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.