I guess I'm starting a new page and feel it's a good place to write down a few of my thoughts.
I've been out working on various projects, over-seeing Jason...(unbeknownst to him)....over-seeing the contractors who are taking advantage of this beautiful weather to get much of the outside work finished for the SOP facility. It's being built with enough area to work on 4 accepted SOP colors of the NN breed. These plans were put into work well on before we came to the astute decision that working with one color (REDS) would be far more practical. I have often said...one can never have too much room on a "Chicken Ranch'...That's what Jason has been calling this place when we're alone.
While enjoying the outside and inside of the place, I went into one of the antiquated hen houses and saw a few hens still on the nests.
This is nothing new to me but I've noticed again that I have some beautifully colored birds, both cocks and hens but the main thing that strikes me so often that it seems that the most homey little (Let's call a spade a spade) ugly hens seem to be my favorites and the ones that lay consistently ...truly just about every day. It's obvious because they lay their large to extra large eggs invariably in mid-afternoon. This is a fact, not making this up...when I let the flocks out in the morning, (about 6:30 now) they all head for their favorite spots to dig and grub around for a couple hours, pretty much ignoring the tubs of feed that have been on the floor for about 2 hour already. Of course, they had already pecked around that mess but they really enjoy getting out for their morning constitutions.
Somewhere around 10:AM, just about the whole bunch come into the houses to begin laying. The little (in comparison) dull colored hens march up and down, getting into the faces of the bigger...prettier hens, almost like drill sergeants, demanding they get on with it! They even get up on the railing, in front of the nests, and screech in their faces....About noon the first egg collection is made. Always lots of beautiful light brown eggs...But if we just a bit too late, these twelve to fourteen 'boss-hens' are already sitting on clutches, each consisting of any number of eggs...from 3 to 10. They take their good ol' time. For the most part, their eyes are closed and their beaks are slightly ajar...certainly in meditation. The uninitiated would think they are all 'settin', but not so...they just seem tobe relaxing after a morning of hard 'cheer'leading'. They generally finish laying their eggs about 3:30 or 4PM, then saunter out to join their charges, and almost immediately enduring the heated courtship of the head cocks...
More later...I guess, If anyone gives a flip.
RON
Great story telling. A lot of the old timers would say to always breed from the most active hens, the ones acting as you describe here. Even when breeding to the Standard, that attitude and personality, industrious, hard working are all traits that make for productive hens (and entertaining chicken watching, a highly undervalued trait).
