Opal is my big white Delaware hen. The Delaware is a classic, fat hen with a docile temperament. The breed was developed in the 1940s as a meat chicken, so I didn’t expect a lot of eggs from Opal, I just like her looks and personality. That’s why it’s such a surprise that she’s the only Gem who is presently laying. This is especially remarkable because she’s the hen whose eggs were most affected by IB (infectious bronchitis). Even today, with the flock recovered, she continues to lay wrinkled eggs. Her eggshells have creases., but she lays almost daily. In fact, Opal has yet to go through a molt.

Other hens are on the worst dressed list.  When Amber stretches her head up, her scrawny red neck shows, and she looks like she’s wearing a moth-eaten sweater.

The molt is not an orderly, controllable event. It’s affected by genetics, health, weather, and a multitude of other inputs. Two hens of the same breeding and age, living together, can experience the molt in vastly different ways. Here is Ruby. She is not a very good layer, and in October she molted and quickly regrew her feathers.

Her sister, Garnet, who is the better layer of the two, has been dropping her feathers in clumps, and is regrowing them in a dramatic, imitate a porcupine, manner.

Notice the Onyx, the Barnevelder hen, has molted and has replenished her lovely feathers, which to my eye, always looks like the finest of Scottish tweed coats.

You might think, seeing these photos, that the poorest layers  molt first. That’s generally true, but there’s always exceptions. Edwina is 8 1/2 years old. She hasn’t laid an egg for years. Edwina hasn’t molted yet. I honestly don’t know if she will. There’s nothing in my books, vintage, nor modern, about the molting habits of ancient hens. Edwina certainly looks good, doesn’t she?

Other old hens of mine have molted. Buffy is slowly, slowly regrowing her feathers. Twinkydink went through a light molt, hardly noticeable if you didn’t know her well. Betsy has molted and is still getting her new quills in.

Meanwhile, what with the cold and the reduced daylight, I don’t expect to see eggs from the Gems until February. Unless, that is, Opal never does molt and continues, every day, to leave this in the nesting box.

All summer long, the goats offered to help in my garden.

We’re good at pruning, they said.

Yesterday they were finally allowed to help in the lavender and mint bed.

There was a debate about who is head gardener.

I can show you my pruning skill on the roses, said Pip.

No, I said. And that is why the gardeners are wearing leashes.

The flock at Life Care of Nashoba Valley are doing great!

The team of maintenance men who take care of the building and grounds are all trained to care of the hens. I recently stopped by to make sure that they were on top of winter requirements. They’re fine about hauling water out. A tarp will be installed over the run so that it is dry and free of snow.

They’re doing something right there, because they collect four to five eggs a day from five hens. That’s not enough to use in the dining room, but it is enough to reward the people who take care of the chickens.

When I selected the pullets for this flock, I knew that one hen, the Buff Orpington, would be special. She was the most naturally calm and friendly chick I’ve ever known. She’s been named Clementine, and she has totally endeared herself to one of the caregivers at the home. Lisa spends her lunch break with Clementine. Now that the weather is cold and the residents are staying mostly indoors, Lisa has been bringing Clementine inside to visit. I hear that she nestles against Lisa’s shoulder and chuck-chucks happy noises.

When I checked in, Clementine was  busy laying an egg so I didn’t interrupt her. I did, though, get to hear her cheerfully chuckle as she sat in the nesting box. What a sweet hen!

Once every few months, Steve gets together with some friends to play poker. Being guys, they don’t talk about personal stuff. At this last poker game, one of the men said to Steve, “Isn’t it your wife who got the chickens to Life Care? My father lives there and when I visit, we go out to the coop. It gives us something to do and talk about.”

Exactly. That’s exactly what the hens are there for.

If you are new to my blog, you can read the backstory about the nursing home hens beginning here.