Duckies Enjoying Their Kiddie Pool

It isn't deep enough for them to actually swim, but they enjoy it none the less. My Granddaughter saw cute little baby duckies at the feed store, but of course, couldn't keep them at her apartment in town.  But since Grandma already has chickens, how much more work can duckies be?

Hens, Nests and Eggs

These photos and the video at the end of this post were collected in the late spring/early summer of 2010. The photos taken inside the coop are a little hazy since they were taken with an iPhone3G with only indirect lighting.
A pigeon has decided to build her nest on top of the chicken nest box in the hen house. This pair of eggs are white and about 1 1/2 inch long.

Here, in the actual nest box below, are a clutch of chicken eggs. By the end of June, about half the hens are laying every day and about half are laying every third day or so. Not nearly the production as when they were younger, but not bad for 3 year old hens. The Marans are still out-laying everyone by a large margin.

Hens checking out the next box when it was first built. My husband and son did a nice job, and the hens started laying in the new nest box the day it was built.

My dust-bathing beauties. This is their favorite place to bath. It's in the garden where we once burned a big pile of brush. I had raked the leftover ashes into the sand so it wouldn't blow around - and they love it.

And, of course, what Mama Hen would be worth her salt without a video of her babies!

Pullet Power

Not sure why teenage female chickens are called "pullets," but they are. So here are the babies as they currently are, as of mid-September, 2008. And, in case you are wondering - yes, that is the same baby chicky watering jar as in their baby video. They have a large watering facility that will easily allow 15 or more chickens to drink at one time - but no, they still prefer drinking from their original water jar.