A Silkie & Her Egg

We just watched her lay that egg!

Way too cool!! I haven't heard the word 'awesome' said that many times in a long while. She is very excited to have been able to see that happen. Me too! That's only the 3rd time I've watched it, even though I've been raising chickens my whole life, 'cause the hens are usually quite private about their egg laying.

Barred Rock Hen

The Barred Plymouth Rock is a dual-purpose hen, a great layer, or meaty enough for the stew pot. Their coloring is eye-catching, although they look like jail-birds from old-time movies!

Black Hen

Before the boys were born, and while they were too young to have an opinion, I bred several different breeds of 'fancy' purebred chickens. I was selective about which rooster I bred to which hen, in order to maintain the standard for that breed. A few years ago, the boys asked if we could take the incubator into their classrooms and hatch chicks. I thought that sounded like a wonderful project! Which breeds did they want to hatch? Mixed breeds! They just wanted to walk out, grab a bunch of eggs from random nests and see what came out. What came out was an amazingly colorful mix of chicks that were all different sizes since some of my chickens are bantams (miniatures) and some are full-sized. We have repeated that project each spring and the children LOVE it! And we've found that the mixed breed chickens are so beautiful and unique. Take this hen, for example. She displays some of the characteristics of a Silkie - the soft fuzz and crest, dark skin and rosecomb - and the beautiful black plumage of a Sumatra.

A special thanks to Hope, from Knoxville Daily Photo, who presented me with this award yesterday:

Free-range hens..

...are happy hens! All of our chickens are free-range, which means that they can roam the farm all day long. At night they go into the coop, where they are safe from predators. Occasionally we have a visit from a day-time predator, like a fox, but having 2 dogs running around loose all the time discourages them. We prefer our eggs to come from happy hens that get to eat grasses, bugs or whatever catches their fancy. The only thing is, you have to watch where you step!

Pretty Hen

I really like the markings on this hen's feathers...

A hen and her golf ball...

...it's a beautiful thing...
The hens don't realize that the ball is not another hen's egg. We place balls in the nests so that the hens (particularly the young ones) know where to lay their eggs. Otherwise we would find them in the strangest locations!

From my front door...

So sorry I missed posting yesterday - I've injured my back, so I'm confined mostly to the couch, with a little bit of walking around the house allowed, as I feel up to it. I was racking my brain, trying to think of something interesting to post, and came up with this idea - repeating my very first post! Compare the view out my front door today, with the view back in February...