I know I’m cute and sweet but I’m a Salmon Faverolle and darn it I should have muffs.  All of the cutest hens have muffs.  They even get spared culling (see who’s it gonna be post?) because of their cuteness.  So what in the heck happened to me?  Oh yea, and did I mention I like to eat dirt?

There are some tough decisions ahead for Lucky Cluckers.  As the majority of Lucky Cluck hens enter their annual molt, egg production plummets.  Right now, though we have 25 laying hens and one handsome rooster, I am collecting roughly 3-6 eggs/day.  This is weak but expected with the molt.  What is more important is that during the height of the laying season when over 20 of the hens should have been laying I was only collecting 9-13 eggs/day.  In fact the record for a single day was 13 eggs.  Now in the past 6 months I haven’t heard any complaints from Lucky Cluckers that they needed more eggs or were not getting enough.  I imagine that will change soon. 

What to do?  It’s true that we have some old hens living the good life at Lucky Cluck now.  If egg production is our goal then some, if not all, of these girls need to be culled to make room for new hens next spring. If chicken appreciation is our goal then we just let the girls live out their happy life and each of us cuts back on egg consumption.  I think there will be disagreement among Lucky Cluckers on this matter.  I already know three members are more than willing to cull one or more of his/her hens and I know two members who would just as soon lynch me for suggesting that they even consider culling one of their beloved hens.  I’m in both camps, call me a moderate.  I would be willing to cull one or more of my hens but there is NO WAY I’m loosing others.  Chi-chi for instance or Chickie Mama. I am also unwilling to cull particular chickens even if they don’t belong to me.  Talla and either of the D’anvers are in this camp.  I think the devil lives in anyone who would be willing to kill one of these sweet hens.  No doubt there will be some thoughts on this…do share them!!

Tui has been a lucky cluck hen for three years, she is lauded by some to be the most attractive looking chicken on the farm. I imagine Becca, owner of the refined Miss Viola, would be the fiercest debater of that charge of attraction. But Tui’s debatable award winning looks are not the purpose of this blog entry. Oh no, it’s about her bad behavior. You see her breed, Golden-penciled Hamburg, is described as “flighty, active, and alert” and also “intolerant of confinement.” I concur with those trademarks of the breed and would also add that in my experience they are also independent, haughty, and stubborn. Tui is nothing if she is not running free around Lucky Cluck. In her early days at Lucky Cluck she would hang around the other hens while they forage along the forest edge and in the grassy areas of the property. But in the past year Tui has alienated herself from the others, rarely degrading her reputation by hanging out with a flock of lesser breeds and certainly NEVER hanging out in the fenced chicken yard. This transition to complete independence from the other hens hit its peak this past spring. Tui began sleeping at night in an alder tree just adjacent to the coop. Worried that a raccoon would eat her I pushed her out of the tree each evening. It was a hassle but worth it as Tui is a good layer of white eggs and an economical eater. She was also Ram’s prized “trophy” chicken and I certainly didn’t want to be responsible for her meeting a premature death. So this went on for weeks until one night I just gave up and told Tui that she won the fight and could sleep wherever she wanted. It’s now been months that the tree has been her nighttime roost. A pile of guano has even built up around the base of the tree just below her favorite perch. Well all of this isn’t bad behavior in and of itself it’s that now Tui has shown the other chickens the taste of freedom and a few of them like it….too much. Of course it’s the youngest and most impressionable of the flock that falls prey to this kind of bad behavior. So the chicks that were added to our flock just this spring are now thinking they are big stuff by sleeping in the alder tree just below Tui. And most recently little Biscuit is determined that she too wants some coop independence and has started sleeping in her own private alder within the hen yard. These other chickens are too young to allow a predator to take them so every night I now have to remove four chickens from trees and put them in the coop. Tui still sleeps in her tree but rain is coming and I’m wondering if her independence will last through the cold, dark, rainy nights to come.