Hey Ladies!

So the ladies are now about six months old and are producing three eggs a day very consistently.  I let them free range on the days I'm home to save wear and tear on their pasture.  It's also excellent natural bug control.  Just yesterday the ladies discovered and decimated a nest of carpenter ants.  All four of them got super excited when they found the egg chamber and I'm sure I saw one take off with the queen.  They also helped me move some stuff around the property and ate all of the night crawlers I uncovered.  Pretty sure they ate a frog, too.  They're like my little fluffy shadows when I'm working outside.

The downside to letting the ladies out is that they need regular management.  Especially after the fox incident, we want them to stay where we can see them.  We also want them to stay off out of the neighbor's lawn (though she loves them).  The ant nests they've been feasting on are right along the property line and they need to be put away before we let the dogs out or leave.

For me, it's easy.  I've raised them from one day old, they know me.  I call 'Chik-chick-chick' and they come running.  Problem is that Joe can't imitate my call, it's too high pitched.  So now I'm trying to teach them to come running when I call "Hey, ladies!", a la The Beastie Boys.  Mostly because I want to see Joe out there yelling that.



Of course I have to be nice to Joe, he's been working hard.  Our Muscovy ducks are arriving on Saturday and he's getting their pen together.  Three ducks and a drake so hopefully next year we'll have duck to go with the chicken in the freezer.  He also has to get the coop and pen together for the next round of meat birds that are arriving at the end of the month.  I'm not losing my sun room again!  We invested in a nice brooder for the first four weeks, then they're heading outside.

On the left is the start of the Muscovy pen, showing the area where we need them to manage the bug population, and on the right is the start of the meat bird coop, showing the pasture fenced in for them.

We also have four more laying hens on the way.  They're four week old chicks of assorted breeds, we're just waiting to see what we get.  We'll probably end up keeping the two we like the most and selling the other two.  Six hens will get us 4-5 eggs a day.  That's a lot of eggs.  We're already giving some away to our neighbor.  Joe was worried that just four girls in the coop designed for 6-8 will get cold during the winter.

I have my fingers crossed for Cukoo Maran or Silver Laced Wyandotte.  Easter Egger is also on the list of possibilities.  I adore my Barred Rock girls, but I want to try out some other varieties.