every day is a good day
No matter how many chickens you look at, each one has a unique face. Missa above has a short comb which leans to the right side of her head. She has a cream colored beak, and compact wattles.
Nancy has a long comb which leans to the left side of her head. It’s so long, it nearly covers her eye. Her beak is black, and her wattles hang down. She also has distinctive, white ear lobes.
Compare the faces of any chickens, and you’ll find many differences.
Some of the chickens, Lucky especially, aren’t as shy as I am. If she wants something, she doesn’t hesitate to ask. This afternoon, she wanted her supper hand carried to her. After raising a clutch of well adjusted chicks this fall, she deserves special treatment.
Each chicken’s comb is as unique as a fingerprint. If you look at Lucky’s comb, you’ll see one tooth with two points that sticks out further than the others. There is an infinite variety of combs. Some have many teeth, others just a few. Some flop to the left, some to the right, some are rigid, some are short, and some are flat. There are combs with very deep valleys, tall ones, and short ones. One of the easiest ways to tell chickens apart, is by their combs. When the chickens are in tall grass, and all you can see are their combs, you can still tell who they are by their combs.
Another way to tell them apart is by their voice. Chickens’ voices are as distinct as human voices. Did you know that?
What no one prepared me for was how warm fresh eggs are. The first time I picked up a just laid egg, what charmed me most was how warm it was. The internal temperature of a hen is between 105º and 113ºF (41º to 45ºC). Compared to a human’s body temperature, it’s like a steam bath. Eggs come out steaming. You can see the moistness steam off them before the hen sits back down, and in seconds, they are dry to the touch. Hens sit while they wait for their eggs to roll out of them. But just before they lay them, they stand up, close their eyes, take some deep breaths, and push the eggs out of their cloaca. Is it painful? I don’t know. There is some visible stress, but it is nothing like twelve hours or more of hard labor. The warm egg falls into the nest and dries by the time the hen sits down.
When I go collect eggs, I’ll frequently find a nest with four or five fresh eggs, with the last hen having left the nest just moments ago. Having been kept warm with hen after hen sitting on the same nest, when I reach for the eggs, the whole nest is toasty, with the last egg the warmest of all.
This is just between you and me, but one of the most delicious things in the whole world is a super fresh, still warm, raw egg. The warm, buttery yolk of such an egg has so much flavor. They are good alone, or one top of hot rice with a few drops of soy sauce.
After a short winter, Svenda is back to laying eggs. She is a hen with class. She’s the kind of hen you’d expect to find shopping at Dior. Just like the runway models, she knows how to stare without cracking a smile. Try doing it. It’s a talent you either have or you don’t.
She lays a stunning egg too. There aren’t too many eggs in this world that get their mother’s name put on them.
It’s always fun going back and looking at baby pictures. Below is a shot of Svenda with her mother and siblings when she was about a week old. I’m not positive which one she is, but I believe she is one of the two up front, the two just in front of their mother. She’s in her prime and will be two this September.
Everyone deserves a little love, even Billy, our old rooster. He’s reluctant to go to bed through the main entrance of the chicken house because the younger roosters bully him. So my kind husband let’s him sneak into the coop through the rabbit house.
Late in the afternoon, Billy hangs out near the entrance of the rabbit house. When my husband opens the door for him, he comes running. Through the rabbit house he goes, and into the old coop, without having to face the younger, stronger roosters.
Life is so much easier when you have a kind husband, even for your roosters. If you’re looking for a husband, make sure you get a kind one with a big heart.