The best fertilizer . . . - This Cottage Life

The chickens are my responsiblity.

DIY Guy built the coop and pen, and he helps load and unload feed bags. All of which I am VERY grateful for.

However, when it comes to feeding the hens, gathering eggs, cleaning the coop & pen, keeping the water full — that’s my chore.

On the way home from church today I mentioned that I was going to let the chickens roam the yard today. <DIY Guy really likes it when I let the chickens out of the pen to roam the yard. In fact, he volunteers to check on them to make sure they are staying in the yard when I let then out>.

DIY Guy was happy to hear that.

So, I said to DIY GUY: “I think you secretly like the chickens.”

DIY Guy: “I wouldn’t say I LIKE the chickens”

Me: “Yeah, but you like the IDEA of the chickens”

DIY Guy: “Yeah, I guess I like the idea of them — but if you weren’t here, I wouldn’t have chickens”.

So, as long as I take care of the chickens . . .

and let them roam the yard on weekends

DIY Guy will continue to secretly like the “biddies” as he calls them.

Nate is my source of limited chicken help. He will collect eggs, let them in/out…help round them up at the end of a roaming day . . . and even provide food and water.

Nate is also the “namer” of the hens. Believe it or not, hens have personalities – not much of a personality…but enough that if they all looked the same, you might be able to tell the difference between some of them. Unless you have a huge flock — that would be a bit of a challenge. But with our small flock of 6 hens, we can see the personalities.

This is Rosie, a Buff Orpington. She is by far the most gentle of all the hens. She the only hen from our first (original 3) hens. Rosie won our hearts the first day she arrived by literally taking “under her wing” the three small chicks we brought home with her. Rosie was more like a teenager when we brought her home. Rosie lays the largest (as in Jumbo) eggs of all the hens. Trouble is….she isn’t doing a stellar job of producing lately. Oh, and she lays tan colored eggs.

This is Georgia. She’s a Light Brahma Chicken. Georgia got her name by being a very curious chick. Curious Georg-ia. Get it? Nevermind. Georgia is bold and has spunk. She doesn’t back off when Gabby comes around…nope, not Georgia — she puffs up her feathers and starts pecking at Gabby and kicking her (large) talon claws up towards the dog. Of course this all goes on when she is safely in the pen — when she is out of the pen…she ignores Gabby…..and vice versa. Georgia lays a light tan egg.

This is Domino – a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

She is just dumb. Pretty, but dumb.

She lays a very light tan egg.

This is Dorothy. She’s kind of a mutt — but more on the “Orpington side of mutt.

Dorothy and Rosie are best buds. Where one goes, the other does. They are kind of a click — or is it a “cluck” if you are a chicken? Dorothy lays a pretty brown egg.

This is Pearl. I’m pretty sure her breed is a “White Langshan”. She was a bonus chick that we brought home — all because she was so cute and yellow! Pearl is her own girl. She does her own thing. She isn’t the brightest hen in the coop either. But she’s pretty.

Missing from the pics: Betty — she’s a Speckled Sussex. She is a loner and didn’t hang out with the rest of the girls — so she didn’t get a picture taken. She’s in the coop sulking now.

With my camera still in hand, I walked to the other side of the house . . .

I figured you’d be more interested in pretty things . . .

Zinnia’s are my favorite flower. They make me happy. They get planted in my garden every summer for the sole purpose of providing me with cutting flowers to bring in the house.