Happy hatch-day to my hens! Margo, Millie, and Roberta are 3 years old today. I still love having backyard chickens. The composting coop my dad and mom helped me build works beautifully and is so easy to maintain. The girls don’t lay eggs every day like they used to, but we still get 8–10 eggs a week. Naturally I had to make a cake for the ladies. Yogurt, grapes, mealworms, oats, and weeds—the stuff chicken dreams are made of!

Margo wasn’t shy about digging in. She has always been the bravest and most curious chicken, even when she was a fuzzy little hatchling. Margo is blind in one eye now. I have no idea how it happened, but she gets around fine and is my best layer.

Millie is always so cautious especially when the camera is out. She used to run and squawk when I reached for her, but now she will let me stroke her feathers occasionally. So… progress?

Roberta is so sweet! She loves to hop up on things including my lap if I make it available to her. She tends to pull out her butt feathers every summer, but they grow back beautifully in the fall. Maybe she likes feeling a breeze in her nether regions when it’s hot out?

Here they were as 2 week old fluff balls! Happy hatch-day chickies!

P.S. Remember the time I dressed them up like ballerinas?