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| The Hen Pen |
The chickens have grown big, fluffy and spoiled!
We had them running all over the yard at the old house, which was fine most of the time, but shortly before moving they started spending more time on the patio and leaving little "gifts." So, I told Matt that I'd like to create a large pen for them at the new house. I started looking at dog-run fencing to create a pen that would hold them well, but give them plenty of space to wander. We found a good fencing place, and Matt did a great job creating this pen on the side of the house.
I told the kids that they were welcome to go in the pen or let the chickens out any time they wanted to hold them or play with them. I just asked that they pen the hens up when they were done. These spoiled hens had their own ideas! Their flight feathers had grown in, and they liked to fly over the chain fence and wander the back yard. Again, sprinkling "gifts" on the patio. The good news was that they were smart enough to always fly over the fencing in OUR yard, so we never had a hen try to leave us. I think that means their happy here. ;D
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| Huddled together after Matt & I clipped their wings. |
However, something had to been done. I read up on wing clipping and found some good instructional videos and Matt and I took a few minutes today to clip their wings. I wanted to film Matt doing it, but it turned into a two-person job, with Matt holding the hen and me clipping the wings. Clipping was REALLY easy! You only have to clip 8-10 long flight feathers on the front of each wing and their shorter feathers act as a perfect guide so that you don't cut to deeply. The hens aren't hurt a bit - it's like cutting hair or clipping nails. They were just feeling a little shy afterwards.
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| They weren't shy for long... |
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| Matt still has them eating out of the palm of his hand. ;D |
We're enjoying the hens a lot. Matt starting calling Lauren the "Chicken Whisperer," because she's been working to train the hens to jump on her lap or sit. She's still working on it, but I had to laugh when she had a chicken sitting perfectly still next to her until she called, "Release!"
In July, we started getting our first eggs. The hens didn't start laying all at once, just one at a time over the course of the month. The black hens lay a brown egg, where the buff eggs are tan. I wouldn't describe the flavor as different, they're just a little more flavorful, and the cooked egg is a darker yellow. Our friend described them as "just farm fresh eggs!" The family is enjoying eating them, and the kids act like it's Easter every day as they head to the yard each morning on an egg hunt. Max especially LOVES it!
In the beginning the eggs were very small and sometimes the shell was too soft and would crack. This is a photo of three eggs we got in one day. You can see a big difference from the newest to the oldest layers.
This is a large grocery store egg vs. the eggs we got during the first fews weeks.
This is the comparison now. :D
We've been told that after the hens molt, their eggs will be even larger and better.
With the kids leaving the house early on Friday morning, no one checked for eggs until this afternoon, when Matt came in with ELEVEN eggs! This how many are in the fridge now.
Matt said "We definitely need to eat eggs for breakfast tomorrow."
Yum! ;D
