adventures in chickens

We have our little flock! We have acquired three hens--Dekalb Amber year-old laying hens. Their hen house is painted barn red with a sweet door and shutters of "Woodlawn Promised Land" green. Tim cut a heart out of the new door that he made for them--a true sign that he still loves me, even if he might be feeling a little "henpecked"!

I think the girls' names are Francesca--who rules the roost with her floppy pink comb, Gwenevere--second in command, with dark plumage on her back, and Penelope--who seems a bit broody. They are a riot, pecking and scratching all about. They were raised organically in Wisconsin, but have not spent time on grass before. They seem to be enjoying it. We have yet to introduce them to Zeppo. I will post as to how that goes.

We even got our first egg from them yesterday. Aurora loves them and has been traumatizing them with her affections at every opportunity.

I got an automatic waterer for them outside, so they will never run out of water, and they have a double wall fountain drinker inside. I am currently giving them pelletized layer feed from Tractor Supply, but they do not seem as interested in it as in the small amount of organic feed I acquired from the folks we bought them from. The guy we purchased the chickens from is starting up an USDA certified organic eggery in south austin. It is a pretty cool setup. They have some acreage off of Slaughter Lane and rotate the chickens throughout the pasture. There is a little chicken trailer on wheels that moves with them for the girls to roost in at night. I'll include a shot of their arrangement. It remains to be seen whether or not I will raise these girls organically from here on out. There is some added expense. But I have learned that a lot of the commercial feed contains chicken bi-products. That's just gross.