First Signs of Spring

Just a quick note:

Even though the weather has been shifting from sort-of warm to rainy wet snow today, the early signs of Spring are here.... the hens have started laying again.

We didn't even notice it at first because the girls like to be sneaky. We have several bales of hay for the goats stacked up in the coop side of the building and covered with a large tarp. We thought we were discouraging the hens by covering the hay but nope! The sneaks had climbed up in there, made a hay nest and layed a few eggs. Even though their "nest" keeps getting disturbed as we use the hay for the goats, they're still using it.

We were surprised they got up under the tarp. I'd have thought they would have been scared of it, but I guess not.

So far we're getting an egg every other day which leads me to believe it's just one hen, probably Meg, who is laying.

We'll keep our eyes open.

Dust Bath

Not a lot of people nowadays get to see live chickens at all, but especially not in a natural environment, so I wanted to share these videos I just took of my girls. When the weather is warm and dry, the girls love to find a coop patch of clean dirt and have a lovely dust bath. Think of it like using a dry shampoo. Many animals use dust baths to absorb oils and keep away itchiness or parasites.

But I think the girls also just like to kick up the dirt and sand, roll around and take a nap in the sun.

Gertie especially loves napping. She lays on her side, spreads her legs out like a kitten and closes her eyes.

This is just one of the many natural behaviors that factory farmed chickens are not allowed to engage in. Something so basic and simple is denied them, just like roaming in the grass, seeing the sun, living a normal lifespan.

It's a horrible life I'm so glad I don't contribute to. And I'm glad that my girls will never be subjected to it.

A Healthy Bottom Line

I've been around animals for almost all my life and it always amazes me how perfectly "designed" they are. When an animal is living in the most natural best way possible they are healthy and happy and a joy to be around.

Once criticism that chickens get are that they are dirty. By which I assume people mean stinky and/or they get poo on on them. I will attest that the birds themselves are not smelly. They do have strong smelling waste but that is typical of most birds due to the fact that they don't urinate. Our birds have a pretty big enclosure and we rake it every day to keep it from building up, so this is not really and issue. Plus, we only have 3 birds total.

As for the birds feathers, they can get a build up on their bottoms but only when they aren't roosting properly. When we first brought the 3 birds home, we created roost spots for them by repurposing and hanging horse buckets filled with hay. We also put hay in the corner of the coop. And they did get their feathers a bit messy at times because they were sitting down. But then we built a sturdy roost pole for them (which they love) and now they stay clean and mess free.

It's important to make sure they stay clean and dry. A build up of waste is not healthy or attractive. Not only could they get infected but they could also become egg-bound, which is fatal.
Now that they have a proper option for roosting and sleeping, our hens are lovely and clean. With cute fluffy butts!

More -
See cute chicken butts on Flickr.

Choosing

In the winter, the hens don't lay eggs every day. In fact, after their Fall moult which was a few months ago, they have not really laid at all. But just as the winter solstice passed, Meg started laying again. She hasn't been having an egg every day but so far we have 4. Gertie isn't laying again yet, as far as I can tell.

One of the questions we a lot, now that we are vegan/vegetarian, is what do we do with the eggs from our girls.

Well... the simple answer is, we eat them.

Or, mainly the hubby does. I don't eat eggs a lot ever anyways. I mainly used them in my baking. But since I made the switch to a fully vegan diet right around the time they paused in their laying, I've been looking at substitutions for when I'm baking. So it hasn't been a big deal.

There are many reasons why people choose to become vegetarian or vegan. One of my main reasons is to avoid participating and supporting an industry that subjects animals to cruelty and torture. I don't need eggs (or meat or dairy) and I don't want it enough to make the animals pay that kind of a price. I just can't justify it any longer and I can't continue with it now that I'm aware of it.

As I mentioned before, our 3 chickens were rescued. We keep them because we like them and we like taking care of them. We aren't going to eat them and we didn't get them for the eggs. We aren't going to kill them or get rid of them when they stop laying - which could be tomorrow or years from now. The girls are going to lay eggs as a part of their natural cycle. We are not raising them for breeding chicks either. So, because we know where the eggs came from, how the hens are treated and what their future is, we feel comfortable eating the eggs. Outside of know that about any food, I try not to risk it.

Of course, we are lucky in that we are able to do this. If we were living in Florida still, or even another location here, this would be difficult to impossible. If that were the case, I do not forsee us eating eggs at all.

But we don't.

We live here. We have the girls (and Napoleon, of course). We do our best to take care of them and to avoid causing harm.

We also eat the eggs.