Betty Takes a Xanax

Our poultry saga has evolved into the chicken version of Bachelor in Paradise.  Hercules is the bachelor, and he now has a harem!  Cecily broke down and started searching for more hens because Cracker has not yet delivered.   Who knew that pullets (females) were in such demand?? 

Betty has been a prolific little wench!  We were getting an egg a day…..that is until the new single ladies arrived on the scene yesterday.  I have been eating Betty’s bounty for the past week and sure enough, her eggs taste richer than the store bought eggs.  I think I am over the weirdness of thinking about where the eggs actually were not more than an hour before…but Betty is now apparently upset at the new arrivals, and word has it that her anxiety will result in a temporary hiatus of deliveries.

Cecily closed the deal on the phone, and we set out to pick up the 7 new hens that Joe, the seller, said were four months old.  Well, 5 of them were 4 months and 2 were probably only 3 months old because they were smaller and more vulnerable.

It seems that ‘pecking order’ is no joke!  When you bring new hens into the coop you are supposed to keep them separate from the ones that are currently there for a while.  So we fenced off a part of the coop and then deposited the new ladies (all 7 of them!) into the cordoned off section.  Well, Betty was not happy at all!  She was walking back and forth and emitting this steady sound that was somewhere between clucking and moaning.  She walked around the cordoned off area and was vocalizing as if she were a contestant on Chicken Idol!

Hercules showed mild interest, although when we finally added the hens to the coop, he came running over to see what was all the hubbub about!  He flapped his wings and probably said to himself, “Yeah, this is GOOD!!! More females for my harem!”  I could see he was musing about his erotic future!  Meanwhile, the two younger hens were being picked on by the five older hens and it wasn’t pretty…they were getting pecked incessantly.   Late into the evening we could hear Betty keening and moaning about the new situation.  Finally when the sun went down, they all got silent. 

I was afraid when I went out there this morning that the two baby hens would be pecked to death.  They were still alive, but it was clear that we had to protect the two younger birds who kept stuffing themselves into a corner to get away from the 5 teenage rascals that were being nasty and, well…. bitchy to them!  So we moved them to the Betty and Hercules section.  Betty ran over and pecked them one time and then left them alone.  She, as I said, is consumed with eating, so that became more important than torturing the small little pre-pubescent hens.  Hercules was busy flapping his wings and “frankly, Scarlett, didn’t give a damn!”

So now we await everyone to calm down.  Betty is still not relaxed enough to start laying again, and the younger hens have another two or three months before they start delivering. 

These birds are very amusing.   We also started letting Betty and Hercules run free during the day.  They have discovered the lemon tree next to the house and spend most of the day scratching away the earth from the roots and feasting on all manner of bugs that they apparently are finding there.  They always come running when Cecily appears because she feeds them out of her hand and they are not bashful at all---gimmee, gimmee, gimmee!

I have a feeling that in a month or two, we are going to be knee deep in yolks and egg shells!  The big question is who is going to eat all these eggs?  Cecily keeps saying that we will be enjoying giving them all away, but if you do the math, 8 hens laying 5-6 eggs a week could be overwhelming!  Who the hell is going to eat 45 eggs a week??  Certainly not me!

Please send your egg requests to Hercules, c/o The Chick Inn!