After over three years of pretty consistent begging, whining, and wheedling, Seth finally caved and got us CHICKENS!!! We picked up six Rhode Island Reds from Tractor Supply in August and I literally sobbed. I could not contain myself. About a week later, Seth came home with four Isa Browns. I was in little cheepy-peepy heaven.
I spent a lot of time handling the little fluff nuggets to make sure they’d be comfortable being handled a little once they grew up. Seth spent a lot of time cleaning up after them since he insisted on keeping them inside for the first few weeks. Lynx watched them obsessively for the first few weeks. We were afraid he might try to eat them, but the worst he did was smell one until he got pecked in the nose. After that he was content to watch. Reliant was fascinated, as he is with all small animals, and watched the chicks from above often. He also served as a jungle gym and a ride down the hallway at times. Foxy and Samara were not impressed.
The girls got big quickly, and had to be moved out into the garage after a few weeks because they would jump out of their pen in the office and generally run amok. They continued to run amok outside, but safe in the confines of the garage at night and when we weren’t home.
After a while, it became clear that four of the Rhode Island Reds were not girls at all, but roosters. They were allowed to stay until they started trying to crow at 5 am. At that point, we learned to de-feather and butcher our own roosters. Or more accurately, I learned. Seth would never make it in a biology lab.
We also lost one Isa Brown, Rory, to a Reliant accident. He course corrected a little too hard while following her around and broke her little leg. He clearly felt guilty and has since followed the girls around much more carefully. He likes to protect them.
So, without further ado, I’ll introduce you to our five girls:
Pearl
Pearl is easily the most outgoing of our girls, and has been since we got them. She was the only one I have been able to recognize since she was a teeny chick, more because of her attitude than her looks. When we brought the Reds home, five of the chicks were piled up in one corner of the box. The sixth was on the opposite side of the box, with her tail facing the rest of the chicks, as if to say, “Fuck you guys, I do what I want.” That was Pearl.
Since then, Pearl has been true to her nature. Before we offed the roosters, they followed her around. She protected them from a Cooper’s hawk that decided to dive into our pen for a snack. The hawk decided not to make a second attempt after he thumped sideways into the back wall of our house. Pearl does as she pleases and is easily the leader of our little flock. She was the first to figure out how to escape. She is the first to try anything I hand-feed to the girls. You can hear her angrily clucking to be let out if we sleep in for too long on the weekends, and she squawks sassily at me if I bring the girls blueberries and don’t feed them the entire carton in one sitting. She is truly one of a kind.
Lorelai
Lorelai is our most outgoing Isa Brown and Pearl’s right hand woman. She is often found out scouting the terrain while Pearl looks after the girls. More often than not, she has somehow hopped the fence and is squawking away in the neighbor’s driveway when we get home from work because she hasn’t figured out how to make her own way back yet. She is pretty friendly, like Pearl and will happily come eat greedily out of your hand. She was also the first little pioneer to lay an egg, which we were obviously overjoyed about!
Tallulah
Tallulah is our only other female Rhode Island Red. Picture Pearl, but slightly larger. She’s happy to eat out of your hand, but doesn’t like to be handled as much as Pearl or Lorelai. Her name apparently means “leaping water,” which is hilarious, because she leaps about a mile in the air if you surprise her when you try to pet her. She is in the middle of the pecking order since she has a special bond with Pearl and she’s the biggest chicken.
Virginia Sue and Carolina Sue
Virginia Sue and Carolina Sue are the last two Isa Browns, and I’ll talk about them together because I still can’t tell them apart. I feel guilty about it, but it’s impossible because they are always together. Neither particularly likes eating out of your hand, although they love fruit just as much as the other girls. They hate to be separated for any reason and are always the last to venture out. They are lowest in the pecking order but don’t get picked on too badly because they always stick together and also Pearl is a benevolent dictator, like her mother. I fully expect that they will lay their first eggs on the same day.
So that’s the gist of our little flock. I’ll be adding an egg counter to the home page if you’re curious about how many eggs our girls are producing and I’ll update on them when necessary. You know we’ve got a spreadsheet. When do we not? Oh, and if you’re wondering what we named the roosters, I called them all McNugget, and they make excellent soup!