Putting the hens to bed
November 10, 2008 by Susie Collins
My first YouTube video! LOL.
This is my evening routine of putting the hens to bed after they’ve had their afternoon foraging in the garden and their dinner of corn and milo. On this evening, meet the Ever Regal Lydia, the Alpha Hen Lucy (already on the roost), the Dear Sweet Katie and the Always Fashionably Late Jolie. Jolie is always the last and she often waits so long that it’s too dark for her to see well enough to fly up to the top roost. So she often gets a little nudge.
At the risk of sounding like a Crazy Lady, I really love my hens. They are my garden buddies and I love them dearly. There’s nothing more relaxing than watching them perambulate around in the garden, scratching for bugs or sunbathing. When we do yard work, they are always close by, gobbling up all the stray bugs or worms we dig up.
The girls are currently on vacay for the winter, not giving us any eggs, but for most of the year they give us the most delicious eggs you can imagine, and at four a day, every day, we have plenty to give away.
Thanks to my good friend Dan for helping me upload the vid!
I was just discussing chickens yesterday, with an MCS friend in North Carolina. I think she said she has 11. I’m hoping to have a few when I find a new place to live.
I like the synchronicity.
Oh yes, synchronicity. We too have been chatting up the possibility that we might be raising chickens somewhere where our vardo goes. Pete’s already saying he’s saying the egg cartons for the day we have our own eggs (smiles). I love their names, but whatz up with seasonal egg-making? I don’t know enough about these gals.
Whoopa, that would be a typo..Pete’s saving them egg cartons. E kalamai. And Aloha Susie!
Linda, I would love to have about 12, and I have the room, but the four are so peaceful and harmonious together and I would hate to ruin that. So I am keeping it at the four for now.
Mokihana, Hens stop laying when the days shorten (less light) and then start laying again in the spring. (At commercial farms, they keep the coops lit for 15 hour days so the hens never stop laying year round.) When the days started to shorten, my girls stopped laying, went into a molt and now are cruising through the winter. It’s the natural rythym of things. I do not have a rooster, so we never have chicks and my girls have a hassle free life without any boys (and no crowing!).
Susie, I love that answer and am so happy to be reminded of the being in natural rhythm of all that is. And oh, no crowing is like…the best of all worlds. Malama them girls. Aloha.
I’m thinking 2 (no roosters) would probably be perfect for me. Maybe 3, so the cats won’t outnumber the chickens. Maybe I’ll end up with neighbours who like eggs. I want to start looking into (relatively) locally available breeds. I wonder now if there are any chicken rescue shelters that I could adopt from?
Has anyone tried freezing scrambled (uncooked) eggs?
You should get at least three hens. They are incredibly social and need the pecking order to be happy. Plus, if you lose one, the two left still have each other. You will love them! They are intelligent creatures, extremely AWARE of everything around them and very emotional. I’ve been pretty much struck dumb by the difference in what kind of creatures they are and what we’ve been led to believe they are.
You need to make sure you have very secure safe housing because predators from dogs to raccoons to hawks will all be trying to eat them.
The BEST book is “Chickens in Your Backyard” by Rick and Gail Luttmann. That’s how I learned how to keep them.
And yes, you can freeze raw scrambled eggs. If you freeze them in an ice cube tray, then you can just pop out the cubes to cook, it comes out to about one egge per cube.
Susie, I am “putting myself to bed” right now. It is 11:15 pm mountain time. Watching this video, with your beautiful garden, your peaceful voice and your easy relationship with your hens…has effected me like a lullably.
congrats on your first video. good night, Kerry
Awwww, Kerry, that’s so sweet. Nighty night. {hug}