Cluckington Manor

HENS  *  EGGS  *  AND A CHICKEN RETIREMENT HOME

          Once upon a time there was Gladys, Henrietta, and Freida and 9 other girls. And the one gentleman, a Barred Rock, named Captain Nelson for his leadership qualities.  They arrived on Father’s Day as a gift to Mark! A huge surprise including an egg collecting apron. He looked marvelous in the apron.

          The little ones all arrived in UPS mail. We picked them up very early in the morning. The box was warm and contained food for the babies. It created a ruckus at the Post Office with the sound of sweet little peeps.  Actually, very noisy peeps.  Nick our Farm Manager, and chief chicken wrangler, had a spacious warm nest box ready for them. Shavings, food, special water, and heat lamps.  The sweetness of baby animals always brings smiles to visitors and staff alike.   We all visit at least twice daily to enjoy their growth, peeps,  and stretches.  Chickens are surprisingly social creatures and love attention, of course laced with food. Our kitchen saves all the extra lettuce, kale, and crumbs for the girls.

           Chickens are surprisingly fast growers, from fluffy little cotton balls to gangly teenagers sprouting new feathers.  At about 6 months they begin to think about laying eggs.  Because we have different varieties of chickens,  the eggs are all different colors. Green from the Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers, Blue from the Araucana’s, white from the Road Island Reds, and dark brown from the Welsummers.  The girls continue to lay eggs for about 5-7 years. We have now 5 in the retirement home and 40 in the egg production business. All the eggs are used in our Kitchen in the Grove.

BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY STOP LAYING EGGS??

We have a chicken retirement home where they live in a spacious enclosure with plenty of food, water, grass, and love.  The only chicken retirement home in Solano County.  Chickens in protected areas may live from 8-10 years.  During the week when we are able to watch the retired girls are free ranging. They are very obedient in the late afternoon when we call them to “go home to roost”.  Very funny watching chickens run.

By the way did you know that wicked chickens lay deviled eggs?