National Chicken & Egg Day .......................

Forget Groundhog's Day ........

Because yes ........ today was actually the day to celebrate our chickens and the eggs they provide for us. My hens have just started laying again after their fall molting process. January started out good , but their egg laying has been slack this week. I'm not sure why , but it's probably the crazy weather pattern we're having. It's been very spring like , but we've had a couple of really cold nights. Pictured above is Ms. Rose , she provided me with an egg today and I'm mighty thankful to her. Ms. Rose is my aggressive hen , she'll chase you down for a snack , jump up and grab it if she gets the chance. She also pecks you if you don't get her feed in the pan fast enough , but it's a gentle peck (LOL ).

This is Iris , she lays white eggs with beautiful school bus yellow yolks.
She's the shy hen , I'm really surprised that she allowed me to capture this pic.


Jenny and Violet were hiding in the bushes today , guess they didn't want their picture taken ............ bad feather day , perhaps (LOL).

It was almost 70 degrees today , so this trio was seeking shade under the old truck. I'm thankful for my chickens and the eggs they provide us.

Happy Chicken and Egg Day !!

Blessings

JoyceAnn

~ ~ ~ ~A Whole Lot of Crowing Going On ~ ~ ~ ~

Yesterday morning I found Ms. Arlene ( formally known as Jolene , Curious J kept calling her Arlene , so that name kinda stuck ) in the nesting box , she laid her first egg since molting.

Chief Little Roo has try to claim the new flock as his girls , he just kept standing there admiring them :0)


Afterwards , he had something to crow about (LOL).


( It was the first time I've saw him crowing )

Of course , then we had a crowing contest going on :0)

I was late going to shut the hens up last night , my Mom called as I was getting ready to go out to the chicken coop. After talking with her and my sister for awhile , I headed out to shut the coop for the night. I went to get the little hen from the holding pen outside and she was gone. I looked a long time for her , so long that Dh came out to see what was wrong. He thought I might have run into that bear (LOL) , I told him about the missing hen. There were no signs of a struggle , no feathers on the ground , no animal prints and the makeshift pen was intact , but the little hen was nowhere to be found. I checked inside the coop and everyone seemed fine , no ruckus or signs of anything happening. So we finally gave up the hunt , hopping she would be there this morning. I introduced the new flock to the roost Sunday night. I couldn't wait a week , they kept trying to fly up in the pen to get to the roosting area , so I decided I would let them out and see what happened. The older hens weren't exactly thrilled about them , but after a little pecking , the new girls ended up on top of the nesting boxes roosting with the roosters. Hopefully in time they'll all become one flock. Anyway , I went out as soon as it was light enough to see this morning and there was the little hen hanging out with the guinea. I was happy that she survived her night out , but now she's sequestered to the little pen in the coop until she gets a little older. I guess she flew out of the holding pen and the other hens wouldn't let her back in the coop , so she must have found a safe roosting place outside last night , she may have roosted in the trees with the guinea (LOL). Thankfully it all ended well.

Collected 5 eggs yesterday.

~ Homestead Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

This Morning at the Coop !

Fern checking out the new kid ( chick ) in the coop.

The new Chick's not sure she wants to venture out , with the other hens gawking at her.

Chief Little Roo

Geronimo

Breakfast is served !




I'm out , but these other chickens aren't so nice !


Time to Earn my Keep !



Free Ranging ...........



Got Eggs ?

~ Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

~ Music to my Ears .........

Yesterday morning as I was walking to the chicken coop , I heard a rooster crow , actually I heard 2 crows. They weren't really loud , but some one's definitely crowing. I'm not sure which one was crowing , although it may have been both since I heard 2 crows. As I entered the chicken coop , they were standing on top of the nesting boxes , but they didn't crow anymore. They haven't been roosting with the girls , they've been roosting on top of the nesting boxes. It was music to my ears to hear the crowing , it brought back memories of my Grandparents farm.

I've picked out a name for the rooster on the left , he's brave , so I'm calling him " Geronimo ". The other rooster is more of a gray color and has white ear lobes , I've thought about calling him " Ashes " or " Charcoal " , but I'm not sure about those names. Anyone have a name suggestion for the Roo on the right side of the pic , should I give him a chief name too?

Update ~ I decided to go feed and water the chickens this morning , before I edited and publish this post , as I finished up and was getting ready to come back to the house , I noticed Geronimo puff up and start crowing , he crowed about five times :)

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

* Chill'in da Coop *

Looking Confused , I'm not so sure about this New Place ?

The Girls Checking out the New Roos !


Mya gets close , who is this guy ?


~ Still , CURIOUS ~


~ The Roos trying to get away from the Lady with the Camera (LOL) ~



I released the roosters yesterday and so far so good , but they're young , so I'm not holding my breath. They aren't crowing yet , how old are they when they start crowing , anyone know?

~~ Many Blessings ~~
JoyceAnn

~ Cock - A - Doodle - Do ~

I've been checking Craigslist lately , looking at goats , checking prices and trying to decide what kind of milking goat I want to add to the homestead. On Saturday as I was browsing I found a post for free silkie roosters , I e-mailed the poster to find out if the roosters were aggressive , he e-mailed me back and said they weren't. So I decided I would get the hens a boyfriend (LOL). Sunday afternoon , Dh and I rode out to pick him up. But we came home with 2 young roosters , not sure how that's going to workout , the guy said he really needed to get rid of them because he lived in town. He had hatched 9 eggs a few months ago and out of the 9 had 7 roosters. I ask if they would fight as they got older , he said he didn't think so since we let our chickens free range during the day and they wouldn't be confined to a small area, but he's new to raising chickens too , so I'm not sure about that. I am planning to get 6 more hens soon , so I hope they'll be o.k. , although they'll all be confined during garden season.

Two of the hens are molting , the black one above (Jenny) looks horrible and I've been worried about her. The weather has been frigid lately , in the teens or around 20 at night and barely above freezing during the day for the last week or so , but so far she seems o.k. The hens aren't laying as much now , but we're still getting 2 or 3 eggs a day.

Today I'll be releasing the roosters from their holding pens so they can meet the girls close-up , they're in the chicken coop , but I've kept them separated. Hope they get along well and praying the roosters don't get aggressive with each other or me(LOL). I have a fear of roosters , but it's time to face that fear and move on. I've read that silkies aren't as aggressive as most roosters , so we'll see. If you've ever had two roosters , I would love to hear about your experiences.

~ Warm Blessings ~

JoyceAnn