Suburban Chicken - The Happiest Chickens!

Our Chickens

	Eloise – Buff Orpington. A very sweet, social, friendly, tame chicken who comes when called. A great big butterscotch colored girl, she’s nice to the other girls as well as loves her humans. She comes running full steam at you when she sees you coming just to say “hi”. She’s also good with the dogs & cats. Lays very large latte colored eggs very regularly (one a day).
	Liesle – Delaware. Nice girl, social, friendly and tame. She’s not as full bodied as most of my other girls, but she holds her own. If anyone is likely to do any flying it’s Liesle. I find her in the darnedest places. She’s white with some distinctive ticking around her neck & black in her tail plumage. Lays medium sized light brown eggs; about 6 a week. She’s also good with the other animals.
	Oprah – Black Australorp. She’s a real big buxom beauty with her shiny black feathers that have an iridescent green sheen to them. Stunning. She’s a large girl too, who is a frequent and reliable layer of large brown eggs. Even though I hand raised her from a day-old chick along with my 5 other original girls, she’s still quite skittish. I can catch her if need be, but she’s not happy about it in the least bit. She’s not mean or vicious, just doesn’t want to be handled. But will tolerate it once caught. Matter of fact she’s quite bossy with the two newest chickens we have (Mabel & Virginia) and frequently runs them off.
	Hermione – Dominique. A sweet girl who enjoys attention. She’s social, gentle & friendly with people & chickens alike. I received a call from my grandmother who lives across the street from me informing me that there was a chicken in her front yard and she didn’t want to scare it out into the street accidentally. So I went across the street, squatted down and called her to me and she came running to me and jumped up into my arms wanting to go home. She’s a big round “speckled” chicken (black and white barring) with her unique feature being her rose comb (the rest of my girls all have single combs.) While most people get Dominiques and Barred Plymouth Rocks mixed up because the body type differences are subtle to one not familiar with them, the comb gives them away. She’s a good layer of medium to large light brown eggs.
	Hazel – Barred Plymouth Rock. A very social, tame, friendly and inquisitive chicken. If you sit down on the bench in the backyard, you will more than likely have a 10lb feathered friend sitting on your knee keeping you company. She’s friendly with her original flock, dogs, cats and people, but she’s not so nice to the newest girls who she has a tendency to chase off. And being such a big, bodacious girl, they definitely clear the way for her. With her big round body and clear barring (black & white striping or “speckles”) she’s a pretty girl who knows it. She’s also a very reliable layer of large brown eggs.
	Winnefred – Cuckoo Marans. She is a fairly tame girl who will tolerate attention if you insist on catching her. Not as social as the rest either with chickens or with people, but she’s friendly enough. She was my very first Marans which I got for the beautiful deep chocolate brown eggs they lay. They are so beautiful and people really like them so much that I decided to add to more Marans to the flock (see Mabel & Virginia). She’s a pretty good layer, about 5 eggs a week. Good large size and gorgeous color. She’s a very large, round bodied girl with a “cuckoo” pattern which vaguely looks like barring, but a more mottled, splotchy version and instead of just clearly black & white, she has brown as well.
	Mabel – Golden Marans. She is one of the new additions (didn’t grow up with the original 6). She looks a lot like Winnefred, but has a golden “collar” around her neck which should become more pronounced as she gets older. Also, she has feathered shanks (legs) which helps to identify her from Winnefred. As for personality, she and Virginia are the same and perhaps not a very good representatives of their breeds as I didn’t raise them. I got them when they were already 5 months old from a Marans breeder in Riverside, CA. She did not hand rear these girls so they are NOT TAME nor social. If you want to catch them it takes two people to corner then grab them. Once caught the flapping, wriggling, kicking, squawking, pecking, thrashing ensues. It’s not fun or pretty. Even once you tuck them under your arm (which usually quiets down the bird) they continue to fight. So no petting or handling, but we finally are getting them to eat out of our hand if not very suspiciously. Gorgeous, large, deep mocha colored eggs; about 5 per week.
	Virginia – Wheaten Marans. A very pretty red/brown, butterscotch, golden girl. I really like the looks of the Wheaten, but again her character/sociability is just like Mabel. She’s the lowest on the pecking order, even lower than Mabel, but not by much. A sweet face that just fears everything. She’s not as full bodied as the other two Marans. I’m not sure if this is just how the Wheatens are or not, so just in case I constantly give her extra piles of her own feed to make sure she eats (they chase her off the food/feeder). I’ve now bought a second hanging feeder so that when she’s chased off one, she can go to the other. The original girls are beginning to accept the fact that Virginia & Mabel are here to stay. Still the lowest on the pecking order, but no longer the target of everyone's aggression. This is after two month of acclimation. And she's now laying beautiful large deep brown speckled eggs.