Baby robin...like tiny, naked chicks

A brave robin couple built their nest under our breezeway. The four prefect, tiny, blue egg have hatched and now we have 4 new residents in our backyard! They are such scrawny and naked and cute little aliens.

Henopause: no reason not to have a flock

I ran across this on the NYTimes twitter feed today: http://blogs.seattletimes.com/allyoucaneat/2013/05/17/henopause-and-whether-you-should-have-backyard-chickens/#.UZZYahGMCLM.twitter

Yes, yes, chickens slow down in egg production as they get older (though then don't actually stop) but Andrew & I are happily preparing for our hens dotage. Don't Peggy & Joan & Sally deserve a warm, clean(ish) coop even when they're no longer serving their "purpose"? Their room and board seems like a small price to pay for years of service. Besides, these girls are pets. True they don't sleep in bed like the other pets, but they're pets nonetheless. What do you guys think? Are your chickens headed to the soup pot when their egg laying slows down? Or is the inevitability of the slow down reason enough not to have them in the first place?

Spring Chickens

The ladies are excited about spring!  At least I think that's what Peggy was saying when she wouldn't stop squawking this afternoon.  She was even making Moses (the dog) nervous!  He was doing that concerned-dog-head-tilt.
I'm going to have to make something seriously eggy this weekend because springtime means EGGS!  So much for nearly-3-year-old-hens slowing down in production.  You wouldn't know it around here.

Old Christmas trees make great run material

Andrew & I were constantly on the lookout for small Xmas trees that were put on the curb after Christmas. We'd pull up slow, I'd jump out and grab while Andrew popped the trunk and in a flash we were off with our free bedding.
Keeping the chicken's run dry (or something short of sodden) in the spring is always a challenge. This spring hasn't been too wet yet, but the rain will come. But this year we have our Christmas tree scraps and they seem to be making a difference. They've taken forever to go from green to brown. A few weeks ago Andrew cut off all their branches and scattered them around and that's sped up the browning process - but even before the branches are completely dry themselves, they provide a surprisingly effective barrier between the muck and our shoes and we don't seem to have the same cess-pool effect that we did last spring.
So far Operation Stolen Christmas Tree is a success!

10,000 page views!

I just clicked on the blog stats for Bexley Chickens.  We've had over 10,000 page views since starting this blog!  Yowza!  That's a lot of folks interested in chickens.  Thanks for stopping by.

Egg nugget

Today Andrew found this little egg nugget in the coop. We have no idea what it looks like on the inside, but it has a shell on the outside. It seems dense, like an egg. Springtime is always a good time for egg-oddities. I'll let you know when we crack it open!

Book Store Chicken!

Andrew & I spent spring break in Minneapolis (a bold choice) and on our last day we visited the Wild Rumpus, an independent children's book store. It was awesome - really a magical place. But the best part were their pets. The Wild Rumpus has ferrets, doves, chinchillas, Manx cats, a lizard, and a chicken!! An indoor shop chicken! She was a sweet frizzle who let the kids pet her. It was so odd and fantastic!