Easter Basket

Easter basket

 

He has a basket with eggs filled with candy, and even a toy rabbit, but this young boy has no need for chicks in his Easter basket, because he has a mama hen and her babies right in his backyard!

What’s going to be in your Easter basket?

NOTE: In this photograph (from around 1910) the hen is living in what is often called a broody coop. This is a temporary shelter for a hen to sit on her eggs, hatch out her chicks, and care for them for about a week, safely away from the rest of the flock. These days, some catalogs are selling similar shelters, billed as urban coops for small flocks. Don’t purchase one! You’ll have flock health and behavior issues. Read this FAQ for coop design criteria that will keep your chickens happy and healthy, and take a look at my Pinterest page where I have an annotated collection of small coops to give you ideas.

Comments:

  1. I love this photo!!!! I swear at times I have been reincarnated from such a time. It’s my perfect setting. The old farm house (look at the number of chimneys), picket fence, old outbuildings with the worn look and of course a broody hen and chicks. When I retire (or maybe before) this is what I’m looking for and going to buy (its on the bucket list).

    How/when did Easter become Christmas Jr? ;-)

    Chase (my grandson) will have a Spiderman egg to find that is filled with candy, Spiderman kite, Spiderman whirley gig, Frozen (the movie) and numerous other things to hunt for in the yard. (yes my son thinks I’m nuts for hiding them in the yard but granddad gets to do what he wants at his house).

  2. I just started a low-carb diet so my Easter basket will be full of blue and brown eggs from our girls and hopefully a small piece of very, VERY, dark chocolate.

  3. I put eggs under a broody gal last spring. She wanted NOTHING to do with being placed in a separate mini coop with her newly hatched chicks. She stomped all over them trying to get out. She’s used to free ranging so this new situation put her into a panic. I had to bring the chicks into the house and be their mother for a few weeks! .