Hen names

Yes the hens have names.

• The darker colored Orpington is called Gloria, my daughter named her.
• The other Orpington is called Lily, from the song by The Who, "pictures of Lily". I named her
• The Rhode Island Red is called Dolly, after Dolly Parton, I think. My wife named her.

Dick Albers

As a teen I worked in the animal feed industry. I worked at Alber’s, a feed plant and a retail store. I did many different jobs while there.

We sold many types of poultry feed, among them, chick scratch and hen scratch. They differed only in size. The owner of the facility, a diminutive man, loved to come out and catch us taking a break. I devised a plan. Whenever anyone saw him sneaking around, that person would call out “chick scratch!”, and if we were resting, we would spring into action. It worked like a charm.

The chicken guy said scratch feed is not great for chickens, as it does not contain enough protein. But the mere mention of it brought back great memories of my days at Alber’s.

chicken scratch

Another three egg day! I thought we might have four, one of the Orpingtons looked like she was laying in the dirt, but I guess she was just resting.

I started making the wind shelter yesterday. Properly removing chicken wire is time consuming work. I finished one side.

Getting the hens back in the coop is easier at dusk, because they are ready to go to sleep anyway.

The hens like oranges, and cheese.

Cretaceous fowl

If birds have evolved from dinosaurs, and I believe they have, then chickens most remind me of Tyrannosaurus Rex aka T-Rex. They both have no or useless arms, run like the wind when they want to, eat anything, use their tails for balance, and have the same feet!

After observing my hens, I have no trouble making the connection. Are you having trouble? Try imagining a chicken from the ant’s point of view.

Municipal code :(

I’m a little worried because I saw a uniformed person in the yard next door. I hope I’m not in for a legal battle.

I asked for advice from the “chicken community” and one guy was very helpful, and said I don’t have anything to worry about. He even studied the Park’s municipal code for me. What a guy!

I’ll write more about that loathsome subject if anything comes to pass.

The girls are averaging over 2 eggs per day. The Orpington’s are supposed to lay the same number year around, and this seems to be so.

My wife ate an egg today! She was a bit squeamish, but overcame it! What a cowgirl!

eggz

Two more tan eggs! The chickens seem to like their new roof. I'm planning to create a new sheltered area (on three sides and the top) so they can get out of the wind and rain and not have to go in the house where they spend a lot of time this time of year.

Bulldozer or rototiller?

The Chicken class instructor (from now on called the chicken guy) said that chickens are like little bulldozers and that they can tear up a garden in record time. I was dubious about the second claim, but count me in as a believer! They love to move a bunch of dirt and then look for bugs, and will repeat this ad infinitum. It is so obviously a instinctual behaviour.

So far they have stayed out of my garden (maybe because it only contains garlic right now). There is nothing else in the backyard they can harm, so they have the run of the place (supervised in case of predators). A Louisville slugger is my weapon of choice (we have big dogs in the park).