Hen Update

All 13 hens are friends. They spend their days free ranging the property we live on and pooping on my sidewalk which makes me crazy. I become a bit immune to it (which I am sure disgusts you as a reader) until someone is coming over. Suddenly my poo-free goggles are off and I see it everywhere. It is at these times I am so tempted to purchase a power washer, to which my husband would jump and dance for joy. This has not YET happened, but would be on my list of necessary items for any free range chicken owner. Now, in theory, we could leave them locked up, but my empathy wins over. How could I ever force 13 hens who have been permitted to go where they please and explore where they may to suddenly live in an enclosed dirt area?!? It is inconceivable. No way. A free range they shall be!

On the subject of eating.... I have eye witnessed our hens eat the following: insects, grain, spiders, a mouse!, and a frog. I would never have believed the frog and mouse had I not seen it with my own eyes, but it truly did happen. A favorite treat we give the girls is oatmeal. I am not an oatmeal measurer. Consequently, I often make enough oatmeal for a High school football team. These are the days the hens enjoy. They LOVE it! And yes, once or twice on some of these particular cold WA days, I've been known to make a pot just for them. I vaguely recall a man from the co-op chicken class I took before this all began sharing that he did that and I thought he was nuts! I looked at my friend and said something like, that's never happening for my chickens. Ha! Oh to live some more life and change ones perspective.....

The hens are quite attached to the family. When we head outdoors, they usually gather around us and follow where we go. Reading this, it sounds annoying but I find their following quite endearing. I am certain they would like to go for van rides, but this hasn't happened.... yet. When van doors open, they often go in and need to be gently escorted out. Otherwise, you can only imagine what that car detailing fee may cost! Now, I would be flattering myself if I left you in anyway to believe they enter our van to see us. That may be the case, but I strongly suspect its the snack crumbs ground into the carpet that brings them in.

In September we were up to 12 eggs a day! Can you believe it? Now we are around 4. Most recently, these 4 eggs are frozen. Hens naturally slow down in the winter months, it has to do with the amount of light they receive. You can put a light in their hen house which causes them to lay more, but hens only have a certain amount of eggs to lay in their life so I figure its 6 to 1 half a dozen to another. Ha, pun intended.

*The picture is of Harriet. She is very photogenic, as I'm certain you can tell. She enjoys the lions share of attention and having her feathers rubbed.