Having some beautifully warm spring days, Boxes in Fields took a break from all things work and went for a ride. A bike ride. About an hours drive away is a national wildlife refuge with the bay on one side and tree filled marsh land on the other. There are miles of hiking paths if one is crazy enough inclined to fight mosquito swarms and all roads are bike friendly. Since this is a Texas coastline, all paths are flat….
Brooding: showing deep unhappiness of thought. Setter: a person or thing that sets something. Truer words have never been spoken about brooding hens, especially this hen. Brooders. Setters. One in the same in the world of chicken as they both have the same end result. A brooding hen can either be good or bad depending upon if 1) the hen is knowledgeable in this matter and 2) your desire to have little peppers. Having thought I had a broody chicken…
Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary has been predicting the spring forecast since 1886. People have been planning their crop plantings and livelihoods on the decision of a rodent with a brain the size of a cashew. A rodent whose batting average is less than 40%. A rodent who is given credit for something he has no control over as it is really his “handlers” who determine if there…
Raising chickens in warm humid environments can be challenging. Especially if the hens are egg layers. The longer they sit in the nesting boxes, the hotter they become. To ward off heat, hens will pluck off chest feathers. With extreme heat, hens pluck off feathers under wings and from around backside. Add an additional hen inside the nesting box with the high heat and anger issues arise. Angered hens pluck feathers off each other resulting in naked hens. Plucking feathers…