Chicken catalogue...

The Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog came in the mail today. When my chicken catalogs come, I read them like a seed catalog. I love looking at the different breeds and day dream about buying two of this and three of that. However since I live in a neighborhood in town and know you have to order a minimum of 25 chicks – (because that's how many little chick bodies they need to keep warm in the mail) I know it isn’t possible for me.

I got my three "girls" at a chicken swap almost two years ago. They were six week old pullets and had already feathered out. It was amazing to see how different their personalities developed.

Olga is a Brahma and is the smallest but we feel she is the smartest and, by far, the friendliest. She isn’t the best in egg production but she more than makes up for it with her personality.

Oogna is an Americana. She is the least friendly of our hens but is the best egg producer. She lays two big blue eggs a day.

Orla is a White Chanticleer and is moderately friendly and moderate in egg production.

Aside from the beautiful fresh eggs we receive from “the girls” they are so very entertaining to watch.  Sometimes I sit outside and watch them for hours. Another bonus is the manure they provide for our gardens.  Chicken manure is great for the garden and its nutrients break down faster than in cow manure.

The nutrient rundown for poultry manure: four times the nitrogen content of cow manure, six times the phosphate, three times the potash, five times the calcium and three times the magnesium.

There are a lot of gardeners in my neighborhood. Last summer our postal carrier often remarked that our gardens were ahead of the neighbors due to the chicken manure.