Wednesday


These are the ladies of the hen house.

Tyler hadn't been employed at his current job but a moment before he announced that we were heading to the feed store to pick out some hens. I guess 6 months without any farm animals to care for was just too long. We each picked out one and came home and build a coop and yard. We could have built the coop and yard first, and then got the chickens, but that just wouldn't have made sense.
Mine is the gold one in the front. Her name is Goldie Hawn. She's a Buff Orpington. I remember reading a catalog description of Buffs once that said best are the color of a gold wristwatch. Yes, they have chicken catalogs. Lots of them.
Mademoiselle's hen is the black and white Barred Rock. Her name is Lacey. She's the ring leader, the boss, the big cahuna. She's bold, daring, and unafraid, at least compared to the other hens. One day we brought home a jar of enormous grasshoppers for our girls. They were biblical. More like the size of a mouse than a bug. Lacey was the first one to venture a peck.
Tylers is the gold and white one. I don't know what kind of hen she is, and I don't think she even has a name, and she has no real defining characteristic.
The next two are S.A.M. and Benefactor's. Their names are Chicken Little and That One. They are Aracauna's. I think. Or Americauna's. Or those are the same things. I get confused. Anyway, they lay green and blue eggs. Green or blue colored eggs taste better. It's true!

Look! Lacey is leading the others away from some source of danger. Only one thing could make her so afraid. It's not Lucy, our dog, who had a history of being a chicken lover, but not in a cuddly way.


And it's not this very friendly neighborhood hawk who likes to stop in for a visit every once in awhile.






It's Benefactor. He just loves to run over to the chicken yard with a handful of feed. But I think the part that gets the ladies all upset is when he yells, "CheeeeEEEEE!" while throwing the feed through the chicken wire right at them.

It's enough to make a little lady want to run for cover.

10 comments:

MandaMommy said...

So fun! I can't wait until we can have chickens someday!

Real said...

I recently found out that we are allowed to have chickens in our city as long as they are 50 feet away from the building. And we don't have a single square inch of yard that is that far away from our house!

So, how much do hens cost?

Katie Richins said...

Down here about $6 for a good, young hen.

We love having chickens.

Real - That's crazy! I wonder why the 50 feet?

sheila said...

you are the cutest K I like your descriptions. When we had our "chicken" that turned out to be roosters I didn't notice anything about there personalities. Except maybe that one who was very protective and did not like me. I didn't care much for it either. I wanted nice little Hens not dominating loud roosters.
dang

Janalee said...

I didn't realize there were chicken catalogs, chicken personalities or even different kinds of chickens until I read Animal Vegetable Miracle. Your coop reminds me of the hundreds of chicken coops my dad used to build growing up. (they were always falling apart or something) (not to say yours will) But the red painted posts and chicken wire.

We had a plate used to dump our dinner leftovers call the Chicken Food plate. So they ate a lot of human food. Is that even allowed?

Katie Richins said...

Yes, Chicken catalogues, chicken personalities, chicken breeds, and I have a feeling this is the first of many chicken coops for us. We had chickens before, but they were not in a coop. In this smaller yard, a coop is a must, so I don't have to step in chicken Poop.

A chicken food plate is great! Chickens are omnivores, naturally, and they love a bit of fruits and veggies, and adore meat.

trogonpete said...

If I visit, can I meet your Cooper's hawk and eat some of your colorful eggs? Pretty please?

Katie Richins said...

Yes, and yes, little brother. The hawk hangs out on a dead tree across the alley, and the hens should be laying any time now...
So, when should I expect you?

annie valentine said...

I love chickens. In fact, I will only purchase brown eggs because I feel it's supporting brown chickens (who don't get enough love).

It also drives my mother-in-law crazy. See? It's a win win.

UrbanHippieMama said...

your chickens are really beautiful!!! i enjoy your blog.. so glad you found mine, too! :)