Chickens lay eggs

Yes, of course we have chickens.

They are all girls and they are all named Henny Penney and they are all Buff Orpinton. Silly little chickens they are too. Even though it is really cold out these nights they all want to sleep on the roof of the little protective cage we built around thier chicken coop. So every night I have to go out and physically put them into the chicken coop. They live in the Harliquin Hen House surrounded by the Henitentury. Without the high fence they were flying out of the lower fencing and escaping into the horse field next door.

They are bad beggers my chickens. Any time I go out to the coop they all come squawking at me for left overs from the summer garden. It is very sad now, they have picked it clean and there won't be any fresh veggies until the garden is going again in late spring.

Next year we are going to try to garden all year, so maybe the poor gals will get their daily treats again.

Though they have slowed down, we still get lots of eggs from them. I understand that if you put a light bulb in their chicken coop that chickens will lay better, but we have not chosen to do that.

Our coop is very simple. It is just a basic box with sloped sides, so there is a pitch to the coop roof. We made it out of pressed fiber board (construction grade), threw in a 2x2 for a perch and put plastic white baskets, like the kind you get in the box stores, for nests. And of course there is plenty of bedding material for them.

We chose the Buff Orpington chickens because they are supposed to do well in colder weather. So far they seem to be doing great.

Now to show my blond roots - I never realized that chickens mate! But they don't have to have mate to produce eggs. The things I have learned this last year.