Merè The Mighty

Cashmere or 'Merè'(Meer-eeee)as we call her, is our Black Silkie hen. She is small, but very powerful. She has the biggest personality for such a little fella. She was a chick just last spring. Now she is the broodiest hen we have. Every other month it seems that she is trying to sit on eggs. Usually when hens go broody they stop laying eggs. Merè has been broody for a week or two now and yesterday she started laying again even though she is broody. 

She wants to be a mamma so badly! It's kind of depressing. 

So, today when I pulled the eggs I marked her egg.

And gave it back to her.

She wasted no time pushing the egg back under her.

Way under her.

We do have two other hens that frequently go broody, but not near as much as Mere. They are pretty special too. Shown below is Fancy, or the 204 dollar chicken, read her story here. She is a Cochin and one of our favorites.

This hen shown below is Dori.

Dori is an interesting chicken to say it nicely.

She is known for her delirium. She runs around in psychotic tantrums, running in circles, yelling awful noises, she doesn't like be cornered, she especially doesn't want you to look at her, and she is great at just being a general nuisance. But we love her, even though she is crazy. Wont she make a great momma?

This Aurcana below is another favorite of ours. She never goes broody. She lays giant green eggs. She follows us everywhere especially to the garden and greenhouse, and she likes to be picked up. Cant ask for much more in a chicken. 

If you don't own chickens then you may not know that chickens all have different personalities. Some like to be held and pet, others just like your company. True some breeds share similar temperaments, and other characteristics, but each chicken is different in a great way. I guess that's why we love them so much. Do you love your chickens like we do? Tell us about it.

Thanks for reading! 

The Chicken Coop Makeover

 I want to start by saying, I know that our coop with the dirt floor and cardboard over the windows for winter protection is no where near the nicest. Or even the cleanest around, but it's our coop and when it looks good we are so proud! Through our research into why our chickens are attacking each other we learned a few things. Bored chickens attack each other, the two young roosters are terrorists among the flock, a clean coop keeps the birds happy. Chickens get bored when it's cold outside and they stay indoors a lot(by choice, the door is always open).

We added some alfalfa hay bales to the coop today in order to add surface area to the coop, keep the chickens busy with new distractions, and to add new floor cover.

The chickens loved it right away. They went straight to digging and pecking for treasures.

 Pierre's nest got some extra straw.

 We made some nice holes and hiding spots in between the bales to offer extra living space.

 The one in the center there is going to be a major egg laying spot, I just have a feeling.

This is another spot. Nice and roomy. 

 If you have ever seen a happy chicken, then you know how the flock was acting when we put these hay bales in. They were crazy.

 Even this goose was happy

 Lots of happy curious chickens

Digging, scratching, and pecking for treasures.

It's amazing what 36 dollars worth of hay can do for the coop. It smells wonderful, the chickens are happy, and hopefully they will stop hurting each other now.

We also had a small memorial service for our chicken with no name. Henry and myself dug a large hole in the back field and laid her to rest. A cat is as good as another shovel around here.

Thanks for reading