trouble at the hen house. There’s lots of tricky stuff to process and write about, but it needs time to settle. Right now I’d rather share some happiness and joy. Which means, it’s time to share the story of bringing home and getting to…
Chickens Are Not Gardeners
Chickens are tiny rototillers. Chickens are lightly domesticated velociraptors. Chickens are annihilators of insecta and annelida—annihilators with hyper-focused intensity. Chickens are not gardeners. Gardening with chickens? Before you read more, may I suggest Metallica’s Seek and Destroy. A chicken’s mission is to gobble up every bug, worm, grub, leaf, fruit, and whatever other nourishment it…
About Phaedra, Our Sweet, Sweet Parrot-Beaked Chicken Girl
Like humans, if you spend time getting to know your chicken girls, you’ll likely find they each have their own unexplainable and entirely lovable special needs. I don’t say this to make light of any being living with challenging disability. I say this because we are each unique and perfectly damaged in some small way…
They Just Get More Beautiful: A Bit About Booted Bantams
Update: my first post was a “beginning” post, because at that time I was going to write chicken stories along the linear progress and unfolding of everything we have enjoyed, endured, and overcome as backyard chickeners. Then I remembered, I am writing these posts to enjoy, unwind, and reflect. I am writing for a break…
Could This Be Love? Edie, My Chicken Friend.
We all love all of our chickens. And, sometimes there’s one chickie girl in the flock who is just a little bit tighter a buddy than the others. Edie is my number one chicken friend in our flock. She is a busy, clucky, busty Barred Rock. Edie and her sister Dierdre (more often Deedee) were…