On a rainy day, the covered chicken yard is a dry place to be. It’s a chance for the hens to gossip and get caught up with what is happening. Though I think that Midge on the right has had enough of Coulette’s tales. Buttercup below is incubating eggs. See how fluffed up she is? When hens incubate eggs, they spread their bodies out. It’s a clear sign that they have gone broody and are not just laying an egg.

Chickens are so full of personality. They have the brightest eyes and are curious about everything. They all deserve to live carefree lives, enjoying the outdoors, eating grass, gorging on cherry blossom petals, scratching for worms, running about, chasing field mice, and having affairs.

Gold is a popular color. You can get watches, iPads, iPhones, rings, necklaces, and many other trinkets in gold. But I’ve got them all topped. I’ve got a golden chicken. None of those devices lay eggs. This is dazzling Hazel with her golden feathers. On a sunny day she shines. If you’re flying to Asia from Seattle and are seated on the right side of the jet on a sunny day, look down and when you see something sparkling between Sammish Island and the Cascade foothills, it’s Hazel out enjoying the sunshine.

You might not think that chickens need cherry blossoms to lay a good egg, but they do. Chickens have eyes designed to see more colors than we can. Housing them in drab housing without being able to see the blue sky or shimmering cherry blossoms, is beneath their dignity. Chickens need surroundings full of beauty. Their extraordinary eyesight demands it.

This is MiAsa-Hime美朝姫and the egg she laid today. She comes across as poised and gentle, but of all the hens, she has a voice that drowns out all others.

Niji-Hime虹姫is one of the Americauna orphans we got last spring. When another hen tries to sit in her nest, she lets out a dinosaur screech that makes your blood curdle. She even hunkers down, like a lizard waiting to pounce.

And this is elegant Ungetsu-Hime雲月姫 and the egg she laid today. She’s changed nests. Hens do that. They’ll use one nest for awhile, and then get bored with it, and switch to another. Chickens need variety. They need to be able to stretch out in a sunny patch of dirt, watch the cherry blossoms flutter in the wind, and follow the petals as they float down to the ground. You can’t have good eggs without endless beauty to entertain the hens.

Some hens are so elegant. Tangerine is such a hen. The coloring on her neck feathers make it look like she’s wearing a fringed cape. Her stylish comb gives her a touch of class. So if you ever buy some of my eggs, either at Tweets Café, or at Slough Food, or from me, and see “Tangerine” written on the egg, this is the hen which laid that egg. When you cook and serve one of her eggs, put it in a beautiful dish. Tangerine’s eggs deserve the finest china.