chicken talk

iphegenia has turned broody. that bitch.
its a difficult situation to try and break a broody chicken while also trying to keep the chickens cooped up in their run. they had the run of the yard the past three days. but i don't have much faith that the grass will perk back up.

maybe in early spring i will reseed and coop them up awhile, and i'm investigating different shrubs to fill up most of the back half of the yard, along with ivy and euonymus. early spring i'll be looking to fatten up and finish off some of the chickens—i've decided to eat some to allow myself the opportunity to by some new breeds.

which will i eat? beaulah and heloise, they are both anti-social and mean.
odette and isolde are also pretty nasty.
isolde has the breed standard rose comb, but i don't like her coloring as much as odette's.

in their stead i am considering getting: arucanas, red sex links, marans, cochins, australorps, frizzles. not sure which ones i will have available to me from the local hatcheries and feed stores. looking for birds of unusual color or appearance, but i'm also looking for prolifient layers of large eggs, and maybe most importantly is that they are friendly birds.

...maybe i'll block off part of the backyard and allow the grass to grow when spring hits. but that's a long ways away.