New hens

New hens I found this group of 20 hens destined for slaughter do to their "advanced" age of 18 months. They are some sort of improved Rhode Island Reds. They lay a huge brown egg. They cost me $2 each.

With 7 mouths to feed now, including Grandma Ginny who would happily eat 6 of my eggs every day, I no longer have many eggs to sell. That makes my customers very unhappy. These girls will help.

It’s really weird to have them all looking alike. I’m not used to that with my Icelandic chickens, who all look different. These girls have had something done to their beaks — clipped or something. I wonder why. They don’t fly, either, which I’m not used to. They’ll stay inside a poultry net while I get them used to their new home, I think, though I have them all cooped up for a few days to get them to bond with their new home. They can’t wait to get outside. They are sweet and like to be pet, not flighty at all.

I am looking forward to getting to know them. I’m also very excited that it will not be MY job to care for them daily. I’ll get to be just their favorite aunt, not their mother. Yay.

1 thought on “New hens”

  1. They clip the beaks to keep them from pecking each other. Or you can simply give them enough space. If you do it that way they also feed themselves for free all summer.

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