Jasper is very serious about his job as protector and guide of the flock. He nags, plain and simple.  He directs when it’s time to go to roost at night.  He supervises treats especially sunflower seeds, making sure the hens know about the goodies.

These chickens are not an economical boon, but more therapy.  We know where our eggs are coming from and we enjoy the chickens and the chores…good exercise.

The possibilities of backyard chickens are becoming more and more intriguing to people who are concerned about their food source and because they find the company of the birds comforting.  Our chickens are not quiet, they ‘sing’ quite a bit.  A quiet neighborhood would have to make adjustments for them. They really love all of our weeds that are pulled and popped into their pen.  We do not let them run all over the place, but limit them to a large, protected run.  That run protects our other vegetable and flower gardening while it keeps the varmints that prey on local chickens away from our babies.

One rooster has always been bigger than the other birds. About a month ago, his MUCH sturdier legs and feet added to a fine comb told us the truth about his gender convincingly. Now, his tail feathers are starting to flow — they are a bit like the pubescent beard of people boys…kind of hither and thither and only a few. He hasn’t developed manly manners of finding a tasty tidbit when scraps are tossed to the hens and leading the girls to the find. He jumps right in and enjoys the lettuce, apples, bread or whatever comes their way along with his brothers and the girls.

It is hard to look at these sturdy birds and realize they are only about four months old. I’m really glad we got them in August because they will be ever more sturdy each day and when the weather turns cold (for the Ozarks) they will be able to handle it. We won’t need to run a brooder light to keep hatchlings warm and healthy.

As teeny-bopper chickens, they have healthy appetites. They go through a bag of feed every week. But, they are healthy all over and we enjoy them. Economical? Not one little bit, unless you consider the exercise that we might have to get at an expensive gym and the mental therapy of admiring them that we might have to seek a counselor to match. Then, maybe they are coming closer to a savvy economical investment.

 Anyway, the box was stuffed with delightful long sheets of brown paper…the kind I like to spread out in Garden rows to slow up the weeds.  This is in sections, like brown paper towels.  I wonder if this was the sort of brown paper Jack & Jill’s mom used to wrap Jack’s crown.

 Because I am a gleaner, I folded it all up very carefully to save for the garden next year.  It will join the package of newsprint and all of the old newspapers that I can accumulate to put into the rows and between plantings.  

 Some people are amazingly easy to entertain.  I enjoy shredding newspapers with the grain of the paper to make big confetti.  I have,  in the past used it on the worm bins.  This year most of it is going to the Chicken house.  I put it under the roosts where it builds a support system with the poop that the chickens seem to save for their roost time.  Paper and poop will fork out easier than poop that slips through the tines on the fork.

 I used to have only a long paper shredder, 1/4 inch cut that I put junk mail through.  The setup just wasn’t comfortable, but it did work.  The worm bins have gotten rid of a great deal of junk mail.  I tried putting the shreds in the chickens nests, but they weren’t impressed.  Then, someone gave me a bag of crosscut shreds.  The chickens LOVE that in their nests.  

 A trip to Walmart got us our own crosscut shredder so they have fresh bedding as much as they need.  Extra can still work out in the worm bed.

 Long shreds from the old shredder made a winter bed for the little Rose of Sharon plantings. But, the new day lily bed was happier with pages of newspaper between the lily plants.  Kept in some of the moisture, although this year, that wasn’t a big issue.  And kept the weeds OUT, which was good. 

 There is so much newsprint coming into the house; every surrounding community prints a ‘shopper’.  I buy a paper in town sometimes and subscribe to the Kansas City Business Journal.  I really think hard about buying a Sunday Paper because I know I’m going to have to shred it.  VERY seldom do I indulge.

They are already settling in happily and beginning to lay eggs.  We chose heavy chickens in Buff Orpingtons and Wyandottes, plus medium size chickens in Araucanas.  We are looking forward to the brown and green or blue eggs.   They like to scratch around, so when I pull grass clumps from the garden, I cut off the tops for the horses and toss the root clods into the chicken yard.  There are only 8 chickens, singing quietly for us.  The rooster is a bit out of control; he begins to crow about 4:30 am and goes on variously during the day.

Do you have chickens in your garden?  We would love to have you comment and tell us about your garden.