No sprout sign yet...(sigh). But the light is coming back and the girls are starting to lay again. Jimmy had a conversation with one of the neighbors a couple of weeks ago who proudly stated that 'another neighbor ' was still getting full production from her hens. Jimmy asked if the the other chicken owning neighbor had a light in her coop, and a heater, to which the answer was affirmative. Jimmy had to explain to the lady that part of raising chickens organically is to allow them to take a natural rest for a few weeks during midwinter. Allowing them a vacation prolongs both their lives and their quality of egg production. To cut down on chicken illness we regularly feed them wonderful homemade mashes of things like pasta with a cayenne pepper sprinkle on it. The cayenne takes care of worms and a lot of other parasites. It doesn't take much to raise 'organic ' chickens. A few home remedies handed down from the old farmers in the family and little benevolent neglect and chickens will be happy and in harmony with their natural cycles.
My girls, being spoiled the way they are, don't really know how good they have it. They have plenty of room to roam and forage. They have a large, airtight, watertight, comfy warm coop with good ventilation. They have a variety of foods available to them. They are as protected from predators as I can make them without keeping them caged up 24/7. They have a coop, 2 barns, and several mini shelters available to them. They have a good life. But still they bitch and peck at the door. I don't seem to be able to convince them that I don't control the weather.
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| Backyard chickens working on the strawberry bed for us. |
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| Rhode Island Red hens doing a little gardening to get ready for spring planting. |
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Chickens in Seattle , foraging in the rain
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