Hen Chronicles: Keeping ravenous hens under control, or not

Nala the Garlic Gobbler

Here’s an unwritten rule of chicken keeping: Never approach hens with anything that is - or even appears to be - remotely edible unless you intend to feed it to them. Why? There’s an excellent chance the hens will grab it and gobble it down faster than you can shout “don’t eat that!”

My wife Liz headed out to the run the other day with a clove of garlic, because I read somewhere that dabbing garlic on chickens will help them to accept newcomers more readily by giving all of the hens in a flock the same scent.

Our newbies, Hope and Nellie, are getting along reasonably well with the veterans, Snow and Nala, but the new kids aren't as fully integrated as we would like. Ergo, the clove.

Liz managed to swipe Snow and Nala with the garlic, and she was about to do the same with Hope and Nellie when the clove somehow found its way into the pen. Before either of us could do anything to retrieve it, Nala gulped it down with such speed and determination that you’d think she hadn’t eaten in a week.

I suppose if Nala were bound for the oven that clove might make her all the tastier. Not that we have any intention of testing that theory, of course.