Meet the Girls

So when we started this whole "chicken farming" thing, I figured we'd enjoy it, but I didn't think we'd love it so much!  We are REALLY enjoying having our own backyard chicken farm.  And it's not just the fresh eggs--which are totally great.  I guess it's just everything!  Now, I'm not going to say that I love cleaning up their poop, but it actually doesn't bother me as much as I would have thought.
When we first decided to get chickens, we figured that the kids would enjoy it.  But I sort of guessed that the newness would wear off fairly soon.  Surprisingly it has not and they are still just as interested in taking care of and interacting with "the girls" as we often call them, as they were at the start.  In fact, the little man is probably the most into it.  He won't let either Shawn or I get out the back door to check the chickens, feed them, or check for eggs without him.  And he usually insists on carrying the bowl of food scraps, which he does with great pride and determination.  In many ways having chickens has become a much loved hobby for the whole family. 

Fortunately, after having realized the error in my ways of not getting good pictures of the chickens two weeks ago, when we had some great sunny days, we had a few more and I took advantage of them.  I had thought the chickens would be great subjects for trying out different settings and hopefully learning more of the professional settings better.  However, I soon realized that photographing chickens is VERY difficult.  They are pretty much in constant motion--even more so than some small children!  And the day I took these the clouds were moving around pretty well.  They were constantly covering and uncovering the sun.  The combination of the ever changing lighting and the constant motion of my subjects meant I didn't quiet experiment as I had planned, but I did do a little.  And after about 90 photos, I got a few I like!

So without further ado--and in their established pecking order :) --our family is pleased to introduce to you... our chickens....

This is Rosa our Rhode Island Red.
She was the first to get her name courtesy of our little girly.  We were talking about the chickens one night at dinner (before their arrival) and asked her what we should name them.  She quickly came up with Rosa, and we all agreed that was a great chicken name.  So being that she's the rosiest, she got the name.

Rosa is truly the one in charge.  And she struts around the chicken yard like she knows it.  Most of the chickens like to lay their eggs in the same nest spot, and if she's on the nest, she will NOT be moved off until she's ready.  She's also the one who basically kicked me and the kids out of the chicken yard on their second day at our house.  I guess she had decided we had overstayed our welcome.  She's the most talkative of the four and also the bravest.  She seems to best tolerate being held and petted.  I think that because of her bravery.

And this is Elvira.  A Black Star.

She was the third to be named courtesy of Shawn.  He threw out that name one day and we immediately knew which chicken needed that name.  The iridescent tone of her black feathers makes her the perfect chicken for such a flashy name.

Elvira seems to be second in command.  She's usually right by Rosa when it's feeding time and doesn't get pushed around much.  She's a bit noisier than the other two.  And of the four, she most frequently darts at top speed out the little chicken door from the coop to the yard.  If I see a flash of feathers in the yard, it's usually Elvira moving out to the yard.

And this is Miss Scarlet, our Ameriucana.

She was named second by yours truly.  I actually came up with the name before the girls moved over to our yard and since she's the most scarlet looking one (next to Rosa, who had to be Rosa because she's the reddest) she got the name.  I think the name fits her very well.  She's really more orange, but the beautiful variety of color in her feathers and her more dainty, quite style has a certain Scarlet Ohara quality.

She also lays green eggs for us and has become one of the more consistent layers--laying one egg a day, 5-6 days a week.

And this is Eleanor our Black Cochin.  

She was the last to be named and it was really a group effort.  We probably went through 15-20 names before we came up with this one for her.  I was wanting Fiona (because she's so fluffly) or Clementine, but Shawn didn't agree.  And I wasn't fond of his ideas of Penny or Finger Lickin'.  Finally he suggested Eleanor, and I agreed.  I fit her much better than some of his other suggestions!

Eleanor is super fluffly and even has feathers on her feet.  She's definitely the quietest and most nervous around us if we get too close.  Lately, I've noticed that she's not quite putting up with being at the bottom of the pecking order.  She pecks a bit at Miss Scarlet from time to time, probably so as to not be alone at the bottom of the order.

Just look at all that fluff!  That's Eleanor on the left and Miss Scarlet on the right.

There's also a different look to the chicken coop since my last post about it.  I'm sure we're not done making improvements to it, but this is a look at the little chicken door that Shawn and his brother cut out of one wall of the coop.  This lets the girls get out to their enclosed yard.  Earlier on the day the chickens arrived, the guys set up some dog kennel fencing from Knox to create the chicken yard.  I'm really glad they made that last minute design change.  It gives the chickens more room to roam and scratch, but keeps the poop contained since they're not roaming all over the backyard.

Here's a few parting pictures of the kids enjoying our new family hobby during the first few days.

It's really been a blessing for our family to share in this hobby together and it's even better that we all enjoy it so much.  Hopefully our enjoyment of it continues for a long time.  Right now, I'm not doubting that it will.