It doesn’t feel like spring around here until the annuals are planted and Mr. Chicken Chick worked with me to liven up the backyard. This year, we buried hardware cloth underneath mulch surrounding plants so the chickens won’t ruin the them. Kate, our Speckled Sussex hen, always stays nearby when yard work is underway as it holds the promise of wiggly snacks!

ellen deHeneres (a Marans hen) went broody this week and was given some chicks to adopt (the ones from P. Allen Smith’s flock, in fact). She rejected the two yellow chicks, but is a very good, fiercely protective mother to the others. I almost lost a limb when I tried to pick up one of her chicks! I have the two yellow chicks (breeds undetermined) in my office underneath an EcoGlow brooder.

We lost our only Bantam Welsumer hen this week due to  a prolapsed oviduct as suspected. After receiving the necropsy report, the vet at the pathology lab confirmed that a pecking injury caused hemorrhaging inside the oviduct when a vessel was punctured. So, while she could have survived the prolapse, flock members’ curiosity got the better of them, to her demise.
RIP Irene. Irene became a member of our flock the day hurricane Irene hit Connecticut in August 2011. She was always the most outspoken hen in the flock. The backyard won’t be the same without her.