Tuesday, June 09, 2009

My little red hen(ry)

You might remember a couple months back when we went to the feed store and picked up a couple of baby chicks.

Payton picked a little fluffy white chick and immediately named her Flowerbelle. Morgan picked this little black chick and insisted she was Princess. And I went for the chicken looking chick, a little red and gold thing and called her Henny Penny.



Watching them grow has been interesting. They were so cute in the beginning, and then they turned into this:



Oh yes, that would be Princess. Not so princessy, is she? Not that I want to judge, lol.

That photo was taken April 13. It's now more than a month later, so I wanted to share their current faces.

First is that little ball of puff that is Flowerbelle. She's the smallest of the three, and the only one that will really let the kids hold her. She's also the most submissive.



Then there's Henny Penny, the only traditional chicken looking chick of the three. Huge feet. Pretty coloring.


Gah. Do you see that ugly little devil in the background? That's Princess! You can't quite see it in this pic, but princess has this strange looking comb growing up top that has a hole in it. It's like a caribiner, just waiting for a leash or something.


The only redeeming quality about Princess is that when the sun shines on her black feathers, you can see some irridescent blues and purples which is fun. Otherwise... egads!

The cute little chicken coop is still getting some last minute touches, so I'm not ready to share it yet. But what's great about these three is that I go out every morning and open the door, and they just roam the yard, eating bugs. They always stay together, which is another plus, and it's fun to peek out in the yard and see them toodling around together. The only downside is that last week we had a harsh thunderstorm, and Steve ran outside to get them out of the weather. Lightning was flashing and hail was pelting down, so they literally jumped into his arms when he ran out there, and he just tossed them into his shop really quick and shut the door.

Now that he's done that they seem to think they own the place, so it's not uncommon to see Cooper, our yellow lab, sitting outside the door because they've booted him out of his napping spot. Me no likey chicken poop in the shop so we need to find a way to keep them out of there, lol.

I was all satisfied with our motley crew, until the other day, when I heard a suspicious noise, and walked outside to find this:




It turns out my sweet Henny Penny is actually HENRY Penny. dang.

Now we aren't sure what to do. We've heard you shouldn't eat fertilized eggs. We aren't worried about babies because once they start laying we'll be collecting every day, and if we are out of town or something and don't get the egg right away, we won't eat it, so I'm not worried about making scrambled eggs and hatching little chicks. And right now Henry isn't aggressive, so I'm not worried about that either.

Still trying to decide what to do. That said, Steve is still convinced that Princess is actually... Prince, so we are waiting to see if s/he starts crowing soon too. The only downside to that one being it's Morgan's chicken. But seriously. Look at that chicken, lol.


::sigh::

17 comments:

  1. i am SO lmao right now. omgosh. it's like days of our chickens at your house. =)

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  2. oh my gosh, this post made me LOL!! thank you for that!

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  3. Oh my gosh! LOL! They're getting so big!

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  4. LOL! You crack me up. Congrats on the boy. They should come with tags when you buy them. OK...I am joking about that. Our family buys ducks, so cute when they start out. What happens inbetween and after can be shocking. LOL!

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  5. thank you for the afternoon laugh. I didn't even know that people bought chickens!

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  6. how funny is this? love the transformation photos! where's the layout for that? :)

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  7. LOL! Life on the farm is sounding rough, especially with chickens crossing gender lines left and right! Hang in there!

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  8. I'm cracking up at this post. DAYS OF OUR CHICKENS? HEEEEEE!! And leave poor princess alone. We all have our awkward stages. ;)

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  9. Hee, hee, hee! That princess is a real looker, woowee! That is a chicken only a mother could love.

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  10. hahaha...you are too too funny.

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  11. Oh my gosh, I'm dying here. That is the funniest darn story!

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  12. WOW Davinie!! I can't believe how big they have grown!! that's really fast!! I was wondering about the little chickies too. so glad for the update :) too funny about "henry"!!!

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  13. Ahh Princess is beautiful is her own unique way!

    namaste
    melina
    living creating & appreciating
    ~my blog

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  14. ummm...wow....i've learned so much @ chickens this morning...davinie you are like my personal discovery channel, i love it! lol!
    should have named henny penny: rupaul or dennis rodman...lol

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  15. your chickens are so cute!

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  16. Cute layout and I'm sooo lovin' the chickens! how cool!

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  17. oh my word, this made me laugh. Good thing I'm an empty nester now otherwise I might have awakened the whole house.

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