You are what you eat

OK, these are the best fed chickens in Brooklyn. Possibly the best fed chickens in New York City. They get organic greens, morning and night (leafy greens and root vegetables). Because we have the whole house composting for us, I have no hesitation about picking out the choice "trimmings" from our tenants' compost buckets: strawberries, tomatos, melons, etc. They also get 1 1/2 cups of laying feed and 1 1/2 cups of cracked corn with oats each day. I'm a little put off by their carnivorous nature, but they also enjoy raw meat, so I've been giving them extras from our dog's raw food diet.

The girls follow me around in the garden. They know where their "bread & butter" comes from.

All of this good eatin' is making good layin'. I had to laugh when I brought in the biggest egg I'd ever seen come out of a chicken this morning. It weighed nearly four ounces minus the egg cup. And that brown egg is from Red, our "little" hen. Her big sister Uno makes the little blue eggs.

Get out of Jail Free

The girls LOVE to be in the garden. I usually let them out in the mornings with me before it gets too hot. They're quite good at spotting bugs and tender greens to nibble on. As much as I'm not concerned about my "lawn", we will certainly have the best bit of grass in the neighborhood with all their fertilizing. Our cat Scooter is, I think, somewhat intimidated by the chickens, and yet curious. "What are these large birds? And why are they in my yard?"