Photo by Jessica Walliser We’ll add four new hens to our current flock of four hens for a total of eight. |
I am so excited! We’re getting four new chickens to add to our flock. We lost a few to old age and predators over the past few years, and our existing flock is down to only four hens. It will be nice to fill up the hen house again. I’m not sure what breeds we will be getting, as the farmer who is growing them out for us has many chicken breeds and suggested we come out and pick out the ones we want in person.
These little ladies were hatched at a nursing home as part of their enrichment program, and when they grew past the chick stage and got to big to continue living there, my farmer friend took them in. I’ll be getting them at about 12 weeks of age—just old enough to no longer need to be coddled. The last pullets we got were 16 weeks and were just coming into lay. I hope these girls begin to lay eggs before fall sets in, but we shall see.
Our current ladies have really been enjoying all the garden “extras.” Our son and his friends love to toss them the occasional berry, lettuce stumps, watermelon rinds and kitchen scraps. They are happy hens.
It has been very hot here in Pennsylvania over the past month with not nearly enough rain. The garden is suffering from the dryness and certainly hasn’t performed it’s best, but the cukes are starting to come in now, and soon I’ll be pickling away. (If you’re about to start pickling, too, check out this recipe for bread-and-butter pickles from my Nana.) Our hens also enjoy the unusable, over-ripe cukes we sometimes find hiding beneath the vines. Its good, old country fun to smash a cuke down in the chicken yard and watch them all come running!
