Monday, April 25, 2011

Meet the New Chickens!

What's spring without a few new additions? The coop has stood empty for far too long, so Maya and Joe headed East in search of new inhabitants.

They returned with the most entertaining assembly, four full-sized, shockingly athletic hens and four itty bitty bantams. They were utterly terrified when they arrived, but after just a few days, the found their niche. Some are snugglers (strange but true), some are scaredy chickens, and some are wiley birds ready to make their own entertainment.

Here is Zebra, a full-sized, remarkably tame (or possibly just slow) full-sized Barred Rock hen. 



This is the aptly named Hercules, a full-sized Favarolle mix hen. She's the muscle of the coop, able to fly 5 feet straight up with out a running head start (Joe's outside securing the top of the run as I type). She's too fast and too smart to catch, but she's hilarious to watch stalking the yard and herding the other chickens.


Clementine the Second, a full-sized black star hen is not as lovely as our original Clementine with her green patches of feathers, but she does have an identical personality. She will not be caught, under any circumstances. But she does like to follow Hercules on her antics atop the coop.



Hunca Munca is our most striking bird. She's a full-sized Delaware Blue Hen, and she'll shriek bloody murder if you corner her.



Louise the chicken, a White Rock Bantam, is true to her name. She's the smartest bird in the flock, and if she thinks you're out to get her, she'll run like her tail feathers are on fire. If she thinks you have corn, however, she's at your side in a second.


We have one Barred Rock Bantam named Speckles. Or Freckles. Or Silver. I'm sure the girls will settle on a name soon enough. She as tame as s kittens and makes the most adorable little chirpy noises. She is the smallest, the favorite, and rather in danger of being over-loved so we keep an eye on her.


 Then there is the Wyandotte Bantam, Snowflake. Wait... maybe she's the favorite. Either Snowflake or Silver Speckles are tucked under one of the girls arms at all times.

 Finally, there's Flame. She's a pretty little Buff Wyandotte Bantam. She's so cute, but she's also terrified of everything: us, the other chickens, corn or scraps tossed into the run. She spends most of her time perched in the roost peering fearfully outside. When she is outside, she sticks close to her sister hens, especially Louise and Snowflake.





To top it all off, we stumbled upon a bunny  nest while raking today. Trust me, after sharing the best of this springs lilly bulbs with their mother, I wasn't exactly in the mood to love a rabbit (I was thinking more along the lines of Mr. McGreggor and his pies). But whose heart isn't touched by these startled little guys. Two weeks old at best.



We didn't plan to touch them (and disrupt their mama's plan to raise them), but when one nearly ran up my shorts (I was weeding, Joe was raking), I could barely help but grab her. The girls were mesmerized.

What a perfect spring day!

4 comments:

Zoleigh said...

They sure are colorful!

Axsom Adventures said...

I love your new chickens! I am getting excited for mine to get bigger now, so I can see what colors they will be!! Thanks for sharing : )

Anna Scott Graham said...

Oh my goodness did I laugh out loud at 'tame or slow'. What great additions to the family! :))) And that bunny, oh my! Hope to hear more tales of feathers and fur...

Jess Falken said...

Love the new chickens! Can't wait to see them! And the Louise name lives on... haha

See you soon! :)

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