Chicken mom....

This is my first year with chickens. I've seen chickens from a far, but, never up close and personal. I didn't think too much about chickens quite frankly up until a couple of years ago. In all fairness, I've never really had a place where I could keep chickens up until our current home.

Now, I knew nada about chickens. I didn't have any friends who had chickens, therefore, I had no one to ask advice about raising and keeping chickens. So, I went into research mode. I read as many articles as I could. My husband bought me books. I was getting confused - not that it really takes much to do that! I went to my local feed store and talked chicken talk every time I went in. I believe they were starting to worry about my state of mind. So, after three years of "talk", I went into action and took the plunge and came home with six little peeps. Three White Rocks and three Barred Rocks. It was love - chicken love. Why did I wait so long?

I could have sat for hours watching the shenanigans of the girls. It was and still is quite entertaining to watch them. After a bit I was able to decode "chicken talk" and what the squabbles and murmurs are all about. I was now a chicken mom. I am proud that I raised the little peeps to pullets. Come April, they will be hens and my girls will be all grown up. The road to henhood has been fun, frustrating, and confusing at times. But, the reward at the end is the eggs. Beautiful brown eggs with a deep, orange yolk. The difference between store bought, even free range or organic is immediate. Oh, the taste!

I was prepared for the girls to take a rest from laying over the short days of winter, but, much to my delight, I am still getting eggs! I haven't added light to the coop to increase the amount of light they are receiving. I believe they should follow their natural cycle and if they stop laying, they stop laying. They will eventually start again when their biorythms tell them so. Okay, I'm not really sure if chickens have biorythms, but, you get my point.

So, even though I've done enough research to achieve a Master's Degree in chickenology, it goes to show that not everything you read will replace what you really have to do. Go experience it first hand. Pitchfork the poo. Carry the straw bales. Cluck like a chicken. I really enjoy clucking like a chicken - there's a certain freedom involved... I jest, not really. I really do enjoy it. bwock, bwock, bwock.....