Last night the new barn was finally ready for a full flock. In went Ginger, Twinkydink, Marge, Buffy, The New Hen, Edwina and Snowball. These are the girls who will be photographed for a children’s book. Egger, Betsy Ross, Eleanor, Petunia and Perrie are in the coop with the HenCam. And, of course, Candy is still there, causing trouble. It will be a tad quieter on HenCam, but the girls like the extra space. This fall, we’ll add another HenCam to the new barn, but until then, I’ll just have to tell you about what’s going on in there.

There’s been a bit of a ruckus getting the new pecking order decided. It’s never pretty, what with pecked combs and pulled out feathers and squawking, but it happens quickly. By evening, Twinkydink and Buffy were fluffed up together on the roost as if they’ve been best friends their entire lives.

This Rhode Island Red is the newest addition to the flock. She’s about a year old, lays an egg everyday, and would like to be top of the pecking order, but has given into Edwina’s prowess at chest banging and pecking.

She needs a name! Send me your suggestion, and if I use it, you’ll get a signed copy of The Farmstead Egg Cookbook.

Sometimes I think that having a flock of hens is like having a bunch of kindergartners in my backyard. Hens are gregarious, endlessly curious, and vocal. They have friends but don’t want to share. They fuss about status and who has what. They like to play in the dirt. And there are always social situations to be resolved.

Snowball has a bad habit of plucking feathers off of other hens. She is sneaky about it – she’ll maneuver next to a hen that is sunbathing and peck as if she is mutually grooming, so at first the other chicken doesn’t mind – and then pluck! Last year, many of the girls had bare butts because of Snowball. It stopped over the winter, but she has started up again. A time-out and explanation might work for a real kindergartner, but not this girl.

At the same time that Snowball had resumed de-flocking the flock, I bought two new bantam white leghorns. These hens are so pretty in their perfect white feathers and bright red upright combs, that I call them “the party girls.” But, instead of having a good time, they’ve been harassed by the other hens who are bigger and older and don’t want to share. Anything. So the party girls went into the new coop. In, too, went Snowball. The party girls are skittish and won’t let Snowball near them, so they are still in fine feather.

At first, Snowball wanted to get back to the other flock. But now she’s settled in. Sure, there aren’t feathers to pluck, but there’s a lot less competition for food or the perfect roosting spot. Like kindergartners, hens are demanding but easy to please.

Several observant Hencam viewers have asked me where Candy’s hutch has gone. It’s been moved to the side of the coop, out of view. Rabbits are heat intolerant, in fact, getting too hot is fatal for them. In the wild, rabbits have upright ears that act as natural air conditioners. Hot blood circulates close to the skin, and cools off in the breeze. But domestic lop-eared rabbits can’t pick their ears up off their furry bodies. Their air conditioners don’t work. And they don’t have a cool dirt tunnel to spend the hot afternoons in. (Although, Candy does her best to dig one, the dirt is too packed in the chicken yard.)

In the winter, Candy’s hutch is positioned so that she can take a sunbath at 9 am (have you noticed that she does that?) In the summer, the hutch is moved to the coolest place in the yard. I’m sorry that you can’t see it, but her health is more important than fame.

I’m always on the lookout for childrens’ books that feature chickens. There are a lot out there – but I’m fussy. I expect them to get the basic facts right. Recently, I was told about a book, so I checked it out at the bookstore. The illustrations were nice and the chickens looked like chickens. But the text! It said that one character was a “rooster, not a chicken.” Did the author, the illustrator, the editor, the designer, and the many other people who work on a book to get it published not know that a “chicken” is a term that covers both males and females? 

I did recently come across a charming and exuberant book, Chicky Chicky Chook Chook, by Cathy MacLennan. It has the sort of writing that is fun to read out loud to very little people. “Chicky, chicky chook chook. Chick, chick chick. Chicky, chicky, chook chook, peck..peck…pick.” The pictures are silly and colorful. There’s even a story line. Sort of. I love it.

For more book ideas, check out my annotated bibliography.

Email me if you have a book I should add to the list!