Yes, that beautiful red head is my little Frankie all growed up. I am embarrassed to say that when she was going through her awkward teenage stage, I wanted to trade chickens. Horrible of me I know. David said that she was just the ugly duckling that would turn into a beautiful swan (okay, if that were literally true that would have been Crazy!). And he was right. This photo was taken right before we had Thanksgiving dinner and I know she very glad that she wasn't born a turkey. On the right side of the picture, you will see the black & white Lacey. She's a mature chicken and she's been laying for quite awhile now. And she is such a piggy!!! Very aggressive around food. She actually flies to get to Celeste first when she enters the coop to give the chickies treats. She stripped that Swiss Chard stem in my hand immediately and I was not pointing at Frankie. I was trying to give her a piece of it but as you can see, I was a little late on the draw.
Frankie is going to be laying her own eggs in January or February. As it turns out, she is a Rhode Island Red and they lay light brown eggs. It will be great fun to be part of Frankie's coming-of-age!!!
I must talk to you about this chicken/eggs business. Do you do it for the eggs, or the love of the bird, or both, or something else? In any case, your hens are lovely girls.
ReplyDeleteWe eat lots of eggs and buy only the cage free etc. Is it worth it to have laying hens?
I think the appeal with chickens is all part of this eat local...know where your food comes from movement. And that was a big incentive for Celeste since she's a wonderful cook and foodie. They also have an ideal spot for the chicken coop which is directly beneath an old orange tree. And chickens are just plain ol' fun to watch. They are also, well, downright beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAs for whether it's worth having laying hens, I'll have to let you know about that. Frankie and the other 4 hens haven't begun to lay yet so we don't have an egg count to measure against costs (if that's what you meant by being worth it). The eggs themselves don't taste noticeably different from the cage free ones but it is reassuring to know that the eggs come from chickens that are fed a healthy diet with no hormones.