Meet Darcy
Barred Rock, the fourth hen in the quartet of Barred Rock hens that rule the
Hipster Hen roost. Darcy isn’t super friendly like Arlene, she isn’t super
clever like Barbara, and she isn’t super bossy like Charlie. She is, perhaps,
one of those individuals who would be characterized by all observers as “the
other one”. But I don’t think Darcy cares. I think she knows that she’s SORT OF
friendly and clever—and maybe just a little bit bossy. And other than that
she’s happy to be the hen that goes about her business of laying one of those
nice brown eggs nearly every day!
Meet Emile,
the birchen Cochin rooster. Well, actually, you’ve already met Emile. This is a
recent picture that I like quite a bit that I had to share—Emile in all his
roosterly splendor!
Meet Emily,
the plump and personable black Silkie hen. Emily really does have eyes but
they’re hard to see because they’re sort of hidden in her fluff and they’re
black--just like the rest of her. Emily’s eyes, and the rest of her for that
matter, are hard to photograph. She just sort of absorbs all the light and ends
up looking like a silhouette. I haven’t ever taken a picture that I feel does
her justice, but she’s so darn cute I’m gonna keep trying!
Emily the
Silkie stares contemplatively through the chicken run fence on a nice fall day.
Meet Maran
the cuckoo Marans hen. She’s pictured here with her constant companion, Carmen
Maranda. Maran and Carmen are in their third year—these two girls and Angitou
the golden Polish hen joined the flock as babies in the summer of 2014 and came
from Murray McMurray
Hatchery in Webster City, Iowa. Marans can come in nine different colors,
but Maran and Carmen’s cuckoo color is the most common in the US. In addition
to being pretty birds, my Marans hens lay beautiful dark chocolate brown eggs.
Here's
Carmen Maranda and Maran the cuckoo Marans hens as kids in the summer of 2014,
along with their friend Angitou the golden Polish hen.
Meet Marissa
the Cream Legbar. I captured this picture of Marissa in August—about the time
she started laying eggs. Since then, Marissa has laid a pretty little
blue-green pullet egg almost every day, and each egg is incrementally larger
than the previous one. My older hens have scaled waaay back on egg production
lately, since they’ve started their fall molt. So many days the four eggs I get
from my four young Legbar hens outnumber the eggs I get from the rest of the
flock!
Here’s
Jennifer, my fourth year white crested black Polish hen. Jennifer
was so sick that I removed her from the flock for a while in late September,
but she did a rapid and spectacular bounce-back and I’m happy to report that
she’s completely recovered now. I was
sure that Jennifer would be eager to model the new chicken sweaters, but
she apparently felt otherwise.
In Memorium: Sweet Roxie the Rhode Island
Red. Gone but not forgotten.
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