The Hens Are As Excited About Spring As I Am

The chickens are laying, full speed ahead:

Right now I have 2 1/2 dozen eggs, and I have been sharing them with a friend and making scrambled and boiled eggs and baking cakes and pancakes galore. I get 4 eggs on most days.  That's an egg per chicken almost every day.  That is very good. I recommend this breed to anyone who asks.

The chickens made it though the winter just fine. The worst part of it was that the chicken coup was wet and messy rather than dry and sandy, and the chickens couldn't dust bathe not matter how clean I kept the coup.  The heated waterer worked well.  They did seem to get a bit stir crazy when I didn't let them out for a while.  They seemed to like to get out and explore even when it was snowy.

Now that things are greening up they love to go out to their daytime tractor that gets moved around the grass in the front yard.  They thatch and mow the grass pretty efficiently, and don't damage the lawn unless you leave them in one place too long. I have learned the hard way they can not be trusted to roam around free in the yard when there are seeds or seedling to dig up or tasty plants to eat. I love them, but they do know how to get into trouble if you let them.

I also have a neighbor's cat that is a little too interested in the chickens.  I don't know if he would really hurt them, but I don't completely trust him alone with them. His name is Billy, and he is a lover, but I've heard he loves to eat the little birds. He might look at my chickens and think, "those sure are the fattest, tastiest house sparrows I have ever seen.  Now to sneak up behind one while it has wandered off alone."