I know people who keep track of their hens’ eggs on Excel spreadsheets. That’s too complicated for me. Others keep a chalkboard in the coop. I find that too easy to erase by mistake (spoken from experience.) Some people don’t keep a record at all, and I confess that there are years when I’ve not bothered to. But, I find that tallying the egg count over the course of the month, and then adding it up over the year, gives me a great sense of accomplishment (even when it’s the hens doing the work!) Besides, record keeping helps me to be a better animal caregiver. One can learn a lot from past behavior, and spot issues early on. In any event, I’ve finally found the easiest way to keep track of my hens’ eggs. I use a chart put out by a feed company around 1915. Click on the image below to get a PDF for you to print out. Feel free to share with other hen keepers.

It’s New Year’s Eve! I have much to look forward to in the coming year. I’ve been working on several projects that will come to fruition in 2013. Very, very soon I’ll have a store up on HenCam and you’ll see one of them! In April The Farmstead Egg Guide and Cookbook will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I’ve written other books that are in my agent’s hands, and I’m hoping that she will be able to find a publisher for one or more of them. I’ve placed a chick order, and a box of 25 fluff balls will arrive the first week of April. Seven of the chicks will go to live in a coop at a nursing home that I’m consulting with. I have lectures and school visits scheduled (and time in my calendar to schedule more) and, of course, this blog to work on.

I am looking ahead, and have goals, and New Year’s resolutions, but try to keep them in perspective as I’ve learned that the small daily moments here at home are what fill my life with grace.

A very happy New Year to my HenCam friends!

Chicken keeping in the suburbs is considered a trendy thing to do these days. But this “trend” is almost a hundred years old, as seen in this Lay or Bust Yearbook and Almanac from 1921.

illustration from the Lay or Bust Yearbook, 1921
collection of Terry Golson, HenCam.com

This coop style remains a practical design, and books from that era give directions for how to build them out of piano crates.

Other than printing Merry Christmas in balsam green ink, this doesn’t look at all Christmasy to me. I’m not sure who would send it, or to whom it would be sent, but, who cares when there’s a charming chorus line of hens in love? The A Novo Laugh company sold humorous cards from the 1950s into the 1970s. Does anyone remember “harvest gold” kitchens? This would have looked right at home taped to a refrigerator from that era.

I found this sweet mid-century hen on the back of, of all things, a Christmas Card! I’ll share the rest of the card in another post.