One of my oldest hens Andie (after Andy Warhol with the crazy hairdo) has joined her sisters and started laying again. Her eggs are shaped like her…tall and skinny.

I don’t have a photo of Andie, but she’s a silver-laced Polish hen and looks like this.

Andie is about 6 years old, which if you believe everything you read is unheard of to still be laying. She’s laying almost every day to boot. My other old hen Lulu (after Lou Reed) popped out a couple of eggs this spring, but seems to have taken a break lately. Hopefully she won’t go through her “I think I’m a rooster” phase again this year.

Well, we survived the slumber party! It’s amazing how 5 girls can kick 2 adults arses so badly. I haven’t felt so hungover since….well…….maybe having a newborn. I’m not a huge party-er.

We have finally gotten winter weather here. It is freezing. Literally. It’s pretty much the first time that the ground has felt hard under my feet when I go out in the backyard. Neil winterized the coop, but I don’t think the chickens are enjoying the cold. To show her protest, Razzy changed the size of her eggs.

I might have to knit them little sweaters to make them happier. Like this person’s photo a friend forwarded me on Facebook.

Right at the shortest day of the year, when chickens are taking a rest from egg laying…my girls decided to give us an early Christmas gift. A bunch of them. What sweethearts.

A while ago I noticed that my hen Razzy was missing feathers under her vent. I chalked it up to chicken mites, and gave them all a treatment. That was in the spring, and she still has a bald bottom.

Chickens are attracted to the color red, so her poor red bottom was attracting the others to peck her. I’m not entirely sure where the feather picking started. She might have lost feathers there due to mites. Or the others may have just started pecking at her. Ultimately it doesn’t matter now, because they are drawn to the bright red of her poor, little tush.

I did some reading and found a product called Pick-No-More by Rooster Booster. What I liked about this product is that it is a natural product. It has a scent that chickens don’t like, which deters them from pecking. There is also calendula, which helps soothe her poor, pecked bottom. You use the applicator to smooth the cream onto the affected area. It is a dark purplish gray, which blends into her feathers particularly well.

In addition to treating the bald patch, I am trying to boost the protein in their diet. Feather picking can be caused by boredom or a protein deficiency. My girls have a pretty large area to roam, so I don’t think it’s the boredom. I feed them a lot of kitchen scraps, so that could have led to a decrease in protein. I am giving them a mixture of plain yogurt with some dry cat food. Cat food works well because it has a very high percentage of protein. It’s hilarious to watch them eat the yogurt. Particularly my polish hen, who’s head feathers act like a kind of mop in the yogurt dish.

I’m crossing my fingers and hoping to see new feathers sprouting soon.

Around Ground Hog’s Day the days get long enough to trigger my hens laying mechanism. This year I had new ones who layed all winter long. When March began my old biddies didn’t start laying. Weeks went by without an egg, so I thought they must have hit chicken menopause. They are almost 5 years old after all. Actually I have no idea when chickens stop laying.

A few days ago, however, I saw a green egg that looked slightly darker than Edie’s eggs. I wasn’t sure until a white egg appeared. Those belong to Andie my silver laced polish hen. Seems like my old gals have decided to begin laying at the solstice now.