Talking about chickens...

 I know.  Technically, it's late fall... but damn it's windy!  Our low last night was 30.  I knew the weather would get cold eventually... 

Every winter, I put plastic sheeting around my chicken enclosure.  There's already a metal roof.  The plastic cuts down on the wind & keeps snow & ice from accumulating inside the enclosure.  I'm not sure the chickens appreciate it...

The Rhode Island Red chicks are 3 months old now.  When I got the chicks at Tractor Supply, I didn't pay attention to if I was getting all females or "straight run" chicks.  Straight run means there could be male chicks included.  None of the chicks have started crowing yet... so maybe they are all female. I haven't started naming them yet.  I'm waiting to see "who" each of them is.  There's one bossy bird I've started calling "Mad Max".  I guess if it's a female, I'll have to change it to Maxine.

An immature female is called a "pullet"  and an immature male is called a "cockerel".  Rhode Island Red pullets usually start laying at about 4 months of age.  So, maybe I'll get eggs by Christmas...  But, typically, chickens do NOT lay eggs in winter.  You can keep a light on in their enclosure & "force" them to lay.  I prefer NOT to do that.  They'll give me eggs when they are ready.  I'm content with that.

I don't sell my eggs.  And I don't eat my chickens.  Thankfully, Arkansas has a huge chicken industry.  New chicken houses are going up everywhere.  Batesville & Pocahontas both have processing plants.  Our local grocery store, Bill's Cash Saver, carries organic free range chicken & eggs. 

I also have another trio of French Black Copper Maran chickens.  

I know.  This picture has 4 birds in it... the oldest hen, Jet, died last summer.  Now we only have Prince (the rooster), Mahogany & Ebony.  They're all getting older & don't lay anymore.  Prince is not a very energetic rooster either... The 3 of them just hang out in their side of the enclosure... doing their chickeny business.

Jet was a great mamma chicken.  She even raised guinea chicks for me.  She was the grandmother of all the birds I had for the past several years.  But I decided to go back to Rhode Island Red chickens, so I won't be replacing the Marans as they pass on.