Photo Journal

March 10, 2019

Henny getting some love in old (chicken) age by our 3-year-old Lucas.  She's still doing great at 7 years old!  I was told by someone that chickens live until about 5 years old.  Apparently, life expectancy largely depends on the breed and this cross between a Bard Rock (8-10 year life expectancy) and Rhode Island Red (10-14 year life expectancy) will be with us for a while!

💡Lesson Learned: As chickens age, you have a dilemma to deal with as egg production drops significantly.  In our case, we kept our girls around like pets.  The meat in older chickens can be tougher than young chickens, so even if we did eat our pets they probably wouldn't taste so good.  I haven't eaten meat myself in about 20 years, so it wouldn't matter to me anyway.  I did announce to the cashier at our local feed store that my wife might want our chickens killed and defeathered and asked if they had anyone to do that for us.  They did!  My wife didn't appreciate me asking the question in that way, but we laugh about it now.

April 24, 2015

Great egg production after the introduction of an "unlimited" feed, rat-proof chicken feeder!  I am now using the automatic feeder I built to drop a little scratch twice a day.

Eggs!  Got to protect'm.

August, 2014

Chicken calendar!

💡Lesson Learned: The receipt of chicken calendars as a Christmas gift does not stop after the first year of having chickens.  I appreciate getting this calendar whenever it's given and love the different varieties of chickens.  If you are the same, check out Chicken People on Amazon Prime. 

Chicken Craft Thingy. Thanks Dan and Judy!

Skinny chicks from my last trip to India.  Makes my chickens realize how good they have it.  I now tell them "There are starving chickens in India.  You better eat your pellets and quit begging me for worms!"

Del Mar County Fair chicken.  Nice comb.

First eggs after molting season!

💡Lesson Learned: There is something called the molting process that happens to chickens once a year as their bodies prepare for winter.  They shed most of their feathers and grow new ones.  This uses a lot of their energy and protein otherwise used for egg production, so they decrease egg production and usually completely stop laying eggs for a while.  The whole process lasts about 2-3 months, but egg production isn't completely offline that entire time.

Sleepy time.

Mealworm Frenzy.  Nuff said.

💡Lesson Learned: These worms are a great source of protein and should be given during molting season when chickens need a lot of protein to regrow feathers.  And if you're new to feeding chickens, I should also point out that these dried worms, like scratch, are to be used in addition to regular chicken food crumbles or pellets.

💡Lesson Learned: Also mix into your regular chicken feed oyster shell to give your girls extra calcium and grit to aid in digestion. Read the label on these products to know how much to use and at what age your chicks should get these additives in their food.

Neko would like a taste please.

New home.  Free-range (within the confines of the fence)! 

You have been chosen!  Henny and Penny are named.

Henny and Penny's brothers and sisters.  Though mostly sisters, as we were told if we got a rooster we could bring it back.  The breeder said she chose the mix of Bard Rock and Rhode Island Red because at a certain age the coloring of feathers was enough to distinguish if the bird was a hen or a rooster.