Springtime at Henny Penny

The hens favorite place to nap is
 in the "fallout" beneath goats hay feeder.

 Although the temperature is still quite cool, it is springtime at the Henny Penny Farm in CT.
The hens have been spending these sunny days scratching in the garden and loosening up the soil for me, while eating all the bad bugs they can find.

The Black Lace Wyandottes are new additions to the flock and began laying only last month.
Other newbies include Easter Eggers, Astrolorpes, and Buff Orpingtons.

Chillin' in the afternoon sun.

This happens whenever the door is left ajar.

Peas reaching for the sunlight.

Meanwhile, Penny and Charlotte spend most of the afternoons just laying around soaking up the sunshine.  Around 4 p.m. every day they get into they "play time" mood and can be seen running in circles, playing tag, and wrestling with each other.

When the sun begins to set just below the tree tops they begin their song:  maaa, maaa.  This is their call to me that it is just about time to go inside.  The longer it takes for me to respond to their call, the louder they get.  Once that gate is opened it is a race to see which of them will get inside to their stall first. Of course, the first thing they go to is their feed dishes for their afternoon treat before settling in for the night.

If the kitchen door is left ajar it beckons the chickens to come in and look for hand-outs.
On this day they ran inside as soon as I turned my back to photograph the goats.






The peas are just about ready to be transplanted into the garden, too bad the garden isn't ready for them.  But they won't have to wait long, they will be going into the garden in a couple of days.

The Nasturtiums are also ready for the garden, and the onion will be ready in a couple of weeks when they have grown stronger.

This is the first time I plant onions from seed and was surprised at how fast they germinated and have grown in just two weeks.

Chives are just about ready for picking.

 The herb garden was the first to awaken this spring.  And the chives have been thriving with these cold night-time temperatures and lots of rain.

The sage, thyme and oregano are still sleeping.

The rosemary is still indoors and has grown several inches over the winter.  This is the first time I didn't lose my rosemary plants after bringing them indoors.

Rosemary

The ducks are brooding!  They have been saving their eggs for about a week and get very loud and protective when anyone comes in their direction.

They keep the eggs hidden under the hay in their little home.  If they are successful with their parenting attempt, these will be the first newborns on the farm.

Now if the chickens would just do the same.

But, there was a surprise in the hen house today.
The first dark brown egg was laid by one of the new Maran hens.  I wasn't too hopeful about getting a dark brown egg since the hen isn't a Copper Maran, but this egg is much darker and more brown than the RIRed's eggs.

Once we move to the new farm I plan to increase the flock and add more breed variety.  The plan, at this time, is to raise heritage breeds and sell the fertilized eggs and chicks.  While I wait for that time to arrive I am studying and reading m