HOW CARMEN SPENDS HER DAY....

Carmen may not have any special breed or variety name....she's just a Commercial Egg Layer Breed known as Black Star, but she certainly makes up for that in personality. She is very vocal, has hatched some chicks, lays a lot of eggs for us and just generally entertains...She is large,shiny black and has a bright red cone on top of her head. Her bright yellow eyes rarely miss anything. We love her large brown eggs with the darkest golden yolks. Every morning when we open the chicken coop, she is the first one out and hops right into a garbage can full of feed. She lays one large brown egg each day and better not be disturbed while she's in there. Then she hops out and begins her day. One morning when I wasn't paying attention to her routine, I stuck my hand in the garbage can to throw some feed around and I thought that I had received an electrical shock. She pecked me and reminded me that this was her time and to just be patient, she'd be done in a moment. I now check every time I stick my hand in anywhere, enough with the shocks. She then joins the group on the ground and gets her share of oats, corn and layer mix. She then heads out to the heated bucket of water and drinks for a good long time, lifting her head each time,letting the water quench her thoroughly. After making everyone else wait for a drink she looks around to decide what to do next. They may all head back into the barn and look for a spot in the sun (we have clear siding in various areas to allow the sun and light to warm up and lighten up the coop and barn)and just generally try to stay out of the wind in the winter time. They all interact,follow and chase each other around (pecking order you know). They duck under the gates and go into the llama/sheep pens and into the donkey pens. They scratch and clean the floors of the barns and pens. In the summer they really keep the bugs and mice count down by doing what they do naturally, scratching and snacking on the bugs and larva they find most tasty. Carmen's beau is Juan, he's a fancy bantam rooster. Their arrangement is kind of odd but it seems to work. He is about half her size and yet they have had chicks together. Our other rooster, Big Red pretty much stays away from Juan when he's with Carmen because generally two roosters in one coop or barn is one too many roosters. Carmen might just be Juan's body guard. Anyway, any chance Big Red gets to go after Juan, he does. But, Juan is smaller and much faster. So, for years he has escaped the testosterone and ego of Big Red. In the spring, summer and fall, the hens, with Carmen usually leading the group, move into my flower beds. It is a special day when we are out there working in the beds, turning over soil and planting new bulbs or plants. There is no fear when it comes to a worm. Carmen will stand on my foot and wait for a worm to appear. Needless to say it's hard to get anything done when there's a chicken standing on your foot and several more within inches. I cannot even use a big shovel for fear of hurting one of them. So, I have to use a small hand scooper and it takes twice as long to do any planting job in the flower beds. But, the show is well worth the wait. I've seen a worm suspended between two beaks and squabbles over a big juicy one. When we are not working in the beds, Juan is instructed by Carmen, I'm sure, to jump up onto a platform bird feeder, and kick down some seed. Then, all of the chickens would gather around the base and eat dried meal worms, sunflower seeds, much to the dismay of the local birds. As the day winds down and all of the scratching and just generally messing around is done, everyone heads back to the coop to pick out their place to roost for the night. As I secure the coop door, I love to just hang out for awhile and listen to their sounds. After having a few arguments during the day, they all sound like they are speaking very nicely to each other, that's what I like to think anyway. Maybe apologizing, maybe wishing a good nights rest, maybe talking around the next day's adventures. Goodnight Carmen, goodnight Juan, goodnight Big Red and all of his girls...sleep well and we'll hear you (Juan & Big Red) and see you first thing in the morning for another day in the life of barnyard chickens

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