Teenage Chickens

We have 4 ‘new’ chickens.  I say ‘new’ as these 4 were part of the clutch of 13 eggs laid by our chickens sent to a friend to ease her broody hen and act as an incubator/surrogate at the same time.  The minute those chicks turned into teenagers, that hen was done and kicked them out of the nest…literally.

Adding 4 teenage chickens to our little group has unsettled them all, for which I can totally understand.Within minutes of the teenagers showing up our original 7 were in the hen-house acting like the ‘cool kids’, leaving them out on the perch.The teenagers are 3 grays and one black hen that looks more like a crow than a chicken.  The others are grey and we are hoping that they really are chickens, not roosters!I continue to be amazed at the difference 4 new chickens make to the group.  Everyone is always worried that someone is getting something to eat, that they are not.  When a whole bucket of table scraps are thrown out for them, there is more than enough for them all, but a few chickens (like a few humans) will spend more time running around trying to take the food out of another chickens mouth/beak than enjoy the food right in front of them.Walking with 11 fowl around ones’ feet as I go from barn to hen-house is extremely difficult and I have stepped on at least 2 new chickens…yep, they are not very bright.  I’ve been pecked on the boot at least once, which made me very nervous yesterday as it was a rare day for me wearing sandals and I was concerned that one them would take my red-painted toe nails for a treat!With all of their collective anxiety about food, it has made it very easy for me to shut them back up in the hen-house at night, I just call them and they coming running.  If you’ve never seen a chicken run, it is one of the funniest sites to behold…imagine two older, over weight women clutching their shopping bags to their chests racing for the last doughnut on earth.

…and we love them.