Meet the Girls

I thought it was about time that I introduce the world to the girls, a.k.a. our hens. We are hoping they all turn out to be hens but when you buy them from a farm supply store you don't always know for sure what you're getting. I know very little about chickens so if you are a chicken expert you may look at my pictures and laugh because there may be a rooster in there. I have no clue what I'm looking for when trying to tell what they are until they are grown. If we end up with a rooster I hope to keep it but if it chases me, I'm done... I quit right there LOL. I love chickens but they also terrify me a little. Hadley has no fear of them and I love that about her. She loved picking them up when they were tiny chicks and now that they are grown she still continues to pick them, hug and kiss them! Of course she only does this supervised... my fear is one of the chickens pecking her eye. Thankfully our chickens are very sweet, (except for one), but it doesn't mean they won't ever try to peck at anyone, its in their nature.

We had chickens a couple of years ago and we lost all but one to a raccoon. I will spare the gruesome details but it was horrible. I thought with our chicken coop so close to the house that no critter would try to hurt them but I was wrong. We had the coop inside a fence with doors that were supposed be critter proof but unfortunately they weren't. This time we are building a bigger coop that only has a man door. We're going above and beyond to ensure their safety this time. Currently we are keeping them in the old coop inside our shop's garage. We let them out to run around and browse in the grass about everyday. The goats are typically outside with them and they get along just fine. We have six chickens and three different breeds. Two are Ameraucana, two are Barred Rock (aka Plymouth Rock) and the other two we aren't quite sure of their breed because the person picking out our chickens knew nothing and I think got them mixed up. They look like Rhode Island Red or Orpington to me but we'll see what they are when they get a little older. I am most excited to see what The Ameraucana turn out to look like. They are each so unique with their coloring and are absolutely beautiful. Plus they lay light blue eggs! Each of ours looks different, one has a white/yellow color to her and the other is a darker shade. They are both the sweetest birds out of the rest. We aren't absolutely set on names yet but I have listed their names below in some of the pictures. I had so much fun snapping some pictures of these ladies and of course my little lady. She is not camera shy at all and had so much fun posing with her girls. Hadley's chicken printed dress was too perfect for these pictures! Its a handmade dress from a small, local shop called Little Creative Blessings. I found her shop on Facebook and she is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet.

I hope you all enjoy some fun pictures of our chicks and Hadley! Have a great week! God bless :)

This may be my new favorite picture of Hadley. An airplane flew over our place and this is what she did. She is standing with our sweet Fern, one of the Amerucana chicks.

Sweet Fern

Little Miss Georgia

From left to right we have Dixie (the other Plymouth Rock chick), Pearl (the light colored Ameraucana chick), Fern again and then the one with her head down in the grass is Mable. 

The last chicken I need to introduce is up front to the left. Her name is Nellie. Nellie and Mable are hard to tell apart now but I'm sure when they get older their coloring will be more distinctive. 

I love these girls and I am so excited to get them outside in their new coop! There will be more pictures to come!